Kikyo had heeded Sesshomaru's words- She and Rin left the castle not long after Sesshomaru himself had departed. They had gathered some spare clothes, Kikyo of course ensured she had her own longbow and quiver of arrows ready for the journey. Rin had shown a keen aptitude towards archery and Kikyo was more than happy to teach the girl. Archery was a skill that Kikyo was passionate about and Kikyo believed that Rin becoming proficient in archery could be a way for her to keep herself safe. Shooting an arrow might not fend off higher level demons, but it could protect her against bandits and weaker demons if she found herself alone and in danger. Kikyo had not forgotten the recent attack from the Samurai she had encountered.
The weather was crisp and clear when they set off for Inuyasha's village, a complaining Jaken in tow. It would take a number of hours to reach the village on foot, so Jaken had brought along the fierce looking two headed dragon Ah-Un to speed up the journey should any danger become apparent.
Confident in the presence of Ah-Un, who could provide them with a quick getaway, Kikyo and Rin tarried, practising archery. Rin would try and shoot at various objects they passed, fallen trees and hollow trunks, which were more visible now that winter was upon them. Every so often Kikyo would correct a stray finger or low elbow, after an hour Rin had significantly improved her technique.
Jaken leapt up and down impatiently, waving his peculiar carved staff about. "Can't you girls get a move on! Lord Sesshomaru told us to go straight to Inuyasha's village! You're wasting time shooting those arrows, we have to keep stopping!" the little toad said.
"You are right, master Jaken, it is taking a little longer, but using a bow is a good way for Rin to defend herself. Here, you try," Kikyo passed the child's bow to Jaken, who took more interest once he himself was able to try shooting. There is a curious intensity about shooting a bow that focuses the mind. The three of them together made up a crazy shooting game as they walked. The competition became more and more intense as Kikyo laughed and Ah-Un lumbered after them.
Kikyo watched fondly as Jaken and Rin began to bicker about scoring. They were at the base of the last hill separating them from Inuyasha's village.
Kikyo was not concentrating, immersed in the amusing quarrel stirring between Jaken and Rin. It took her some time to become aware of the ill air around them, like the very earth itself throbbed with a warning. Kikyo realised with a sudden alarm that the dead were nearby. And not just one or two, not even just a handful. Scores of corpses and spirits were around them, not yet close enough to see, but out there in the wilderness, too close to be safe.
Kikyo stopped and stood silently with her eyes closed, sure she must be reading the land wrong. But there was no mistaking the cold aura she felt from death, it was like nothing she had ever felt before and it was all around them.
Sesshomaru had warned her not to dawdle and she had foolishly done exactly what he had told her not to do. She had not anticipated danger arising so quickly, and a danger that she was unlikely to be able to handle. Overcoming countless numbers of deathless beings would most certainly be a risky challenge.
How and why was she sensing so many walking dead and ghosts in the area? Kikyo had no idea, but it could not be a more dangerous situation.
"Stop! All of you!" Kikyo cried as Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un wandered forth without her. Kikyo ran forward and grabbed Rin roughly, like Rin might be ripped away from her by the very skies above them. Kikyo's voice sounded so dire Jaken immediately looked worried.
"What is it? What's going on?" Jaken asked shrilly, squeezing his staff of two heads.
"I don't know how…The whole area…We are surrounded by dead. They're everywhere!" Kikyo gasped. Already she was pushing a bewildered Rin behind her a nocking an arrow onto her longbow. The child's bow lay forgotten in the winter withered grass.
"Oh no! What are we to do! Lord Sesshomaru said he would kill me if the two of you came to any harm!" Jaken squealed anxiously, his already bulbous eyes popping. Rin began to tremble behind Kikyo, whipping her head this way and that, expecting to see zombies staggering towards them at any moment.
"It's alright Jaken. We need to get to Inuyasha, right now. The village is just over this hill, we can make it!" Kikyo said, lowering her arrow. Dragging Rin roughly behind her, Kikyo and Jaken ran up to the top of the hill. Jaken puffed and spluttered.
"Lady Kikyo! We can climb onto Ah-Un, we don't have to run all the way there!" Jaken yelled at her crossly. Ah-Un roared his agreement as he thudded in their wake.
How could she be so stupid! Years of walking had taught her to instinctively flee on foot.
"Oh! Of course! Rin, get-" Kikyo trailed off as they reached the top of the hill. The sloping peak of the hill gave an extraordinary panoramic view of the surrounding lands, including Inuyasha's village. From the hilltop, Kikyo could see the encroaching dead and the demons that should have been guarding the underworld. They were clamouring like ants, creating havoc wherever they roamed. But the chaos in the outer regions was nothing compared to the carnage that she could see in Inuyasha's village. There was clearly a battle going on down there, tiny figures- not all of them human- were either fighting or running.
Several fires had spread throughout the village and there were patches of red here and there. But the auras from the village were not deathly, but felt like spiders and other living demons. Were the normal demons and the dead ones across the land connected? And what were they going to do now that their haven, their safe location, was clearly under attack?
"The village! What's going on!" Rin wept as she looked at the scenes of devastation down the hill.
Kikyo looked at the burning village, desperately torn and overwhelmed. She wanted to go and help Inuyasha and the others. After all, it was the village she grew up in.
But she had to keep Rin safe, if she went haring off to help Inuyasha, she would put Rin in mortal peril.
'I cannot turn my back on this danger, but I might prioritise Rin's safety. If Jaken and Rin fly away with Ah-Un…They can get somewhere safe whilst I help.'
"Rin, Jaken. Take Ah-Un and get away from here! I'll try and help the villagers," Kikyo said, pushing Rin roughly towards the agitated dragon growling nearby.
Rin resisted. "We're not leaving you!" Rin squeaked.
"We must find and tell Lord Sesshomaru! He'll protect us!" Jaken said, trying to scramble up onto Ah-Un's scaled back.
All of a sudden a tremendous rumble echoed across the hills. The tremor caused the ground under their feet to shift alarmingly. Jaken tumbled from Ah-Un's rump. Rin screamed and fell to the ground, rolling on the grass. Kikyo was sent rocking to one knee, but she managed to stay mostly upright. "What was that?" Kikyo gasped, the arrow she had been loosely holding slipped through her fingers and rolled away.
Before anyone could answer, another thudding quake threw them all to the ground. Even Ah-Un was toppled.
Kikyo tried to crawl over to Jaken and Rin unsteadily, no longer trusting the ground beneath her. Rin and Jaken lay in a confused state of shock.
Scuffling overhead brought Kikyo's head whipping up.
Skeletons, countless skeletons were creeping towards them, their bones clicking horribly as they hobbled forward. Towering above this gaunt chthonic army was a giant patch-work skeleton of gigantic proportions.
Kikyo stared up at the skeletons. How had they surrounded them so fast? Kikyo watched as the giant skeleton vomited out another full boned skeleton soldier from out of its mouth. The newly formed skeleton landed with a clacking sound and joined the horde.
The Gasahdokuro stretched out a hand made of femurs and fibulas, pointing one gruesome finger at Kikyo and screeching. At once the skeletons around his feet converged on the priestess.
Kikyo got shakily to her feet as quickly as she could, fumbling with her bow, she drew another arrow to replace the one she had dropped.
Kikyo shot a lilac infused arrow at the skeleton closest to her, its bony hand inches from her face. The skeleton disintegrated into a pile of dust.
She shot another arrow, and another, but her victories were a drop in the ocean compared to the tide of be-spelled bones now accosting them. She had started the journey with twenty five arrows but her supply was rapidly shrinking as she shot each skeleton lunging at her. In the corner of her eyes she saw the Gashadokuro regurgitating more soldiers.
Kikyo panted heavily as she fired another set of arrows, destroying every skeleton soldier that she could see. Ah-Un bit and swiped at their attackers until the skeletons around him were a mess of broken bones. Jaken stood before a cowering Rin, blasting every fleshless carcass that got near, until it was charred and crumbling.
Between them they managed to mow down a path to the massive Gashadokuro. If they did not stop it, it would bring up more skeletons to overrun them. Kikyo strode forth confidently and aimed her next arrow high, shooting a lilac wave of purification at the monster's head.
Instead of disintegrating as she expected it to, a collection of various different bones exploded and dropped to the floor like a grisly rain. The dent her holy arrow made was filled instantly by a new mesh of bones.
Moving with surprising speed, the Gashadokuro swung its large, misshapen hand down, knocking Kikyo off her feet hard. Kikyo was smacked to the side like a rag doll.
She landed in the grass, wheezing with pain. The skeletons surrounded Rin, Jaken, even Ah-Un, who reared up in terror, slashing his claws.
Kikyo dragged herself up, scrambling for her bow and arrows. Already in her heart she knew it was hopeless. Her spiritual power could destroy one, two, maybe even several skeletons at a time, but the Gashadokuro was created from countless dead, maybe even hundreds.
Not knowing what else to do, Kikyo raised a barrier around Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un. A blue shimmering dome of protection sprang up.
Kikyo limped as quickly as she could through the barrier, the skeletons closest to the dome were being blasted into nothing. Skeletal hands scrabbled at her ankles as Kikyo pulled herself to safety, she kicked out at the deathless soldier's hands as they tried to drag her back. They were all safe underneath the barrier, for now.
Kikyo's side gave a painful throb where the Gashadokuro had hit her, but she tried to stay strong and look fearless, for Rin's sake.
"Lady Kikyo, are you alright?" Rin said in a trembling voice as Kikyo collapsed down next to her. Kikyo nodded with a wince, in too much pain to speak.
"There are so many skeletons! How will we get out?" Jaken asked tremulously. The little toad's whole body was shaking and his tiny green claws were burnt from spewing so much fire from his staff of two heads. Ah-un gave a low, quivering whine.
"We will be safe behind my barrier for a time. But this demon…it's body is made up of the dead, who knows how many. All we can do…Is hope that Sesshomaru or Inuyasha come and save us…" Kikyo said with shallow breaths.
Jaken stared at her in horror. "Wait for Lord Sesshomaru whilst we are under this attack? He was going north! He-he could be hundreds of miles away!"
"Forgive me, all I can do is shelter us beneath this barrier," Kikyo admitted, clutching her ribs. She felt foolish and useless. It was unthinkable that a monster of this calabre had been set loose in the west. It was a creature not of this world.
Skeletons scurried around them, circling the barrier like hounds at a fox hole. They could not pass, any skeletal finger that touched the blue surface of her spell was melted away.
The Gashadokuro screamed with baleful displeasure. It began hammering Kikyo's barrier with its massive fists. Kikyo braced as best she could as her barrier was rocked with blows. Tsumetai had attacked her barrier in a similar way, until her battered mind could no longer manifest and maintain one. Each blow was like a blow to her mind. But she had to keep the barrier up this time, no matter what agony she had to endure. Their very lives depended on it.
Kikyo scrunched up her eyes and tried to endure each smashing hit to the barrier. Squinting, she half saw a blinding white light behind the Gashadokuro, then a shadow emerging.
After a few moments a voice spoke. A terrible, unfathomable voice from her darkest nightmare.
"As beautiful and as tragic as ever, Kikyo," Naraku said, standing behind the monster trying to pummel her.
But it could not be him. Fears and nightmares did not, could not, just spring into being! He was destroyed, Naraku had been killed years ago. Was she hallucinating? Had she lost her mind?
"No," Kikyo told the image of Naraku, "It's not possible…."
Naraku laid his hand on the Gashadokuro's bony leg and the creature ceased its relentless attack, giving a tearing shriek of unhappiness. Naraku smiled at Kikyo, a frighteningly victorious smile.
"Not possible you say? Surely someone like you, who has been resurrected twice, would not have such a narrow minded view. Think hard Kikyo, I know you to be an intelligent woman. Tell me how I am standing before you now."
It was him, down to the last detail. His pale skin, his wavy black hair, his ruby red eyes. He had the posture of a demon with superior arrogance, of cunning and skill. He even still wore his white baboon pelt of old.
Shock and terror made her mind blank. Kikyo entirely forgot the pain in her side, she was only semi aware that both Rin and Jaken were clutching at her back in fear. Even Ah-Un huddled close to her. They all recognised Naraku, they all realised that the danger they were in had now increased a thousand fold with his arrival.
Naraku raised his eyebrows, clearly revelling in Kikyo's confusion and despair. "Well Kikyo?"
Kikyo stared at Naraku, her face white and her eyes wide. She knew the answer instantaneously, for there were no other feasible explanations.
"The missing meido. Hokai stole it to bring you here…To revive you," Kikyo answered breathlessly.
The bone soldiers creaked and clacked as they made room for Naraku to walk forward, right to the edge of Kikyo's barrier until he was a few handspans from her, a strip of pale blue in between them. Kagewake's handsome face leered down at her.
"Very good. Hokai was the one who revived me. He even found some thuggish, clueless demons for me to manipulate. With their power, I now have enough strength to take you."
Kikyo shook her head numbly, each hand clasping Rin and Jaken, who were still holding her tightly. The thin shimmering wall of her barrier felt like a paltry defence against the worst enemy she had ever known.
"This is why you came back, to take power that doesn't belong to you?" Kikyo demanded. She could feel the buzzing power emanating from Naraku.
"Despite what you believe, I did not return to this world for power. I've come back for you," Naraku admitted ominously.
Kikyo's heart was constricted with fear. Rin was sobbing quietly behind her.
"Why? What do you want with me?" Kikyo asked faintly, her sense of dread mounting. Naraku gave Kikyo a silent, almost pitying stare for a long moment.
"You'll find out soon enough," he told her eventually, his eyes malevolent.
A threatening silence chilled the air, interrupted by the awful crack of bones around them. Kikyo held her muscles tight. She would not tremble before Naraku, not now or ever.
"Sesshomaru will rescue us. You don't have the strength to stop him, no matter how much demonic power you steal," Kikyo snapped at Naraku.
Their only hope was that Sesshomaru would find them. He always came when she was in danger. When Tsumetai tried to kill her, when the samurai tried to kidnap her. He was always there.
Naraku grinned hatefully. "Sesshomaru is a long way from here. He can't save you in time, any of you. Not even Rin. Only you can do that Kikyo. Come with me, willingly and without a fight and I will spare the others," Naraku said. His crimson eyes were gleaming in the sun light.
Kikyo's attempt to still her body's shivering was failing. They were in a dire situation. Kikyo could not fight against an army of endless skeletons, the Gashadokuro and Naraku himself. They were trapped. Desperately caught.
"How do I know you won't kill them if I go to you?" Kikyo asked in a quiet voice. If her blood flow had been real, her arms would have felt numb by now, Jaken and Rin were gripping her so hard.
Naraku laughed confidently. "I suppose you don't for sure, but that is the offer I make to you. You are far more valuable to me than that snivelling girl. If I can use her to ensnare you, I will. Keeping children safe at all costs, that is your enduring weakness," Naraku said softly. He held out a long fingered hand to Kikyo.
Kikyo closed her eyes. She could not think, could not conjure up a way out of this predicament. She said she would keep Rin safe, knew she would willingly sacrifice her life for Rin. If this was the only way to protect them, then that is what she had to do.
A tear dripped down Kikyo's cheek as she struggled to stand, her thoughts turning towards Sesshomaru and how worried he would be when he found out that she had been taken. Rin yanked on her arm, making the priestess stumble. Rin's cheeks were awash with tears and her face was red from crying.
"No Kikyo! Please don't do it! Please don't go!" the girl pleaded. Kikyo forcefully removed Rin's grasping hands. "Rin I have to, let me go."
Ignoring the cries from Rin and the yells from Jaken, Kikyo shrugged off their touch and stepped through her barrier, keeping it erect to protect the others.
As soon as she passed through the barrier Naraku snatched her wrist hard and dragged Kikyo next to him. He didn't let go of her wrist. Naraku removed her bow and meagre supply of arrows from her shoulder and dropped them onto the ground.
With his free hand Naraku rummaged in his pelt, bringing forth a strange looking mirror. The mirror stretched and spiralled with a blinding white light, until that light was large enough for her to walk through.
Kikyo pulled her wrist free from Naraku's suffocating grip. "If you let them go, if you call off your monster…I'll go with you," Kikyo agreed solemnly. The Gashadokuro lurched above them.
Naraku turned to the collection of bones towering over them. "Go. Finds some other victims to terrorise, this one is now mine."
The Gashadokuro screamed in anger before lumbering off, its bone ridden army following.
Naraku smirked at Kikyo and motioned towards the white portal.
"After you Kikyo," Naraku said.
Kikyo dropped her barrier around Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un. The priestess looked into Rin's petrified brown eyes.
"Goodbye," she whispered, her own eyes sparkling with tears.
Kikyo stepped through the white light with Naraku close behind her, like a malevolent shadow.
Writers note: thank you to all my lovely readers for continuing this story with me :)