Shikon Light

At long last I had come face to face with my enemy. But still, Naraku would seek to employ his devious tactics against me. He was there, staring out at me from behind the soulless eyes of Kohaku, silently daring me to attack a form so loved by one of my friends. As the true coward that he is, Naraku was still hiding behind barriers which he believed to be impenetrable.

"So it has come to this," though it was Kohaku's voice that I heard, there was no mistaking the deeper undertones laced within the voice that told of the true master behind them. "The Taiyoukai that seeks to preserve the lands for the present and the miko that would seek to preserve the lands for the future; shall be the last to stand against me. Were I a gracious being, I would permit you to join with your fallen comrades; but I believe that allowing you to bear witness to my rise to power shall be far more gratifying."

"Naraku," Sesshomaru stepped forward, "Your cowardly games have gone on long enough."

"Oh, is that so? I would have thought that you would appreciate all that I have given you Sesshomaru. After all, were it not for me creating the soul-bond between yourself and the miko through the enchanted mirror and the glorious jewel, you would never have felt enough for a mortal to be able to wield your father's great fang."

"Foolish creature," a small, vengeful smirk worked its way onto Sesshomaru's lips as he retorted. "Are you so arrogant that you can not see the threat posed to you now that Tetsusaiga's power is in my possession?"

"My arrogance!" The light chimes of a child's laughter were sickened by the wicked taint of the dark creature that lurked beneath. "It was your arrogance which prevented you from seeing that the 'sacred' bonding of the inuyoukai could never occur between a dog and a human; your arrogance which led you into battle even though you knew that she would be your weakness; your arrogance which made you believe that you would not be affected by the breaking of the bond because you never believed that you could love her, a 'pathetic' human; but it is your ignorance as to the allure of the Shikon as it is presented through its blessed guardian that shall prove your undoing. You have seen her compassion, her kindness and her caring nature. You have felt her tender touch and her caring hand. You have seen her fire, her passion and her conviction. You have felt her power. You have seen with your own eyes the blessings the Shikon bestows upon its wielder, and now that the full Shikon no Tama is in my possession everything that I desire shall be mine."

"And that includes," the dark, empty eyes focused on me, "The Miko of the Shikon."

A wave of dread washed over me when he spoke those words. A slow, agonizing shudder flowed like thick syrup though my veins; leaving a raw, empty feeling in its wake. Ugly and repulsive images of what this monster would do to me were he ever to gain the power he desired flashed uninhibitedly through my mind, and for a moment I was gripped still by the clammy hands of fear.

"Naraku, your wretched, petty desires shall be of no consequence once you are dead."

Sesshomaru's voice was like a guiding light away from the dark images playing though my mind. As he stepped in front of me to block me from Naraku, I couldn't help but think of him as my knight in shinning armor, for he was just that. He had saved me from my fears, held me when I feared I would fall; protected me from the beasts of my nightmares. He would protect me still, even though now my time has come to protect.

I watched as Sesshomaru lifted Tetsusaiga and released a devastating attack. The mighty power of the fang tore through the earth and the sky in a rushing wave of burning fury. But even the power of Sesshomaru and his father's fang combined would not be enough to stop Naraku now. The blast ripped through everything in its path until it collided with the barrier that formed around Naraku's disguised form. The barrier surged with tremendous energy when the contact was made. It began to radiate a deep, black glow which pulled in and confined all of the furious power of the blast that had been sent against it.

I heard the light laughter of Kohaku's puppet one last time before Naraku was speaking again.

"It is time," he said, "For me to receive my just reward."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Kohaku's body began to shake violently. The boy's limbs were flailing so wildly that I could see bones beginning to dislocate from their joints. Suddenly a horrendous cracking noise sounded out, followed by a horrified and anguished, piercing scream. But soon the scream that rose from Kohaku was muffled by something from within.

The silenced boy lifted his head to gaze up at the woven bands of the web above him, and I saw the lone tear that slipped free when Kohaku realized that he would die within this prison.

A second was all the boy would know of his freedom, for once it had passed, a mass of Naraku's slithering tentacles shot out of Kohaku's mouth. They attached themselves to the broken body of the boy and began to haul out the creature that lurked within. My stomach lurched as I watched Naraku's hideous, bulging, deformity of a form slither out from where he had hidden himself within the helpless boy. Once he was free, Naraku discarded the empty shell that he had possessed and Kohaku's body crumbled into a lifeless heap at the monster's feet.

Before my eyes, the wretched form of Naraku began to change in appearance; becoming once again the false image of dignity and beauty that he favors so. When the transformation had been completed, Naraku faced Sesshomaru with his head held high; filled with a borrowed sense of security and stolen power.

"Know that you have lost." He hissed out in his deep, liquid voice.

The barrier surrounding Naraku surged again. From just beneath the surface of the darkly glowing barrier, the raging fires of Sesshomaru's devastating attack churned in restless anticipation. With no further warning, the blast was fired; Tetsusaiga's own power used against us by Naraku's barrier.

I wasn't even given the opportunity to think about moving, because no sooner had the blast been fired, Sesshomaru was picking me up and carrying me a safe distance away. He held me close to his body, his broad shoulders shielding me from any raining debris or errant currents of energy. When we set down on the ground, Sesshomaru moved to go back at Naraku, but I stopped him with a touch on the arm.

"Look," I gestured towards Naraku when Sesshomaru had tuned back to me. "It is too late."

Naraku had used the diversion of the repelled attack to join the final fragments of the jewel together. As the jewel came together, the light around Naraku grew to cover everything enclosed within the web. But the light was not light. Everything it touched turned dark as though it were in shadow. The light given off by the dark energy fed to the jewel by Naraku was a black-light, a non-light; it was darkness given new form.

A low growl escaped from Sesshomaru as he lifted the fang before him again, but I tightened my grip on his arm to turn him back to me. When his eyes met mine, I could see the anger and the fury mingled with apprehension and concern hidden within the swirling depths of his golden eyes. A small, rueful smile crossed my lips as I slid my hand down his arm and brushed my fingers along the back of his hand to slacken his grip on his sword.

"Naraku can not be defeated in that way anymore." My hand slipped across his as I repositioned my grip on the sword. I laced my fingers together with his and clasped the sword tightly between our two hands. "But though Tetsusaiga can not break through that barrier, there is a part of me which can."

I swallowed down the tightness in my throat that would have made my voice crack, and willed away the tears that threatened to fall. I pushed away all of my doubts and my fears and focused only on the man that stood with me. No matter what was to come, I knew that a part of me would always remain here; standing with him.

"When I'm in there," I asked of him my last request, "promise me you'll keep my feet on the ground."

"You have my word," he responded in a soft and reassuring voice. "So long as I am able, I shall never let you fall."

A tear broke free from where I had held it at bay as I reached up to caress the side of his face with my free hand.

"But I already have fallen," I told him. "And it was you that was there to catch me."

Before he could say anything more, I leaned into him and pressed my lips to his. The electricity of our connection burned through me like a wild inferno, but I focused every part of me on guiding Sesshomaru to lift the fang with me. When the sword was held in a position to attack, I opened myself fully to the youkai that I had joined with.

My lips parted to pull him closer, to give him more of myself. In the instant that he moved to deepen the kiss, to move past the barrier that had held him at bay; the sword supported by both Sesshomaru and I exploded with the power we had been conducting into it by our contact.

A blast unlike any other ever released by the miraculous fang was sent towards our enemy. The burning flames remained, but not raging as wild fires but rather sweeping forward in a flowing wave. The fires of the demon sword had been clamed by the gentle caress of the glittering tendrils of soft blue which had laced themselves so delicately through the redness of the flames that they seemed to merge; casting off a regal, purple light as it cut through the darkness of the enclosure.

It was within this flowing, brilliant wave of power and energy, that I attached that part of my spirit which would confront my enemy in the final stage of the game.

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I really love this chapter. It's so creepy and disturbing in the way that only a good villain can manage, but it still gives our heroes a chance to lean on each other one more time before what very well may be the end. All the pieces are finally coming together, and the fruits of my labors are being revealed.

Thank you all for bearing with me through this long and complex battle scene. The continued support and kind words never cease to astound me. You are all too kind.

Until next time

ShadowsWeaver1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Any and all definitions (with the exception of those cited specifically) have been taken directly from Wikipedia the online encyclopedia because I am far too lazy to do any further research to support my Inuyasha obsession.