A/N: From here on out the story gets a little dark at moments. It is rated M for a reason other then swearing, and those other reasons start to show up in this chapter. You have been warned. As always, whether you love it or hate it - review!
Timeline:
The Slayers takes place two years after Try. Lina is 19.
Inuyasha takes place while Kagome is 17. She is still dividing her life between her present and the past. The group is still after Naraku.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Inuyasha or The Slayers.
The Lesser Kindred
Chapter 9: Her Wolf
As far as partnerships went, this one was going surprising well. In fact Kagome was so happy that she felt like dancing, but she knew that she shouldn't count her sheep yet. After all, it had only been four days. Not even a week. Naraku had yet to show his face and the jewel shards had yet to appear. Both of these things were factors that had a good chance of impacting the pleasant atmosphere. However, all things considered, Kagome could afford to be optimistic.
Her lessons with Amelia had been going remarkably well. Amelia had even said so herself. Apparently Kagome was a fast learner. It felt nice to be good at something, unlike high school. On the other hand, maybe if she actually went to school instead of spending all of her time running around the feudal era, she might be good at it. Aw well, nothing to fuss about.
The mornings lessons with Amelia always began before breakfast with meditation. Later, usually after dinner, Amelia would sit her down and the real learning would begin. So far, Kagome had been learning the fundamentals. Topics such as how to properly channel her magic and the rules that magic abided by were just a few subjects that they'd discussed. Apparently, female magic users lost power during their period. That definitely was a shock. Although, considering how dodgy her power had been, it wasn't a huge surprise that she hadn't ever noticed it before.
Last night Lina had joined in on the discussion about the differences between white and dark magic. Lina was a mystery to Kagome. While she looked (and claimed) to be about thirteen years old, Kagome didn't believe her. Kagome would guess that Lina was closer to her own age. Seventeen or eighteen would seem more believable then the thirteen that she portrayed herself as.
They had already set up camp for the night. Currently, Inuyasha was sparing with Gourry. Lina was cheering Gourry on, much to Inuyasha's ire. Kagome knew that it wouldn't be long before Lina joined in with the sword play. She had heard from Amelia that Gourry had been teaching her over the years. Lina was good, no where near as talented as either of the two guys, but definitely good.
Most of the sparring matches that had occurred over the past week had followed a particular pattern. Lina would spar with the two of them until she got sick of losing and then would begin to use her magic to help even the odds. And thus, the same argument sprouted up night after night. Gourry would insist that Lina wasn't going to get any better if she kept on cheating while Inuyasha would start yelling. Lina didn't seem to care what either of them said though, and continued do things her own way.
All of it just made Kagome shake her head; which was not a good thing considering at the moment Kagome was trying to practice her archery. She frowned; it wasn't going so well with all of the distractions going on. With a sigh of defeat, she shouldered her bow and walked over to the fire where Miroku, Sango, and Zelgadis sat.
"Where's Shippo?" she asked noticing the little fox was no where to be seen.
"Gathering flowers with Amelia," Sango grumpily replied.
Kagome frowned and raised her eyebrows at her friend's reaction.
"Don't mind her," Miroku smiled. "She's just angry that Kirara is with them."
Kagome laughed.
"It's not funny," Sango moped. "That girl treats her like she's some sort of stuffed animal."
"You're just mad that Kirara seems to like the attention," Miroku retorted.
Sango scowled at him making Kagome laugh again.
Whatever reply Sango had was cut short by Lina jogging over to join them. It seemed that she had either gotten sick of the guys, or had already begun cheating.
"Hey," she chimed as she sat on a log.
"They kicked you out already?" Zelgadis smirked.
"Same old, same old," Lina replied pouring a cup of tea. "They keep insisting that I'm cheating, but hey life's not fair. You got to do whatever you have to do to win."
"I think you're missing the point of the lessons Lina," Zelgadis remarked.
Lina shrugged and took a sip of her drink.
"Shit, that's hot!" she spurted the tea back into her cup.
"How much longer until we reach Kouga's lands?" Zelgadis asked Kagome while she cracked a small smile at Lina's actions. Even Kagome could tell that he was the taskmaster of the other group.
"A few more days," Kagome replied. "Hopefully, once we get there the word will travel fast and he'll come to meet us."
"So, Kagome," Lina began. "I've been meaning to ask, what's up with your outfit?"
Kagome looked down at her outfit. She had been so used to wearing her school girl garb that she never even thought as to how she might appear to someone else.
"Now, I've seen a lot of strange cloths over the years," Lina thought out loud and took a moment to blow on her still too hot tea. "But never anything quite like yours."
"Oh," Kagome wasn't sure exactly how she should respond. These people didn't know that she was from the future, and Kagome wasn't planning on telling them anytime soon. "Well, it's just an outfit that's traditional in my home nation."
"Really?" Lina seemed surprised. "You're not from this land either? I had just assumed that you know, you had lived here all of your life. But, it does make sense in a strange sort of way. Are you from this side of the barrier?"
"Err. . . . What barrier?" Kagome had no idea what the girl was talking about.
Luckily for Kagome, Miroku did and answered the question for her.
"Yes, she is," he said then turned to Kagome. "The barrier was a dome made out of magic that sectioned off a part of the land. Like a body of water does to an island; except that you couldn't pass through the barrier, from either side. About three years ago now, before you had came to this village, the barrier just simply vanished." Miroku paused. Kagome gave him a slight nod signaling that she understood what he was saying. He smiled at her before turning back to the red head. "Lina, why do you ask?"
Kagome had to admit, she was curious about this as well. It was certainly new information to her. She wished that this barrier had come up in a conversation years ago, when she had first met the others. That way, she wouldn't feel so out of place right now. She had been working hard to fit into the feudal era better, and this was just one more piece of information to add to an already long list of stuff she didn't know. Like which mushrooms were safe to eat in the forest or how to tell directions from looking at the stars at night. It was so frustrating at times.
"One of the affects of the barrier was that it amplified magic usage inside of it," Lina explained.
"It's theorized," Zelgadis joined in the conversation. "That in a hundred years or so, magic will equalize so there will be no difference between the areas."
"I was just curious," Lina said, "because you're rather powerful Kagome for someone who had grown up on this side. It's just weird is all."
"If that's true, does that mean you're from the other side?" Kagome asked.
"Yep," Lina smiled. "About two years ago was when we first traveled to the outer-world. It was definitely an experience."
Zelgadis snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
"Do you do a lot of traveling?" Sango asked.
Lina shrugged. "Sort of. This is only our second time outside of the barrier, though."
"How come this is the first I'm hearing of this barrier?" Kagome asked Miroku trying not to sound as offended as she was.
"It wasn't important, really," he responded with a small shrug. "We've been so busy with Naraku that we've had other things on our mind."
The conversation continued to buzz around her, but Kagome decided to not join in. She had her own thoughts on her mind at the moment. No wonder she had been so much more powerful then the other priestesses that she'd encountered. The only ones who had power as strong as her own had been linked to demons, like that evil sorceress Maki and her creepy snake things.
Kagome smiled to herself. She really had been lucky to find Amelia. It seemed like things were finally going her way.
The next day Xelloss showed up again and Kagome wasn't sure what she should make of the strange priest. Lina and Zelgadis where very adamant that he was dangerous while Amelia thought that with a little love or something, he could be turned. Quite frankly, after spending the first few hours in his company she had decided that he was creepy. Definitely creepy.
When Kagome focused hard, she was certain that Xelloss' aura reminded her of Naraku, only about twenty times worse. Even if she wasn't focusing her senses on Xelloss - he still made her feel dirty, like she needed to take a bath. When Kagome approached Amelia about his aura, it was actually Lina who had been listening in that had responded with an answer
Lina had said that Filia had felt the same way around him. Apparently she was a dragon priestess who hated Xelloss with a passion.
She had said that it was because he was a Mazuko and all Mazuko were bad news.
The red head had then made Kagome promise never to try to read his aura.
Kagome had agreed, but now she was curious. After all, how could she not be when Xelloss was such a mystery? She remembered the conversation that had happened in the restaurant when she first met the man. Xelloss had claimed to be nothing like Shippo and Inuyasha, but there was that similar grimy feel with him that Naraku had. Despite his protests, there had to be some common ground between the two. Kagome just had to figure out what it was.
The journey to Kouga's land was exasperating to say the least. Xelloss seemed to annoy practically everybody. He and Lina would go between bickering about everything to having complicated discussion covering a wide variety of topics. And while Xelloss hardly paid attention to Zelgadis, Zel was definitely paying attention to him. The only words spoken between those two where taunts and threats. While Kagome hadn't known Zelgadis for long, she was sure that he hadn't glared this much before the annoying priest showed up. But none of that compared to how he provoked Inuyasha. Kagome decide about two hours after Xelloss had arrived that she needed to keep him away from Inuyasha as much as she could. She was pulling every trick that she knew to keep the half-demon occupied.
One day later, they finally reached Kouga's territory. They arrived after dark and set up camp for the night. Kagome was sure that he would find him before the next day was over. Word always seemed to reach the wolf even if Kagome had no idea whom he heard it from. It would normally take about half a day before Koga would find her. It never seemed to matter where he was in his massive territory, he would always rush to great her.
Kagome had shuffled around in the morning with the others as they cleaned up camp. She had tried to ignore the doubts that begun to surface in the dawn light. It had still been early, too early for Kagome to think that something was wrong. But it was now well after lunch and there was still no sign of him. The small doubts in her stomach intensified and Kagome was beginning to get even more worried.
It seemed silly of her to get so worked up about it, after all he might be on the far end of his domain and thus would take a long time to find her. Yeah right….Kouga never took a long time to find her. Never. He would come running to her with marriage proposals and promises to whisk her away. Where the heck was he?
Kagome tried not to fidget over it. She tried to hide the uneasiness that gnawed at her. But it was hard and she had a feeling that she was doing a really bad job at it. The deeper they walked into Kouga's lands, the more her anxiety showed.
Inuyasha was the first to pick up on her jitters. He kept glancing at her out of the corners of his eyes. Lightly muttering to himself, probably thinking that Kagome couldn't hear, his words got louder and louder until everyone could.
"Fuck," he practically outburst. "Where is that damned mutt?"
Kagome weakly smiled back at him. "I'm sure that he'll be around soon."
Unfortunately, not even she believed her words.
They continued to walk on. Step by step her stomach sank. Each passing moment her fear intensified. It was bubbling up inside of her until she was so nervous that she felt like she was going to explode.
They walked for about an hour longer before Inuyasha abruptly stopped. He had stopped so suddenly that she almost walked into him. The sound of her heart beating thundered now that her feet were no longer moving. Kagome's breath caught in her throat.
"What is it?" she asked with a dry mouth.
"I smell blood," he replied, his voice low and almost menacing.
Zelgadis stopped walking and turned back.
"Blood?" he questioned, his hand slightly twitching towards his sword.
"A lot of it," Inuyasha stated, his ears alert and body tense. There was no doubt in his voice. Inuyasha pointed to the northwest. "That way."
Kagome squinted her eyes towards the direction he was pointing only to see nothing. Her face tightened and the knot in her stomach clenched. Kagome forced herself to take deep breaths.
"Let's go," she said and jumped onto Inuyasha's back without warning. He caught her easily, responding to her actions almost instantaneously. Kagome was dreading what they would find but needed to know. She silently prayed that Kouga would be alright. But she knew in her heart that this was bad.
Very bad.
"What's going on?" Sango asked.
"Something's wrong," Kagome said before Inuyasha took off. "Kouga's in trouble."
Kagome didn't turn around to see if the others where following. She knew that Sango and Miroku would be behind her on Kirara. As for the others, well Kagome hoped that they'd figure out that they needed to follow soon enough.
She clung to Inuyasha's back as he raced ahead, trying to peer around his shoulder. Trees flew around them from all sides, but they passed through them with ease. Kagome wasn't worried, she knew that they wouldn't hit any. Branches were the only thing that scrapped her as they traveled through. Kagome spared a moment to look up. Above her flew Kirara, and much to her surprise, her new friends. Huh, she didn't know they could . . . fly . . . except for Gourry who appeared to be clinging to Lina for dear life. Then again, if Lina could make fish float then why couldn't she cast the same spell on herself?
Kagome turned forward, she was going to have to ask them about that later – there were more important things to focus on right now.
Kouga.
Over the years, Kagome had grown fond of her wolf. He was one of her friends in the feudal era that she knew she could trust. Someone she could count on being there if she needed him.
She needed him to be okay.
Kagome could barely make out a clearing ahead through the trees. Instinctively she knew that that was where they would come to a stop. Whatever blood that Inuyasha smelled would be found just across the tree line.
If Kouga was anywhere, this was where they would find him.
Inuyasha must have had the same thought too, because he skidded to a halt as soon as they left the forest. Kagome took a deep breath as she viewed the scene before her.
Grass that normally stood tall had been trampled over. There were a few patches that still stood erect, swaying in the slight breeze. Kagome climbed off of Inuyasha's back and slowly walked forward, her steps erratic and uneven over the battle-torn ground. There was a long shinging sound behind her that she dimly recognized as Inuyasha drawing his sword.
The first thing she noticed was the smell. Thick and coppery, it seemed to cling to the air. Kagome walked toward the figures she could see between the still standing pieces of grass. Inuyasha's steps could be heard behind her. Kagome pulled out her bow, feeling that she should have a weapon ready even though using it was the last thing on her mind. As they neared, she realized that the bodies were wearing the gray fur that she had come to identify with Kouga's tribe.
"Oh God," Kagome whispered bringing a hand up to her mouth.
She didn't recognize the first figure that they had stumbled upon other then it was a male. The sight alone was enough to make her throw up whatever she had eaten earlier in the day. Unfortunately, now that her stomach was empty she didn't feel any better. Her eyes uncontrollably went back to figure before her. Something had hit him, hard. The only thing that was left of his face was mashed flesh and bone. There were gashes along all along his body.
Swallowing, Kagome looked away to the others who were surveying the scene as well. She didn't think she could look at the body any longer. Her stomach had started churning again and she fought with all of her strength to not give in to the panic that was setting into her body. She concentrated on the others, hoping that it would help her enough to focus on something other then the smell.
Amelia had a grim expression on her face as she moved from body to body. She paused briefly before each, then continued on. Once she even bent down and laid a hand on one of the fallen figures chest before sighing and moving on to the next. Kagome dimly realized that Amelia was looking for survivors. Gourry walked by her side with his sword drawn. Sango and Miroku where following Amelia's lead and were looking for survivors as well.
Her gaze moved past them and onto Lina and Zelgadis who were talking further into the battlefield.
"Fuck!" Inuyasha yelled causing her to turn his direction. He was about a hundred feet away and crouching over a fallen figure.
Kagome didn't even register that her feet were in motion. It had all happened so fast. She was running and shouldering her bow once again. It seemed as though in a blink of an eye she was there, unsure of how it had happened.
She tried to open her mouth and speak, but words didn't want to come out. Her eyes remained firmly on Inuyasha's back, afraid to look at what he was hovering over. It was perhaps one of the most difficult things she had ever done, but she finally let her eyes fall to the ground.
On the flattened grass in front of him was a figure. Both legs below the knee had been ripped away. Blood saturated the ground, staining the normally tan-green grass a gruesome shade of dark red and brown. There was a large gash along his side. Ribs were visible through the missing chunks of flesh. Kagome swallowed loudly and forced herself to look at the face.
She had known who it was the moment she saw what had been done to his legs.
Kouga.
It was Kouga.
Kagome took a deep breath and almost choked on the smell. She brought a shaky hand up to her mouth and nose to slightly cover her senses. Falling onto her knees, she stifled a cry. The ground was still sticky and wet. Blood soaked into her skirt and covered her bare legs. She almost slipped and had to steady herself with her hand. By the shear amount of blood that framed his body Kagome knew for certain that he was dead.
There was nothing that could be done.
Kagome wanted to be strong but couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes.
Kouga. Her Kouga.
Her wolf was dead and it was all her fault.
There was only one reason why someone would take his legs like that…the jewel shards.
They were too late.
"Damn wolf," Inuyasha muttered from behind her but she hardly paid him any notice.
Kagome brushed back some of Kouga's dark hair. Her hands were covered in blood and it streaked across his pale forehead. With her other hand she tried to wipe away some of the tears that were falling. She could feel where his blood had gotten onto her hands, and now onto her face.
Leaning forward, she placed her head against Kouga's own.
"I….I…." words didn't want to form. "…..Kouga…..please……I….I'm sorry." Kagome placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. She let her lips linger a few moments before pulling away.
She wiped her hands against her green skirt as she struggled to get onto her feet. The blood soaked into the fabric but she hardly paid notice. It already covered her shoes and legs so what was a little more going to do to her?
Giving Inuyasha a grim smile, she wiped the tears from her face.
Kagome was strong.
She could handle this.
Together, they walked back to where Sango and Miroku were standing.
"Kouga's dead," Kagome uttered, her voice sounding very unlike her own. Neither Miroku nor Sango seemed surprised by this information. "His jewel shards are gone."
"Kagome," Sango said heavily. "I'm so sorry."
Kagome sniffled.
"Naraku," Inuyasha growled. "I'm sure of it."
Kagome nodded, it had to be that monster. There was no way that Kouga and his tribe would lose to anyone else. He was strong. He was a fighter.
And now he was gone.
"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed. "This battle is fresh too! If we could have only gotten here an hour earlier!"
"It's a little coincidental, don't you think?" said Miroku. "I mean Kouga's had the jewel shards for years and Naraku come after them now?"
"You think that Naraku knew that this is where we were headed?" Sango asked.
"That's exactly what I think," Miroku replied.
"But how?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha glared at the newcomers to the group. "Stop that Inuyasha. They've been with us the entire time. We would have noticed one of them sneaking away to talk to Naraku, wouldn't we?"
The four of them gave each other an uneasy glance.
Kagome turned her attention back to where Lina and Zelgadis stood. They were still talking about something – but they were not being secretive about it. Amelia and Gourry were still walking among the bodies. It looked like they haven't found any survivors yet.
It was then that Kagome noticed one person missing.
"Where's Xelloss?" she asked to no one in particular.
"That's strange," Miroku replied. "He was here this morning; up to the point that Inuyasha said he had smelled blood anyway."
"I knew there was a reason I didn't like that guy," Inuyasha grumbled.
"But do you really think that he could be working for Naraku?" Sango asked.
"Who knows?" Miroku said. "We certainly don't know much about the guy. All they've seemed to have told us was that he's a Mazuko of some kind."
"Kagome," Lina said, catching her attention. The red head was coming towards them followed by Zelgadis. "There is a lot of dark magic residue in the area."
Kagome pressed her lips together.
"Whoever did this might still be in the area," Zelgadis said. "And I can't help but think that this is a trap."
"No shit," Inuyasha replied. "Where the fuck's your fucking Priest friend?"
"What?" Lina said looking around as if she just realized that he was missing. "He tends to have a habit of disappearing when there's trouble."
"A smart man then," a voice came from behind them, back in the trees that they had just left.
Kagome swung around to see three figures standing at the edge of the clearing.
The first man had long dark hair that hung over an eye. There was something that hung around his back. He wore no weapons.
The second man appeared to be more of a threat. A sword was hanging from his belt loop and he wore a smile that reminded her of Naraku. His startling blue hair seemed to defy gravity as it stood up in all directions.
And next to him stood a very familiar face, Kagura.
Kagome clenched her fists.
"Hey bitch," Inuyasha snarled. "I see that you've found some new friends."
Kagura smiled back.
"I think we have something you're looking for," she replied.
The man with the blue hair threw something towards Kagome. Two somethings actually, both looked like fire wood.
They landed twenty feet away, close enough for Kagome to realize in shock what they were.
Kouga's legs.
She couldn't stop the gasp of horror that came out of her mouth. Nor could she stop the uncontrollable shaking of her hands. She fought the urge to fall to her knees and cry. Oh god this can't be happening.
The blue haired man laughed at her and Inuyasha growled back.
Kagome was dimly aware that Gourry and Amelia had returned to the group. She knew that she needed to be focusing on the dangers ahead of her. Kagome knew that she needed to look away from the grim sight of Kouga's legs, but she couldn't move. A soft voice in her head kept whispering that it was her fault. That she could have stopped it and Kouga would be alive and well if it wasn't for her.
A hand wrapped around her wrist and she jumped. Kagome looked over to see Amelia standing next to her. She silently thanked Amelia for bringing her out of her mind. Kagome turned her head back to the three people standing just at the edge of the woods.
They did this. They were the ones that took her wolf away from her. Anger boiled in her veins. Kagome was never one to feel hate towards others, but right now - it consumed her.
"Hey!" Gourry pointed. "I know you! You're the one who stole the book from Prince Phil!"
"Yes I am," Kagura shook her head. Her voice sounded almost bored. "You should have given up on getting the book back a long time ago. But no, instead you've gotten yourselves involved in dangerous matters. Matters that you will not be walking away from alive."
Inuyasha snorted. "You do realize that there are eight of us, right? And only three of you – I think that you might be the ones in trouble here."
Kagome looked back at where Lina and Zelgadis were standing. Lina had a hard look on her face making her normal youthful appearance age years.
"So Kagura," Lina began. "Who are your friends?"
In the seconds that it took Kagome to turn back to Kagura, the man with the blue hair was already gone. Air rushed behind her and she whirled around again. The blue haired man was standing right in front of Lina. Both Gourry and Zelgadis had drawn their swords, but they seemed unable to move. Inuyasha had drawn Tetsusaiga as well, and in an instant he was by Kagome's side. The blue haired man bent down until he was level with Lina's face, which was a good foot at least considering how short the girl was.
If Lina was surprised, she didn't show it. She didn't even flinch as he stared her down.
"Lina Inverse," the blue haired man cooed. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you."
"The pleasure's all yours, I'm sure," she sarcastically replied.
"Oh don't act like that," he standing back to his full height. "There are many of us out there who are just itching to make your acquaintance."
The man smiled, revealing a set of pointed teeth.
"Who are you?" Kagome asked fighting to control her voice during those three words.
The man turned to her as if surprised that she dared to speak.
"Kagome isn't it?" he questioned but didn't wait for a reply. "I don't see what's so special about you. And that must be the hanyo I've heard so much about, Inuyasha. You should put that sword away half-breed, before you hurt yourself."
Inuyasha lunged at the blue haired man only to have him disappear. Instead he crashed into Zelgadis and both of them fell hard to the ground. The blue haired man reappeared where Inuyasha was originally standing. Kagome stumbled back, running into Amelia but both remained upright.
"Succhii," the man with dark hair said. Apparently Succhii was the man with blue hair. "You can play with them later. We have delivered our message and we should be getting back now."
"What message?" Lina asked raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, how silly of me," he replied. "It was so short and simple that I forgot I hadn't said anything yet. Hmmmm . . . . What was it again? . . . Dismembering the wolf tribe is nothing compared to what we have in store for you. Enjoy the legs – perhaps it will give you a leg up, so to speak, when fighting against us."
"That's not funny!" yelled Kagome not caring who heard her.
"Oh come on," Succhii whined. "I don't want to go yet."
The dark haired man gave Succhii a thin lipped smile.
"Ten minutes," he replied before disappearing.
Kagura stood still, a bit confused for a moment before summoning her feather and leaping on board.
That was when all hell broke loose.
"After her!" yelled Zelgadis taking into the air only to have Succhii appear right before him. Inches away, Succhii shot a black beam into his chest. Zelgadis was too close to dodge the blast and there was no time to raise a strong enough shield. It hit him before he even had time to react. Zelgadis collided with the ground with enough force to send a large pile of dirt into the air.
From the corner of her eye, Kagome saw a bright red beam shooting out of Lina's hands. It was aimed for Succhii but he was gone before the beam even connected. It flew harmless off into the clouds.
Kagome whipped her head around, desperately searching for where the monster had gone. He appeared to her right on the other side of Lina.
"Take Amelia and go after Kagura!" Lina shouted at Kagome before turning to Succhii. "We can handle him."
"Use Kirara!" Sango said throwing her boomerang in an attempt to dislodge Succhii from the sky.
Kagome did as she was told and leapt onto the cat demon's back. She had barely landed when she felt someone leap aboard behind her.
"Let's go!" shouted Amelia. Kirara followed the command and took to the air. Kagura had fled to the West.
"I don't think so!" Kagome heard Lina's voice shouted from behind. There was an immense burst of wind as a black light flew off to her right. Kagome took a deep breath as she realized that they were almost hit and urged Kirara to go faster.
"You're fighting us!" Inuyasha roared. Something else was shouted but they were no longer close enough to hear. The only noises that could be heard now where explosions. Kagome silently hoped that the explosions where hitting Succhii and not her friends.
She didn't dare look back; instead she kept her eyes ahead searching for Kagura.
"There!" shouted Amelia pointing around her waist. To the left, about two hundred feet in front of them flew the evil wind witch.
"Faster Kirara," urged Kagome.
Kagome felt hands on her shoulder and looked up to see Amelia steadying herself. She was standing and looked back down at Kagome.
"Don't let me fall," Amelia said.
Kagome wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to do that. She reached behind and wrapped her arms around Amelia's legs. Pulling Amelia close to her, she clenched her legs into Kirara has tight as she could. Kagome looked up to see that Amelia had brought her hands in towards her center.
"Rah Tilt!" she screamed.
Kagome's mouth went wide as a beam of white light flew over her head towards Kagura. Unfortunately, it didn't it hit her. Instead, Kagura dove down a minute sooner and the spell nipped only her hair. However, it did pass her with such force that she went soaring to the ground. Kirara dove after her and Kagome was forced to let go of Amelia to hold on.
Amelia wasn't so lucky and couldn't stay on their ride.
"Amelia!" Kagome screamed as the girl flew off of the cat demon's back.
"Levitation!" Amelia shouted and her fall turned into a controlled descent.
Below, Kagome could see that Kagura had already landed. It was a crash landing, to be exact. Kagome hoped that the sorceress broke something when she hit the hard ground.
Kagome drew her bow and knocked an arrow as Kirara touched down. She aimed at Kagura causing the woman to stop in her tracks. Amelia landed onto the ground next to her.
The hate that was coursing through her system returned in an instant. Kagura was not going to escape.
Kagome was not going to let her get away for what she had done to Kouga.
"You're not going anywhere!" cried Kagome.
She let off an arrow to prove her point. It whizzed by Kagura's face.
"It looks like someone finally learned how to shot," the witch commented.
"Looks like it," Kagome replied barely recognizing her own voice. It was colder and harder then it had ever been before.
"You're coming with us," Amelia demanded.
"To where?" Kagura questioned. "Back there? To your friends? You should know that they're all dead by now."
Kagome was not going to listen to anything that this woman had to say.
She had killed Kouga.
Kagome let another arrow loose, this time it lodged its self in Kagura's chest.
Kagura let out a cry and doubled over. She pulled out her fan and sent a blast of wind at them.
Dodging out of the way, Kagome landed hard on the ground to the right. Amelia had raised some sort of shield that the blast bounced off of. Kagome shot a third arrow from her position on the ground as Kagura sent another blast of wind her way.
But this arrow did not make it to its intended target, and neither did the wind.
Instead, a man appeared in between the two, batting away the wind and catching the arrow with his hand.
"Kagura," the dark haired man stood before them. "We need Kagome alive."
"Forgive me Malachi," Kagura muttered. "But as you can see, I've been shot."
Malachi turned around to face Kagura. He walked up to her and pulled the arrow out of her chest. Kagura let out a grunt of pain as flesh came with it.
"You'll heal," he said then turned towards Kagome.
"Until next time," Malachi smiled and reached a hand around Kagura's waist. Together they disappeared into thin air.
Kagome stayed on the ground for a few more moments in silence.
Kagura got away. Kagome let her get away.
Damn it!
She looked towards Amelia to see that she had already mounted back on Kirara. Kagome took the hint and stood up; she was not going to allow her mind to be distracted by that bitch when there was still work to do. Quickly, she climbed back onto the demon cat. She wrapped her arms around Amelia. If Kagome fell off, she didn't think her landing would be quite as graceful as the other girl's had been.
"We need to hurry back," Amelia said to both Kagome and Kirara.
Kirara leapt into the air.
"Amelia, what is going on? " Kagome said, her mind still trying to comprehend everything that had happened in the past hour. "Who was that?"
"That was a Mazuko," Amelia replied. "And I would bet anything that the man with blue hair is one as well."
"But he is nothing like Naraku or any other demon I have ever met," Kagome said. "Not even Naraku can disappear into thin air."
"I don't understand why they are different as well Ms. Kagome," Amelia answered. "But Mazuko are powerful and dangerous. And if the blue haired man that the others are fighting is one, then we need to get back to help as soon as we can."
Kagome frowned into Amelia's back. She didn't understand what was going on but she was damned well going to find out.
Kagome only hoped that the others were okay.