Inuyasha

Love's War

Chapter 14

The Trap

August 30, 2020

Over a month had passed since the attack on the Western castle and the battles have just gotten more vicious. It has become a life and death struggle for the South constant retreat with huge losses. The usurper to the Southern throne has become increasingly belligerent with his troops with every loss. Now he kills generals who give him bad news, his handhold on his men could be described as tenuis at best. The men now follow him only to survive one more day no loyalty remains after his brutality of the last couple generals, he hadn't just killed them he had tortured them until the glint of life left their eyes.

Whereas Shippou's standing with the Western army wasn't healed by any means but he was in a lot better position than that day of his massive failure and betrayal. He had been in command of the center line for the past month regaining their trust in him, this part of the line had been severely depleted by his maneuver breaking the defensive line. Shippou had been on the front lines since this push had began putting his life on the line with every inch of ground, they gained always keeping an eye on both ends of the line. He had protected several under his command many times causing himself injury but saving their lives.

Kagome was getting close to her full demon delivery date and with as big as she was she was sure these to were full demons. She had picked out several names for them since Tsubaki and Himeko were taking care of the Castle and it's guard. Not that Kagome was just sitting idly by, she was keeping guard herself her powers let her keep a barrier up around the castle at all times. This wasn't like the begging of her pregnancy she seemed to have energy to burn and Dr. Tadashi kept a close eye on her and the babies.

"I just don't understand how she can keep up this barrier carrying two pups." Dr. Tadashi said as he stood in Sesshomaru's office facing the former Lady of the West Tsubaki.

"Is there something wrong with her or the pups?" Tsubaki asked worried she knew he had just came down for looking in on Kagome. To be honest Tsubaki had the same worries, there was no way this human had the energy or the stamina to keep this up. Kagome had been at this longer than a demon would have given out in her condition.

"No nothing. I don't understand it she's just a human, Lady of the West or not." Dr. Tadashi said as he scratched the back of his head confused.

"She is a Miko." Himeko suggested as she looked between the two. "Well she is, and the most powerful one I've ever seen." She added with a shrug when the other two just looked at her with a look of irritation for stating the obvious.

"I don't think that's it." Tadashi said as he walked away from the desk with his right hand up at his chin thoughtfully. "It's different somehow. It's like the Pups are fueling her in someway." He said as he looked back over at Tsubaki curious if she had ever heard of such a thing with his eyebrows scrunched up thinking that his idea was crazy.

"I've had similar thoughts. It's not just the energy she has but also the insight she has of the front lines without ever leaving this castle." Tsubaki said as she chewed on her bottom lip, Kagome had recently inquired on a couple of incidents to which Tsubaki hadn't yet been informed. The dispatch runner would come in an hour or two later with the information Kagome had asked about. Other than Kagome's inquiry the dispatch runner was the first time hearing the information so it wasn't gossip going around the castle or guard staff.

"What do you think it means?" Tadashi asked curiously as he waked back over to the desk.

"I do not know I've never seen or heard of this happening. Course most demons do not bed and mate with Miko's. My son is special in that area." Tsubaki said with a raising of an eyebrow. "For now, we must just keep our eyes on her." She said with a dismissive wave.

~*~*~*~The Front Line~*~*~*~

The last couple of days the Western line was getting smaller as it turned to make a direct path to the Southern Palace. The North and East had finally joined in making it to where the West didn't have to spread out so thin so naturally the line was compressing in on itself with the northern end of the line mixing with the center and the center beginning to mix into the southern end of the line.

"Hey Shippou!" Inuyasha said as he walked up the line waving to the young powerful fox demon, he now considered an impressive equal.

"Inuyasha!" Shippou waved back enthusiastically with a huge grin on his lips.

"You've done good." Inuyasha said as he got to Shippou slapping him on the back the way all men do when they greet each other. "Well my end of the line has effectively mixed in with your center area." He said with a short laugh looking around at the new strengthened center line to which he mused should be called the northern end since there was no sense in having center anymore.

"We've all done good, another couple of days at most and we will be at the boundary of the Southern Palace." Shippou said as he stared off towards where he knew his dear Sachi was. It was getting easier and easier to push the Southern forces back, he could tell they didn't really want to even be there anymore.

"Well I'm on my way to join up with Sesshomaru. You take over my forces too since their all mixed together anyway." Inuyasha said as he patted Shippou on the back once more then began to walk away continuing his southernly direction.

"Inuyasha." Shippou said urgently as he took off after his old mentor placing his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder falling into step beside him. "I want to be there when we get Sachi back!" he said softly not looking over at his friend as a pink tint graced his features for a moment.

"Just be there?" Inuyasha asked with an eyebrow raised as he looked over at this young man realizing, not for the first time, this was no longer the annoying little pup he had watched grow up.

"Well no…" Shippou said looking down away from Inuyasha then suddenly looked back up at his friend. "I want to rescue her but getting to kill Hotaru would, as Kagome puts it, be the icing on the cake." He said with a hard look in his eyes that only a deep personal hidden pain would show to those close to you.

"It's war Shippou, no one can choose their opponents." Inuyasha said softly but nodded to him understanding that desire for revenge and the need to feel vindicated in his emotional turmoil. "The closer we get to the Southern Palace the smaller our line gets, perhaps you will get lucky. As for getting the Princess I don't see any problems with you getting her out of her confinement." He said with a small smile then broke contact with Shippou leaping into a tree then he was out of sight making his way quickly south.

Sesshomaru looked up as he felt Inuyasha closing in on his position quickly. He stretched his senses out and found no issue that would bring him here so quickly. There was no fighting at the moment anywhere up the line so he raised an eyebrow when Inuyasha landed in front of him. "Yes Inuyasha?" he asked curiously.

"My end of the line has quite easily slipped into Shippou's center so I left him in charge there and came here to see how it's going." Inuyasha said with a shrug.

"So you believe I need your help?" Sesshomaru asked dryly with a slight frown on his lips.

"I didn't say that and you know it." Inuyasha said as he glared at his brother crossing his arms over his armor.

"What else am I to believe when you leave Shippou and rush to my side?" Sesshomaru asked curiously with an eyebrow raised.

"You left him in charge to gain their trust so I figured it would be best for me to hand off my troops to him showing my trust in him." Inuyasha said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides this is where the most vigorous fighting will be, so my assistance here will be of more use than hanging out back there." He said with a shrug as he looked over towards the Southern Palace still well over a day of hard fighting ahead of them to get to it through the trees.

"Very well I'll make Hotaru my priority you'll take over here." Sesshomaru said then returned to resting up against the tree quietly.

"My Lord they seem to be massing for an attack." A soldier reported as he stopped several feet away from Sesshomaru.

"Inuyasha will deal with it." Sesshomaru said dismissively with a wave of his hand never opening his eyes or leaning up from his tree.

"Master Inuyasha it appears that Hotaru is actually on the battlefield." The soldier said without missing a beat and turning to Inuyasha.

"Oh, you mean the cowered has come out of his palace?" Inuyasha said with a smirk as he watched his brother silently rising from his seated position and advancing on the soldier.

"I believe that should have been said first." Sesshomaru said gruffly as he strode by without making a sound on the ground and pressing his aura abrasively against that of his soldier to show his displeasure at the order, he had decided to give the information to his superiors.

"You'll get it one day." Inuyasha said with an amused smile on his lips as he slapped the soldier on the soldier then turned and followed his brother suppressing a laugh at the flinch of the soldier.

"Well Inuyasha, looks like he's prepared for a final stand just in the clearing." Sesshomaru said as he stood at the edge of his army watching his enemy squirming around behind makeshift barricades.

"Yeah it's about half way from us to the Palace just outside of the trees. Looks like he's planning on keeping up bottled up inside the tree line." Inuyasha said with his arms crossed as he leaned against a tree with one leg up pressed against the tree flat footed.

"If he thinks these tree's will be a hinderance he's more of an ignorant pup than I gave him credit for." Sesshomaru said with a hit of disgust in his voice. He really did hate this boy he was so self-important, and arrogant.

"Or he's being this naive for our benefit." Inuyasha offered with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly what does that mean?" Sesshomaru asked curiously glancing over at his little brother.

"A trap of some kind." Inuyasha said with a shrug.

"Impossible to catch us in a trap we can see his whole line." Sesshomaru said dismissively turning his attention back to his enemy.

"So you say brother." Inuyasha said with another shrug, this situation was rubbing his senses raw telling him all wasn't as it seemed but he knew better than to argue with Sesshomaru. Doing so would just piss them both off and do no good, Sesshomaru would do what he wanted no matter what arguments Inuyasha made.

Sesshomaru glanced over at Inuyasha annoyed but unwilling to continue the discussion this ignorant boy needed to be put in his place and fast. "Lets go." He said gruffly then began walking forward.

"MOVE OUT!" Inuyasha said loudly then pushed off the tree with his foot and followed Sesshomaru unfolding his arms and grasping the hilt of Tessaiga with one hand. He grabbed the sheath with his other hand then popped the sword up with his thumb slightly to make sure the sword was loose and ready for combat.

"You really should surrender you whimpering pup." Sesshomaru growled out irritated as he glared at Hotaru who albeit out on the front lines with his men for once was behind them ordering them around unlike Sesshomaru who was in the lead of his army.

"Piss off you overgrown human loving disgrace of a demon." Hotaru growled back angrily as he glared over his men at Sesshomaru.

"Any of you wishing to surrender will be shown mercy stay by your faulty leader and your death is assured." Sesshomaru said his words now focused on the men and women set up in this last line of defense of their "Lord". He didn't expect any of them to take him up on his offer cause if any of them did they would have sure been killed by Hotaru right there. But with the offer out on the table once the battle began some may fade away into the shadows or outright surrender when their "Lord" wasn't watching.

"Stand your ground make them come to us!" Hotaru yelled out over his men then did something Inuyasha didn't like, he smirked for just a half of a split second. Inuyasha's guts were twisting this devious bastered has something planned once the fighting starts.

"Sesshomaru." Inuyasha whispered.

"Hush!" Sesshomaru growled out then sprung forward intending on a quick surprise attack.

"Damn him!" Inuyasha growled out as he glared at Sesshomaru's back, he was being unusually arrogant today for some reason. "What are you waiting for a written invitation? Follow him!" Inuyasha growled out at the soldiers around him then followed Sesshomaru knowing something was amiss with this situation.

The battle went to hell really quick, the North and East were a couple day's behind the West due to the sheer distance they had to travel compared to the West. The South had several long-range attack demons right on the front line taking its toll on the Western Line as they advance. It took a couple of minutes to start to break their front lines with Sesshomaru and Inuyasha up front making the biggest damages to the Southern Troops.

To Sesshomaru's eyes he was pleased with the results when the Southern Troops began to retreat scattering in all directions. He bared his fangs and smirked at the weak-willed troops before him. "There you are coward." He said viciously as his eyes found Hotaru and followed his retreat towards the left side of the Palace.

Inuyasha noticed Sesshomaru's Aura was not going forward with him anymore so he turned to see Sesshomaru following Hotaru he took a step to follow. "Sesshomaru…" he said then was attacked by and unusually eager opponent for a defeated foe. "Don't…Sesshomaru…STOP!" he yelled but couldn't go after him because of his opponent.

Sesshomaru caught up to Hotaru but now he was no where near his own troops. "Surrender pup. Your mother wants me to spare your life. This is the last and only chance you get." He said smirking as he advanced on the boy eager to get this over with.

"Now just hold on a moment." Hotaru said with a nervous laugh holding one hand up in front of him as if to stay his execution while backing away. "My mother would be so disappointed in you if you killed me." He said paying close attention to where he was going while glancing up at Sesshomaru.

"She knows that if it comes down to it you will die if you fight us." Sesshomaru said quickening his step to catch him before he sneaked away in the shadows of the forest like he loved to do.

"That's not very sporting you have centuries of knowledge on me." Hotaru said with another nervous laugh but he had stopped backing away.

"Then surrender pup!" Sesshomaru growled out with a smirk on his lips pointing his sword at Hotaru eager for this war to end.

"No you surrender!" Hotaru said viciously as he quickly kneeled down attacking the ground with a dagger he had hidden behind his back.

Sesshomaru surprised by the sudden move was just a half a second too late to move. To be honest he didn't have anywhere to go this was the best trap he had ever seen and had ignorantly just walked right into it. His body was pierced with so many different weapons he wasn't quite sure what all had been used against him. He looked like a bleeding pincushion. "You…bastard…" He coughed out spraying blood out of his mouth with one eye closed tightly in pain that he would never admit too.

"Oh, goodie does it hurt?" Hotaru said eagerly as he moved forward. "Stakes, swords, spikes, and spears are so useful don't you think?" he said happily as he moved in to inspect his handy work.

"I should have known… you wouldn't fight… like a proper Lord… you've always… preferred cheating…" Sesshomaru said coughing out more blood with each pause.

"To see the look on your precious Miko's face when I toss her your head will be priceless." Hotaru said viciously malice dripping form his fangs like venom from a snake as he unsheathed his sword and stepped closer to Sesshomaru preparing for the kill.

"Better luck next time." Sesshomaru said with a sly look of his own as he turned into his ball of light and flew away the weapons that had been stabbing him clattered to the ground in a bloody heap.

"NOOOOOO!" Hotaru screamed as his prey escaped.

~*~*~*~ Western Castle~*~*~*~

Kagome let out a wail of anguish as she jerked upright in her chair by the stairs. "Mommy are you alright?" Hikaru asked worried as he looked up at her wide eyed. She had startled him awake as he lay across her lap snoozing like normal.

"Lady Kagome!" Himeko said worried as she kneeled down beside Kagome's chair.

"Sesshomaru's hurt." Kagome said with tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at her friend. "I've got to get to him." She said as she scooted Hikaru off her lap then began to stand up, she didn't make it she doubled over in pain holding her lower belly crying out she used one hand to steady herself on the chair arm.

"Out of the question." Tsubaki said gracefully walking down the hall quickly. "Whatever you saw in your dream seems to have brought on labor." She said reaching out and steading Kagome.

"I agree this could be a long night." Dr Tadashi said from the top of the stairs with Hero right beside him. Apparently, Kagome's wail had woken the whole castle. Several castle guards stormed in through the main doors with weapons drawn ready to defend their Lady and castle.

"It's alright." Himeko said quickly with her hands up in front of her to show them there was no danger. "She's just in labor." She reassured them as they skeptically looked around putting their weapons away slowly.

"We've got to get her up to her room." Sango said as she rushed down the stairs leaving Miroku at the top with their three children.

"There's no time for that!" Kagome said angrily as she glared up at Sango.

"You aren't going out of this castle in your condition." Tsubaki said admonishingly to Kagome as she pulled her upright towards the stairs.

Kagome let out a painful scream and doubled over again. "Not what I mean!" she panted out then used Tsubaki's Kimono to lower herself to the floor.

"Hurry get blankets, pillows, warm water!" Sango yelled as she kneeled down beside Kagome grabbing her hand. "It's going to be alright." She said reassuringly as she brushed Kagome's hair out of her face.

"This is no place to have a baby!" Tsubaki said shocked as Kagome began pushing with the contractions.

"IT'S NOT UP TO YOU!" Kagome yelled through the contraction.