The Storm
By: AniuLonewolf
Chapter 10 - Final Battle
With everything taken care of, they set out onto the road towards Naraku's castle. Soon after leaving the demon slayer village, they saw the ominous black clouds hanging over the mountain ahead. As they neared the mountain, they walked by corpses of dead farm animals, suffocated from the thick miasma in the atmosphere. The grass died off, there were no signs of living animals around the area as they ventured closer to the mountain.
As they approached the castle, Kagome could feel a very strong force ahead. "Inuyasha, there's a barrier around the castle." She said from where she was being carried on the half demon's back.
"Right," Inuyasha nodded as he continued to jump from rock ledge to rock ledge. The group came up to the top of the mountain and right in front of them was Naraku's castle. There were giant walls that surrounded the castle and if looked at closely one could see the almost translucent effects of the barrier.
Kagome and Shippo got off of Inuyasha's back and the half demon unsheathed Tetsusaiga. He lifted it over his head and closed his eyes, concentrating on his sword. The mighty blade pulsated and turned a bright crimson red.
"Wind Scar!" Inuyasha yelled and swung his sword. Giant claw marks erupted from the blade and attacked the barrier. The translucent barrier withered and squirmed for a moment, trying to stay up but it was no match for the red Tetsusaiga and soon disappeared into nothing.
With the barrier gone, the group was able to enter the castle. They slowly walked up to the entrance of the castle. Surprisingly, there were no demons or other barriers to block their way. Inuyasha got Tetsusaiga ready and Sango unhitched her boomerang. Kagome got an arrow strung and Miroku was ready with his staff. Kilala's fur bristled as she growled and Shippo stayed on her back, he couldn't help but shiver in fear.
Inuyasha took one last look at everyone. "Ready guys?" He asked and not a nod from everyone in the group, everyone eager to put this battle to an end once and for all. He looked down at Kagome who was standing beside him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, feeling her shivering. He gave her a small smile, kissing her quickly on the forehead before turning to everyone in the group again. "Let's do this," He smirked, transforming Tetsusaiga into its fang form.
With everyone pumped and ready to kick some major demon ass, Inuyasha used Tetsusaiga to break down the giant door. Wood splinters flew everywhere and when the dust settled, the group ran inside and found themselves in a giant empty court yard. It was quiet, only the wind blowing until they heard laughter echoing throughout the area. The evil laugh of the demon everyone hated so much.
"Naraku, show yourself!" Inuyasha yelled at the top of his lungs. "Come out and show your ugly face! Or are you too chicken to fight to the death."
"Inuyasha," The voice echoed through the castle ground and thunder rumbled through the sky. "You're a man of big words, but can you fight like a man?" Naraku's laugh erupted from his hiding place again.
"We have the same question for you. We can take you on," Sango yelled while standing beside Miroku. She held her boomerang ready while she tried to keep her hands from shaking. "We're here to put a stop to your evil, twisted plot. To avenge all the people you have killed that were so dear to us. And for all the innocent people you've killed."
"Touching speech slayer but can you back it up?" There was a flash of lightning from the storming sky above and then from the castle, hundreds of demons burst out and charged at Inuyasha and the others. They were ugly; venom dripping from their open jaws, some missing their eyeballs and blood oozed from the sockets. Boney bats and featherless birds flew in the air and gave horrible screams from their bent muzzles.
"This is it everyone," Miroku said as he took a battle stance, holding the prayer beads around his wrist, ready to draw upon the Wind Tunnel. "The war has begun."
Inuyasha let out a loud growl, getting ready to attack the demons as he watched them charged towards them. He gripped the hilt of his sword together and was about to charge at the demons when a pink arrow whizzed by him, wiping out two rows of demons ahead of him. He turned back with wide eyes to see Kagome string another arrow. "K-Kagome?"
The young priestess was glowing pink as she let another arrow fly towards the demons, disintegrating another row of the oncoming demons. The demons howled in pain as the light burned their skin but the rest of the demons continued to charge forward. Sango and the others each got ready and then ran ahead to attack the oncoming demons.
Sango threw her giant boomerang towards the demons. Her Hiraikotsu spun through the air, reddish flames glowing around the weapon as it captured the demon aura to destroy the enemies. Inuyasha took one last look at Kagome who was standing with Kilala and then jumped into action, swinging his sword left and right cutting through bodies.
Miroku was standing near the demon slayer and the dog demon and used his Wind Tunnel to suck up destroyed demons to assure that they wouldn't be revived again. In the past they had seen Naraku use dead demon bodies to grown stronger so they wanted to eliminate any possibility of Naraku growing any stronger. But the monk didn't realize how many demons would be attacking them, hundreds of thousands of demons filled the courtyard and the amount of demons he had sucked up already was taking a toll on his body. Deciding to take a break from using the Wind Tunnel, Miroku closed his hand and wrapped the prayer beads around his wrist.
But that was when he saw that the skin around the edge of the Wind Tunnel was starting to turn black, spreading around the flesh of his hand and climbing up his forearm. He could feel the sting of the miasma coursing through his veins. Looking around, he saw that no one noticed his pain and he swallowed down the pain as he turned back to the demons with his sutras.
Kagome stayed behind, standing beside Kilala in her saber form with Shippo on the demon cat's back. The young girl strung another arrow but this time instead of firing at the countless demons, she closed her eyes and concentrated on trying to find the sacred jewel, for she knew that if she would be able to find the jewel, she would be able to find Naraku's hiding place.
There… no, there… no… it was too fuzzy, she was unable to hone in on the scared jewel's signal. There was too much noise from dying demons and her friends in battle that she couldn't concentrate hard enough to find where Naraku was hiding.
"Kagome watch out!" She heard Shippo cry out beside her and she opened her eyes to see a trio of demons coming straight at her. She had been too busy concentrating that she didn't see them coming at her.
Kilala acted fast; jumping in front of the young priestess and grabbing one of the demons in her powerful jaws, her saber teeth breaking right through the demons neck. The snake-like creature gave a blood chilling scream with the last of its breath as it bled out from the neck. Kilala didn't waste any time and ripped the jugular out of the first demon before turning to the second to do the same. But while going after the second demon, the third sank its poisonous fangs into the cat demon's shoulder.
Kagome acted quickly and used the strung arrow on her bow to blow apart the demon attacking Kilala. With the demons dead around them, Kagome took a moment to address Kilala's bleeding shoulder. It didn't look too deep and the giant cat demon shook it off and went back to attacking nearby demons.
Inuyasha saw the attack on Kilala and as he finished off the demons around him, he rushed back to Kagome to make sure she was safe. But when he managed to get back to her, her eyes were closed again as she concentrated. He gasped as he watched Kagome start to glow pink again. "Kagome?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder but instantly pulled it back as her priestess power burned his flesh. He looked at his hand with a horrified expression and then back to Kagome. This was not her normal powers; this was something entirely different; Kagome's powers had never hurt him before.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha," Kagome whispered as she heard the half demon hiss in pain. Her eyes were still closed as she strung another arrow on her bow. "I'm trying to find Naraku," Her expression showed that she was in pain as she tried honing in on the jewel again. "There!" She cried, letting her arrow fly in the direction of the corner of the castle.
As the arrow hit the corner tower of the courtyard, Kagome's priestess powers encountering Naraku's evil presence caused a powerful explosion to rock the battle ground. Demons that were hiding in the tower cried out in pain as the pink light of Kagome's powers burnt their skin. The tower blew apart from the explosion, raining wood planks and stones down to the ground from the destruction.
Another of Naraku's laughs echoed through the courtyard as the smoke cleared from the explosion. "So little priestess, you found me have you."
Inuyasha didn't waste any time and jumped after where the voice came from in the corner of the court yard. The half demon was about to swing his mighty sword in an attack when a gust of wind came from nowhere, throwing him back.
The laughter of a female caught their attention as they watched a female demon emerge from the destroyed corner tower. It was Kagura, the wind sorceress and minion to Naraku. Her blood red eyes turned to the half demon getting up to his feet. "What's the matter Inuyasha, can't stand a little breeze?" The sorceress laughed, holding her fan in front of her face.
A growl erupted from Inuyasha as he got up to his feet, getting his sword ready to strike down the wind sorceress. He was about to jump after the demon ahead when he saw Kilala come up beside him, offering to help fight against Kagura. Inuyasha looked over at the two tailed demon and nodded in thanks, the two of them jumping after Kagura.
All of a sudden everyone heard the familiar buzzing noise in the air. Looking up, everyone saw none other than a swarm of Saimiochyo, demon bees that were controlled by Naraku. There were hundreds of them in the air.
Although knowing the poison from the bees would surely render Miroku useless for the remaining of the battle, he knew that he was the only one who could get rid of the Saimiochyo. Pulling away his beads, Miroku threw out his hand and braced his body for the coming of the bee poison.
"Miroku no!" Sango yelled out in horror as she saw the monk using his Wind Tunnel against the bees. She knew that he wouldn't last long against the bees and abandoned her battle against the demons to run to the monk.
The stinging feeling was intensified as soon as he sucked in the first bee but he didn't stop. Glancing down at his right hand, his eyes widened when he saw that the miasma marks were spreading from his palm up his arm. The pain rocked through his body which forced him to fall to his knees with a violent cough.
Sango made it to Miroku just as the monk fell to his knees. Acting quickly, the demon slayer pulled Miroku's prayer beads over his wrist and with an angry cry she threw her boomerang towards the poisonous bees and turned back to the fallen monk. She pulled him up onto her lap and gasped when she saw that he had been coughing up blood. She could sense the presence of miasma and turned to roll up his sleeve on his right hand and gasped again when she saw the mark of poison. It was almost like claws crawling up his arm towards his chest.
"Miroku what have you done?" Sango whispered as she looked down at the wounded man on her lap. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself that hard."
"I had to," The monk whispered back as he wiped away the blood from his chin. "What kind of man would I be if I couldn't protect the woman I loved?"
Sango's eyes were already watering from seeing Miroku in pain but at his comment, the tears spilled over her cheeks as she pulled the monk close. "Oh Miroku," She sobbed quietly.
Their quiet moment was ruined when the Hiraikotsu flew back to Sango and landed in the dirt beside the two. The demon slayer helped the monk to his feet and grabbed her loyal weapon. As they got up to their feet they both froze when they heard a faint noise behind them.
Turning around, they saw the white demon, Kanna of the void who was another of Naraku's minions. She appeared as a young girl dressed completely in white with a vacant expression on her face. The mirror in her possession was able to collect souls of humans to use in Naraku's evil plans. With a quick nod to each other, they both ran after the small white demon; Miroku trying to use his sacred sutras to immobilize Kanna while Sango drew out the sword at her waist.
Another flash of lightening came from the sky as thunder rumbled after it. But as the lightening in the sky flashed, another flash of light came from the castle main house where more demons charged into battle. Sango and Miroku turned away from Kanna for a moment to try and fend off the minion demons but that was when Kanna took the opportunity to strike back. The mirror in her little hands started to glow white, looking for the closest soul to devour.
The demon exterminator was busy trying to fight off the lesser demons when she suddenly felt very weak. Looking down, she saw that her chest had started to glow a soft light. Her heart suddenly gave a shudder and Sango fell to her knees, dropping her boomerang and clutching her chest in pain.
Miroku heard Sango gasp and turned around to see Sango's soul rising from her body. "Sango!" He cried out, looking around to spot Kanna and her mirror glowing, calling Sango's soul towards the mirror. Without a second thought, the monk raced over, staff in hand and jumped at Kanna. The little demon looked up at the oncoming monk with lifeless eyes and didn't move when Miroku stabbed his staff into her mirror, breaking it.
The white demon gave a quiet gasp as her mirror shattered in her hands, the souls being released from the glass. Sango's body stopped glowing, her soul returning to the demon slayer as the white demon fell to her knees. Kanna was never one for many words and as such, silently turned to dust in her death – all that was left was her mirror that fell to the ground.
With the white demon gone, Miroku turned to make sure that the demon exterminator was alright. Pulling Sango up into his lap, he waited a moment before Sango opened her eyes, regaining consciousness from almost losing her soul.
Kagome watched as Miroku and Sango finished off the white demon Kanna and then turned to watch Inuyasha and Kilala tag team to fight against Kagura.
The half demon jumped at Kagura, bringing his sword down towards the sorceress in an attack but she blocked the giant blade with her fan. Inuyasha gave out a growl as he pulled away his sword, allowing Kilala to jump from behind him and attack the wind demon. The saber-toothed cat demon also got her claws at Kagura's neck but the wind demon managed to beat her back with her other fan, Kilala's claws sinking into the fan.
It was a sight to see, the wind demon blocking both Inuyasha's sword and the demon cat's claws. But Inuyasha's keen senses caught Kagura's weak spot as she turned to deflect Kilala's attack. The half demon took the opportunity and kicked Kagura in the knee. Her legs buckled and she fell to the ground, Kilala knocking away one of her fans.
Kagura gave a growl as she watched Inuyasha raise his sword to finish her off. She hated Inuyasha for she knew this was it, she was going to die – but then at the same time, she thanked the half demon for setting her free from Naraku's evil grasp. Without any words spoken, Inuyasha raised his sword and delivered the final blow, cutting into her flesh.
Kagura gave a grunt as blood spilled from her mouth. Looking down, her hands were covered in blood from where she grasped the wound in her chest. While on her knees, she looked around, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes as a breeze blew through her hair – as if calling her to join the free wind. She sat there on the ground, blood flowing from her open wound, taking her last breath. She silently thanked Inuyasha and the others for finally setting her free from the evil grasp of Naraku. She had never been her own person, just a tool to be controlled by Naraku and she could finally be free like the wind, just like she always wanted and dreamed of.
Inuyasha stood there, breathing heavily as he watched Kagura die. Kagura's face showed peace and tranquility as her body turned to ashes right before his eyes. The wind around the courtyard picked up, taking away the demon sorceress's ashes away into the free air.
With Kagura defeated and no other demons flying out of the main building, Inuyasha took a moment to catch his breath before turning to where Kagome thought Naraku was hiding. Miroku helped Sango up to her feet, her body still recovering from almost losing her soul and together they turned to where they heard Naraku's laughter erupt again.
Naraku's laughter gave Kagome chills as she and Shippo stayed behind where Kilala had left them to aid Inuyasha in battle. But as she was standing there, Kagome gave a gasp as she felt the presence of a jewel shard ahead where Naraku's voice was coming from. She could only think of one person who had one jewel shard and her heart sank when she saw who emerged from the shadows next. Her eyes instantly turned to Sango.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
The Storm by AniuLonewolf