The freezing morning wended its way into a chill afternoon. The barrier encasing the castle was consuming what little warmth there was, and the air grew steadily colder and colder as time moved on.
Kikyo and Sesshomaru had fruitlessly scoured the inside perimeter of their prison, searching for a way out. Round and round they had walked, but they saw no joining point, no weak areas that could become a possible way of escape.
Kikyo's silent machinations were watched anxiously by the castle demons, hope of liberation flashing in their strange and varied eyes. Even Lord Sesshomaru was like a silver shadow, following behind the priestess closely. Their watchfulness was not lost on Kikyo, who felt the burden of solving this trap weighing heavily on her shoulders.
Kikyo closed her eyes and sighed. "It is no use, there is no join or weakness that I can find. The barrier is perfectly whole, unfortunately for us," Kikyo confirmed quietly to Sesshomaru, so that the resident demons could not hear her words.
They both look up at the glaucous sphere enveloping them, wondering what action to take.
"So what is your plan? You do not wish for me to use my Bakusaiga, I assume you have another idea?" Sesshomaru said waspishly.
Kikyo turned to look at Sesshomaru, her doe brown eyes thoughtful. "I don't understand. Whenever I have come across a demonic barrier, I have been able to break it with my spiritual powers. Although my arrows can pierce through, they make little difference as the barrier quickly seals itself…almost like it's being repaired somehow…" Kikyo trailed off and approached the edge of the barrier for the hundreth time. In an instant the priestess had globed herself in a spiritual barrier of her own that sparkled like waves from the sea, making her look like some other-worldly water nymph. Sesshomaru watched her intently.
Kikyo attempted to push through the barrier by force of her own spiritual abilities, a fierce look of determination on her face as she tried to muscle herself through. On contact the two barriers began to vibrate violently, muted blue rippling against glittering azure. Kikyo pushed harder to force her way through, until the clash between the two barriers bubbled outward to affect half of the globe surrounding them, and a strange, strained humming sound attacked their ears. Kikyo struggled on, creating a bulge on the barrier. Her teeth were clenched and her eyes were screwed up shut with the effort she was exerting.
"Do not push yourself too far Lady Kikyo," Sesshomaru said, casting a concerned eye her way.
Kikyo's hands began to shake uncontrollably as her barrier pushed against their prison. "But I'm…so close," she puffed. Losing strength, the priestess slumped forward to her knees, and her spiritual barrier flickered, then went out. The encasing globe sprang back into its orb-like form. Kikyo's attack had not made a dent in it or changed the barrier in any lasting way.
Sesshomaru's warm claws slipped gently under Kikyo's arms, slowly pulling her upright. Despite her ominous predicament, being so physically close to the dog demon made her head swim and her heart flutter. Kikyo shook her head, trying to focus on the task at hand. They were in deep trouble, and she needed to concentrate.
"No, it can't be," Kikyo moaned in frustration, as Sesshomaru dragged her back to a place of safety. The castle demons edged closer to their master in jittery clumps, watching closely.
They had discovered that morning, rather unfortunately, that as the castle had never been besieged before in such a way as it was now, no major stores of food had been kept. Sesshomaru, who did not need to eat and only did so at formal occasions, had never bothered to ensure the stores were filled with non-perishable supplies. They had a few days worth of food at the most. Those demons that had a specific diet, such as blood or bone marrow, were already feeling hunger pangs edged with desperation.
"Calm yourself priestess. You did well and nearly broke through. Perhaps my demonic aura will be enough to push through to the other side. If I succeed, it will only be a matter of finding Tsumetai and killing him."
Placing himself exactly where Kikyo has stood, Sesshomaru attempted to walk through the barrier, and tried to burst through to the other side.
Like with Kikyo, the barrier stretched and distorted, but would not break. Ice from the barrier began cracking and falling and scraps of web drifted to the ground.
Sesshomaru was more persistent than Kikyo, and had a great deal more stamina. The priestess watched, shivering with cold, as Sesshomaru pushed forward doggedly for over an hour, his lips pulled back in a snarl of anger that got grimmer with every moment as his temper rose. Every so often the globe would thin out and flicker dully, causing a hubbub of excitement, but it was never enough. The ochre light of the sun began to fade into night, and Kikyo could hear the crickets begin to sing. Kikyo decided to intervene.
"Sesshomaru, perhaps we should regroup…reconsider our options," she said gently. It took the priestess a few times to coax the dog demon back from his machinations, and he looked infuriated by failure when he eventually responded. There was a lightning behind his topaz eyes that was building the longer they remained entrapped.
Before Kikyo could think of something more comforting to say to Sesshomaru, the muttering of the servant demons behind them became a rumble of discord. A red skinned, horned demon came into view, sprinting hectically towards the barrier. Kikyo and Sesshomaru could only gawp in surprise as the red demon cried and wailed: "I won't die like this! Starving in here! There must be a way out, there must be!" The demon leapt recklessly into the barrier, and was immediately disintegrated into ash.
Yowls and shrieks rose up from the crowd of demons, yelps that crescendoed into a full scale panic. Staring at the pile of ash that used to be one of his servants, a flash of bewilderment reached Sesshomaru's eyes, quickly succeeded by a mounting rage. Sesshomaru's anger rose like an untameable tsunami, and those caught up in it could only watch helplessly as it unfolded. Sesshomaru barked at his servants to be quiet, and a trembling silence fell immediately.
Sesshomaru unsheathed Bakusaiga, the blade ringing sharply upon being released, as if it sensed its master's displeasure, and was an extension of his wrath.
"What are you doing?" Kikyo asked with concern, rushing forward.
"What I should have done hours ago. I will not be restricted by this barrier for one moment longer," Sesshomaru said, facing their blue cage and raising his sword to strike.
Kikyo raised her hand in warning, eyes wide with alarm. "No Sesshomaru! You must not-"
Sesshomaru brought Bakusaiga down, releasing a gargantuan force of his electric green demonic energy. The energy formed itself into a vaguely ball-like shape as it was hurled towards the barrier, crackling with power.
Kikyo tensed, expecting an intense explosion to burst in front of her. She raised her own spiritual shield around herself.
The real reaction was far worse than Kikyo had anticipated. Sesshomaru's demonic energy barrelled towards their imprisoning globe and hit, stretching the barrier to impossible sizes and lengths, destroying the green of the earth that it came into contact with.
To Kikyo's utter horror, Sesshomaru's deadly demonic energy rebounded, just like his earlier, weaker attack. Sesshomaru's demonic power began to wreck all, flesh and stone alike, anything in its wake.
The castle, so recently rebuilt, was once again demolished as Sesshomaru's power smashed stone walls, as it splintered wood and burned away skin and bones. Like an insidious boomerang the huge, flashing green ball of death shot back and forth, like a destructive pinball under glass.
There was nothing Kikyo and the other demons could do except attempt to evade its path as best they could. On its first round of devastation, Kikyo managed to spring sideways to relative safety, fearing that her own barrier was no match for such an uncontrollable force.
On the second assault she was not so lucky. With pillars, ceilings and castle walls crashing around her, dust and dirt was thrown up, covering her hair and clothing. She spied the demonic ball encroaching on her too late. The priestess only had time to shriek with fright, reflexively covering her eyes.
Moving with what seemed to be the speed of light, Sesshomaru appeared before Kikyo, just in time to block her from the course of the cracking ball of demonic energy. The blast from the Bakusaiga hit Sesshomaru from behind, erupting with an impact that caused both Sesshomaru and Kikyo to be hurled forward mercilessly.
Kikyo cried out in pain as she hit the ground, and a flurry of souls escaped from her body, their white orbs drifting into the air and through their blue domed prison.
Sesshomaru had landed on top of Kikyo, his face pressed against her neck. Despite the slender look to his frame, he was heavy and a dead weight.
Groaning, Kikyo pushed Sesshomaru off of her with difficulty, rolling him to the side.
Sesshomaru's own demonic energy had singed the back of his clothing and his skin was red and sore looking. Sesshomaru's eyes were red and unseeing, his fangs were jutting out from his mouth in a way she had never seen before.
Kikyo heaved herself onto her elbows shakily. Sesshomaru's demonic power had dispersed when it hit Sesshomaru, leaving a trail of fizzing jade sparks.
"Lord Sesshomaru, are you alright?" Kikyo gasped, ignoring the pain in her body. Sesshomaru did not respond, his eyes remained blank and unseeing, staring up at the sky.
"Sesshomaru? Sesshomaru!" Kikyo shook the dog demon's shoulders gently, then harder, trying to invoke a reaction. Sesshomaru continued to be unresponsive.
The demons that had survived the internal onslaught began to emerge from their safe havens, now that the threat of Bakusaiga had gone.
Kikyo looked at Sesshomaru's vacant face, a knife of anxiety stabbing her chest. "Sesshomaru, please speak to me," Kikyo whispered in a ragged voice. The western lord remained unconscious, and Kikyo's worry mounted with each second that he was insensible. Kikyo had only ever seen Sesshomaru unconscious once, a state that she herself had induced. She had come to view him to be as hard as adamant, and seeing him knocked out was a shock.
If his servants saw him incapacitated, their already high panic levels could increase a hundredfold, a scenario Kikyo was unequipped to deal with.
Desperate, Kikyo crawled onto Sesshomaru's chest, gripping him tightly. She tried hard to hang on to the souls still left within her body. The explosive impact of Bakusaiga's power had caused some souls to dissipate, and the souls that remained felt fragile and unstable inside her.
"Sesshomaru…Please come back to me. We need you…I need you," Kikyo murmured in Sesshomaru's ear, her voice quiet so the servants peering at her could not hear. Kikyo touched the scarlet marks on Sesshomaru's cheeks tentatively, praying he was strong enough to recover.
To her infinite relief, Sesshomaru blinked, the crimson steadily leaking out of his eyes. His elongated canines reverted back to their normal human size. Finally conscious, Sesshomaru's once again golden eyes focused on Kikyo, who was still draped over him. So close that he could count the sooty black lashes fringing her brown eyes.
"I'm fine Kikyo," Sesshomaru said, sitting up so that Kikyo slowly slid off of him. He got to his feet with a small growl of pain.
Kikyo was still sat on the floor, a little frightened to get up and move. Now that Sesshomaru was well and active, she began to fret over her own condition. How many souls did she lose just now? A lack of souls meant a lack of movement was looming.
Sesshomaru looked down at her swiftly, his eyes assessing her for any outward damage. The priestess was covered head to foot in dust, but otherwise looked whole.
"Are you hurt at all?" Sesshomaru asked. Kikyo shook her head numbly and slowly got to her feet. "No. You protected me from your sword's blast, though I lost some souls when we fell. I'm more concerned about you, Bakusaiga's full force hit you, the back of your clothing is completely destroyed." True enough, Sesshomaru's clothing looked like it had been torn away,the flesh beneath was still red and slashed. It seemed that despite Bakusaiga being an attack form from Sesshomaru's own demonic power, it could still harm him if deflected back at him. Though he tried to hide it, Sesshomaru's claws were shaking slightly and his expression was grim.
"It does not matter, inadequate clothing is the least of our worries right now. It appears that even a full attack from my Bakusaiga can be thrown back at us. Only your arrows can make a hole for a short time," Sesshomaru said in a tired voice.
"I don't know what else to try. If demonic power of your calibre can be pushed back…then no other demon here will succeed in breaking the barrier down. My own arrows only create a tiny gap for mere seconds, before the barrier is recreated again- Oh!" Kikyo cried out, looking at her fingers. Her palms had taken on a rough, clay-like quality. Her joints felt crystallised, practically grinding together when she moved. Sesshomaru took her hands in his own, running his claws along the hardening surface of her skin. The demon lord and the priestess looked at each other with horror in their eyes.
"We are running out of time," Sesshomaru said.