-1A/N: I've been fretting over this chapter for days. It feels...drab. Sorry, but it's the best I could come up with. Warning: character(s) death(s).
Chapter 21
It was eerily quiet as they approached Naraku's castle. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha kept their demonic senses on alert as they walked, Sango's hand was tensed on her boomerang, and Miroku had his hand out and ready to open the wind tunnel in the merest of a second. Yet all was quiet and still. All life seemed to had fled from the area. The plants became brown and withered as they continued on towards the vile castle. There were no chirps of birds or crunches of squirrels playing in the leaves. Death seemed to pour from the castle and contaminant everything with its foul presence.
Making their way out of the woods, they were met by a gray and moldy stone castle. It had not been kept up- the stones were broken, the mortar was crumbling, and the doors hung loosely to the sides of black gaping holes in the wall of the building. Despite its absent appearance, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha could smell Naraku's body in this place and it was a fresh and active scent. Their enemy was here.
"Kukuku..." The evil laughter that could haunt even a grown man's nightmares (or a grown demon if he bothered to sleep to have nightmares) came from the black shadow of an open doorway. "Arrogance will be your downfall, Sesshomaru," came an amused and mocking voice from the showed doorway. Glowing red eyes preceded Naraku's full appearance, baboon pelt and all. The evil creatures smirked evilly and continued, "You dare face me without your pet Miko? Fool. You are no match for me."
Sesshomaru did not waste time for conversation. He never had for anyone else he planned to kill and he certainly wasn't going to have one with Naraku. The demon lord flew forward with his demonic speed, drew Tokigin in an instant, then cut the sword quickly through Naraku.
The sliced baboon pelt fell empty of flesh- it was only a puppet, but then again, Sesshomaru wasn't expecting it to be Naraku. The vile creature, though a fool for messing with this Sesshomaru, was not weak enough to be taken out by so simple an attack. Sesshomaru was simply trying to draw the real Naraku out of hiding. Aware that he was left open for a surprise attack if he remained where he had felled the puppet, Sesshomaru jumped back beside to rest of the group- strength in numbers, someone once said, and for once he actually heeded it. After all, he made a promise that he would come back to Kagome, and he would not jeopardize that promise, not for his pride, at least, after the path with Sasarg and the tree of Emoceba Anomeda.
Naraku's evil cackling could be heard again, but they could not pin-point its location. It seemed to be coming from all sides. "You'll have to try harder than that," came the oddly echoing voice.
The group formed a circle with their backs together to prevent an attack from behind. Inuyasha noticed how easily Sesshomaru became a part of their group to work as a team. The Sesshomaru of old would have sneered at the very idea of working with his hanyou brother and faced the threat alone and unaided. Inuyasha realized that it was Kagome that had brought about this change. It had to be. If his half-brother taiyoukai brother would change so much for one woman unasked, Inuyasha realized that they were truly in love. Not just Kagome having a crush on his brother or his brother lusting after Kagome, but Sesshomaru and Kagome loving each other with all of their hearts and minds. It suddenly clicked why he lost Kagome- he had never been willing to change unasked. Sure, Kagome would have accepted him the way he was, but if they were going to ever have anything deeper, anything more, he would have to be the one to create it. It would have never create itself and it hadn't. Inuyasha realized with awe how Kagome had subtly changed herself for him. It was never anything big, maybe that's why he never took notice before- she wouldn't burn leaves in the evening fires because she knew it irritated his nose; she wouldn't wear fancy perfumes or strong body sprays because of the same reason; she learned to sow and cook on a fire and sleep in the wild so she could spend more time with him; she even bought ramen noodles for him and endured eating them all the time even though he knew that she really didn't like them from her hesitation to stick them in her mouth all the time; she wouldn't wear traditional miko clothes or her hair tied back like Kikyo because she knew it bothered him. All of it had been for him and a thousand other little things. You were right brother. I have been a stupid idiot my entire life, but not for the reasons you always told me. It was because I had Kagome, but I never understood how to make her mine, how to love her. Sesshomaru, you deserve her, and if I have to lay down my life for you to return to her, so be it. I make that promise to myself now and I will not hesitate to fulfill it, thought Inuyasha, preparing himself for anything.
Naraku came out of the shadows again, in front of Inuyasha. "He's over here," shouted Inuyasha, warning the others.
"No, he's over here," shouted Miroku, staring at the baboon pelted figure in front of him.
"But he's over here too," called a very confused Sango sitting on top of Kirara.
"He is here as well," came Sesshomaru's well controlled voice not betraying any shock or confusion.
The group peered around at the other's calls and found four Naraku's circling their protective circle.
"More puppets?" asked Inuyasha, not waiting for a response before he ran forward with Tetsusaiga cut through the Naraku in front of him. The fang easily sliced through the figure and Inuyasha smirked in triumph, however he soon realized that he claimed triumph too early. He had expected the Baboon pelted figure to turn into a wooden puppet figurine like they always did, yet the flesh never disappeared.
It became a gellish liquid and ran up Tetsusaiga, and from there his arm. Inuyasha hurriedly pulled himself out of the nightmarish soquid's grip. It appeared to have been trying to absorb him.
"Watch out!" Inuyasha warned the others. "These puppets aren't like the ones we've faced before. They're trying to absorb us. Don't let them get you in their grip."
"Very good," chorused the Naraku's as one. "You have figured out our plan, but how are you going to stop us? Now die!" The four Naraku's began attacking the comrades who tried to defend themselves the best they could and stay out of the puppets' grasps.
O0o.o0O
The real Naraku sat in the darkness of the castle watching his newest plan unfold. It was simplicity in itself: give each of his new puppets a small portion of his own demonic flesh so that they could regenerate themselves and try to capture the monk, demon slayer, fire cat, hanyou, and taiyoukai.
However the absence of the Miko concerned him. He knew the girl had too fiery of a spirit to not come to face him. He was sure she would show up, and just when he least expected it. She could be his downfall so he would just have to watch out for her.
"The miko will come. Beware of her. She's the only one we need to be concerned about," Naraku instructed his underling, Dainigumo who was faithfully waiting in the shadows beside his master.
O0o.o0O
Sango, still riding on Kirara, threw her boomerang, tearing through the Naraku puppet nearest to her. The flesh reformed so Kirara swatted it with a claw. The flesh caught hold of her fur, crawling up it and trying to encircle both the fire cat and Sango. Kirara fought it with all her strength, biting at it with her sharp teeth and trying to break free of its grasp. Sango hacked at the gooey flesh with her giant boomerang to no effect. It had too strong of a hold.
Sesshomaru was a whirlwind with his blade Tokigin, moving in perfect graceful circles and arcs to repel any Naraku-puppet flesh that tried to touch him. It worked well for the defensive, but there was no way for the demon lord to attack and Sesshomaru knew his strength would not last forever.
Inuyasha was not nearly as graceful with Tetsusaiga as Sesshomaru. Rather, he stabbed and swung his fang in every direction, but every time he cut through the Naraku puppet, the flesh would latch onto him and his sword. He was forced to keep jumping back to pull himself from the forming flesh cocoon.
Miroku flung his ofuda at the approaching Naraku puppet. The puppet watched the purification paper fly through the air, and, just when it was about to make contact, the puppet's flesh parted to allow the holy flaming paper to pass through. The puppet's flesh closed back up and was left unharmed. The baboon pelted creature smirked. Miroku stood in silent contemplation of his options for a moment considering the puppet was waiting for him to attack and he had the time. The monk nodded to himself for his decision and then pulled out his ace-in-the-hole, his wind tunnel. The puppet shook his head with an amused smile and pointed a finger above his head where a cloud of Saimyosho swarmed angrily. Marko's hand only hesitated for the slightest of a second on the seal of his cursed hand before he caught sight of his friends struggling to keep from being absorbed into Naraku.
Violet eyes hardened in resignation of his fate, Miroku yelled, "Sango! I'm sorry!"
Sango paused in her fighting and turned to Miroku confused. "Miroku, why-" She saw him open his wind tunnel and suck the Naraku puppet that he was facing in, along with a large number of poisonous Saimyosho. "No! Miroku. We'll defeat them together! Don't do this!" But it was too late. The puppet was already gone and the poison was already in his body.
Miroku shook his head at Sango's plea. "No, Sango. You need to save your strength to fight the real Naraku. Sango...you are the only woman I ever loved. Remember that." His voice was growing faint as the poison took effect. He had closed his wind tunnel to catch his breathe, his lungs were burning from the toxins in his body. He closed his eyes heavily in pain, but when he opened them again, there was only a fierce determination.
Inuyasha knew what that look meant. It meant that Miroku was going to sacrifice his own life to take out all of the puppets. The hanyou quickly pulled his arm from the flesh that had been working its was around him during his distraction. He punched the main mass of the globbed-flesh puppet, causing it to fly toward Miroku, whose wind tunnel reopened to suck it into oblivion along with a fresh nest of Saimyosho.
Pain, fiery pain was taking Miroku's concentration. He forced himself to move, to breath, to stay alive. The only thought keeping him going was, "Only two more to go. Almost finished. Then they're safe. Then she's safe." Sango was in tears and Kirara roared in anguish.
The fire cat was coated in the flesh from the puppet which was holding on to her fur. In desperation, Kirara flung Sango from herself, freeing the demon slayer from the flesh that entangled them both. Sango landed bruised but relatively safe a small distance away. The fire cat demon transformed back into her smaller form which made the flesh loosen its hold from around her and she jumped free. As soon as Kirara was out of the way, Miroku's wind tunnel was opened again and the flesh was sucked into it.
Falling to his knees, the monk faced the final Naraku puppet. His eyes had lost focus and his body was growing numb, but Miroku held up his cursed hand with his other hand and braced himself to finish his task.
Sesshomaru used his demonic speed to appear behind the Naraku puppet he was facing and he drew his Tokigin to fire a blast of demonic energy to push the puppet forward into Miroku's wind tunnel. A single stray Saimyosho buzzed to its master, but the rest were gone, lost in a place void of air, but a place where they could damage Miroku and poison him.
Miroku used the last of his strength to seal away the wind tunnel and then collapsed to the ground drawing harsh rattling breaths. The poison had worked its way through his system and was drawing near his heart. His eyes were open, but blackness gathered at the edges of his vision making him feel blind. The pain suddenly disappeared and his chest rose for one last breath. Sango threw herself to his side but instantly knew she was too late. He was gone. Kirara had tears in her eyes but she did not hover around Miroku's body. She instead protected Sango's back from attack. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stood with their heads bowed for the monk's sacrifice. Sesshomaru felt respect for this human building up in him and felt the rattle of Tensaiga calling to revive the monk.
O0o.o0O
Naraku watched the proceedings with mild amusement, Dainigumo at his side. "It took all four of those puppets to kill one monk. How pathetic of them, I'd hoped for better. Nevertheless, it had the expected result. Look at their faces. They've lost their desire to fight." He gave a short laugh. "Despair. I love that word and I love seeing my enemies fall after they have seen everyone around them also tragically fall. That look in their eyes- the hate and despair- I live to see it. They are so helpless, and me….kukuku…I am so powerful. Go now, Dainigumo and prevent the taiyoukai from reviving the monk with his sword. We won't have any renewed hope here today." Naraku's smile widened as he felt a new presence in the area. "Ah, and I must welcome a certain miko. Go."
"Yes, master," said the underling before backing away from his master and turning towards the battlefield.
Naraku undid the lid of a sturdy wooden box. "Despair and mayhem often go hand-in-hand. Go my servants, and cause mayhem." From the box poured hundreds upon thousands of youkai that grouped together to form one gigantic cloud. The demons continued to pour from the box as Naraku vanished from beside it.
O0o.o0O
Sesshomaru felt the rattle of Tensaiga by his side and his hand went to its shaking hilt. He pulled the sword from its sheath and narrowed his eyes so that he could find the embalmers of the afterlife. He did not have time to focus on them, however, before he had to evade an arrow that purified the ground he had just been standing on. Tensaiga was sheathed with a silent promise to come back to the monk after the battle and Sesshomaru turned to face Dainigumo.
"Sesshomaru," called the half Onigumo, half priest Daisuke. "I don't think we'll be reviving anyone today. After all, it's hard for a dead demon lord to revive anyone at all, and I plan to send your soul to Hell. With no miko to save you this time, there's nothing you can do. Die!"
Sesshomaru didn't have the chance to respond to the threat before he had to dodge another arrow with the pink tail of purification.
Then things just turned from bad to worse. A huge swarm of demons rose up from behind the castle and took to the air heading straight for the group. The swarm cast a dismal shadow upon them, blocking the red sunset from view.
The tip of Inuyasha's sword fell to the ground in disbelief as he looked up into the seemingly endless amount of demons. Inuyasha gulped down the fear he was feeling and raised his sword to meet the onslaught. He might not be able to kill them all, but he would take as many as he could with him before he died.
O0o.o0O
Kagome stumbled upon a scene right out of her nightmares. Miroku lay dead, Sango knelt crying beside him, Kirara fought off demons that dared approach them from a thick cloud of demons rising from the castle, Inuyasha solely faced the main onslaught of the demons, and Sesshomaru was facing off against a powerful priest trying to purify him. She fell to her knees as her mind reeled in shock. If only she had gotten here sooner, she could have saved Miroku. The monk, though lecherous, had a good heart and didn't deserve to die here. Not at Naraku's hands. But she hadn't been there for them. She had stayed too far behind their approach, frightened that Sesshomaru might sense her presence and force her to stay away. She had waited too long to follow, and now, she could see the results were disastrous. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself for it, and she sure wouldn't forgive herself if someone else died now that she was here, she told herself, pulling herself to her feet and setting an arrow to her bow. She would help them the best way she knew how. She took aim at Dainigumo and pulled back the bow's string. She was about to release the arrow when a brown claw-like tentacle sliced through the think string.
"Now, we can't have an interference like that. It would upset all the plans I've made for your destruction," said an evil voice behind her.
"Naraku," whispered Kagome, surprised that she didn't feel his approach. She had been too distracted by what was going on at the castle. Now, however, she could feel his aura and she instantly knew it was the real him, not a puppet. She could see the nearly complete Shikon Jewel embedded in the left side of his chest. She didn't have time to erect a barrier to protect herself before the tentacle that had sliced her bowstring switched directions and jabbed her in the left shoulder, snagging the necklace that held her human appearance.
She cried out in pain as the tentacle pierced into her flesh and bone, forcing her to drop the useless stringless bow. Her hand went up to the wound instinctively and she tried to purify the vile appendage. Her efforts were useless, she saw, as a barrier lit up at her powers protecting Naraku.
"It is pointless. This is not my barrier. I loaned it from an underling named Dainigumo. You met him before, yes? He didn't kill you and Sesshomaru last time because I ordered him not to. This time, however, your dear mate Sesshomaru won't be so lucky. Would you like to watch as he dies?" whispered Naraku in her ear, his body uncomfortably close to her own. He reached into the top of her shirt and pulled out the small glass bottle she kept jewel shards in. She shivered at his touch. "I'll be taking these." Then he supported all of her weight through the tentacle in her shoulder, sending new waves of pain through her body, before slamming her upright into a tree so that she had a view of the castle. She cried. Not for her own pain or situation, but for the sight that met her eyes at the castle.
O0o.o0O
On the battle field, Inuyasha took up a defensive position beside Kirara to help protect Sango who was in tears over Miroku's death. He tried to wake her from her blind sorrow so that she might not die also.
"Sango! Now's not the time to mourn! You'll die as well if you don't defend yourself now and then his sacrifice will have been in vain."
Sango sniffed pitifully and nodded. She took one last look at Miroku and wiped one last tear from her eye. She gave his hand a final squeeze, for once wishing that the lecherous monk would try to grope her or anything. She fumbled with her giant boomerang for a few seconds before her grip strengthened- her shock was over, now she wanted revenge.
She turned to the approaching swarm of demons with a fire in her eyes that could rival Kagome's anger.
Her first boomerang toss sliced through 10 demons before they even had the chance to flee. Inuyasha released his wind scar, but there were so many. Luckily, the demons were still staying back, not one wanted to be the first to charge the human, hanyou, and growling fire cat. Sango and Inuyasha kept throwing their long range attacks hoping to significantly reduce the number of demons before they got wise and charged as one unstoppable force.
The number didn't seem to dwindle and the demons began approaching again, ready to claw, scratch, bite, maim, and kill.
The three braced themselves for the impact as the space closed between them and the horde. One demon, anxious for blood, took the lead and headed toward the small group, hissing dangerously. It was silenced by a spear through the head. The group turned to see Kouga standing smugly on a nearby hill, a bundle of long spears across his back.
"Say it, dog turd: you're happy to see me here to save your scrappy hide," said the wolf chieftain.
"Mangy wolf!" yelled Inuyasha, brandishing his fist like a 3-year-old trying to make a point, his temper evident to everyone present, "I'd only be happy to see your sorry hide if you had an army behind you to help us!"
Kouga gave a wolfish smile, "Could you think of any other reason I'd be late to a battle to face Naraku?" Inuyasha looked on confused until Kouga brought his fingers to his mouth and let off a shrill whistle. Wolves and Wolf youkai appeared over the crest of the hill, all carrying weapons and the thrill of the fight running through their veins. Kouga gave a short hand signal and the horde of demons was bombarded with spears and javelins. The cloud of demons paused as a whole to assess the new threat. 400 new opponents had joined the fray.
Kouga stood proudly before his troops. "Mutt face, meet the wolf tribes of the North. We will defeat Kagura and Naraku for killing our brothers and sisters." The wolves barked and the wolf demons threw up their hands and cheered in agreement.
Inuyasha allowed himself a small smile, "Naraku's already taken care of Kagura, and you don't have to worry about Naraku- I'm going to kill him myself."
Kouga returned the hanyou's smile, "First one to get to him gets to kill him. May the best wolf win."
O0o.o0O
At the first blows of battle, a loser and a winner are always decided- the two opponents will instinctively know if they can win or if they will lose. They may both still try to claim victory, boast about it, try to trick the other opponent into a trap, or hold their head up high and stubbornly repeat that they will not lose, however, the decision itself is a subconscious one. Some chose to ignore what their instincts tell them to be true and find out later that should have listened to those instincts. Others misunderstand their subconscious's pull or it is clouded by emotion, overconfidence, or even under-confidence. This misunderstanding is the only time a battle's outcome can surprise a person who is frequently in battle and knows their own strength. Sesshomaru had only ever been surprised at the outcome of a battle when he had faced Inuyasha. Any other time, he had known that he would win and had carried through with it. The demon lord was suddenly wishing that he was misunderstanding his subconscious's pull- it told him that he would lose, that he was not strong enough to beat this Dainigumo creature in front of him. That feeling irritated him more than any other.
Sesshomaru stood facing Dainigumo after their last break from confrontation where Dainigumo had forced Sesshomaru's attention away from reviving the dead monk with Tensaiga. The demon lord took in the appearance of Naraku's holy underling- he had a bow held ready, arrows across his back, a sword at his hip, and Sesshomaru imagined ofuda tucked into the folds of his clothing.
Normally, nothing would appear very dangerous about this armed man, him being human and everything, but this human was crackling with holy power and had a certain crazed look that screamed, "I have lots of cruel tricks to play on you." The man had already sealed Sesshomaru once, and the taiyoukai had to be saved by Kagome. Now, there was no Kagome to protect him, a fact not overlooked by the half holy man, half Onigumo.
"Where's your pretty miko? Afraid I would kill her? You should fear more for your own life right now," mock-warned Dainigumo.
True to Sesshomaru's earlier suspicions, Dainigumo pulled two ofuda from the folds of his clothing. He threw them, one after the other, and Sesshomaru was forced to dodge them- he could feel the power radiating off of them even at the distance he was from them. He had stood up to purification before, but this priest was a lot more powerful than the one he had faced before. The priest could kill him, and his subconscious told him he would.
The two ofuda approached. Sesshomaru needed hardly to move a hair to avoid the first one- its aim was off. It flew by harmlessly and pinned itself to the ground. The second one was aimed at Sesshomaru's head and he knew that he would need his demonic speed to get out of that one's way. The Taiyoukai got ready to jump only to find that his body wouldn't listen to his commands. His eyes narrowed at the ofuda that had missed him and he saw it crackling with energy and seemed to be holding his shadow to the ground. Dainigumo hadn't missed him with the first ofuda- he had been aiming at the shadow to restrain the taiyoukai from the start. It was some type of magic that Sesshomaru had never seen before.
"Release me," growled Sesshomaru.
"I see no reason to," chuckled Dainigumo as he watched the second ofuda stick to Sesshomaru's forehead and crackle to life, lighting the pained expression of the demon lord in a yellow glow as the ofuda worked to destroy the taiyoukai.
Sesshomaru gave a ferocious growl against the pain. If he didn't do something soon, he knew he would die. His demon blood boiled as his inner beast worked to save itself. Golden eyes turned blood red, teeth grew longer and sharper, his snout elongated, and claws became even more deadly. His aura flared around him as his body began to transform into his beat form while Sesshomaru tried to regain control of his bloodthirsty inner beast that plagued all demons.
Dainigumo shook his head in mock sympathy, "Dear, dear me. We can't have that beast coming out and destroying everything, now can we? I suppose it's time to end this." The Naraku underling pulled his sword from his hip. He watched as Sesshomaru struggled to keep the inner beast at bay and saw his opportunity to strike amongst the distraction.
"May the Gods guide my blade to your heart and may they take mercy on your wretched soul," prayed the priest hybrid before running forward and stabbing with his sword.
O0o.o0O
Inuyasha paused to catch his breath. His arms were heavy with tiredness and the point of Tetsusaiga was dug into the ground to give him a break. Yet the cloud of demons kept coming. Individually, the demons were weak, but their numbers alone made them a serious and dangerous threat. The wolf tribes helped a lot, but many of them were falling against the insurmountable odds. Kouga, never one to give up, used the speed granted him by the Shikon jewel shards in his legs to kill demons at a surprising rate. He inspired his troops to keep fighting.
However, even with the army of wolves and Inuyasha's repetitive release of the wind scar, the cloud of demons did not get noticeably smaller.
"He must have a box, like he did with the rats. If we don't find the box, the demons will never stop coming," shouted Sango across the battlefield to Inuyasha. "We need to find it and shut it!"
Inuyasha nodded and bent his legs to jump off to find the box, "I'll go."
"No," said Sango, shaking her head, "They need your wind scar here. Kirara! Let's go!" Sango called the fire cat to her side and jumped onto her back. Rider and ridee forced their way through the swarm of demons looking for its start.
Inuyasha watched her progress in worry for a few moments before turning back to the demons at hand, slicing through five right away. His attention was torn from the demons again when he heard a feral growl rip through the air and overpower the clangs and shouts of battle. He searched around for it but was not expecting to find Sesshomaru, crackling with purification energy and fighting off his inner beast. Inuyasha had started running towards his half-brother, hoping he could somehow help, when he saw a priest-like man seemingly talking to himself, or, thought Inuyasha panicking, praying before he kills! Inuyasha added more speed to his run and saw the priest pull a sword from a sheath at his side. It is now or never, thought Inuyasha, to follow through with my promise. I hope I can make it in time.
O0o.o0O
Dainigumo thrust his sword forward and felt it go through flesh. His vision was filled with red, so he took a step back to see what had happened. He found that his view was impaired by a red jacket , steadily turning an even darker red from the blood pouring from the wound of a silver-haired, dog-eared hanyou. So much blood, Dainigumo instantly knew that he had pierced the heart, but it was the heart of the wrong demon. He gripped his sword handle tight and pulled it with a squelching noise from the hanyou's body. He pushed the dead body away from him with a disgusted look on his face- the half-demon's blood now coated him. The hanyou's body crumpled to the ground, vacant eyes staring unseeingly at the priest.
"Filthy blood. What a waste of your life, hanyou. Enough playing, you're as good as dead Sesshomaru!" Dainigumo brought his sword up again to finish the demon lord still struggling to control his mindless inner beast.
O0o.o0O
Hot tears trailed down Kagome's cheeks. Her hands shook as she was forced to witness her best friend's death. She felt something digging into her hand and cast her eyes down to find the arrow she was trying to shoot earlier before Naraku had broken her bow and pinned her to this tree with a tentacle through her left shoulder, barely missing a lung. She looked back up to see Dainigumo tossing aside Inuyasha's body without the respect it deserved, and then the priest turned to finish her mate. Her anger flared and an idea formed in her head.
"Naraku," she said dangerously, eyes flashing and getting the vile creatures attention. "Your mistake was not killing me when you had the chance."
Naraku gave a evil smirk, "All in good time, my pretty miko. You'll soon bleed to death from the wound in your shoulder without any medical attention, so I have just enough time to watch you suffer for all your meddling. You should have stayed out of my business where you belonged, miko. A battle amongst demons is no place for foolish little weak human like yourself."
Kagome adjusted her grip on the arrow and carefully brought it up so that it would not catch Naraku's attention. "I am neither as weak nor as human as I once was, Naraku."
Naraku's eyes widened in surprise as she added her holy powers to the arrow and jammed it into the tentacle pinning her to the tree. The arrow broke through the barrier where her fingers could not and purified the tentacle holding her. She caught herself before she hit the ground and felt the rosary that had been held on by the tentacle slip off from around her neck. Her brown eyes turned silver as she looked up into the fearful eyes of Naraku. He saw her hair suddenly turn golden and her tail appear, demonic markings were etched upon her skin, and her nails and teeth grew long and sharp.
"I will not let you hurt my mate!" she stated coldly before disappearing. Naraku looked around desperately before he remembered that she had said something about protecting Sesshomaru. Naraku was hardly ever shocked, but Kagome's sudden transformation certainly shocked him. He did not know such things were possible- a demon miko? It was an oxymoron in itself but it was that oxymoron that was scaring him. She could ruin everything and kill him and it was all because he had decided to play with his prey before killing it. The danger in it all excited Naraku and he turned to see if the demon miko would be able to save her mate from his holy underling. She was definitely an enemy worth killing, he thought with amusement.
A/N: Yep, I'm cruel enough to end this chapter here. Are Miroku and Inuyasha dead for keeps? Will Kagome be able to save Sesshomaru? Will Naraku finally be destroyed? Is that enough questions that I'm not going to answer until next chapter anyway? Ok, enough cruelty, I'll try to update soon.
Tiki Rane Gobell