Chapter 42 Wolves at the Gate
The mountain loomed before them, its height and terrain offering formidable obstacles to any human army; the terrain limited maneuverability for such armies so as to rule out flanking or rear assaults. A siege against the fortress built into its side could go on for years and get nowhere. A frontal assault would channel the attackers onto a killing apron where the defenders had their strongest advantage.
But this army isn't composed of humans, Wei.
"He really fucked up," Kouga said, looking at the fortifications before him. At about 30 meters away it wasn't terribly difficult to study the challenges it presented, but Wei had helpfully lit numerous torches and bonfires to provide a better view of it. "That place may hold off humans, but it is going to fall quickly against us."
Sesshoumaru turned to Kouga, the firelight dancing in his golden eyes and his lips twitched upwards in what might have been the ghost of a smile. "He is thinking like a human would and set his defense accordingly. Additionally, he spread himself out into thousands of bodies, which has to dilute his power. Combine that with the fact that he also has to have a constant drain on his power to perform his summoning and we have an opportunity we cannot afford to waste."
"Don't be too confident," Kagome cautioned, as she let her perceptions stretch out to encompass the fortress and felt the warped malevolent spiritual power of Wei; whatever he was doing was causing enough turbulence on the spiritual plane that her spiritual bond with Sesshoumaru was filled with the equivalent of white noise unless they were next to each other. "I can sense points of hardened spiritual energy spaced evenly along the perimeter. They're wards of some sort."
"And what will these wards do?" Akihiro asked.
"One way to find out," Kagome answered.
The air around them became electrified as Kagome tapped into her own spiritual power to create a barrier in front of them.
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome said with an odd resonance in her voice. "Give it a love tap with the Toukijin."
Sesshoumaru leveled the blade at the fortifications and with reasonable restraint, let loose a ribbon of turquoise destruction. It streaked through the air and struck an invisible barrier. Rather than dissipate across the barrier's surface, it seemed to become more concentrated.
A sound like the air being split by thunder and the energy returned to strike back against them only to be stopped on Kagome's barrier, which dissipated it harmlessly.
"Love tap indeed," Isamu said wryly.
"Mmmm," Sesshoumaru responded. "Just be glad Kagome is spiritually perceptive. If I had unleashed a windscar we would be facing a serious problem. Seems that attacks relying on yoki will be reflected back."
"So we get up close and personal," Kouga replied.
Akihiro gave a feral smile. "That suits me."
Kouga turned his face up towards the night sky where the unnatural light was spreading across its surface like festering wound. It did not require a mind reader to know that Kouga was trying to guess how long they had before Wei succeeded.
"I may be able to interfere with his summoning," Kagome announced while staring at the shadowed form of the keep. She could feel the power pulsing out from it rhythmically; it was being controlled very precisely like an abhorrent cadence of the mad.
Before anyone could voice any questions, she continued. "To me it is almost like a song or beat and I think I can throw it off. I would need to be able to focus on it entirely though."
"Kouga-" Sesshoumaru began, but did not finish.
"I got it covered," Kouga said quickly. "Near the back of the lines and with Hakkaku and Ginta and a few others guarding her."
Kagome and Sesshoumaru had a silent debate more in impressions than in words. He was reluctant to rely on wolves to protect her, but she was adamant that he be with Kouga at the front. Although Sesshouamaru understood fully the necessity of it-Wei needed to have all his attention focused on the frontal assault so that he could not spare any concentration to counter her-the thought of not being by her side did not sit well with him. Deeply uneasy about it, Sesshoumaru ultimately was in grudging agreement that his place was on the front line.
The best defense is a good offense he thought silently to himself.
Oblivious to the silent drama that played itself out between Sesshoumaru and Kagome, Kouga turned and said "I need to speak with my pack. I'll tell Hakkaku and Ginta to expect you soon. Akihiro, Isamu, let's go."
Sesshoumaru watched as Kouga turned and took Akihiro and Isamu with him back to his followers. It struck Sesshoumaru as hideously surreal that Japan wasn't even really aware it was in a desperate battle for its life. Wei's identity was not known at large, his attack was so sudden and his method so unexpected that neither the modern Japan nor the feudal Japan could comprehend just how close it was to being obliterated and history rewritten.
Everything will be decided in the next hour. Everyone, even if they don't know it, is counting on us to save them from being the victims of a temporal mass murder.
Sesshoumaru suddenly felt the crushing weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Maybe it had always been there and he just wasn't aware of it, but now the full burden of his nation's existence was keenly felt and apprehension seized him in jaws of doubt.
I'm a college student in law school and I may be the best hope my country has of not being wiped out of existence. More than a hundred million people are going to-
"Don't get all dour on me," Kagome teased as she grabbed his hands. She could sense where the dark turn in his train of thought was taking him. "Where is that trademark self-assurance?"
Sesshoumaru eyes softened as he indulged in the joy of her touch. "Women always know how to provide inspiration for men. In this moment, that is exactly what I needed."
"Good," Kagome said turning serious "We've got a nation depending on us and we need everything we can throw at Wei, including and especially your certainty of victory."
"Kagome, I may have faltered for just a moment, but I didn't come back from the dead only to lose everything to a maniac. Wei is going to be stopped. There is nothing else."
Kagome wanted to pull him closer, to kiss him, to share with him a moment of tenderness and comfort, but amidst the madness and murder they were surrounded by the act seemed selfish and vulgar.
Kagome slowly pulled her hands from his and broke away from his amber gaze, "I have my own part to play in this and it is time I get started. Don't forget who you are."
Sesshoumaru watched her retreat to the back of the wolf pack with a grim and stoic expression on his face. Turning to face Wei and the fortress he commandeered, Sesshoumaru felt his resolve steel itself against all doubts. "It doesn't end here for us Wei. We've come too far and accomplished too much to lay down for you."
Normally the velvet darkness of night would make surveying his pack difficult, but the unnatural light of Wei's false star provided an unintentional benefit to Kouga. Looking out at their faces, he saw a slew of expressions ranging from concealed nervousness to affected nonchalance.
Most, however, wore an expression of utter determination that filled him with pride.
They knew the stakes had never been higher; the heavens up above them were being ripped open and they were ready to sacrifice anything to save everything.
Kouga gestured for them all to fall silent. "All of you have seen Wei's cruelty; the massacred towns he left behind show what he wants for all of us. The future is here and it doesn't care if we are youkai or human. The only thing it cares about is murdering us all."
There came a low rumbling from his pack, resonant and deep.
"No longer do we fight as tribes or as youkai, now we are fighting as one people unified against a foreign invader who will show no mercy at all. Everything is on the line here. Our homes, our women, our children, everyone and everything."
The rumbling became growls and full throated-snarls. Kouga knew he had their undivided attention and just need to give them a target.
"Let me tell you something," Kouga said "Wei is not going to win. This is where we take control of the future and make it ours. This is our land; Wei isn't welcome here, and he's gotta go."
In a gesture encompassing them all Kouga continued, "You will return home victorious. You will tell your children and your grandchildren how you saved this land and all in it. You will control your destiny, not Wei!"
Howls erupted and the assembled wolves stamped their feet in approval
"NOW LET'S TEACH THAT MOTHERFUCKER WHAT IT MEANS TO MESS WITH US!"
