12
"Hey, wait. Don't get up yet," Shippo said.
Robin wincing as she sat up on Kaede's futon. Kagome and Miroku had just reappeared out of the summer night and she was eager to hear the news. Her ribs were bound tightly in bandages and her leg was splinted with a sturdy piece of wood. The aspirin was taking the edge off the pain, but it was still tough to move.
"Is he coming?" she asked.
"We're pretty sure he is," Kagome replied with a hopeful smile.
"Are you sure this is the only way?" Robin asked.
"I'm sure. Sesshomaru is the only one who can keep Toukijin in check. Anyone else would be..." Kagome let her voice trail off. There was no need to say more.
Robin closed her eyes and lowered herself back onto the futon, wincing again. The danger Amon was in seemed so much blacker now. Kagome must have guessed at her thoughts because she came over and sat down beside the futon.
"It's going to be okay. Sesshomaru's coming and we think we can get him to help without revealing too much," she said.
"I don't want him to disappear," Robin said, squeezing her eyes shut.
"That won't happen," Kagome said. "We won't let that happen.
13
Inuyasha was getting impatient. Several times he had been forced to stop and wait for Amon and the sword so not to lose them. A few times he had even dodged an energy blast or two. But at least they were close to the shrine now and Amon's body hadn't broken down yet. Small favors, Inuyasha thought as he stood on the fence outside Kagome's school. The empty schoolyard would have been the perfect place to make a stand. But that wasn't the plan. He was playing a running game tonight. Normally he would get from the school to the shrine by jumping over the rooftops or walking through the shopping district. But both those options were out of the question this time. Amon wouldn't be able to navigate the rooftops carrying the heavy sword. And the shops would have too many people, even at this hour. Skirting around the most crowded areas would take longer but it was the best choice.
Inuyasha had to jump aside as a blue energy blast hit the fence just under his feet. The sword had caught up with him already. Amon made eye contact with him from a few dozen meters down the street. It was time to run on. The sooner he could get Amon through the well, the better
14
"I knew it had to be him," Dojima said. "That handwriting is just unmistakable."
"Whatever," Sakaki retorted. "You don't have as many answers as you want us to think."
"Oh yeah?" Dojima challenged him.
Travisian cleared his throat loudly to silence them and took another sip of water. He carefully rolled up the scroll and slipped it back into its tube before continuing.
"Miroku began the tradition of keeping the history of the Dog Demon Clan and those allied with them. In his writings he chronicled the Demon Purges, as they came to be called, and their aftermath. The few high level demons who survived became increasingly dependant on humans to help them elude the slayers. Alliances were made and romances cultivated. Eventually, a wave of half-demons was born, the beginning of modern day witches.
"In order to use their crafts, witches channel demonic life energy from their bodies. Because that energy dwindles with each generation of interbreeding with humans, witches today have only enough to run one craft for each. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are rare. The basic abilities that were common to all high level demons during the Feudal Era have disappeared from most witch bloodlines, leaving only the distinctive special abilities behind. Because witches use their life energy to power their crafts, serious illness or injury can cause their abilities to weaken or even disappear altogether. But witches were not the only creatures spawned in the wake of the Purges."
Travisian pulled another scroll from the cylinder and read aloud again.
Only yesterday, Royokan stumbled into our camp, bringing news from the forests. The last remaining hiding places where demons are congregating are being rooted out and annihilated. However, a few low level demons are managing to escape by taking possession of human bodies. Villagers have begun to call them Nightbreeds because they switch bodies every night in order to stay hidden from the slayers.
In addition to the Nightbreed problem, a new type of evil has begun to leak into Japan from overseas. Whispers have been circulating in the nearby villages of a creature that appears to be human but survives by drinking human blood. When asked to explain this phenomenon, the foreign traders refer to them as "vampires". Inuyasha and I had occasion to fight one of these vampires just recently and they are dangerous foes. Thankfully, they do not attack in groups as low level demons used to. They are solitary creatures for the most part. However, it's clear that they would not have been able to gain a foothold here if demons were still plentiful.
Story Notes:
Royokan - Forest spirit, first introduced in episode 20
Nightbreeds - If this term seems familiar to you, then you must have seen at least one episode of Nightwalker. Nightbreeds were the parasitic creatures of darkness kept in check by the vampire Shido and his friends. They specialize is exorcizing Nightbreeds from their often unwilling human hosts.