"Kagome! Behind you!"
The miko quickly whipped around when she heard the warning reach her ears, her long black hair fanning around her as she turned.
Swiftly she lifted her hand into the air as a purple light immediately erupted from her finger tips; creating a transluscent dome barrier around her.
Suddenly blades of a trident came piercing down from the darkened sky, with a clawed hand grasping the shaft tightly.
The impact of the trident clashing into the barrier caused powerful gusts of wind and electricity to spark around the miko and the demon. Dirt and rocks swirled around them like a whirlwind, as her robes flapped chaotically against her body.
The priestess glared up at the water demon above her as he continued to push his trident into her barrier.
She watched as a sickening smile formed on his lips when he noticed her shield began to crack underneath his forceful power.
Her hazel eyes widened as she noticed droplets of water starting to form around the piercing blades, creating an eerie blue glow to swirl around her barrier making it crack even more from the pressure it was enforcing.
I need to do something soon! Or he's going to shatter my barrier!
Releasing her short bow from her hand, she concentrated her purifying energy into her palm.
The priestess watched as the demons yellow eyes widened with shock as she lifted her other hand into the air. Omnipotent purifying energy erupted from her delicate palm like a beam of purple light.
The demon cursed loudly as he barely dodged the beam, pulling the trident from the barrier as he jumped a few feet away from the priestess.
That was the first time I ever did that...
Kagome felt pride swell within her breasts at her new accomplishment as her barrier completely shattered around her, its pieces evaporating into the air.
"I have misjudged you and your comrade." The demon sneered making the priestesses eyes to snap over to his direction.
She watched as his scale like skin shimmered underneath the moonlight as his features contorted into a deep frown.
His eyes, a piercing yellow with thin slits, glowed through the darkness as he glowered at her.
She remained emotionless under his stare, watching as his hand rake over his chest of thick armor, clawed finger tips gliding slowly over the indentations and cracks that littered over it due to Sangos hiraikotsu.
Her thin eyebrows furrowed with frustration as she could only see a few light burns decorate his skin along with a torn kimono sleeve from her purifying arrows.
Every arrow she shot at him, the demon managed to dodge it... barely.
He was fast for a water demon, constantly dodging her and Sangos attacks.
His kind were more powerful in water, in their own watery domain. But, this demon had proven to be just as deadly on the grassy service.
"So many warriors have fallen to my trident; perishing before they could even inflict any harm onto me." He said, as his yellow eyes glowed menacingly at her, "And yet, two human women managed to do this much damage."
Kagome scowled at his words.
"Are you shocked, demon?" The priestess asked mockingly. "You preyed on the innocent women from the village and devoured them. How fitting is it that two human women will be the ones to defeat you in the end."
She watched his grip tighten on the shaft of his weapon, so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"You think you can defeat me, wench?" The water demon scoffed. "I will slaughter you and that slayer before I allow you the chance to strike me once more."
Suddenly the demon launched forward, his long gray hair flowing behind him as he sprinted towards the miko at great demonic speed.
His thin lips were pulled back, revealing sharp jagged teeth, similar to a sharks gruesome mouth.
Taken aback by his sudden swift movements, the miko took a step back.
She once again raised her hand forward, finger tips glowing purple; creating the same barrier to protect her.
"Another fucking barrier?!" The demon roared in aggravation.
With a slight bend of his knee, he pushed himself with ease off the ground into the air.
He seemed to float up in the sky as he held his trident up high above him.
She watched as forms of water began to swirl around the sharp blade, the eerie glow of blue once again reappearing around the three blades.
"Let's see if your barrier can handle this!" He shouted, his eyes wide with vicious intent.
Suddenly he lunged down towards her, his weapon outstretched before him; blades pointing directly at her.
Hazel eyes widened as her confidence somewhat deteriorated within her as she felt his demonic aura push against her.
He's so powerful... will my barrier manage to withhold under his attack?
The priestess held in her breathe as the demon descended closer and closer to her, the points of his trident inches away from her shield.
"Hiraikotsu!"
A gigantic boomerang erupted out of the dark forest making its way towards the descending water demon.
His yellow eyes widened in surprise as the spinning weapon approached him at great speed.
Kagome watched as the unbreakable weapon sliced through the demons arm that once held the trident that pointed down at her. Blood splattered out from his decapitated arm as he screamed in pain.
The boomerang flew away then suddenly made a u-turn in the sky, targeting the screaming demon that was falling to the ground.
It's hard surface once again making contact with the demon, but this time with his leg.
He shrieked louder as the boomerang slashed through the flesh and bone, making another clean cut.
Screams echoed throughout the quiet night, as the demon landed on the hard forest floor with a loud thud.
Blood poured out of his open wounds, creating a pool of dark crimson around his twitching body as his decapitated hand and leg laid lifeless a few inches away from him, forgotten.
"I'm going to fucking kill you both!" He shouted, as blood leaked out of the corners of his mouth. "You fucking bitches! I'm going to rip you both apart!"
Kagome bent down, grabbing her smooth bow that she dropped earlier when she was attacked.
With a heavy sigh she stood up and pulled out a arrow from the quiver that was latched tightly to her back with a leather strap.
She sheathed the arrow against her bow, her pointer finger aiming at the demons head, a purple light began to form at the tip of her arrow.
"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!" The demon shouted over and over again hysterically at her while he desperately tried to pull himself across the ground, toward the direction of his trident.
"I'm going to kill-"
She unleashed her arrow.
The purple glowing arrowhead made direct contact with his head, causing it to blow up into a million pieces along with half of the demons upper body.
Chunks of flesh and bone flew throughout the air as blood rained down upon the earth.
With sigh of relief the miko slumped to the ground, knees tucking underneath her. She felt her body slightly relax as her tired hazel eyes watched the smoke leak out of the demons waist, its flesh and innards still sizzling against the purifying power that lingered upon it.
"What a mess."
The miko turned her head away from the corpse to face her approaching friend.
Her eyes skimmed over the demon slayers appearance, taking in her torn skin tight jump suit and disheveled hair. Thin eyebrows furrowed when she noticed that one of the torn areas on her arm revealed blood.
"Are you okay, Sango?" The miko asked, her voice etched with obvious worry.
The demon slayer smiled slightly at her friends concern. "It' just a scratch. There is no reason for you to worry."
With a soft sigh leaving her lips, the demon slayer sat next to her friend, placing her massive boomerang on the ground next to her.
Chocolate eyes scanned over the mikos appearance, "Are you okay though? You're covered in blood."
Hazel eyes looked down at her traditional miko robes that were torn from the fight, its pearl white fabric decorated in dark splatters of blood.
Despite her vile appearance, the blood wasn't hers.
She accumulated few scrapes and bruises when she was dodging the demons attacks earlier as she sped through the forest, hoping to lure him further and further away from the ocean waters.
The blood upon her was most likely from his head exploding from her purifying arrow.
"It's not my blood," the miko stated, a frown tugging at her lips as she glared down at the mess upon her.
"You have a piece of bone in your hair."
"Oh my... Sango!" The miko shrieked, her hands quickly going to her slovenly dark tresses. "Get it out please!"
The demon slayer chuckled at her friends panicked behavior, as she leaned over and gently pulled out jagged piece of bone from her hair.
The priestesses face contorted into utter disgust as Sango tossed the bone behind her completely unphased. "That's so gross..." Kagome grumbled, "Let's hurry back to the village so we can take a bath."
"I thought you'd be used to this by now."
Kagome crossed her arms over her breasts definently, her bottom lip slightly pouting. "I can handle the gore and blood in battle, I'm just not used to someone else's literally being on me."
The demon slayer softly laughed as Kagome continued to complain next to her about her blood stained appearance.
"Well then let's hurry back so we can take a relaxing bath and get some sleep. Despite the late hour, I'm sure the Lord and his men are patiently waiting for us to return."
"Yeah, you're right. We should get going." Kagome said as she got to her feet. She flinched slightly at the tightness of her muscles and the painful soreness throbbing throughout her acheing body.
The fabric of her kimono stuck to the open scrapes and small cuts upon her flesh, making her feel even more pain as the fabric peeled off her small wounds as she moved.
My body is going to hurt so bad tomorrow... the miko dreadingly thought as she made her way towards the trident that lay a few inches away from its owners corpse.
She bent forward, her hand reaching out to grab the shaft of the weapon, fingers grasping the thick smooth wood. She stood, lifting the weapon from the ground, surprised at how heavy it was.
A frown formed on her lips at the thought of carrying this unwieldy trident all the way back to the village just to present it to the Lord as proof that they defeated the terriozing demon.
A shuffling of clothes was heard behind the miko, causing her to glance back.
She watched as the demon slayer searched through the armor and clothes of what was left of the demon.
"Find anything good?" the priestess asked.
Sango jingled a pouch of coins ecstatically in the air, "Found this securely tucked inside his shin plate, it's full of silver and copper." The girls lips turned down suddenly, "He probably got these from the women he preyed upon..."
The miko sighed, "Most likely..."
At least the village will be safe now that this gruesome demon is exterminated...
Kagome heard her friend unsheath her wakizashi and pierce it through the flesh of the deceased demon.
The sounds of her pulling the flesh apart and cracking the bones seemed defeaning.
Noticing the mikos unease, the demon slayer quickly said, "I'll be quick.. I just need to take some of these demons bones. Soon I'll need to track down Totosai and have him forge weapons for my daughters with the bones that Kohaku and I have acquired over the years."
Kagome turned away from the gory scene, "You're fine Sango, take your time."
What Sango was doing was no surprise to the miko. When she traveled with Kohaku in the past he often did the same thing; ripping apart the flesh and muscle of the demons they slaughtered on their travels, so he could retrieve their bones to make stronger armor and weapons to use in the future.
Kagome suddenly felt a hand softly touch her shoulder breaking her from her thoughts of the past. "All finished, now let's get going." Her friend said.
It was quiet as the two girls made their way to the village through the darkness.
The only sounds you could hear were the crunching of dried leaves under their feet as they walked along the rocky path and the high whistle of the autumns breeze as it danced through the forest trees.
The demon slayer was the first to break the silence.
"Instead of journeying back to our village in the morning, did you want to stay a extra day Kagome?" The demon slayer asked, remembering how the miko always begged in the past to stay for a few extra days in the village they visited, just so she could explore and sight see.
The priestess was never in a rush to hurry back home; always enjoying the break away from her priestess duties and training.
"Hmm, no I'd like to hurry home." The miko said causing Sango to glance at her friend, her chocolate eyes full of bewilderment.
This is unlike her, the demon slayer thought. Especially since the village we are at is a wealthy one and has dozens of shops and restaurants as well as a beach nearby.
"Really?" Sango questioned, her thin eyebrows rising curiously.
Noticing her friends questioning gaze and tone, the miko began to fidget slightly. "I mean if you want to stay we can. I don't mind."
Chocolate eyes squinted down at the priestess knowingly, "Is it because of Koga? Is he the reason why you wish to return to our village as soon as possible?"
The miko gulped nervously, quickly glancing down to her hands that carried the heavy trident.
A light blush crept upon her cheeks at the mention of the wolf demons name.
In all honesty, her best friend was right, the reason why she wanted to return to the village was because of the wolf king.
The general and his men that arrived at her village days ago, begged for her help to relieve them of the demon that was kidnapping and killing their women. They were even offering her large amounts of coin as payment for her help.
And when she agreed to help them, they immediately requested for her and Sango to leave the next day since the village was a weeks journey from her own.
So she left, before she could see the wolf demon and say her good byes and tell him that she would he gone for a while.
And with her sudden departure, not being able to see him or speak to him for over a week now, she couldn't help but miss him dearly.
She missed him so much that her heart softly ached just thinking about him.
And she thought about the wolf king all the time.
But, she couldn't tell Sango about her feelings. Her best friend made it quite obvious that she didn't approve of the wolf on multiple occasions.
"W-what do you mean, Sango?" The miko stuttered nervously.
"The two of you seem very close now." The demons slayers eyes squinted slightly, "He is constantly visiting and bestowing countless gifts upon you."
"Well of course, we are friends after all."
The two women remained silent for a while. Chocolate eyes glaring up ahead as nervous hazel ones glanced everywhere but at the demon slayer.
"Do you want to be just friends with him?" Sango asked softly, breaking the heavy silence.
Kagome felt her heart stop within her breasts as her mind began to frantically race.
Sango knows... she knows of my feelings for him. Ugh. Why can't I ever hide my emotions?
And...
What do I even want?
She never put much thought into it in the past.
Her fear of loving someone again mostly held her back along with the fact that the wolf king was already betrothed to another.
So she constantly tried to brush her growing feelings for the wolf demon to the side because she just saw no point in trying to go beyond friendship with him.
But as the days went by, and with him always constantly visiting her and treating her with such kindness... she became attached, making it so hard to remain just friends with him.
Even on this recent quest she was on, she found herself yearning for him even more as the days passed; making her realize just how strong her feelings were for Koga.
The miko nervously licked her dry lips, deciding to just be honest with her best friend.
"Honestly, I don't know what I want anymore." She said softly, "I don't think Koga has any strong feelings for me that surpass friendship. I mean it's obvious that he cares for me, but when you look back at his past behavior towards me... he was just so bold years ago. So blunt about his feelings and he had no issue expressing it either. And now..."
"Well it would be hard for him to express his feelings when he is betrothed to another." Sango said sternly.
Kagome remained silent, her features showing obvious signs of sadness from the demon slayers words.
Sango sighed, "What would you do if Koga broke the betrothal agreement with Ayame?"
"He wouldn't." The miko immediately whispered.
"But if he did?"
Kagome remained silent.
Chocolate eyes stared up at the darkened sky as the two women walked side by side; the creamy moon glowed brightly against the black never ending blanket with the dusting of thousands of stars upon it twinkling.
"I have a feeling... that Koga will soon break his agreement with the North." Sango said softly.
Large hazel eyes snapped in the direction of the demon slayer as thin eyebrows raised with confusion. "What do you-"
"And when he does... I feel that you need to be aware of some things." The demon slayer interrupted. "I obviously don't know all the details concerning his agreement with the northern tribe, but when he does break it, war will most likely ensue between the two tribes."
Kagome felt her eyes widen at the word war.
"War... we've seen some of it during our travels in the past, it's devastating and brutal. And Koga will be throwing himself into it along with his tribesmen... and whoever he cares about." Chocolate eyes glanced down at the wide hazel ones that gawked up at her, "Kagome, what would you do if Koga were to ask you to be his mate?"
The miko turned away from her friend, not wanting to look into her intense questioning eyes anymore.
Pressure seemed to weigh down on her as her mind raced to come up with some sort of answer.
She never really entertained the idea; the blissful thought of becoming more than just lovers with the wolf... becoming something stronger... becoming as one with him permanently.
Because when she did, a red headed demoness would appear immediately shattering that blithe image.
But, if he cancelled the betrothal agreement to Ayame...
And came to me and asked me to be his mate...
The mikos heart fluttered within her breasts at the thought of the handsome wolf demon confessing his feelings to her and asking her to be his.
But, no matter how much that image brought so much joy to the priestess, there was a darkness looming behind it.
War.
She never really thought that Koga would go down another path, always just assuming that he'd eventually mate with Ayame.
But, if he were to break the alliance that he agreed upon, Sango was right, war would break out.
And if he were to, by some chance, choose her to be his mate instead... it would most definitely cause more disastrous problems for the wolf king.
He was a pure blooded wolf demon, a powerful king now; with responsibilities and duties he had to constantly uphold along with protecting his growing tribe.
And she... she was a mere priestess, a human girl from the future who shouldn't even be here in this era... she was nothing important and held no value.
He'd never choose her.
The miko felt her chest begin to ache painfully and her stomach turn.
Her hazel eyes started to glaze over with water as she bit down upon her bottom lip, hoping to distract herself from letting the tears drop from her glistening eyes.
This feeling...
She knew this feeling so well thanks to her past love; heart break.
"Sango, he'd never ask me that."