Chapter 56 Future in the Balance
I'm running out of time, Wei thought to himself. Sesshoumaru was hot in pursuit and was gaining on him faster than expected. The body with Kagome would not be able to fight effectively and Wei was uncertain about keeping Kagome under much longer. He needed to buy some time.
His body already at the well was not his strongest, but might be enough to delay the confrontation if used skillfully.
Calling the Shining Hate into that body's hands, Wei began methodically setting fire to the forest. Arranging the blazes carefully, he crafted a lane of approach for the body carrying Kagome to use. The rest of him would approach through the flames whose smoke even now was billowing up into the sky and providing cover and presumably obscuring any scents his opponent might be relying on to home in on Kagome.
The scent of burning timber assaulted Sesshoumaru's nose, causing it to wrinkle up as though he were about to sneeze. A spreading cloud of inky black smoke was rising up from the orange glow of the forest surrounding the bone eaters well.
Direct confrontation is more his style...if he is creating a smoke screen he means to dull our senses...Kagome is somewhere near...
Sesshoumaru did not bother to follow the river of blood as it went directly into the heart of the roiling conflagration. Wei would have needed a pathway Kagome could survive. Lowering himself to an area where fire had not yet reached, Sesshoumaru felt the weight of Kouga drop off him as he dropped to the forest floor.
"Hey Wei, how about trying to kill the two of us?" Kouga called out "Don't be shy, come out and play. Show us what the sons of China can do."
Sesshoumaru reverted to human form and approached the mouth of the well while keeping the Tessaiga ready. All around him, the sounds of fire eating into the forest could be heard, snapping timbers, sending updrafts wafting skywards, causing animal life to flee in any direction that was away from the hungry flames. Still hasn't really reached full strength yet though, will need to consume more before it really hits its peak. Wei will need to move quickly...
Hidden in the shadowed veil of the night, Wei did his best to ignore the taunts of the idiot wolf youkai. While killing him -again- would be immensely satisfying, leaving him to mull on his failure for the next 500 years was the better choice strategically. I cannot afford to let his taunts distract me...I need to bypass them...
Relative to the hands of a clock, the Wei with Kagome was at the 12 position while the Wei in modern clothing was the at 6 position. The wolf, Kouga, was at the 3 and Sesshoumaru about half way to the center point and in front of Kouga.
Making it appear as though I had been drawn out by the taunts...that could be advantageous..has some side benefits as well...
Wei evaluated the variables and hit upon a risky plan. It was inevitable that he would have to reveal himself; doing so now would, with luck, allow him to control the terms of this final confrontation.
The body near Kagome glanced at her porcelain face and he imagined shattering its gentle curves with a hammer. Wei had reinforced that body just as she was awakening, but it was still only a stopgap measure. The pressure she was exerting to dislodge him from her mind was incredible; it was like struggling to resist the gale force winds of a typhoon.
Even concentrated in one body this would be difficult...need stealth, deception, misdrection...no room for mistakes...
Where are you Wei, Sesshoumaru asked silently, while was carefully studying the edges of the clearing, searching for any sign of Wei. Stretching out his senses, Sesshoumaru tried to trace the line of his connection Kagome but could detect only cold stillness. His next move may be subtle.
This was proven false a moment later, as an almost solid sheet of flame burst forth from the forest narrowly missing Sesshoumaru and driving him back towards Kouga. Wei followed up by charging towards them both and unleashing another pillar of flame that just narrowly missed Sesshoumaru.
"I will happily kill you both before departing," Wei promised.
"You're aim is a little off Wei," Sesshoumaru observed while shifting forward and performing a front flip over Wei. Or at least trying to. Wei, demonstrating a speed few youkai possessed, caught him by the ankle and swung him into Kouga just as the latter pulled a reverse scissor kick, bringing Wei to the ground.
All three hit the ground in a knot of mutually intense loathing.
"I can see why you didn't take gold in the Olympics' gymnastics portion." Wei taunted as he used his left fist to deliver a straight punch to Sesshoumaru's wounded face. "So clumsy."
"WHERE'S KAGOME YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Kouga roared, as he pinned Wei's sword arm under his right knee and hand while driving the claws of his left hand deep into Wei's right eye. "WHERE IS SHE?"
"As though I would answer you," Wei growled.
"Kouga," Sesshoumaru said, cutting in with a voice like a honed razor. "I'll hold Wei, check the area he emerged from; Kagome will be somewhere around there."
"The arrogance and the stupidity of the Japanese never ceases to amaze me. You honestly think you could hold me?" Wei said with acid contempt as he twisted, and caught Kouga's neck behind the knee of his left leg and created a suffocating vise. " Let me share with you a revelation I've had. My hope was that I could prevent the Rape of Nanking and the invasion of China by rewriting history. Obviously, that is not possible, but our countries will go to war again someday, so I will have to settle for a far less satisfying goal: wiping out the present day Japan. When I get back, I will murder the Imperial Family and obliterate Tokyo."
"You'll have to get past us first Wei and that will be no easy task," Sesshoumaru snarled, while melting through Wei's thigh with his toxins and freeing Kouga.
In the light cast by the raging fires consuming the forest, Wei's smile, even compared to his usual standards, was particularly disturbing. "Hardly a hurdle, really."
Sesshoumaru and Kouga nearly crashed into each other as the Wei they were fighting dissolved into a dark liquid and raced towards the well.
A sudden dread and premonition came to Sesshoumaru as he turned and time seemed to slow as if to draw out his horror for as long as it could. The flames that separated him from the well had diminished, but their dancing arcs and flickering sparks were more than enough to illuminate the figure on the lip of the well.
A sword of ice plunged into Sesshoumaru's chest and stopped his heart as yet another Wei, attired in modern clothing, held Kagome close with one arm around her neck. Her eyes were closed and her face had dark runes adorning it and she struggled lethargically, as if experiencing a nightmare.
The fire never missed me...He wasn't aiming for me...it was just a distraction and cover for that Wei to grab Kagome
"Bye bye," Wei said maliciously, while jumping into the well's depths.
NO! With speed that Sesshoumaru didn't believe he possessed, Sesshoumaru was suddenly at the well's mouth, grabbing for Kagome. Instead, he snagged the arm that held her and loosened Wei's grip on Kagome, causing her to fall several feet further before Wei caught her by the neck.
For a fraction of an instant, even as Kouga grabbed Wei by his hair and pulled, Sesshoumaru thought they might yet achieve victory. It was at that moment though that the well activated and blue-purple light spilled out to momentarily blind him with its scintillating intensity. In a cold terror, Sesshoumaru felt Wei's arm lose its solidity as he slipped away into the future.
