"Are you done yet?" InuYasha asked.
Miroku groaned. He was leaning heavily against the cave wall, exhausted and fighting against the strong urge to vomit. "You know, I only made it this far because of the harsh training I undertook to become a monk," he pointed out, pausing as his belly clenched again. "An ordinary human would have been completely incapacitated by now." He did not add that he was well on his way to being completely incapacitated, himself.
Whatever InuYasha meant to say next was lost in a thunderous crash from deeper in the cave. Miroku had time for one last shuddering breath before InuYasha hauled him up. The next thing he knew he was on InuYasha's back, all but flying through the darkness toward whatever lay at the end of the cave. All he could do was hang on and hope InuYasha knew where he was going.
Suddenly the tunnel opened up into an enormous cavern. Light poured in through a hole in the roof, illuminating the horrors that awaited within.
InuYasha skidded to a halt just in time: the tunnel they had been following ended in a sheer drop that led into the depths of the cavern. Far below a thick, slimy liquid like congealing blood slowly oozed and bubbled. From this vantage point the sensation of evil presence was even more overpowering than it had been even in the tunnel, but Miroku could tell they had found the source. This was where the evil aura was coming from and, glancing up again at the hole high above, he ventured to guess that this was also the source of the bloody rain the townspeople had experienced.
But the lumpy, bloodlike liquid wasn't the only thing down there.
What had at first seemed like shadows resolved into a pair of large youkai, doing battle with each other. They fought ferociously, with unrelenting fury, utterly oblivious to their inadvertent observers.
"It almost looks like there were originally a lot more youkai," Miroku said, more to himself than to InuYasha. Indeed, it looked as if the bubbling goo might be blood and the remains of slaughtered youkai—which would explain the body parts the townspeople had reported.
"Yeah," InuYasha agreed, for once keeping his voice down. "And the ones down there are the losers."
"I'd guess this is the source of the blood rain the townspeople mentioned," Miroku went on. "It probably went out through that hole…" The whole thing seemed like some sort of unholy volcano. Now that they had some idea of what was happening, the question that nagged at Miroku was why. What in the world could be the purpose of something like this?
He soon received his answer, and wished he hadn't.
After a titanic struggle the larger of the two youkai at last landed a decisive blow. The weaker youkai went down, rent into two pieces… and then began to dissolve. As it lost its form, it seemed drawn to the victorious youkai. Slowly, bit by horrifying bit, the body of the weaker youkai was absorbed into that of the remaining youkai, shifting and molding until what remained was a hideous amalgam of what had moments before been two separate creatures.
Instead of two ogre-like youkai, there was now only one. Yet it retained the heads of both creatures, one atop its shoulders where the head belonged and another one at its groin. Enormous spines, like spears made of glistening dark crystal, jutted from its spine, and a long, whiplike tail disappeared into the offal that flooded the floor. It seemed to be taking on the physical features of the youkai it had just defeated.
As horrific as it was, the sight set Miroku's thoughts racing. There must have been hundreds of youkai drawn to this pit originally, and now only this one remained. This one, which had absorbed the body—and probably also the power—of all the others.
The remaining youkai, enormous and malformed, but unquestionably powerful, looked toward the hole in the ceiling of the cavern. "Why can't I leave?" it asked, its voice a deep rumble that Miroku could practically feel. "There was only one left to eat," the youkai went on, and Miroku realized it didn't yet know they were there. If they were quiet and careful, they might yet get out of here undetected. "I am the last one alive. I should be able to leave."
Whatever was going on here, the youkai seemed to know what to expect. Miroku wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
The youkai began to look around the cavern, seeking the reason for its continued entrapment. Before Miroku could suggest that they retreat to the relative cover of the tunnel, into which the youkai was now far to large to fit, it had locked its eyes on them.
"There!" it roared, in unmistakable challenge. "There's the other one!"
InuYasha looked startled for a moment, before realizing the challenge was meant for him. Miroku might not have been there at all, for all the notice the youkai gave him. "So it's me you want, is it?" InuYasha asked, stepping away from Miroku and reaching for the Tessaiga, an instant away from throwing himself into the fray.
"InuYasha, no, don't go down there!"
But it was too late. InuYasha was beyond listening to him now, not when there was a fight to be had. He skidded more than ran down the slope toward the waiting youkai, drawing the Tessaiga as he went. The blade blossomed with power as he drew it, expanding to its full size and strength, yet it still seemed hopelessly inadequate for defeating the enormous youkai that awaited.
If this was what he thought it was, going into the pit was the worst thing InuYasha could possibly do. If he went down into that pit, whatever spell was at work here would ensnare him, too. And it just might mean he lost, even if he won.