Chapter 30

The day shifted into night and Daemon found himself staring into the seemingly endless fields of Kaede's home village. They had planned, he and Kagome, to be back in her time right now. To be safely tucked away at the Higurashi shrine in Japan where they would be safe. Where they would be caged.

But that had changed late in the afternoon when Haru had developed a fever. He wasn't eating much; he wouldn't feed. But that hadn't been the only reason they were still here. As a matter of fact, it wasn't part of it at all. If anything, it had pushed them into leaving as soon as possible, only when they were leaving the village, a screaming woman had run from the woods, warning of a demon emerging from the Well.

They hadn't believed it at first, hadn't dared think that they were trapped…until they'd found Inuyasha's forest swarming with Demons. Minor demons, but demons nonetheless. She doesn't want us to leave, Daemon. She knows about the well. She knows that Inuyasha isn't here. He remembered the look on Kagome's face when she'd looked down at her feverish pup and realized in horror that Kagura now knew Kagome's secret. No matter what, I have to protect Haru, Daemon. I have to protect Inuyasha's family. My family.

Daemon sipped the coffee he'd somehow concocted in silence while he hoped that the small dose of healing brew that Jaenelle had taught him to make, coupled with the herbs Kaede had provided, would be enough to get Haru through the night. The pup's wails had ceased, and Kagome's restless mind seemed to be at ease now. It had to mean Haru was getting better if Kagome was leaving his side.

"I don't understand," She said as she came to stand next to him just outside of Kaede's hut, staring out towards the forest with him. "Kagura has never shown any interest in Inuyasha before. All she's ever wanted was freedom from Naraku. She wouldn't take revenge on Inuyasha for Naraku's death,"

"I don't think it's revenge she's out for," Daemon whispered as he offered the mug of coffee to Kagome. She accepted it, took a sip and, after a moment of careful examination, took another large swallow before she handed it back.

"You put shields up, didn't you? That's why they're not coming into the village,"

"Yes, but the foreignness of my power isn't stopping them from testing the strength of those shields."

"You can destroy them?"

"With hardly a second thought, yes,"

"But you haven't,"

"No,"

"Why?"

"Because, despite my best efforts, I would drain the black before I got to them all. Even if I unleashed the full force of the black in one outburst, it wouldn't be enough to destroy them all and then my shields would be useless. I started with the Red, just to see what would happen, but it seems that, after a while, they can find their way around the Red. It equals a few of them in strength, but not by much,"

"The Black will hold?"

"The Black will hold. You can rest tonight, Lady Kagome,"

"No, Daemon. I don't think I can,"

The following morning, Koga returned to the village, looking distraught and worried. Daemon let him through the shields he put up and had met the Wolf Demon on the road that lead into the village, knowing the demon had never found the breach. Even if it was still being held in one place, he knew his wife and he knew her webs. She would have hidden it very well, and even if it could be found, no one would be able to get through in either direction. It was already too late.

And Koga could only confirm what he'd originally thought, and feared. Thousands of demons just waiting for the first strike.

"Can you withstand those kinds of numbers, Daemon?"

"Yes, for a little while," Daemon stretched a little. "Unfortunately, if I drain the Black, I don't know how much help I'll be after that,"

Kagome looked a little worried, but not really too afraid of losing. She and Inuyasha had gone up against enemies like this before. Maybe not in these large numbers, but they'd always managed to make it through pretty well. "Hopefully, it won't come to that," Still, she was getting a little edgy about the situation. Why was Kagura so into this? She hated Naraku and his control over her, so why was she bothering to attack them now?

"Perhaps she wants something else entirely,"

There was a coldness to Daemon's voice that made Kagome shiver. "And what's that," She whispered, afraid of the answer.

"If she wants to dance with the Sadist, then she'll have her chance,"

"You?" Kagome asked, surprised. She shook her head after a minute. Daemon had been through this kind of thing before with hateful, selfish women who wanted the body, but didn't care for the man. And Daemon was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. If Kagura's brief glimpse of him yesterday had gotten her on a high, then she probably would go after him. Or the strength of the Black.

"She saw what you did to the Saimyosho, Daemon." Looking towards Inuyasha's forest, Kagome felt something inside of her snap like a trigger. Her body tingled as her Miko energy surged through her veins, ready and waiting for her use. "She wants your power because you're a force to be reckoned with. She probably thinks that she can turn you. Convince you that she can give you a better life."

"Really?" He sounded bored, but there was a flicker of something in his gold eyes that signaled danger. Kagura, if this was her true intention, would find herself in an early grave. Daemon's hand flexed and Kagome realized he was fighting to keep his temper under control. If pushed too hard, he'd descend into the sweet cold of the Killing Edge and destroy Kagura bit by bit. And in the nastiest ways imaginable.

"Oddly," Kagome turned to glance back at Kaede's hut where Haru was inside playing with the strangest bamboo toy one of the villagers had once made for their own child. "Seeing Kagura suffer would be worth its weight in gold,"

Snorting in agreement, Koga chanced a glance towards the forest line. "Looks like they're getting a bit active,"

Narrowing his eyes, Daemon looked over his shoulder and said softly, "Yes, they are," When he turned to face the forest completely, Kagome knew something was happening. Daemon's concentration had honed in on keeping the shields up while, at the same time, weaving death spells around the demons who touched them. It wouldn't take long before those demons finally fell, but Daemon couldn't keep this up forever.

After several minutes, the testing of the Black shields stopped and Daemon turned to look at the others again, his gold eyes hardened to yellow. "They're determined,"

"Of course they are," Kagome folded her arms over her chest and scowled. "When Kagura sees something that she wants, she'll try to take it," She paused, uncertain. "And with Kanna with her…there's no telling what she'll try to do in order to win,"

"I'll bare that in mind,"

"Nasty little bitch," Koga spat, looking disgusted. "That Kanna isn't exactly innocent now that you mention it. And that mirror of hers,"

"That mirror is what I'm worried about," Kagome whispered as she glanced, once again, towards Kaede's hut. "Let's just pray that her dream magic can't get through Daemon's shields. If so…just be careful throughout this ordeal because, when Kanna's involved, not everything is what it seems,"

Kagome had been right about Kanna and her dream magic. Several of the villagers had left their homes late in the night, screaming about horrific nightmares of demons, thinking that their families and their village had been completely destroyed. Kagome, Koga, and Daemon seemed to be the only ones unaffected by this. Haru hadn't been able to avoid it, either, and had woken up in a fit of screams, unable to take the reassuring coos from Kaede or Daemon that everything was fine until Kagome had come back from her rounds and collected him. He'd hesitated in accepting her, but her scent had been so alive and so strong that the nightmare was forgotten, replaced instead by the warmth of his mother's arms and affection.

Kagome could only imagine what kind of nightmare the pup had suffered. The rest of the night crawled on slowly as Koga replaced Kagome on the rounds. After fretting over her pup for several minutes, Kagome finally settled down on her cot and attempted to sleep. Several villagers were still too scared of those nightmares to go back to sleep so instead they huddled around small camp fires throughout the village in hopes of remaining active. Perhaps they could even provide help to those trying to save their village.

Daemon shifted uneasily at his post, staring up at the twinkling stars in disdain. The demons had tested the shields again over the course of the last several hours and had all suffered the same fate as those that had tested before them. But he was starting to feel the weight of keeping those shields up without rest.

Before he knew it, he was starting to doze off, losing sight of everything around him.

"Daemon," Koga said sharply, jolting the Warlord Prince awake again. "Maybe you should go get some rest. I can keep watch on my own for a little while,"

There was a strange glint in the Wolf Demon's eyes but Daemon was too tired to analyze it and so, agreed. "The shields will hold for a few more hours while I rest. After that I'll take over again,"

Koga nodded.

"They are asleep,"

Kagura looked over her shoulder at the figure of a pale white child, a small glowing mirror resting in the palms of the child's hands. "Good, you may begin," When she was sure that Kanna's concentration was now on her task, hard red eyes flickered in triumph.

"I'm afraid that everything is about to go terribly wrong for Kagome and her family," In front of her, Kagura's tormented prisoner growled, trying to fight his way free of the spelled binds that held him. "As she said earlier, 'Nothing is ever what it seems,'." Kagura yawned pleasantly and twirled her fan in her right hand. "You're still trying to warn her, aren't you, Koga? It's just too bad that you don't share that same link with her mind as Inuyasha. Otherwise contacting her to warn her wouldn't be any trouble at all,"

Koga glared at her, unwilling to take the bait. Yes, he was jealous of Inuyasha's mating of Kagome, but there was nothing he could do about that that would get him anything short of mutilated by the Hanyou's claws. And when it came to his friends, Inuyasha was vicious, but his mate? His pup? Koga couldn't even imagine what Inuyasha would do to someone who threatened his family.

That's when Koga realized how strongly he wished that Inuyasha were here right now.

"Soon, both Daemon and Kagome will give in to the darkness of Kanna's nightmares and then it'll all be over. Daemon will surrender to me because he will believe that he has nothing left and Kagome will pass her pup on to my care to ensure that he lives." Kagura paused a moment to reflect on another matter. "Then, of course, I must consider Sesshoumaru and his desire to obtain the Tetsusaiga. Perhaps he will try to interfere?"

"Sesshoumaru is not in this realm," Kanna's singsong voice drew Kagura's attention with that statement.

"Good," Kagura said darkly. "Then I have nothing to worry about,"

End Chapter! Yes, it's short, yes I apologize for being a lazy ass. No, there won't be another update for a few weeks because I'm in the process of packing. I'm moving to Miami! Haha, yes...but...anyway, enjoy! 31 coming soon!