Chapter 23 A Presence Felt

In the stillness of her hut, Kaede sat in meditation. Instructing Jaken to keep any village activity away from her hut, she waited in calm silence for fate to grace her with a glimpse of what was to pass. Although dwarfed by Kagome in terms of raw power, Kaede was still an experienced priestess whose power was nothing to sneer at. Her own visions, while perhaps not as direct and clear-cut as Kagome's, at times had proved enlightening.

Slipping into a deep trance, Kaede at first felt as though she were floating in the depths of a dark ocean. All she could see were limitless waves of black, so complete in their ultimate darkness they were the antithesis of light.

Then the darkness shattered.

Fire blossomed forth as though hell itself had opened up and rained down around her. Jaws of red and orange consumed her and at once a murderous hate burned in her heart.

And then she saw...

The flames suddenly coalesced into the form of a gleaming sword that shimmered with power. Out of nowhere, a hand appeared and grasped it. A man with ebony hair and eyes filled with death and rage...

A dark and twisted tree burst violently from the earth and under those gnarled branches the man appeared with one other...

An outlander with round eyes of a sapphire hue...

Something exchanged hands...

A knowing smile lifted the corners of the outlander's mouth...

The raging man held high his sword and with a slash of the silver blade the vision shifted to a scene of utter carnage.

Thousands of men with only one face attacking...an ocean of blood staining the ground...bodies burnt and broken...children roasting alive...the smell of charred flesh in the wind...

Laughter...

Darkness enveloped her once more...

The silver mane of Sesshoumaru cut through the darkness and she saw him bloody and bruised on the ground...the other standing over him with his sword held high...

Without warning, whatever forces were at work decided Kaede had seen enough and slammed her back into reality. Regaining herself, Kaede tried to rise from her sitting position only to realize she was shaking and that cold sweat poured from her brow.

Stepping out of the hut, Kaede located Jaken sitting on a barrel, shaded by the overhang provided by her hut's roof.

"Jaken," Kaede said breathlessly. "I have seen the enemy."

"And?" Jaken demanded. "What else?"

"It's starting." Kaede answered. "Whatever Kagome saw is coming to pass and it is far worse than we thought at first. Many are going to die. Hundreds. Thousands."

"Did you see if it was in this era or the other? If it is on this side of the well then Kagome is protected on the other side and all we have to do is wait for her return to warn her. If it is on the other side then Lord Sesshoumaru will protect her."

"It was unclear which side of the well he will appear on..." Kaede still had the bloodied and prostrate image of Sesshoumaru seared with burning clarity in her mind. "I don't believe your master will have easy prey with this new enemy. Whoever it is, they are frighteningly powerful."

"Whatever power they may hold," Jaken returned, "I am confident that my Lord will prevail."

"Let us hope so," Kaede said softly.


Miroku felt an ill wind blow over him and draw him from his meditations. Grasping his staff, Miroku rose and turned his eyes toward the lush green of the forest surrounding the village. Although he could not be certain, Miroku thought he could hear the lingering echoes of someone's laughter. A laughter that caused his spine to stiffen in alarm.


Standing in the shadows offered by the verdant forest around him, Wei studied a monk in purple and black robes. Creases of unease lined the monk's face and his staff was held at the ready. The monk was still for a moment longer before retreating from the far outskirts of the nearby village to its interior. Wei suspected that the monk was going to tell the village elders that a sense of foreboding had come over him and that misfortune was heading their way.

How right you would be if you did indeed say that monk Wei thought as he smiled viciously before his smile turned into a frown as Wei observed the village that the monk headed towards. Much to his disappointment, he noted that the village probably only held seventy people or likely even less in it. Consumed with the idea of glorious revenge, the notion of attacking such a small, isolated, unimportant village struck him as insufficiently grand for an opening move against the Japanese. I want something meaningful as my first victory over them a city or a town, not some pitiful mud hole...something that at least offers a challenge...and notoriety...

Turning his back on the village, Wei wondered if his fight with Sesshoumaru had wet his appetite for greater things. He still wanted the people of the village dead, but felt they could wait.

I need to find the oh-so-fearsome samurai and humiliate them in battle. And then rape their wives and daughters in front of them. Then perhaps bury them alive.

I can deal with farmers and monks later.


Although Jaken provided many benefits to the village, in Kaede's opinion, good conversation was not one of them. His irritatingly nasal voice and sour odor always made Sango's temper short when she had to deal with him. The fact that he was also a walking toad with an outrageously high opinion of his own importance certainly did not help matters.

Sitting across a knee-high table from the diminutive creature with her legs folded, Kaede let the fragrance of her tea and the purring sounds of the wind gently twisting the leaves soothe her nerves while Jaken went on about happenings in the local area. Thanks to the hunters' cadre, the lands surrounding the village were nearly empty of dangerous youkai and the only conflicts to be reported were those between far away samurai clans. The only item of information that piqued Kaede's interest were the continued sightings of Kouga who constantly asked after Kagome.

Kouga...may heaven pity you should you run afoul of Sesshoumaru

When she heard the distinctive jangle of Miroku's staff and the accompanying whish-whish of his robes, Kaede had to stifle a sigh of relief. Jaken wasn't really all bad, just incredibly annoying and she did not want to offend him carelessly.

Turning away from the bulbous yellow eyes of the retainer, she turned to see Miroku's normally boyish face uncharacteristically grim right now. A shadow dimmed the normally vibrant and cheery eyes and his jaw was set in a hard line.

"Kaede, I fear-"

"Wait!" Jaken squawked in interjection. "Let me guess! Is there a dark cloud overhead which requires you to take the women of the village back to the privacy of your house where you can protect them? It must be difficult to get anything done when misfortune is always heading this way."

Miroku did not even spare Jaken a glance as he knocked the youkai out of the way. "I am certain you are aware by now that being a married man I am totally faithful to Sango. It would be dangerous to be otherwise. You can also be equally certain that right now I am quite serious when I say that there is something very wrong within the forest. I don't know exactly what, but there is some kind of presence which is definitely hostile."

Kaede's expression left no doubt what she was thinking. "Kagome's vision."

"That would be my guess as well," Miroku agreed. "Lady Kaede, can you tell me where Sango is? Patrolling without her and Kirara would be difficult."

"I am sorry to say that they were called away to deal with a group of bandits."

The silence that fell between them was as oppressive as it was ominous.