Author's Corner
Thank you to the lovely hanahakistardust for leaving such a wonderful review on the previous chapter. I always look forward to your comments over on AO3, so it made me smile when I saw your name pop up here, as well. I can't wait to read your work and flood your inbox with comments for a change! Shout-out to the sweet anon who left a review on the previous chapter, too! It means a lot that you took the time to comment on my garbage lol. Stay groovy and enjoy the new chapter everyone!
EIGHTH BLOOD
Chapter 93: Erem's Light
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The ngea screamed as a wave of youki swept across the battlefield, eviscerating hundreds of their hosts' bodies in the process. Miraculously, the blast managed to completely avoid both Koga and Octavia, as if the culprit had intended for it to happen that way.
Octavia's eyes shifted to a huge white cloud that was hovering above them. It took her a few seconds to realise that it wasn't a cloud at all. It was a large, canine-shaped beast with silver fur and glowing red eyes. At first, she thought Sesshoumaru had changed into his true form, until she glanced sideways and saw that he was still engaged in battle with Tsunayoshi. There was only one other person that it could be, but the last time Octavia had seen her, she'd sworn to never set aside her pride for anything. Not even her own flesh and blood.
"Is that . . . what I think it is?" Koga rasped, trying to push himself up with his elbows.
Octavia didn't have the strength to answer. She used what was left of her magic to summon a new shield. It was less than half the size of the previous one and refused to extend its protection to Koga, but it was better than nothing. Without it, she'd be dead in an instant.
Fortunately, Megumi seemed to have every intention of finishing what she'd started. She unleashed a mighty roar before trampling Tsunayoshi's soldiers with her paws. Not even the corpses were immune to her stomping. It was breathtakingly frightening. Tears pricked Octavia's eyes as she watched the Daiyoukai gleefully slaughter their enemies. Was it love that had motivated her to come? Or was it the overwhelming desire to sample new prey? Octavia had always assumed that Sesshoumaru had inherited his bloodlust from his father, but perhaps that wasn't the case. Maybe he was more like his mother than he was willing to admit.
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"Aren't you a little old to be relying on mother dearest to fight your battles for you?" Tsunayoshi mocked.
"You wouldn't be saying that if it was your mother," Sesshoumaru countered.
The usurper shot him a venomous look. "If she were alive today, my mother would cripple yours with a mere snap of her fingers. Not even your precious human could withstand her power—"
His sentence was cut short by a series of spluttering coughs. Sesshoumaru backed away in disgust as a spray of blood erupted from Tsunayoshi's mouth and spilled down his front like wine. It reeked of poison, but not the common kind. This particular variety of poison was something that Sesshoumaru had only encountered a handful of times throughout his life.
Stranger still, Tsunayoshi seemed more annoyed than anything. Cursing under his breath, he banged on his chest and spat out a mouthful of thick, clump-riddled blood.
"What?" he snarled once he'd finished coughing. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You have the Red Death," replied Sesshoumaru.
"Don't be ridiculous. No one's seen an akai shi flower in ages—" He hacked loudly and painfully, making Sesshoumaru narrow his eyes in scrutiny. Although he would never admit it out loud, Tsunayoshi was right. Ever since the flower had been hunted to extinction by their ancestors, cases were rare and considerably milder than they had been in the past. He must have ingested a fairly large dose for his symptoms to be as severe as they were.
"You are experiencing the disease's final stage," Sesshoumaru explained. "The poison corrodes the oesophagus, causing blood to pool in the lungs. Those afflicted either die from asphyxiation or drown in a torrent of their own life's blood. Neither outcome is especially pleasant."
"You're lying," Tsunayoshi growled, wiping the blood from his mouth. "The shadows healed me of all ailments. They would not betray me. Besides, the disease affects humans, as well. If what you say is true, then why isn't she . . ." Understanding flashed through his features. The whites of his eyes filled with black as he said through gritted teeth, "That bitch. She did this! After all I've done for her! She thought she could make a fool of me, but she'll pay for her deviousness. The next time I see her, I'll cut out her lying tongue and eat it in front of her!"
Sesshoumaru knew at once who he was referring to. "Not on my watch."
Tsunayoshi grinned. His blood-stained teeth and putrid breath made Sesshoumaru's stomach turn. "Oh, I don't think so," he purred. "The girl's life is mine now. She belongs to me."
"She belongs to no one."
Tsunayoshi grinned wider. "She will. Once we are wed and she has borne me a son, there will be no one left to dispute my claim."
Sesshoumaru could feel his anger boiling over, but he held it together for Rin's sake. "You'll be dead long before that can come to fruition."
"How do you know it isn't already in motion?"
Tsunayoshi was goading him. He knew that. But the possibility of it being true made his blood sizzle and burn. Everything else was just water off a fish's back. Very little fazed him in terms of insults, but dragging Rin into it? That was unforgivable.
"Well? Aren't you going to punish me for corrupting your sweet little—"
Sesshoumaru was there one second and gone in the next. Tsunayoshi was still mid-speech when he reappeared behind him and wrapped both arms around his waist. Sesshoumaru didn't wait for him to retaliate. His ancestral pelt billowed outwards as an unforgiving wind curled around them, creating an enormous tornado that whisked them high into the sky. The wind wasn't usually this violent, but the usurper had trifled with someone who was under her protection, and that simply couldn't go unpunished.
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"I don't think I can hold on for much longer," Koga wheezed, clutching a deep wound in his torso that was profusely leaking blood. "More . . . coming. I won't be able to stop 'em this time . . ."
Octavia's eyes found his through her shield. His defeated expression made her want to punch something. It must have shown on her face because he flashed her a weak smile and held her gaze, even as a new wave of corpses hobbled towards him with their weapons drawn.
"For what it's worth–" he said, "–I'm glad I met you . . . If you survive this – which I know you will – spare me a thought every now and then, won't you?"
Her eyes burned with fresh tears. The ngea tittered in amusement, inciting her wrath. She suddenly realised why they'd stopped attacking. They wanted her to watch as the people she loved died before her very eyes. They wanted her to feel powerless. It was all just a game to them.
The barrier around her teetered as her courage began to waver, until she remembered what the entity had told her whilst she'd been under Cyril's spell.
The ngea are a mighty race, but even they aren't completely invulnerable. There's a reason they hide from you. They sealed your magic because they're afraid of you.
Was that true? Did they really fear her as much as she feared them? It seemed impossible, but why else would they have gone to such extreme lengths to prevent her from using her magic?
Only light can compete with darkness.
They might have been born from the Shadow's hatred, but she was no ordinary star mage. She was Erem's Vessel, for crying out loud. She had been treating it like a burden when it was actually a blessing in disguise. If the past few months had taught her anything, it was that monsters came in all shapes and sizes—not all of which were inherently evil. The Radiant One had been the cause of so much pain and suffering, but it hadn't deserved to be imprisoned in a windowless cell that it could scarcely stand in. Thalia had promised to liberate it from its prison, but instead, she'd shackled it to her, trapping its consciousness like a dream doomed to be forgotten upon waking.
Octavia's chest felt warm as the peculiar sensation of brightness returned to her. The first time she'd experienced it had been in the cavern underneath the Temple of Day and Night. Back then, she hadn't even understood what it was, never mind what it had meant. But she knew better now.
She closed her eyes as the heat spread from her chest to the rest of her body. She imagined herself sitting in the gloom before the ancient beast known as the Radiant One until it became a reality. As she gazed into its kaleidoscopic eyes, a profound sadness flowed into her, accompanied by fear and a feeling that she knew all too well . . . loneliness. She felt them all as if they were her own because they were. At their cores, she and Erem were exactly the same.
To defeat a monster, you have to become one.
The fire within her veins ignited and promptly set her ablaze. Her right eye twitched behind its eyelid, and she could feel the ground melting beneath her in response to the intense heat. A cacophony of high-pitched screams reverberated all around her, before eventually fizzling out. She knew exactly what was happening without even needing to open her eyes and look.
The ngea were burning. To death.
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The tornado abated without warning, sending Sesshoumaru and Tsunayoshi crashing to the ground. They were about to resume fighting, when the ngea suddenly started shrieking uncontrollably. The apparent cause of their distress was a flicker of golden light, which was quickly expanding and getting brighter by the minute. Sesshoumaru instinctively squinted his eyes. It reminded him a little of the rising sun, only this was no sun. It was more akin to a budding ember, or a lit wick that was attached to gunpowder. The latter comparison made his youki bristle anxiously, especially when the ngea began fleeing in droves, seemingly eager to place as much distance between them and the mysterious light source.
Before he could try to distinguish what it was, the light exploded outwards like a dying star, engulfing everything around it without guilt or remorse. It was so immensely bright that he had no choice but to close his eyes or risk being blinded by it. He sensed the sheer force of it sweeping across the battlefield and purging the sky above. The ngea's wails increased in volume as the stench of burning assaulted his nostrils and made him recoil violently.
When they eventually fell silent, he half expected to open his eyes to a blazing inferno, but the battlefield remained mostly unchanged. The only difference was that the sky was clear, for the ngea were all dead. They tumbled to the ground in streams of viscous black sludge.
His pulse quickened when he located the spot where the explosion had originated from. The earth there was singed bone white, and the shape was that of an eight-pointed star. Octavia was standing in the middle of it with her eyes closed and arms still outstretched. She didn't move for what felt like an eternity. He contemplated rushing to her side and shaking her, before ultimately deciding not to. Whatever power she had unleashed, she might not be able to control it. He needed to proceed with caution, or she might very well just burn him, too.
Her eyes peeled open slowly, and she lowered her arms so that they dangled uselessly by her sides. After studying the pale imprint on the ground beneath her feet, she somehow managed to pick him out of the crowd and locked gazes with him.
His breath hitched as she regarded him with newly mismatched irises. Her right eye was now a distinctly pinkish purple, contrasting against the natural green of her left eye.
Darkness rained down upon the world, soaking into the soil and dyeing it pitch black. Totosai's words echoed through his mind like the aftershocks of an earthquake as he watched the ngea's remains tumble from the sky like sticky debris.
Through the eighth born in the bloodline, the sky will rain with flames, demonkind will erupt into ashes, and darkness will fall.
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in realisation. Midoriko's daughter had foreseen the ngea's destruction, not his. Octavia wasn't destined to destroy all youkai like his father and the others had feared she would. Her true purpose had been to finish what the Radiant One had started by putting an end to its dark counterpart for good. And she had.
The prophecy had finally come true.
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Far away, on the roof of the Western Stronghold, the piece of jewellery around Rin's neck ceased struggling and went limp against her clavicle.
Her fingers inched towards it cautiously, but before they made contact with it, the locket snapped open with a loud click and a strange dust spilled out of the compartment like sand. Rin captured a few grains in her palms and inspected them closely. They resembled tiny stars that sparkled beautifully against her pale skin.
The dust blew away before she could determine what it was.
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Octavia was vaguely aware of the Prophecy-Breaker cracking open and expelling its powdery contents down her front. She gathered some of the silver granules onto her fingers and examined them in the newfound sunlight. Although she'd never seen real stardust before, this wasn't far off from what she'd envisioned it might look like. It was positively stunning.
But what did it mean?
She shifted her attention to the battlefield, which had fallen completely silent. She soon discovered why. Every ounce of the ground was tinted black, except for the colossal eight-pointed star that had formed beneath her feet. She'd never seen a white one before. The others had always been varying shades of grey—or red if inflicted upon skin. Why did this one look different to all the rest?
None of the soldiers moved as her eyes raked over them. She searched for signs that the ngea were alive and merely waiting for her to let her guard down, but all she saw were dark patches of slime that bubbled and twitched periodically, like the surface of a bog. A wave of satisfaction rushed through her, and she exhaled deeply, releasing the breath she'd been holding.
One by one, Tsunayoshi's men turned tail and fled. They bounded towards the edge of the battlefield, ignoring the usurper's commands to hold their positions. Octavia resisted the urge to smile as they ran. It felt good to be feared for a change. The euphoric feeling only grew when her eyes met Tsunayoshi's, and she saw the unadulterated hatred in them. No one had ever looked at her like that before. It made her feel important—like she was someone worth hating.
Her lips curved upwards slightly, and she shot him a taunting look.
Enraged, the usurper bolted towards her with his talons wrapped in purple flames. She raised her hands in preparation to parry his assault, but her powers remained dormant beneath her skin. Not even the mitama marks could coax her magic awake. The panic set in when she tried and failed to siphon Tsunayoshi's youki. Not again, she thought desperately. Please. Anything but this.
She stumbled backwards helplessly and shot Koga a pleading look. Her heart sank when she saw that he was unconscious.
Grinning, the usurper aimed his talons at her chest to deliver the killing blow. This was it. Without her magic, she was no match for the likes of him. If she had the Reikon Blade, she might have stood a chance, but it was currently in Augustus's possession, who was in an entirely different dimension. All she could do now was put on a brave face and accept her fate.
"Die!" Tsunayoshi bellowed.
She scrunched her eyes shut just in time to feel a torrent of blood hit her face. Reopening them, she inhaled sharply as the usurper's decapitated head was catapulted through the air, before landing roughly on the ground several metres away from where she was standing. His headless body stayed erect for a couple of seconds, then toppled over onto its side unceremoniously.
Sesshoumaru's light whip swayed in the wind like a long blade of grass. His eyes were wide with an emotion that simply didn't belong on his flawless face. He looked utterly terrified.
The sight made her own eyes widen in shock as her hands balled into fists. Why would he be frightened? He wasn't the one who couldn't call upon his powers to assist him in battle. He was Sesshoumaru. Even when his youki had been stolen from him, he'd been a force of nature in his own right. She, on the other hand, was nothing without her magic. He wasn't weak like she was, so what exactly was he scared of?
He hadn't been afraid for himself, she realised suddenly. He'd been afraid for her. The Sesshoumaru she knew would never willingly dishonour himself by striking an opponent whose back was turned, but he had for her sake.
Sesshoumaru withdrew his whip and walked towards Tsunayoshi's headless body, which was lying in a pool of its own blood. The head was in a similar disposition several feet away. It seemed impossible that mere moments ago, the usurper had been on the verge of killing her.
"May your journey to the next life be safe and free of incident," Sesshoumaru whispered to his corpse. "Rest now, Tsunayoshi, Son of Ryukotsusei and Rayna."
Octavia exited the eight-pointed star and rushed to Koga's side. He was still breathing, but his pulse was dangerously weak, and his wound was still leaking copious amounts of blood.
"Octavia-chan!" She glanced around frantically for the owner of the voice. "Up here!"
Inclining her head, she gasped as a massive yellow gourd descended from above. A young woman was perched upon its back, waving at her. It took Octavia a moment to realise who it was, but once she had, the existing tears in her eyes tripled and threatened to spill.
Kagome slid down the creature's body and sprinted towards her. The miko frowned as she regarded Koga's gaping wound, then knelt beside him and hovered her hands over it, assessing the damage.
"How bad is it?" Octavia asked quietly.
"Pretty bad," Kagome murmured. "I need to make a tourniquet for him. Press down on the wound while I get the bandages ready." She reached into her robes and withdrew a small roll of medicinal cloth. "I don't suppose you have any scissors?" she joked.
Octavia shook her head. She applied pressure to Koga's wound whilst Kagome tore the cloth into strips with her teeth, then helped her create a tourniquet with them. Once Koga's injury was bound and dressed, Kagome lifted him into a sitting position and gestured for her fruit-shaped companion to come closer. Octavia swallowed as the creature's dark pupils landed on her momentarily, before scooting elsewhere.
"We have to get him out of here so that I can clean and stitch his wound," explained Kagome. "Could you please carry him for me, Hachi?"
"Of course, Kagome-sama. Anything for you."
"How'd you know we'd be here?" Octavia asked. "Did Sesshoumaru send for you?"
"Not exactly," Kagome sighed. "It's complicated. I'll tell you about it later."
"What's so damn complicated about it?" boomed a familiar, gruff-sounding voice. Inuyasha sauntered towards them with the Tessaiga balanced on his shoulder and flashed Octavia a grin. "Well? Did you miss me? No offence, but you're looking a little worse for wear there, kiddo."
"You're not that much older than me, you know," Octavia reminded him dryly.
"Whatever. Hey, what happened to your eye? And what's with all those freaky-looking scars?"
She brought a hand to her throat and traced the claw tracks that Hiroto had left there.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded.
"What? I was being considerate, asking about her wounds and stuff."
"It's not considerate to call someone's scars freaky-looking!"
Inuyasha ignored his wife's reprimands and asked, "Was it Sesshoumaru? Because if it was, I can totally kick his ass for you."
Octavia couldn't help but smile. "It wasn't, but thanks anyway. It's good to see you both."
Kagome returned the smile. "It's good to see you, too."
Inuyasha nudged Koga's arm with his foot. "Holy shit. He's out cold. Are you sure he ain't dead already?"
"You know full well that he isn't," Kagome snapped harshly. "But he will be if we don't get him properly patched up soon. Now, are you gonna help me or not?"
"All right, all right. I'm going already." He scooped Koga up into his arms with ease and jumped onto the gourd's back. "That fast enough for you?"
She rolled her eyes.
Octavia watched as Inuyasha laid Koga down carefully and bit the inside of her cheek in an effort to relieve some of the tension she was feeling. "Take care of him," she said.
Kagome took her hands and squeezed them. "We will. Unless . . ."
"Unless what?"
"Well, you could always come with us."
Octavia peered down at their interlaced fingers. She knew Kagome was only offering her a ride to the stronghold, but a part of her interpreted the proposition literally. How could she just up and leave Sesshoumaru after everything he'd done for her? The notion of being apart from him for an undetermined amount of time made her stomach churn with anxiety.
"I can't," she answered finally, and it was true. She couldn't abandon him—especially now of all times.
Kagome nodded in understanding. "Okay. But you'll have to point us in the direction of the stronghold. It's not like we can rely on muscle memory to get us there."
"We'll show you the way," offered Toran. "Karan and I won't have any problems keeping up with your tanuki friend. Will we, sister?"
Octavia tried to hide her surprise. She hadn't sensed the demonesses approaching, nor had she heard any footsteps. Why was she so out of it all of a sudden? Had Cyril done more than merely send her to sleep? Or was it a side effect of tapping into the Radiant One's power?
Karan gave her sister a wink. "Not at all."
Kagome backed away cautiously. "You."
Toran smiled. "Hello again, miko. You're looking well."
Octavia's brow creased. "You know each other?"
"More or less," replied Toran.
"More or less!" Kagome squeaked indignantly. "They were going to use us as blood sacrifices to resurrect their master! And they stole our hard-earned jewel shards!"
"All water under the bridge," dismissed Karan.
"Yeah, to you!"
"I hate to say this," Inuyasha chimed from above. "But she's right, Kagome. They decided there was no point carrying on the feud between our clans and called it quits, remember? Plus, they kind of owed Sesshoumaru their lives after he revived their sorry asses. Seeing as their troops were all just fighting on his behalf, I think it's safe to assume that they're on our side."
"Exactly," Toran said. "Our clans are allies now. Ask Sesshoumaru if you don't believe us."
Kagome scowled at her. "Fine. But if either of you tries anything—"
"You'll reduce us to dust with your purification powers?"
"You can count on it."
Toran's eyes flashed. "I would expect nothing less from the wife of Touga's bastard."
Still scowling, Kagome scaled the tanuki's body and seated herself behind Koga. Inuyasha signalled the two panthers with a nod and waited for them to start running. Karan sprinted off immediately, but Toran lingered on the battlefield with Octavia.
"That was extraordinary," the demoness said without even trying to hide her admiration. "I understand why Sesshoumaru is so protective over you now. You're a marvel."
Octavia's cheeks warmed at her praise. "Thank you, but I'm not—"
"That wasn't a question."
Octavia's eyes slid to the tanuki's retreating form. "The usurper didn't strike me as the type of man to leave a place unguarded," she stated, changing the subject to something more practical. "I'm willing to bet that there's an entire battalion lying in wait behind those walls, with orders to kill on sight. You could be walking straight into a trap."
"Oh, I'm counting on it," Toran answered with a sinister twinkle in her eye. "We lost a lot of good people today. I could use an extra squadron or two to take my frustrations out on."
Octavia chuckled. "Fair enough."
Toran reached out and carefully ran her thumb along the blood-splattered flesh beneath Octavia's right eye. "Simply extraordinary," she murmured, and then she was gone.
Octavia gingerly touched the spot where Toran's thumb had been and endeavoured to slow her racing heart. She was so used to being looked down on for being a useless human that she wasn't sure how to process the newfound sense of respect. After months of taking insult after insult, and surviving multiple attempts on her life, it was more than a little disconcerting.
"You are unharmed."
She turned to face Sesshoumaru, who was staring at her intently. She turned the statement over in her head. Although he hadn't phrased it as a question, he obviously wanted her to answer.
"Yes," she said, then added for both her peace of mind and his, "He didn't touch me."
His posture relaxed ever so slightly, but his face remained emotionless. Had they been alone, it might have looked vastly different, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. She was painfully aware of the myriad of eyes that were trained on them and them alone.
"What about you?" she asked, committing to the role. "Are you in any pain, my lord?"
He shook his head. "Not anymore."
She stiffened as he moved closer and held out his hand for her to take. She stared down at it like it was something abnormal. Was this a test?
Holding her breath, she reached out and grasped his forearm tightly, prompting him to do the same. It was far from a gentle touch exchanged by secret lovers. However, it was a unifying gesture shared between two individuals who'd sworn to fight and die for one another.
When the handshake ended, they stood together not just as allies, but as equals, too.
"What are we going to do about him?" she whispered, gesturing to Cyril, who had yet to regain consciousness.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "That depends."
"On what?"
"I wish to know why he kept his powers a secret from me for all these years, and why his efforts to train you were rarely ever successful."
She caught onto his implication instantly. "Do you think he was deliberately setting me up to fail?"
"It's plausible."
"Why would he do that?"
"He was in league with my father, was he not?"
I'll tell you everything once this is all over.
"He was always so kind to me," she mumbled sadly.
She could feel the weight of Sesshoumaru's gaze, but she kept her eyes fixed on Cyril. "One should always refrain from counting one's calves until they are born," he murmured. "There is no need to be hasty. Let us first hear what he has to say before leaping to conclusions."
She nodded in agreement. "Okay."
Her legs felt dangerously weak all of a sudden. Sesshoumaru must have noticed her swaying because he used a trickle of his own youki to stop her knees from buckling. His response to the questioning look she gave him was: "Never let them see you falter. Not even for a second. If you do, they will hold it against you forever." He sounded like he was speaking from experience.
"I'm all right," she said, then repeated it for good measure. "I'm all right . . ."
Though his mouth didn't budge, his eyes were brimming with pride. "Good. Now, start walking."
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Author's Corner
RIP Tsunayoshi. You will not be missed.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review and I'll see you next time!