She clenched her fingers, drawing to form as much of as fist as she could while still wary of the glowing orb. The orb burst in heat and suddenly popped like a balloon. The light rushed back toward her and up into her fingers like electricity.

The tips of her fingers still glowed, and Kagome let her mouth fall over at the instantly cold sensation. She twitched her fingers for a second, watching the blue electricity run over them and her skin shine white.

Cerritomatso let out a rumbling growl and Kagome stiffened. The demon jerked forward, arms out to grab her. Backpedaling from where she could on the floor, she shoved her back up against the hard wall. In half a second, she threw her hands out in front of her.

The blue electricity jolted outward and shocked him. The demon fell back with a growl that echoed over the cave.

"How dare you—"

Kagome didn't let him finish. Scrambling to her feet, she still held her hands steady. Before the demon could react, she pushed herself forward. Grabbing the arm he held in front of him, she rushed to twist her hands over his forearm.

And Kagome screamed.

The electricity shot from her and her bones began to burn with agony. But the demon pulled back, a howl escaping him, deafening the room. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut as the power forced threw her. Her muscles ached, and heart nearly threatened to stop itself. It stirred around in her chest and a cold rush froze her spine over.

She grit her teeth, while protests of pain escaped her lips in whimpers. Her arms were throbbing and Kagome snapped her eyes opened. The light blinded her and she squinted. It started to crawl up the demons forearm, twisting around with the blue electricity.

Kagome willed it forward, pressing down on her nerves to try not to give in to the very torture. She gasped, letting her mouth fall open. It felt like she was killing herself.

Cerritomatso suddenly shifted. Snatching a hand out, he grabbed both her arms and yanked her to a stand. Kagome faltered at the tight grip and nearly lost her balance. The demon tightened his grip to a crippling one, and abruptly grinned.

Kagome's breath got away from her again.

A new wave of fire caught her nerves and nearly blinded her. She gasped for a breath, blinking her eyes as his grip got tighter. And then she saw it. A sickly wave of dark green and black crawled over her hands like blood.

Her nerves failed, and her skin began to smolder.

"Trying to purify me are you?" He ripped her forward again and Kagome fell to her knees.

Her arms still caught in his grasp, she let a scream escape her when the agony continued.

"I'll blacken your soul and your sacred jewel shards with it." He leaned over her, predatorily. "No human is adverse to be corrupted."

Kagome let out a whimper as the green and black crawled over her arm, leaving smoke in its wake. She shut her eyes and tried to sound out the screeching that screamed in her brain.

A moment a thought passed her of having her soul corrupted, she nearly crumpled. Maybe, maybe it would just be easier to give in. A voice in the back of her mind promised her, whispered that it would just be like drifting off to sleep.

But Kagome resisted. 'I can't let them win!' Kagome told herself, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.

But the green kept creeping and left her nerves trembling in its wake. She jerked her head to the side and tried to sound it out.

If she was corrupted, then what would happen to her friends? A sudden flash of her companions went through her mind. She saw Inuyasha for the barest of seconds, and her heart churned. What would happen to Inuyasha? Or what would happen to Kikyou? Her heart twisted tighter and Kagome let out a breath.

And then a sense of clarity washed the pain away. Inuyasha loved Kikyou. She saw them together…Kikyou, the woman she was supposed to be an incarnate of. The woman who had part of her soul. What would happen to Kikyou if Kagome let this happen? Would she have the same fate and then Inuyasha would be alone?

Kagome opened her eyes in the sudden realization.

Even if Kagome couldn't be with Inuyasha she loved him enough to protect Kikyou. Kagome let out a breath and she turned back to her attacker.

And Kouga… A flash of the wolf prince and her sitting at the edge of the cliff in his den crossed her mind. His face crossed her mind, his smile crossed her mind. She could almost feel his warm hand encircling hers, smell the waterfall, and feel the wind breeze by her face. A new sense of happiness wrapped around her heart with a strange fuzziness.

Kagome stiffened and tightened her grip of Cerritomato. Her eyes set with a new determination and she gathered her nerves. She couldn't die for both Kikyou and for Kouga's sake. She wouldn't put them through that. She couldn't die and let Naraku have the jewel shards. She couldn't endanger her friends anymore. And she couldn't give in.

Kagome clenched her teeth and screamed, the fuzziness that had encircled her heart racing outward. Through her arms and finger tips, stripping off the blood-like substance and shredding it like tissue paper.

Kagome screamed when she felt the fuzziness explode away from her and the blue electricity escape her fingertips.

Her eyes widen when the light exploded and Cerritomato let out a chilling cry. The light kept expanding, blowing through the walls of the cave.

Kagome's heart fluttered and her eyelids started to drift shut. She found herself unable to breath and her muscles relaxed. Her hands fell away from the demons and she was absently aware of falling back onto the hard dirt. Her vision blackened at the edges and then completely slipped away.

~*~

Kouga slid to a stop. Instantly, he felt the aura and threw his hands over himself as light exploded outward. The shield shattered like glass and plummeted downward.

Kouga cursed, quickly springing free of the area with the jewel shards burning in his lungs. He leapt to a branch of a tree and jerked around, his eyes rushing to absorb what just happened.

His nerves screamed at him tensely, and his mouth fell open.

The shield dissipated before it hit the ground and he double took when he saw the clear mountain.

Before he could think, he jumped free and raced toward the rocks. He tried to scent her, his heart pounding in his chest and nearly deafening him. He slid to a halt when he caught a flash of red.

Inuyasha.

He dashed after him, adrenaline exploding to burn in his muscles, and he managed to pass the dog demon.

He stopped, freezing in his spot when he saw her.

Kagome lay on the ground, her face white and covered in dirt. He couldn't hear her heart beat.

Inuyasha slid up next to him, pulling his sword free of its sheath. He ducked to the girl's side instantly and yet Kouga couldn't convince himself to move.

She looked…dead.

Inuyasha hands scrambled as he raced to find her heartbeat. He finally settled on pressing his palm to his chest, his own pulse throbbing so loudly he had a hard time telling the different. His ears flattened and he leaned closer.

Yes, she was breathing.

Inuyasha let out whimper of relief that sounded unreal, even to him. He sucked in a breath and turned to Kouga.

"Listen to me, I need you to run her back to Kaede's village. Run her back and get the old miko to help."

Kouga didn't move at first and Inuyasha screamed louder. "Do it now!"

Without a second more of hesitation, he scooped up the limp girl and ran for her life.

~*~

A/N: Okay, I could go into my internal thought process of how I would have torn this chapter to shreds had I actually been trying to get it published but thought it worked for fanfiction. More so, I hope you guys could follow the actions going on and suspect what happened but it will be clarified in the next chapters.

Anyways, one last important note. I'm changing this to the Mature rating tomorrow Monday the 21st so look for it there.