The King of Reptiles

The morning following the talk with Sango and Kagome, Saeka felt violently ill once more, so she reluctantly agreed to accept a ride from a more than willing and concerned Storm. Exhausted for some reason, she fell in and out of consciousness leaning against his upraised neck. He kept a steady and slightly slow pace so as not to disturb her.

The half-demon, InuYasha walked beside Storm, a determined look on his face. Storm grumbled. " Is something troubling you, half-demon?"

" My name, is InuYasha. And no. Nothing is, 'troubling' me." He growled in response. Storm shook his head a bit. " Well then, InuYasha, can you tell me. How did you meet Saeka? Where was she when you all first knew her?"

" Why are you asking me? Sesshomaru was the one who went and kidnapped her after she healed him."

Storm suddenly drew in a breath as a sudden dream vision entered his mind from Saeka.

Saeka watched as the silver-haired demon raised the thin sword and swung it at her at midsection, striking her dead on and hurtling her backward from the force. But surprisingly, she was unharmed as she shakily sat up and looked at where the sword had struck. She gazed up at him, still shaking. " How on earth did you do that?"

" The Tenseiga." He replied, holding it aloft for her to see. " It is a fairly useless sword that cannot kill."

Saeka slowly heaved herself to her feet, still watching him warily. " So, then you did that to scare me?"

" If that is what you'd like to call it. Come."

Storm snapped out of the vision and shook his head. It was so familiar, how he felt he knew Saeka. But he was being honest; he'd never seen her before in his life. What was this? Maybe it had something to do with that demon that lay asleep within the mountain, the one kept under the spell cast by a powerful emerald from the jewel cave. Crin had told him everything. Yes, he thought. That must be it.

Storm turned his eye back to look at Saeka. She was quite peaceful, but was she the one giving him the visions? And if so, why?

Kisho grumbled loudly as Ayame and Koga came to a halt at a rocky ledge overlooking a misty valley. Koga was beginning to regret his deal made with Kisho to get him the Tetsuaiga. Why the kid even wanted it, he couldn't figure out. He glanced over at Ayame. She was staring down into the valley with glassy eyes. She was very tired and he could see it in every line of her face. Kisho had kept pestering them and it became a goal for the two of them to run as fast as they could and lose him for a few precious minutes before he finally caught up. He somehow always found them.

" Koga, are we there yet!?" Kisho yelled from behind them. Koga growled to himself and raised his eyes to the sky. " No, Kisho." He snarled through clenched teeth. Kisho sighed irritably. " I want that sword. Saeka has to die for what she did."

" We heard you the first million times!" Koga growled. " Now shut up. I think they went there, into that valley. I believe that's the passage of The Northern Gates."

" Why would they go there?" Ayame asked. Koga shrugged. " I don't know. But both mutts are there. The scent is faint, but both Sesshomaru and InuYasha came this way. We're on the right path."

As they took off toward the gate, Kisho trailing behind, Koga's eyes narrowed.

But I don't like the other scent I've picked up either.

Saeka awoke the see that they were approaching a large mountainside so obscured in mist that she couldn't see the top. She gazed up at it in wonder and then made a silent cringe as her lower abdomen started to ache. She was getting concerned. This baby was growing frighteningly fast. Almost too fast in her opinion. It could be born shortly, maybe within the month. They had to find Sesshomaru and fast.

InuYasha, still walking beside Storm, looked at Saeka, saw her cringe and take on a distant, sad look and knew exactly what she was thinking. He moved closer and took her hand. She looked down at him and he smiled at her encouragingly. " Relax. As soon as we find him, you can have that kid without worry." He said. She smiled weakly. " Thank you." She murmured.

" We have arrived at the gate." Storm announced.

" I don't see it." Sango said.

" Is this whole stone wall the gate?" Miroku asked in bewilderment. Storm nodded. " Yes." He said. " Golgiroth is within."

Back a ways, Saaya, who hadn't said much this whole time, shuddered. Naraku, who hadn't spoken in awhile either, pulled her close to him protectively.

" How do we get in?" InuYasha asked.

" Just so you know, not all of you might make it." Storm cautioned. Everyone's eyes snapped over to him.

" What?" Kagome shrieked, making Sakura whimper.

" Mommy, why'd you do that?" she whined. Kagome stroked her hair.

" Sorry, honey." She said. Then to Storm, she glared and snapped, " What do you mean 'not all of us might make it'?"

" The entryway is filled with traps and obstacles. I'd take you through another way, but Golgiroth has sealed those passages off. The only way to get through is this way, the way that your friend probably took."

" Well," InuYasha said, drawing the Tetsuaiga and wielding it before him cautiously. " What're we waiting for?"

He started forward, disappearing into the gloom. Storm sighed and shook his mane. " Fool."

" What was that for?" Miroku asked suspiciously. At that moment, they heard a yell of anger and pain from within the passage.

" Oh no!" Kagome screamed. " InuYasha!"

InuYasha suddenly came flying backward out of the passage, sliding to a halt on the ground at Kagome's feet. She knelt down and lifted him up, shaking up gently. He had been knocked out.

" InuYasha! InuYasha!" she cried. " Wake up! Please!"

" What happened?" Sango exclaimed. Naraku ran up and stopped in front of them, his eyes glowing bright purple.

" Naraku, what are you doing?" Kagome yelled.

" Quiet! I'm trying something!" he responded. He was literally shaking with the effort of whatever it was he was doing. Saaya came up a few feet away and watched him anxiously.

All of a sudden, he gasped and stepped back, his eyes reverting to normal. With a yell, he whirled, grabbed Saaya and threw himself out of the way as something erupted from the cave entrance and snapped with fearsome black jaws at the spot where they had been not moments before. Storm snarled and stepped back, tail lashing angrily. Saeka slid down from his back and turned to face the menace.

" What is that?" Miroku said, his hand going to the cover on his other.

" It's a basilisk." Sango said grimly. " The king of reptiles. Nobody meet its stare! If you do, it'll kill you! And Miroku, it's deadly poisonous! Don't suck it in! Its blood is even composed of venom!"

" How do we fight it if we can't look at it?" Kagome cried, terror growing in her voice as it etched further out of the cave. The thing was enormous. It had a long two-pronged lashing tail and six scaly legs each with three stone-colored claws on the feet. Its body was finely muscled and it was covered in sharp spines all down it's back. But most fearsome was its head, which resembled a lizard's. Its teeth were razor sharp and from what they could see, its eyes were bright green with reddish black vertical slits that opened and narrowed from the light. It let out a low guttural sound as it prepared for a meal and stepped closer, the ground shaking each time.

" There's one way I know of that will make it so we can face it." Sango replied. " Somehow, we have to disable its sense of sight. Then it won't be able to stop us in our tracks with a glance at our eyes."

" I think I can do it." Naraku said. " My eyes have a special ability to see through closed lids. I developed several sight abilities in my eight years of solitude before I met Saaya. If someone can lend me a weapon, I can attack its eyes."

Sango handed him her slaying sword. He took it. " Thanks." He said. He was about to stand up, but Saaya stopped him. " Wait, what if you get yourself killed?" she said pleadingly.

" Saaya, don't worry. I'll be safe. I promise to come back to you." He whispered, taking her face in his hand for a moment. Her eyes shone with worry, but she blinked and nodded. He straightened up and shut his eyes as they started their usual purple glow. He charged forward with what little demonic strength he still had and as the basilisk's head came down at him, he pushed off the ground and landed on its head as it crashed into the earth. It roared as it struggled to shake him off and Naraku held onto its horns to keep his balance. He raised the sword to jam it into its left eye first, but as he was bringing it down, he yelled in surprise when it suddenly whirled its head around and bashed it into the rock wall of the gate. Naraku barely managed to leap out of the way and not open his eyes, as was his reflex to do so. In truth, he wasn't seeing as clearly as he would have liked with his power, but it would have to do. He had to protect Saaya and the others. He grimaced. Nine years ago, he would have laughed silly at such a thought.

The basilisk pulled its head back to ram it into the wall again. This time, Naraku was ready. He quickly switched to the right side and used the momentum of its swinging head to add force to the sword. When the head hit the wall, the sword was plunged deep within its left eye, puncturing a deep hole in it. The basilisk roared in fury and agony as blood gushed from its ruined eye. Naraku held onto the horn tightly as it began to swing wildly, trying in vain to throw him off. When it finally stopped thrashing a moment to attempt the wall strategy once more, Naraku took this chance to just stab the sword into the remaining eye. This time, the basilisk hissed darkly and stopped moving. It stood, but it had frozen. Naraku opened his eyes, now there was no danger of being frozen. He was still atop the head.

" What? Why did it stop?" he wondered aloud. He saw that the others were noticing the lack of danger from its eyes and Saaya had been one of the first to open hers. He saw how pale she was, even from this distance and realized that she must have been fighting against her instincts during the whole time she could hear him fighting the serpent. Now, her eyes widened in horror.

" Naraku! Behind you! Look out!" she screamed. He turned a moment too late. The serpent's long tail lashed up behind him and he felt an agonizing pain in his chest as he was thrown backward, off the basilisk's head onto the rocky ground. He heard Saaya scream.

The next thing he heard was the sound of the Wind Scar and the death hiss from the basilisk as it was finished off.

The next he felt was his head being lifted off the ground and elevated slightly.

" Hang on! Please! Don't die!" Saaya's voice came to him from a distant place. She was so far away and yet so close.

" –ery bad. Might not-"

Everything being said was being broken up as he struggled to stay conscious. He groaned and fought to keep his eyes open.

" Saaya." He rasped out. As his vision grew unpleasantly blurry, he felt her hand on his forehead. It felt cool and comforting. He felt like he was on fire and that it was consuming him from the inside out. Her hands felt soothing against the flames within him.

" -Raku! Naraku! Keep listen-"

Finally, he sighed and just gave up. He was too tired.

He'd deal with whatever was happening when he woke up.

Saaya cradled his head in her lap, tears cascading down her face as she tried to help him stay conscious. " Please! Listen to my voice! Don't die! Please!" she cried again and again.

" Please tell me he'll make it." Saeka said, clutching the neck of her cloak anxiously. Storm, head bent over Naraku's limp and bleeding form, hissed quietly.

" I don't know. The basilisk's tail was covered in thick viscous venom. It's entered the wound where it stabbed him. If we can't get it out of him, he will die, without fail."

" How can we get it out?" Saaya cried.

" I'll take him to a spring around here and get one of you to try to help me wash it out. We'll have to hurry. The least we can do is save him. Not even the dragons in Golgiroth's clan are powerful enough to defeat a young basilisk, much less a fully-grown one. Fortunately, the venom spreads slowly because of its high viscosity."

With Saaya's help, he hoisted him onto his back. As Saeka watched, a territorial gleam came into Storm's eyes, but vanished as quickly as it appeared. He nodded to Miroku who started to follow after him to find a spring. Saaya attempted to go after them.

" No Saaya." Miroku said. " You may react badly. This wound is probably much deeper than can be seen at the moment."

Saaya whimpered, but stayed behind, watching them disappear into the mists. Her eyes never left the one she loved.

Kagome and Sango came over and took her back over by the gate after InuYasha had disposed of the basilisk's corpse. Saeka stood and waited for Storm and Miroku to return. She felt restless for some reason.

" You know, I think I'll transform." She said out of the blue. They nodded. It was something they were used to.

" Are you sure it's safe for the baby?" Sango asked concernedly.

" I'm allowed a few times before it becomes dangerous. It actually tips the baby in favor of healthy blood so it's good for awhile." She said. As they watched, her body began to glow brightly. Within minutes, standing before them was the same magnificent white dragon with the blue mane and emerald eyes. She looked no different from any other time, even though she was to have a baby. She lowered herself to her side, her legs folded slightly beside her. She couldn't lay on her stomach for obvious reasons. Saaya turned away from Sango and Kagome and snuggled up beside her mother. Saeka curled her long tail around her and waited until she fell asleep.

Sakura came over and watched Saaya sleep. " Will she be alright, aunt Saeka?" she asked quietly. Saeka nodded, the tendrils on her muzzle drifting in little peaceful arcs.

Saeka sighed and stared up at the gate.

Tomorrow, I get to see what I've always believed proved wrong.

A/N: Sorry it took so long. Stressful week. I finally got it up, though. I heard that fanfiction alerts are down, so I'll try and let people know this chapter is up until things are up and running again.