CHAPTER THIRTY

Sesshomaru

"Rin. Jaken. Retreat on Ah-Un. Get as far away as you can."

"But , Lord-"

"Do not argue with me, Rin," I snapped.

I heard an unnerving crack as the tree nearby began to give way. Flames licked up the bark, at last fulfilling its goal of knocking the towering tree to the ground. I watched unfazed as the oak crashed to the flame-laden grass, spreading sparks about, scattering over all three of us. Rin let out a loud shriek as I whirled my head back to her.

"GO!" I yelled, feeling as the heat singed my kimono sleeve, blackened soot tarnishing the pure white fabric. Jaken let out a squeak, lifting up the dragon horse's reins before slapping them down against the hard scales. Ah Un took off into the sky, blue fire burning from behind his own ankles.

I propelled myself forward with a single foot, running at full speed into the burning whirlpool. I felt the fire burn holes through my clothes. I remembered the feelings of the flames all too well.

I shot myself past a collapsing maple. The raging torrent of heat grazed at my back, bringing the scent of burning flesh to my nose. I allowed the pain to bite at my spine, running its sharp, searing fangs sink into my skin, my tender flesh reminding me that I was not invincible: I still could hurt myself.

A disturbing scent met my nose. Vile and sinister. Smelling of the dead. The moist, moldy smell of graveyard soil mixed with the putrid, noxious odor of the dead. Something else, though. Burning honeysuckle.

There was only one group of people who could hold such a disgusting, repulsive smell. The Band of Seven had returned. In addition to that, I knew there was only one victim who could hold such a supple yet painful fragrance. Mikage had been attacked.

As I looked up, there was nothing to be seen except for the wall of ember that streaked the sky. The bitter smell and stinging pain that it offered my senses were enough for me to decide to keep my head down. At least for now.

The grass beneath my feet had begun making a crunching sound as my shoes sped over it.

"Gesshh."

A hoarse voice growled ahead, though it was still distant.

"Poison talons," I let my tongue blend the words together, a raspy growl ending the syllable. Holding my hand in front of me, I skidded to a stop, my front right foot halting me as the emerald rays of light shot themselves at the burning tree. I watched as the branches remaining on the top curled under, a thick sap draining from them. Slowly, the tree sunk to the ground, becoming complete slop.

It wasn't just Mikage and one of the men. Inuyasha's woman Kagome and the other woman traveling with them was there as well. She was fighting?

"You burned the forest down, and you tried to kill my friends. You're going down."

She had no sword at her side, and was defending herself and the two girls against a beast to behold. The creature had metal stitched to the side of his head, one white beady eye with a small pupil, staring at Mikage. His body looked to be a huge artillery. Green armor strapped itself to a body chock full of weapons. When the creature sighed, a squeaking sound occurred, and bowls of steam poured out.

"Gesshh... Foolish girl. You can't defend yourself against Ginkotsu. You will lose your life doing so."

She let out a snarl at the metal man's mockery.

"Oh. Can't I?"

"Gesh. You're already draining your energy with that barrier that surfaced."

Barrier? I had little time to think as from behind his back, the razor blades that he contained began to whirl.

"You forget. Your life is sustained by a mere shard of a jewel. The Shikon Jewel. Tell me. How is it that you have it? It was cast away from this earth long ago!"

The Shikon Jewel? She was right. It was destroyed. So how?

Kagome let out a startled gasp.

"He's sustained by a jewel shard? You can see it, Mikage?"

I watched as her face contorted into a horrible expression, eyebrows curved up into her forehead, mouth open with labored breaths as she began to cry.

Mikage shook her head.

"His body emits a different aura. Stay strong for me, guys. I'm going to bring this guy to his knees."

Mikage's body rippled with a sudden movement as she glided out of the way of a well-aimed razor. The blade bounced off of a barrier that I could now see Mikage generated. She had created it to defend the two women.

"Mikage!" I shouted.

Mikage twisted her head around, only to let out a agonized scream. Her body fell to the ground, blood streaking down one side of her face. The steel tank let out a metal laugh, watching as the demon gripped her eye and gave me a one-eyed glare.

"Sesshomaru! What is it? You nearly got my head sliced off by a move like that!"

Her voice was cracked with obvious pain.

"The forest is about to burn down. If you continue fighting like this, you will with it."

I moved a hand to my sword handle, prepared to wrap long fingers around the weapon.

"Don't."

Her heavy breaths and coarse voice told me otherwise as she staggered to her feet.

"Gesshhh. Enough talking, wench. Now die."

The gears whirred again, shooting the razor blades out once again. She twisted at the last second, bringing a forceful palm upwards. The disk of spikes was shot with her movements. She had blocked it.

"Don't waste your time. He won't last long. My barrier will hold out for as long as it takes me to do this. Get away from here! If I don't hold out, then I at least want you and my friends to survive."

"You're a fool."

I brought out the sword, lunging at the hybrid of metal and man. He let out a loud guffaw as something hard and sharp held me mid-air. When I shifted, I saw a tidbit of a gleam reflect off of it. Metal strands.

Mikage, however, dove beneath me. I soon realized that something was wrapped and tightened around her burnt fingers. It wasn't the metal yarn. It looked to be some sort of flora. As she got closer to him, she thrust her hands up. The ground on either side of her crumbled as a flash of green shot out.

I shifted my gaze now to Ginkotsu. The man let out a creak of surprise as he was impaled by the peculiar blur. Realizing its goal, I was able to see the stopped object that had arose from the singed ground. Vines. Twisted and gnarled, leaves poking from random positions off of it. Mikage's powers?Most amusing. It would be expected that a girl of her caliber of shyness would control the nature around her. It was the least aggressive of any power she could possibly receive.

Being irritated by being held up, I finally allowed my body to emit a poisonous aura, singing the strands and snapping them. I felt my body drop, feet skilled as I landed on my feet.

Ginkotsu let out a wounded cry. The armor that he bore, I now noticed, had a line in the shape of a square. It was a compartment.

"Mikage move," I told her.

Too late.

Mikage let out another scream as she was run through with a spinning spike. The blood spattered onto me, the sharp and slick scent of the red coming to my nose.

"MIKAGE!"

A muffled scream came from behind me, I was guessing from the dome of blue that Mikage had created.

I felt myself tense as the man moved back, Mikage's kimono soaked in endless amounts of blood. She let out a labored groan.

Mikage opened her mouth, jaw trembling with each breath. Her sharp fangs were easy to see, blood dripping from her eye and mouth, flooding and draining from her abdomen.

Ginkotsu was badly injured,. Her technique had disabled him, too. I knew that she wasn't through, though. I let myself smirk as she brought up a trembling hand,; strings of vines twirled around her fingers pulled upwards. As expected, the vine of twisted plants shot straight through the creature's thick neck. It was unable to even let out its final scream as the sparkle was thrust out of it. The jewel shard had been set free.