Kouga ran, barely even touching the floor as he darted through the air. He skid to a stop and twisted, slamming his fist into the purple shield with a shuddering force. It reverberated but even with the power of the sacred jewel shard refused to budge.

A jolt of ice went through his spine, and Kouga let his head fall back to look at it.

"Damnit, Kagome!" He grit his teeth as the alarm continued to shock his nerves.

He could see the misty purple rise all the way into the sky where the mountain formed. The evil aura that formed it stunk of Naraku and turned the air around him cold and still.

Kouga's heart churned and he landed his fist down with another crippling blow. The shield met his hand with an unmovable resistance and made his fall back again.

He could hear the dog demon slam into the shield, much the same, about a mile down. The demon Kirara and the humans flew overhead, trying to find an end to the shield, trying to find a way it.

Kouga's breath left him as every minute ticked by. He couldn't smell her anymore, couldn't hear her, and couldn't find her anywhere. She disappeared behind the purple shield before anyone had fully realized and as if it shifted with her presence, it thickened and blocked out the other side.

"Naraku, give her back!" He screamed with frustration.

Only hearing his own voice echo back to him among the trees, he fell back another step. The alarm kept rippling down his body and Kouga squeezed his fists tighter.

Turning, he started to run again. Rushing to rescue her—to rescue his Kagome.

~*~

Kagome forced herself forward, finding the pressure lay upon her shoulders almost suffocating. But every step she took, she could hear the monster behind her following—his footsteps causing the very ground to shake.

The loud smash with his every step forced Kagome's heart faster. She blinked, looking through the fog to see the mountain. Taking a chance, she rushed toward it feeling the shield's pressure lightening up as she did. 'Of course,' She almost kicked herself, 'if I get away from the shield I can get away from him.'

When the final pressure left her, she pulled out quicker than before but sprung back when the demon jumped into the air. He landed in front of her, the rock base under him crumpling under his weight, and he snapped his red eyes up to meet her. Kagome squeaked, turning to run the left of him.

She started to stray back to the right once she had cleared him, her eyes drilled on gap between the mountain bases. Her heart skipped a beat when the demon jumped again, landing in her desired path.

Kagome let out a scream of frustration and fear, scattering back to balance herself, and scanning her eyes with a frenzy—trying to spot a path still open to her.

There was a cave left in front of her and the demon laughed when she made a motion to it.

A thought jolted her.

'He's herding me!'

Undeterred, she still ran to the cave, unwilling to stop. The cave was dark, the light from the outside barely crawling into it more than a few feet. Kagome squinted, unwilling to go further into the darkness. Drawing her nerves, she posted herself against and wall and faced him.

"What do you want with me?" She drew a hand up to her neck, unconsciously cupping the sacred jewel shards around her neck.

She debated for the quickest of seconds whether or not to just give the demon her shards if he'd let her go. If she could get to Kouga and Inuyasha, she'd be able to get them back. The plan gave her the quickest second of comfort. She would get back to them and then they'd go back to fight Naraku together.

"I want to look at you, girl." He drew out each word, a hissing wrapping itself up in each syllable.

Kagome went cold.

"My name is Cerritosmato, I am what you call… Naraku's incarnate."

Kagome pressed herself closer into the wall.

"Yea, I could get that much." She still sniped from her spot.

"I have been created for such a very special purpose. For you my girl." He grinned showing his spiky teeth.

Suddenly, he snapped a hand out and twisted his fingers to curl around the air. Cranking his head back, his red eyes went back until Kagome could see nothing but the whites of his eyes.

Her breath left her.

"I can see it. I can see your soul." His head moved back down, his eyes refocusing in the darkness.

Kagome gasped when a wave of nausea rippled through her body.

A tingling took over her limbs and she flexed her fingers to remind herself that they weren't missing. And then there was a shifting in her chest, a knot that pulled itself from inside her.

Kagome fell to the floor, throwing her hands behind her as the drawing got worse. Waves of nausea washed through her body with a rhythmic pattern and she let out a choked sob.

The feeling grew worse, expanding wider through her entire abdomen and churning.

The demon watched expectedly.

Then a mass of light came, blinding for seconds until it dimmed and faded containing itself in a small gap.

Kagome sobbed, the luminosity emerging from her chest and causing the room to glow.

'What is this?' Her thoughts scrambled, 'is this my soul?'

The demon nodded as if he knew her thoughts.

"Yes, yes, this is the soul Naraku wishes me to find. This is the soul Naraku wishes me to destroy."

He crept forward, and Kagome wanted to pull away but found herself unable to move.

The light flickered, morphing and twisting to form an orb. Kagome's fingers encircled it where it landed, the orb dancing with light and electric blue jolts that sprung around it.

The demons grin went crooked, and then faltered and disappeared.

"Something I have not foreseen perhaps." He strode forward and Kagome flinched with agony when the magic held her from moving away.

He hunched over, leaning closer to the ball of light she held in her palms. Jerking his head closer, he twisted it around, eyes dancing over the orb with careful precision. He lifted a hand and stopped it just an inch away, snapping out his index finger to point at it.

"You girl," His eyebrows pinched and he shifted in his stance to continue his examination. The electrical blue that flashed around the ball stayed dim and an inch away from his face. Kagome's eyes focused on it hard enough for her eyes to burn. She squinted, catching her breath in her throat for an agonizing moment.

"You are missing part of your soul." He leaned back to fully stand, his index finger curling and tapping his temple with a soft thud. He jerked his attention back to her face and Kagome pulled harder against the unyielding trap. Her muscles protested with pain and the nausea that seemed to bitterly focused on her throat got worse.

"Now how did you do that?" He asked, puzzlement reaching his red depths and he abruptly shook his head, not expecting Kagome's answer.

"I can't quite believe you passed the boundary like this. So utterly incomplete. But your soul is massive and strong even though it is broken down the middle. So curious."

He reached his arms back, cracking his shoulder joints with a loud pop and groaned. Turning on his heel, he spun up some dirt as he began to pace.

"This will not do. This will not do." He told himself with increasing conviction. In another moment, he revolved back around and broadened his stance. Tensing himself, he hunched down into an offensive position, reaching out his hands again. The markings on his body began to pulse with that ugly black and gold aura, its energy resonating off the walls of the cave.

Kagome cringed, her muscles shaking with the persistence of the magical constraint. The orb in her hands grew hot and began to morph out of its shape. It hissed and jerked around like putty unable to pick its form.

Kagome gasped at the strange jolts it pushed threw her body and her hand muscles flickered. And then moved.

She let out a breath, eyes rushing toward the incarnate when she twitched her finger again. It obliged, moving the tiny distance and tingled with a new fuzziness.

Kagome could move. Her mind screamed at the sudden conquest and she readied herself, unsure of what to do next.

~*~

A/N: There will be much more Kouga/Kag in the coming chapters. Fear not. And if you caught the reference to the broken soul, I was referring to the part Kikyo has. I mean, that was once part of Kagome's soul right? Well, this is my reasoning. Anyways, drop me a line. I'll pop the next chapter up tomorrow.