Chapter 23

Fuming, Sesshomaru paced through the woods on the trail of his daughter's scent. As much as he wanted Shura to become a fearless fighter, blatantly storming into battle was not exactly what he had in mind. He had most certainly taught her better. And yet there he was, hounding after her yet again…the girl was almost as bad as Inuyasha when it came to rash outbursts!

A gust of wind stirred Sesshomaru's senses and out of reflex the demon lord slowed his pace. There was a familiar presence in the air…and it didn't please him one bit. Coming to a halt the great demon's scanned the rural surroundings. Almost immediately his keen eyes picked out the feminine silhouette approaching from the foliage. Sniffing subtly Sesshomaru's nose confirmed what his eyes had lead him to suspect. The identity of the woman was the wind sorceress who worked for Naraku. The one who called herself Kagura. Her scent was more potent then usual, exacerbated by stress. More careful sniffing revealed just why. Though at the moment the wind sorceress was approaching him without any obvious signs of distress, Shura's scent lingered heavily from her person. That and the fact that she was moving on foot rather then through dramatic gusts of wind seemed to suggest that there had indeed been a confrontation.

Sesshomaru watched wearily as Kagura finally stepped free of the foliage and into viewing range. She looked slightly rattled, but seemed to brighten up the moment she saw him.

"Where's Shura." demanded Sesshomaru, ignoring the look of interest currently tugging at Kagura's face. His bluntness seemed to annoy the sorceress, for she curled her lip at the remark.

"If you mean that half crazed wench that just ran through here…" she started while casting a glance behind her shoulder "she's headed off to kill my beloved brother." Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow.

"And you let her go?" he inquired, more out of reflex then curiosity. Seeing that she had gained his interest Kagura's mood immediately reverted back to that seemingly sly, yet sickeningly exaggerated tone of arrogance that made Sesshomaru's skin crawl.

"It's called sibling rivalry, I believe you're familiar with it," she teased. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and started to brush past the sorceress whom had come within a yard or two of him.

"I have no time for this nonsense," he growled with a sternness not even the wind sorceress could ignore. To his surprise however, rather then step aside, as she should have, Kagura retrieved her fan weapon from her kimono sleeve and held it open directly in his path.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled, her voice coming dangerously close to what might be considered a threat "but I can't let you interfere." Her words were steady, almost brave, but Sesshomaru could sense from her posture that Kagura knew she was outmatched and the resistance she was fronting was actually more of a plea. The dog demon's eyes shimmered in annoyance. He had just about decided to split Naraku's servant clean in half when a jolt of elemental energy intervened. Fortunately for the incarnate, the blast was meant merely as a warning and sent her darting backwards instead of into tiny pieces.

No sooner had the wind sorceress regained her composure then the source of the energy came into view. Sesshomaru wouldn't dare admit it, but he was glad Matyeo had finally caught up. Perhaps now that she was outnumbered, Kagura would stop fooling around.

"Master Sesshomaru," addressed the beast as he strode over to the dog lord's side. His voice wasn't filled so much with concern, but rather an air of intimidation. "Is this demon bothering you?" Sesshomaru turned up his nose slightly.

"She is not a demon," he made sure to point out "only an incarnation of Naraku." The dragon seemed a bit taken back, but nevertheless exposed his fangs when he heard the name.

"What about Shura? Did you find her?" the dragon went on, making sure not to let his gaze trail entirely from the incarnate.

"She has lost all her senses and charged blindly into battle with another of Naraku's puppets," the dog lord replied coldly. Matyeo's eyes flashed with worry.

"We have to go after her…" the dragon insisted with what was obviously a great effort to remain composed. Sesshomaru, not devoid of worry himself agreed with a nod, but that still left one obstacle.

As both demons turned their attention back to the wind sorceress standing before them, they found themselves faced with what had to be the most contorted, grimace of rage either of them had ever witnessed. Apparently Kagura hadn't appreciated Sesshomaru's commentary, for she looked about ready to explode. Still, for her credit she did manage enough control to refrain from attacking him. Instead, the wind sorceress chose to vent her anger verbally, a trait she was famous for.

"Why so generous all of a sudden Sesshomaru?" she hissed with utmost sarcasm "Last time I checked you 'weren't obligated to assist anyone'…let alone some psychotic mongrel."

Now Sesshomaru's pupils constricted, but it was not because of Kagura's ill attempt at mocking him. Had the demon lord not been so proud he would have yelled back some rather vulgar remarks, but luckily for him Matyeo had already readied a counterstrike, and unlike the dog demon, the dragon was not at all above name-calling.

"Listen here Naraku's spawn" hissed the dragon with great emphasis "that 'mongrel' is lord Sesshomaru's daughter, and if you continue to disrespect her with such talk I'll split that mouth of yours wide open."

Kagura's face hardened and her lip quivered uncertainly, as if the news struck a tender cord. And in fact it had. For deep in the very recesses of her mind the wind sorceress had secretly hoped that her pining over the elder dog demon was not just a one sided effort…and that deep down Sesshomaru fancied her. But now, having suddenly heard that the unyielding Sesshomaru not only bonded with another female, but fathered her child… It made Kagura absolutely livid.

Sesshomaru naturally, knew nothing of the wind sorceress's delusional hope and so was rightfully surprised when she reacted not with dread, but a seething, bitter rage.

"yu…you conniving mongrel!" was the only discernable comment either Matyeo or Sesshomaru could make out for in the next instant Kagura had raised her fan and in a display of raw anger let loose the strongest attack she could muster "Dance of the dragon!" Kagura screamed as the blue-gray tornados lunged forward at her command. The attack came with no hesitation and no regrets. Even if the effort would prove fatal, it was one the wind sorceress would relish if it in any way harmed the deceiving white haired monarch.

Kagura watched eagerly as the cyclones raged and swept in towards her opponents, but to her surprise, they did not follow through. Instead the vortex's paused, as if meeting a resistance. But in this process they did not dissipate, in fact…they appeared to be gaining power… The incarnate peered through the swirling twisters to try and seek out an explanation, and to her dismay she quickly found one. The lad standing near Sesshomaru had one arm raised and from his body came a very distinct elemental energy. When the beast caught her watching, his face twisted into a smirk of sheer delight.

"You really think that's how dragon's dance?" he mocked with a childish grin. The wind sorceress never got to reply for no sooner had he spoken Matyeo gestured faintly with his hand and strengthened the storms until they occluded Kagura's view of him and Sesshomaru entirely. All the while the winds grew in strength. Kagura was soon having difficulty keeping herself balanced, and the strain on her eyes was so terrible it was almost painful to keep them open. Then suddenly, the smallest of gaps appeared in the writhing shield of tornados, and from it shot a white blur. Unable to react in time Kagura suddenly found herself suspended in the air, a strong hand closed around her throat.

Almost immediately the storms died and the wind sorceress was able to open her eyes wide enough to view her attacker. She was horrified when Sesshomaru's striped face came into focus.

"What was that about me being a conniving mongrel…" he grumbled. Gulping hard Kagura tried desperately to reach one of the feathers she usually kept suspended in her hair. If she could manage to get one…there was a chance she could escape. Her trembling fingers came to rest where the aforementioned feathers usually lingered, but to her surprise there were none there.

A light whistle to the left of her caused Kagura to glance over. The dragon that had stopped her attack apparently influenced some lesser air currents as well, for he was holding the pair of her decorative feathers with his thumb and forefinger and twirling them lightly. All the while he wore a mischievous smile as if to say, "looking for these?" Then as if to rub her nose in it further the dragon gave a little snort onto the feathers, causing them to burst into orange flames for a split second before disintegrating into ash. Kagura's nose wrinkled and she let out an angry snarl before averting her eyes back to Sesshomaru. There was no escaping this time.

"Matyeo," the dog lord's voice made Kagura brace, "bind her." Immediately the dragon took a few steps closer, and after lowering himself to his knees, set his palms to the earth. Again their was a spark of elemental energy, and from out of the ground grew a series of long, sinuous vines. They wound themselves around Kagura's body, securing first her ankles, then her legs, waist, wrists, arms… Before long the tendrils reached her neck, and only then did Sesshomaru release his grip. Not that it really would have mattered. The plant mass was so extensive the wind sorceress couldn't have struck at him even if she wanted to…which in fact, she did.

"So what….you're just going to leave me here?" Kagura found herself asking. Unfortunately her inquiry was spoken to soon.

"You know where Naraku is hiding…. and once I've retrieved my daughter and she finishes her training… you're going to lead us there. That and only that is why I've spared your pathetic life. But don't think for a moment you're out of danger. Try to escape, or provoke me any further and I'll kill you on the spot."

With that said the dog monarch turned back in the direction of Shura's scent.

"Matyeo, stay here and guard her. I'm going after Shura." The dragon nodded in obedience. Though it was obvious from his eyes that he wanted to come, he wouldn't dare question a direct order. Soon Sesshomaru had disappeared from sight, leaving the dragon and a fuming Kagura to await his return.

- - - - - -

"Hiraikotsu" yelled Sango over the din of the attacking mass of demons as she let her slayers weapon fly from her hand. The boomerang obeyed her swing flawlessly, soaring a great distance and leaving a wake of half severed demons before doubling back to her outstretched fingers. The recoil of the weapon on her arm was beginning to worsen, already the strain on her muscles was close to unbearable, but she continued nonetheless. With Miroku unable to use his wind tunnel for fear of the hell insects hovering about, it left her as the group's most adept fighter.

"Sango look out!" the slayer heard her name projected an instant to late and in the following moments found herself toppled to the earth by an intensely concerned Miroku. Looming precariously close to where both she and Miroku had been seconds before was a blood red, poison fanged serpent, but the beast didn't linger long. A spray of lavender exploded in the vicinity, evaporating said demon into oblivion.

"Thanks Kagome!" Sango voiced as both she and the monk scrambled to their feet. Kagome, currently posed not ten feet away acknowledged them with a nod before taking aim at another unfortunate cluster of demons. Another jolt of lavender sprit energy-another pile of charbroiled demon ash.

"There's to many!" the girl yelled over the screams of the creatures she had just incinerated. "We'll never get rid of them all…" Kagome's concern was interrupted suddenly when an iridescent silver shine illuminated the forest around them. Glancing skyward out of reflex Kagome, Sango and Miroku all caught a fleeting glance of the light's source: a swift, comet-like jolt of demon energy that for a brief second had the silhouette of a wolfish dog. The orb flew strait into the still oncoming swarm of Naraku's demons, and the force of its speed caused them to rupture in mid air, sanding a cascade of blood and stray body parts falling to earth.

"Ewww…" muttered Shippo from his defensive position near Kagome and Kirara as a severed demon claw landed near his feet. The others wore similar looks to the young fox, however their faces were also tinged with relief. At least the battle was over.

"What was that? Kagome inquired as she replaced the few remaining arrows she had back in her quiver and slung her bow securely across her shoulder. Neither Miroku nor Sango had a definite answer. Most likely it was a demon aura, but it had moved with such haste, there was no definitive conclusion. One thing that was certain however, was the direction the energy had been traveling in.

"It's heading toward the village…" Miroku pointed out. This quickly sparked a renewed concern within Kagome.

"Inuyasha! We need to go after him!" The girl's three friends nodded simultaneously.

"Right."