Chapter 18: Dragons
Kagome and her pack arrived at a village at mid morning. Totosai suddenly disappear before that. Everyone wasn't surprised at that. Not to mention that Myoga disappeared as well. When they entered it, they noticed that there was something odd about this village. The rice patty fields looked dry and there were hardly any livestock as well. Everyone started to feel uneasy about this village. When they entered the village, the villagers surrounded them.
"Um, anybody have any ideas?" Shippo asked.
"Not at the moment." Masahiro said. Everyone was getting nervous around these villagers. Suddenly, they all sit on their knees and bowed.
"Please help us!" The villagers said. Kagome and her friends were confused and nervous at the moment. They didn't know why the villagers were suddenly acting this way.
"Um...how can we help you?" Masahiro asked, sweat dropping.
"It's the nine-headed dragon!" A villager said.
"The nine-headed dragon?" Kagome asked.
"He has kidnapped all of our children!" A villager said. Everyone gasped.
After a few shouts about the nine-headed dragon. Masahiro asked all of the villagers to stop with their shouting and lead them to the village leader. They were lead to a hut where they met Nakajima the village leader. Nakajima was surprised to see a miko traveling with a group of demons and a hanyō. But that didn't really matter at the moment.
"So what can you tell us about this nine-headed dragon?" Hansuke asked.
"It was several months ago when the nine-headed dragon appeared. He destroyed our fields and killed off most our livestock. Then a month later, all of the village children had vanished. We looked everywhere near our village. A week ago, one of the children returned to the village and she told us that the nine-headed dragon was keeping all of the children hostage. We couldn't understand why this dragon was after our village. We have nothing of value." Nakajima said.
"That is strange." Masahiro said, rubbing his chin.
"But are you sure that there is nothing of value here, Nakajima?" Tomoe asked.
"I'm certain." Nakajima said, "Unless…"
"Unless what, Nakajima?" Kagome asked, her brow arched. He turned his head left and right. It was like as if he was making sure that no one was listening of what was about to be said. Masahiro looked over at Kagome and she nodded. She quickly placed a soundproof barrier around the room to keep out anyone trying to listen in. Nakajima looked surprised when he saw a blue barrier around the room.
"It's a soundproof barrier." Kagome said, "Don't worry, no one can hear us."
"Well, it's possible the remains of Yamata no Orochi, the eight-headed dragon are buried here." Nakajima said.
"The remains?" Shippo asked. Kagome remembered the tale of Susanoo and the eight-headed dragon, Yamata no Orochi. Susanoo was banished from the heavens because of his rude behavior towards his sister's court, Amaterasu. He descended to Izumo in the western part of he met a couple crying with their daughter. They told him that the Yamata no Orochi, the eight-headed dragon, will be coming for their daughter. Susanoo struck a deal with the couple: if he killed the dragon, he would marry their daughter. They agreed and Susanoo went off and killed the dragon. After he killed it, he found a sword, the Kusanagi, inside of the dragon's belly. Then he presented the sword to his sister as an apology to his misdeeds. The sword later became one of the imperial treasures of Japan.
"Shouldn't his remains be buried in the Western lands?" Kagome asked.
"I believe that there's something valuable about the remains that they had to buried here in the Eastern lands." Nakajima said, "Probably to keep them hidden."
"But what could possibly be so valuable about the remains of a dragon?" Shippo asked.
"The remains of a powerful being are very valuable, Shippo." Hansuke said.
"Especially, a dragon's remains." Masahiro said.
"So, will you help us?" Nakajima asked.
"Of course, sir. We can't turn a blind eye to this." Masahiro said.
Everyone went back to the hut that one of the villagers provided for them. After their discussion with Nakajima, they began to form a plan.
"So what's the plan, Masahiro?" Akari asked.
"I guess the only thing we can do is ask the child where she escape from." Masahiro said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Maybe she doesn't want to relive of what happened to her." Kagome said. She was worried about the little girl. She didn't want to pressure into telling them.
"You have a point there, Kagome." Masahiro said, "But she's our only lead now."
"I understand." Kagome said, sadly. Masahiro placed his hand over Kagome's. She knew that he was trying to comfort her.
"But why does he want the children? Does he need them to find his remains?" Tomoe asked.
"That's probably why that dragon has the children." Akari said.
"That's possible." Hansuke said, rubbing his chin.
"Why would he need humans if he could just dig it out himself?" Shippo asked. Everyone stiffened at that moment. They didn't realize that the dragon could just dig out the remains with its claws. They didn't think of that before. But they couldn't figure out why the dragon would want the village children.
"Maybe the children are being used for something else." Kagome said.
"But what could it be?" Tomoe asked.
"Could they be sacrifices for Yamata?" Kagome asked.
"That's possible. Since many demons would capture or eat children. But there are very few who would sacrifice children." Hansuke said, "Actually, now that I think about it. There aren't any demons who would sacrifice children."
"Is there a possibility that Nakajima could be lying to us?" Akari asked.
"I don't know. But for now, let's just keep our guard up and focus on finding the children." Masahiro said.
"Hai." Everyone said in union.
They walked towards the hut of where the child who escaped lived. When they went into the hut, they saw a little girl with long black tied in a low ponytail sitting in the corner with her arms wrapped around her legs. Kagome and her friends could sense the fear in the girl's aura. They didn't want to scare her even more. The parents looked very worried about their daughter and then they glanced over at Kagome and her friends. Masahiro had asked them to leave while they talk to her. Kagome put a soundproof barrier around the room and walked over to the child and kneeled in front of her.
"What's your name?" Kagome asked. The girl looked up at the female voice. The girl had light brown eyes that were filled with fear and uncertainty. She could tell that the girl was still scared about what happened to her. But they needed her help.
"H-Hina." Hina said, nervously.
"That's a pretty name." Kagome said.
"Thank you." Hina said.
"Hina, I know you've been through a lot. But we need you to tell us all of what you know. If you don't, we will have no way of saving the other children." Masahiro said. Hina took a deep breath and let it out.
"Alright." Hina said, "We were taken by these strange looking demons and dragged us to a mountain a few miles from here. Then they put us in a room inside of a cave. But before we were put in, I noticed that the demons were digging up something on the walls. It looked a giant skeleton of some kind."
"Did the skeleton have eight heads?" Masahiro asked.
"Yeah, it did." Hina said.
"What else did you notice?" Masahiro asked.
"There was a hooded figure that was inspecting us before we were put in. Even though, I couldn't see her face well, I saw different traits on her." Hina said.
"What kind of traits?" Akari asked.
"She sounded like a female when she ordered the demons around. Her eyes were in the shade of dark green. They looked like the shape of a reptile. Her arms had golden scales on them and there were blacks claws on her, too. One of the demons called her 'Jigoku-sama'." Hina said.
"What happened after you were put in?" Shippo asked.
"I heard her talking about some kind of ritual and a jewel shard." Hina said.
"Are you positive that she said she has a jewel shard, Hina?" Kagome asked.
"I believe so." Hina said.
"That's not good." Kagome said.
"What should we do, Masahiro?" Shippo asked. Everyone turned towards Masahiro who looked deep into thought about something.
"Masahiro, what's wrong?" Kagome asked.
"The nine-headed dragon isn't a he, it's a she." Masahiro said, "Jigoku is the nine-headed dragon."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.
"If I'm not mistaken, Jigoku might be planning on reviving Yamata." Masahiro said.
"Couldn't she just use the jewel shard that she has?" Tomoe asked.
"I don't think that's enough power." Hansuke said, "She's probably waiting for the blood moon to rise."
"Why would she wait for the blood moon?" Shippo asked.
"It is said that the blood moon has extreme power when it's risen. She needs it to complete the ritual in order to revive him." Hansuke said, "The ritual requires sacrifices. I believe she'll use them for the ritual."
"When will the blood moon rise, Hansuke?" Tomoe asked.
"A week from now." Hansuke said.
"That's all we got?" Akari asked.
"How long does it take to get to the mountain from here?" Masahiro asked.
"Almost a week." Hina said.
"That's how long it will take?" Kagome asked.
"Hai." Hina said.
"Then we better get a move on." Masahiro said.
"Hai." Everyone said in union.
Miles away from the village, on top of a large mountain, there stood a figure who was staring at the first quarter of the moon. She had a hood over her face so that no one could see her face, only her green reptile eyes could be seen. Her cape was the only thing that was flapping against the wind. She had to make sure that everything was in place for her plan to succeed. But she couldn't believe that one of the children had escaped without her knowledge. Then she sensed one her henchmen behind her.
"Is everything ready?" The hooded figure asked.
"Yes, milady." The henchman said, "Even though we let one of the children escape."
"No matter. Now the only thing we need is the rise of the blood moon." The hooded figure said.
"That's only a week away, milady. Quite a long wait." The henchman said.
"I know." The hooded figure said while smirking, "But it will be worth it."
"Indeed, Jigoku-sama." The henchman said.
