InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Minds, Shattered Hearts ❯ Duel with a Demon ( Chapter 6 )

Inuyasha was already standing, sword drawn, waiting for him. I stood off near the edge, my hand resting on Grayswandir.

 

“So, little brother, you still travel with these,” he waived towards the others, “humans.” He stated with a sneer.

 

“What do you want, Bastard?”

 

I watched. The newcomer had yet to notice me. I studied him, trying to remember who he was. His soft facial features belied a hard coldness of attitude. His hair, like his brother's, was silvery, almost white, though his looked a bit more bluish. He was tall, and held himself with a regal air. Was he some kind or royal—

 

This must be Swayvill's son to Dara! The one Merlin had expelled from Chaos after he took reign. He did that because… It did not make sense that he would throw out this man and not the dead king's other son, Mandor, born of the same woman, the mother of my son, unless he did it to spite that conniving bitch, or more likely, he was a rival for the throne.

 

The elder brother's almost bored but icy voice cut through my thoughts.

 

“This Sesshoumaru need not bent to the likes of…” He trailed off when he noticed me. “YOU!” he cried, and his eyes turned red.

 

The others gasped when Sesshoumaru lost his self-control.

 

He turned to face me, and I noticed his left arm was absent. I laughed at him then.

 

“The great heir of Chaos! How sad your current state. Displaced by your half-brother, then driven from Substance! And somewhere along the way, you managed to lose an appendage. How quaint!” I mocked him, this, the former heir apparent, in such a sorry state.

 

I could almost see the steam curl up from his scalp.

 

“SILENCE! That son of yours is no brother of mine!” he hissed.

 

“Is he saying your son is his half-brother?” Sango nearly screeched.

 

I nodded, without glancing away from Sesshoumaru. I wondered, though. Since these two were brothers—half by their looks—why did they hate each other so? I'm not one to disclaim family rivalries or sibling animosity—there is plenty of that in Amber—I just wondered at the reason. Also, which parent did they share? I made a mental not to ask Merlin.

 

“How does it feel, knowing I am your great-to-some-power uncle?” I taunted.

 

The discussion seemed closed when he drew one of the two swords at his hip.

 

Inuyasha reacted first, charging Sesshoumaru in an attack with no clear style and total lack of finesse. Sesshoumaru batted him aside as if here were an annoying fly, sending him face down into the dirt.

 

“This is not your fight, weakling, so stay out of it.” Sesshoumaru's normal demeanor had returned, and he said this as with no more weight than one would place on a comment about the weather, but his eyes still were crimson.

 

I drew Grayswandir, and waited for his attack. He swung a simple blow, attempting to use brute force against me. I blocked and parried, then, followed through with a feign in sixte, a feign in quarte, then a head cut. He managed to block before his head went flying. Pity.

 

“You seem to possess no more finesse than your fiery brother.”

 

Inuyasha had risen by then, and tensed at my barb. Although it had not been directed solely at him, he still took offense. I heard a growl develop in his throat.

 

“To which brother do you refer, Son of Oberon?”

 

“What do you mean, which brother?” Inuyasha cut in.

 

We both ignored him. Sesshoumaru tried a stop-thrust.

 

“Pick one, any one, except Merlin.”

 

I attempted a fancy maneuver I had picked up while I lived in France. I had used it successfully on my late brother Eric, and it worked just as well with this arrogant bastard.

 

A large trail of blood chased my sword from where I had cut him on the wrist. I increased my pace significantly, hoping the injury and the tempo would either slow him or scare him. It did the trick, and he began fighting a defensively, not taking any openings.

 

I smirked. “You honestly thought to duel me and live?” I decided o try a mental barrage as well, as I had with Eric. “That wound is slowing you. I wonder if the feeling of your dripping blood is disconcerting… distracting? Oh, and your little brother which you so pretend to abhor, seeing you like this, unable to hold your own. It must be quite embarrassing.”

 

“Shut the hell up! Or so help me…”

 

He started to lose his temper again, and tried a sloppy head-cut. It almost cost him his remaining arm.

 

“By the Serpent, I'll—“

 

“You'll what? Cut me down? You've already proven you can't. At least not in a fair duel. Slit my throat while I sleep? A coward's—“

 

“I am not a coward!”

 

He began drawing me into the forest, back the way he came, probably in hopes to hinder my movement. It did, but not enough. His carefully constructed demeanor was in shambles, and his rage showed clearly on his face. He continued backing, though, as if going somewhere. It struck me that he might be fleeing.

 

“Running away, are you?”

 

I was vaguely aware of the other following and watching, but not interfering.

 

“This Sesshoumaru does not `run'.”

 

I caught sight of his target: a two headed dragon with an imp and a young girl sitting. The girl held flowers, but dropped them when she saw her master's flustered state.

 

He ran, then, jumping aboard with amazing speed. The thing took off, and his reply reached my ears as he disappeared above the treetops: “Self-preservation.”