InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust ❯ Tilt of Power ( Chapter 30 )

Sesshomaru stared across the assembled lines of youkai soldiers that stood in square formation in front of him. A line of master swordsmen stepped forward at his command, and the scything motion of their blades in parade demonstration cut the air with a high pitched whistle. Five thousand accumulated youkai stepped forward then as one at another gesture, and Sesshomaru held out his hand for silence.

"Tonight we travel, and we travel with speed. Seven thousands of your comrades and the army of the Southern Lands are situated for defense in front of the Castle. Our task is to create sufficient offensive to break through the lines of the dragon army as they approach from the east. Atawai's forces are decimated; those few who were not destroyed stand among you now. We may hope that they did enough damage to aid us. The Lord of the North will join us in three hours time, and we should reach the place that will become our battleground in two days march. We will stop for nothing - any who does so will die on my claws. March."

A rumbling sound quaked through the ground as the entire group of youkai surged forward, the crest on a wave rushing over the land. Sesshomaru rose above them and made quick calculations, observing the distance eating pace they had set, and nodded to himself. Gradually, the rolling wave of meadows gave way to the shallow edge of green lit forests and their progress slowed considerably, the enfolding, close press of trees preventing an impossible difficulty for the ranks of soldiers to penetrate, and they dissolved into smaller bands. The sun flew through the sky on casual gold pupped strings, as though some divine presence tugged it west into the night. The Taiyoukai contemplated strategy in the grim darkness, but a sick silence of dread dragged itself up into a nerve-tight candle, scrabbling in his thoughts with thorny fingers. The destruction of the Easter forces had cut out nearly a third of the tentative strength he had counted on for his attack, and he knew that the forces which had joined them at midday - three thousand tiger youkai under Kinawai's command - were formidable, but untested in battle, trained as guardians. The pitched combat with superior numbers might prove unfortunate for even the prowess of his own officers.

He remembered Kagome's scathing destruction of the two dragon youkai, and it eased his worries. For all her courage and valor, she was still only half trained...but his eyes glazed in the dark with a shimmering of lust, knowing for certain that battle aroused her blood with the same heat that it did his. The thought of her blood forced a tingling into his lips, a physical memory of the kiss he had torn from her on the glimmering fabric of stars when he left her, in full view of a human village and not caring in the slightest.

His hand reached across to the tied bit of Kagome's obi still wrapped around his arm, and wondered that the humans on the ground beneath him had not knelt and worshipped her when she came down to earth. She was so much better at tender things that he was, softness born of her human life that had carried over into the diamond core of her youkai strength. The scent and feel of her lingered in the narrow strip of cloth, and he allowed himself a private moment to bask in the sweetness of memory. Sesshomaru let the remembering fade and drift into the shallow wake of his distress, and returned to the matter at hand. He searched with eye and nose for Kinawai, moving at the head of his youkai, and alighted to the ground among them, and they parted before him with subtle respect as he approached their lord. The stories of his prowess in battle had mixed with his sudden mating of a miko-youkai from nowhere and the legend of the sword that healed, congealing to produce a new mythology.

Kinawai sensed the disturbance among the following youkai, through the special sense of wisdom that had served him often, and Sesshomaru stood beside him in the conclusion of the moment, wiping some disturbing premonition that wore a death-skull on the trailing robe of dawn. The small contingent of guardian youkai who had been left around the castle of the North fell at their posts in a dozing stupor, swept from consciousness by a wave of spell induced sleep, and the dark-channeled glow of some slippery power crept in front of a silent, flickering shadow that stole quickly through locked chambers and doors, out to the courtyard that lay inside the very center of the castle buildings.

Kasuka slipped off her hood and sniffed delicately at the black-edged air, and her lips smiled over narrowly bared fangs. The thick silk robe that she wore over her kimono disguised the curve of her body and the defining features that marked her as the Lady of the North. She stood in silence, waiting, and then a silent spiral raced through the clouds overhead, ripping open a spattering shower of cascading wetness. She drew a careful circle of energy with not-quite youkai power around her body, and the lightening tossed energies of the storm crackled across her skin and through wind-wild hair.

A wailing shriek built itself in her throat, and she clawed at the air in a frenzied dance that took power from the storm and made it her own. In the quiet of darkness after the ending of the tempest, Kasuka lifted her bedraggled body from the wet ground with a pained groan, but the memory of thunder was heavy in her aura and in her eyes, and with inhuman speed she wrapped her robe around her body and grinned with delight at the workings of her magic, sitting down in the center of the flickering circle to await its completion at the rising of the moon.

The disturbance in the power of his mate was obvious to Kinawai, and his brow furrowed with concern in the midst of his conversation with Sesshomaru, and the stumbling halt of his words betrayed the confusion in his thoughts.

"You are disturbed, Kinawai."

It was not a question.

"Kasuka…something is not right. She is not in danger, but her power surges oddly."

Sesshomaru frowned at once, and his thoughts shifted silently to suspicion.

"You and she have never had the strongest of mating links, Kinawai. If there are significant enough shifts in her power for you to detect them, there is something extremely odd going on with her."

Kinawai's eyes narrowed and hardened together.

"I know you neither like nor trust my mate, Lord Sesshomaru, and I am not….overly fond of her myself, but she is still the Lady of the Northern Lands, and this base suspicion is an insult to my house."

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows.

"I have mentioned nothing of any suspicions, Kinawai, though you know well what my thoughts have often been. I see no need to voice them again."

A half formed snarl played briefly against Kinawai's lips, and he moved forward through the ranks of his soldiers. Sesshomaru growled absentmindedly and moved at a dash to the head of the swarming mass of youkai, heightening the outwardly tuned panorama of his senses. The night passed slowly, and they moved through another day at a gradually increasing pace, as the crystal green light that filtered through the trees gradually lost some of its color as the trees thinned into smoothly rolling meadow on the opposite side of the forest. The breeze was thick with the scent of dragon youkai by the fall of evening, and Sesshomaru called a halt, feeling the beginning of weariness pulse in his bones. Two days at the head of the army and the mad dash between the castle and Kagome had taken their toll, and he selected a tall, forked tree for his resting place, positioning himself to face the rising sun. He dreamed disturbingly of battles and blood, and it was with some discontent that he made his way towards the edge of the encampment at dawn and saw what he faced - an army of eighteen or twenty thousands preparing itself for bloody conflict. The battle would be long. The gross movements of the awakening army behind him caught his attention away from the forming line of the opposing youkai, and Kinawai sped to his side.

"This does not look well, Lord Sesshomaru. We are outnumbered more than two to one."

Sesshomaru studied the dragons with contempt.

"It does not matter. Before I joined you here I visited with my mate and was followed by three of these things. One I killed myself, the other two she dispatched nearly unblooded, without my assistance or her miko, and she is still largely untrained. I do not think we'll have much difficulty. Remember, our goal is only to break through, not to destroy their army. That…will come later."

Kinawai matched Sesshomaru snarl for snarl, and the roaring call of the two Lords reverberated as a challenge between the youkai behind them and the enemy in front of them. The moment of stillness after the cry gripped the air in electric-clawed talons, silencing both armies with an oppressive weight, but sudden motion let the sun glint on glistening blue steel, and the two armies clashed. Within the battle youkai fought youkai with battle blooded eyes, swords flashing with the slippery lubrication of spilled blood and the dragging light of the sun. From outside, the two armies appeared as single organisms, each trying to overwhelm the other, deer with antlers locked, crawling waves meeting on the crest. The noise and clamor of battle was so loud that it drowned itself out and left a bone chilling quiet in its wake.

Flashes of light, intense whorls of color made an appearance here and there, showing where Sesshomaru wielded Toukijin with the skill of a master. The ill-omened sword was a fire of swift, uncompromising death among the dragons, but the press of their numbers held back the onslaught of destruction that was promised in every sweep of the sword. Battle raged over trampled and burned grass for hot hours, but the skill of the armies of the west and north and the might in numbers of the dragon clan prevented one side form gaining any distinctive advantage. Sesshomaru dodged a whirring blade that cut a neat slit into the sleeve of his haori and turned his attention back to the fight, wielding Toukijin against the enemy and Tensaiga for the lives of his own soldiers with a grim and terrifying precision.

The moon turned through its phases four times, and still Sesshomaru had not broken through. Some force of magic permeated the dragon youkai soldiers, protecting them from the distance crossing slash of Toukijin's demon soul, and he was forced to use the sword as a normal katana after the first few days of battle, disregarding its magic. It was a tribute to Toutousai's skill that no magic had yet managed to block Tensaiga from healing the wounded and dead among his soldiers, and he knew that if not for the resurrecting blade, the youkai under his command would long since have crumbled under that weight of superior numbers. More than once Sesshomaru felt the presence of miko energy, but the origin of it eluded his struggling senses and fueled his rage. He used runners to communicate with Akira, but his commander was constantly distracted by small skirmishes with guerilla fighters that picked away at his force, without the benefit of a life-saving sword, and Akira agreed that committing the entire army to what appeared more and more like a single impossible battle would be foolishness. More than once the wisdom of holding forces in reserve to protect the castle had been proven, and all of them on both sides of the line grew used to a dull exhaustion that left enough strength to wield a sword but little else.

Kinawai sat in long discussions with Sesshomaru at the setting of the sun, and they retreated to the emerging fires of their camp, but no battlefield strategy or inspiration for maneuvers appeared to let them out of their dilemma. In a mood of desperation, Sesshomaru decided to attempt one critical gambit in the hopes of disrupting the lines of enemy youkai long enough for the two armies to switch position. He explained his thoughts to Kinawai, who recognized the last-ditch tone of the plans, but agreed stolidly that they had run out of options.

The swift approach of deep winter provided solemn incentive, but the army of half-dead and demoralized youkai who gathered at Kinawai's call in the early morning did not look as if they were capable of noticing either freezing temperature or furious blizzard. Sesshomaru stepped forward, assessing their condition with a slight frown reflected in his eyes, and his voice spilled lowly over their ranks.

"It is past time for a decisive action on our part. This battle has dragged for far too long, and the approach of winter makes it inadvisable to remain in this location much longer. The dragon clans will no doubt be aware of this as well, and it is thus better for us to launch our offensive while they least expect it. We have been driving at the center for days upon days, and while it has not weakened considerably, the force of our attacks has forced them to draw strength from their flanks to uphold the center. This army will divide into three sections - the main body will strike upon the center as has been done, while the remaining two groups assault the left edge of the line in succession. You must know that unless we succeed, defeat looms; failure is not an option. The divisions will be made amongst you by Lord Kinawai."

There were mutterings of surprise among the youkai before him, but they were silenced quickly by the hard eyed looks of officers among them, and awareness grew in them slowly of the finality of what they prepared to attempt. Sesshomaru turned to the close packed group of runners that stood sequestered off from the rest of the army, and his eyes picked out Histaru, Akira's son who had proved himself a rival for Sesshomaru's own speed, the fastest among them all, and the youkai's youth suddenly made itself apparent to his eyes, finalizing his decision.

"Histaru, you are our fastest runner - you will take this knowledge to your father, along with instructions for him to make further preparations for our arrival in four days time. Bring your blade with you, Histaru. It will slow you slightly, but if you are captured you must die rather than reveal this information."

The young youkai soldier turned pale under Sesshomaru's close scrutiny, and nodded shortly.

"I will leave immediately, my Lord. Do you wish me to return to you when I have delivered my message, or remain with my father?"

"Remain, and aid him with his preparations."

He nodded once and the son of his Commander shot off through the camp, leaving a tense wind behind him. Kinawai divided the youkai, and Sesshomaru walked down the lines, giving more detailed instructions. At noon, the sun shining fully into the eyes of the dragon clan, the signal for the first attack went out, and the slaughter was instant and intense. To Sesshomaru's surprise, the attack on the center of the line appeared close to breaking through, but his sharp eyes picked up the slow encircling motion at the flanks of the dragon army, and he knew then that through some quirk of fate, both sides had chosen to try a new technique on the same day - it pointed to doom for the dragons, and he allowed himself a cruel smile.

He waved to Kinawai, and the Tiger lord signaled for the second and third waves of attack in quick succession. The right flank of the approaching army shuddered slightly but held, and Sesshomaru saw the dragons abandon their attempt at circling around and rush from left to right to reinforce the crumbling line. Sesshomaru swept the keen blade of his sword through thick hides, slicing away muscle and shattering bone. Slick blood splashed into the silver mass of his hair, and the scent of his enemy's blood called through his veins with the full, final pressure of his youkai.

The wind built around him, and youkai who stood too close to him in the press of combat were swept into the vortex that build around him. In true dog demon form, the Taiyoukai faced the line of the dragons on the left flank alone, and a roar shook his throat. Enormous paws crushed dragon youkai like flies, and one of the dragon lords found himself impaled on claws that rivaled the length of his katana - but there was no time for another observation before the life was crushed from his body. Sesshomaru felt the burning of poison create acid wounds in his footpads, but the feeling was fire instead of the icy, thought-stealing pain he remembered. Instead of moving him towards weakness, the burning angered him, and his eyes flashed with the fullness of his rage.

Sesshomaru, the Taiyoukai of the West, held the left flank of a line of five thousand dragon youkai to allow his army to break through the army that separated them from the rest of their forces. His silver fur was stained with a mixture of his own blood and that of his enemies. Hundreds of youkai had died under his claws and fangs, and Sesshomaru transformed back to his humanoid shape, hiding the complete weariness that descended over him as the dragons fled the battlefield in disarray.

There was respectful awe in the eyes of the soldiers he walked by, proving his prophecy to Akira true, and he allowed Kinawai to take responsibility for moving the remains of the army forward. There was a scent of snow in the air, and the sky overhead was thickly clouded, showing the approach of nightfall. Four moons of battle had brought victory in this, but the cost was high. Sesshomaru felt the pulsing of Tensaiga at his side, and buried his weariness, walking the ranks of youkai and healing those who lay dead or dying.

An obviously pregnant Kagome stood at the edge of the forest, and sniffed delicately. An odd presence of unfamiliar-familiar youkai pushed on the edges of her miko senses, heightened because of her training. Kaede might have been grievously wounded, but she had refused to allow the injuries to disrupt Kagome's training any more than absolutely necessary, and Kagome remained impressed with the old woman's toughness. She probed with an extra sense as Kaede had taught her, and felt her probing rebound from a carefully constructed barrier shield of youkai energy. The moment she touched it, it disappeared from her senses, and Kagome shook her head and started back to the village. She had met the same strange presence many times in the months since Sesshomaru had left her, but always it disappeared, leaving no trace for her to detect. Flickering eyes followed her walk with cruel amusement, but Kagome noticed them no more than the presence of the strange vanishing barrier.

Shippou had begun something which Kagome tried to equate with a human growth spurt but could not, as he had grown taller than little Rin in a few short months. He retained his baby round face and was still and cute as ever, but his youkai was becoming more of a presence, and she had begun his battle training as best she could, knowing Sesshomaru would be better at the task, knowing as well that she had not seen him in months and might not for yet more months. Through the mating bond she reached out and brushed his consciousness, feeling that way the steady strength of his presence, burning bright in the eye of her supernatural senses despite wounds and weariness. The spark of himself that could do such things expressed concern, inquired after her well being with gentle touches of soul upon soul as it always did when she reached out this way, and she responded with reassuring warmth.

As happened so often, Kaede saw the distantly happy expression on Kagome's face as she approached the village, and suspected the inner dialogue, but the resounding depth of it eluded the human capacity to understand without experience. The first few flakes of drifting snow caressed Kagome's cheeks with softly biting tongues of frost that melted on contact with the pale bloom of her skin. The warmth inside Kaede's hut was welcoming, though the cold no longer affected her as much, and Kagome sat by the fire next to the old miko, who appeared to inspect the bandages around her torso with a critical eye, and decide to leave them for a while yet.

"The first snow is falling, Kaede, a little later than usual, but it finally comes."

"It is not late for the first snow, we have a few days left until midwinter. It will be an instructive ceremony for ye, Kagome, ye have not seen such a festival before."

Kagome smiled slightly.

"Only my grandfather's version…and I do not think that counts."

Kaede raised an eyebrow.

"Ye might be surprised at what `counts', child."

Kagome laughed, and inclined her head slightly in recognition of the woman's skill at the game of verbal thrust and parry.

"I suppose you are right, but it is difficult to think that grandfather's rituals might have accomplished something other than chasing away Buyo."

Kaede looked at her closely, noting both the contentment and the worry in her expression.

"Do ye miss your family, Kagome? Your time?"

Kagome let out a long, slow breath and leaned back to make herself more comfortable.

"It is not that I don't miss them, because I do…but this…separation is something that would have happened anyway. I would have gone away to university, or gotten married…and Sesshomaru more than makes up for anything I left behind in the way of modern `conveniences'. Most of them I do not miss. He is here, my friends are here, and so are drama and magic and danger and small bits of romance. For me this is like living a fairy tale without knowing for sure if it is a happy ending. It can be painful at times, but also incredibly beautiful."

Kaede nodded.

"This is good - ye have a child on the way, and should be certain of such things."

Kagome heard child-laughter and stood to peer out the doorway at her adopted children rolling in the pale thin layer of snow.

"I'll never have children, Kaede, only pups…and that is another one of those beautiful things."

The old miko silently agreed, and it was then that they heard the beginnings of a ruckus outside. Kagome ignored the noise, used to skirmishes of family and friends, but the call of her name and the whisper of sheathed steel being drawn focused her attention.

"I seek the Lady Kagome! You filthy humans will not stand in my way!"

Frightened human voices interrupted the tirade, full to the brim with trembling.

"Kagome-Hime is -"

"Right here."

The villagers were startled into silence by Kagome's sudden, quiet presence, and they backed away from the one who had wanted to see her.

"Ohh…"

Kagome breathed out slowly and tested gently with strands of her miko to make sure of her guess.

*Youkai, but…hidden?*

"Youkai, why have you come in search of me?"

The demon sank to both knees in front of her, and addressed her with bowed head.

"Lady, I come from my mistress, the Lady of the Northern Lands. She asks that you accompany me back to her residence in the North for a visit while your Lord and hers are away in combat."

Kagome reeled internally, trying to sort through rushing thoughts.

*Kasuka! Sesshomaru warned me about her…but to refuse! That might lose him an ally, and then the whole war…damn youkai politics!*

She nodded slowly, forced to assenting because of her position, but her heartbeat quickened in anticipation of danger, and her hands rested protectively over the swelling of her pregnancy.

"Very well. I will accompany you shortly - I must father my things and collect my children."

"Children, my Lady?"

"Yes. My adopted Kitsune son, and similarly adopted human girl-child."

"I do not believe it would be…wise to bring the human child, my Lady. There are many youkai around the castle, Lady, more than just the guards - soldiers."

Kagome's belly froze tight. Though born five hundred years in the future, she knew the age-old temptations that pushed idle soldiers towards young girls for entertainment.

*And I would not risk them if Kasuka is treacherous...they will be safer here with Sango and Miroku."

"Perhaps you are right…but my son will go nowhere without his sister. They will both remain here, but I must caution you that my still will be limited to little more than a week. I do not like leaving my children without protection."

The threat in her words made itself abundantly clear, and whatever odd masking covered this creature failed to mask its fear scent any longer. Word had traveled quickly from spying eyes to tell how the Lady of the West had destroyed the dragon twins, though her miko was bound.

"My Lady will be grateful that you have accepted her invitation, and bid me to tell you that such garments and items as you might require during your stay will be provided."

"How…kind of her. However, there is a thing or two that I must bring regardless. Wait here."

Kagome walked silently across the open village square and stood in the middle of Kaede's home, meeting the woman's grim stare.

"You heard, Kaede."

"I heard."

She confirmed the words with a heavy voice.

"Go. You must, and it will be easier just to leave. Long good-byes are difficult for the young; I will deal with the children. Be careful, Kagome. This is a new kind of danger for you…and of a much more difficult kind to fight."

Kagome nodded quickly, and picked up Tetsusaiga, more secure in the heavy weight of the katana and its reassuring pulse. She rummaged quickly through the Kimono that were folded neatly on her futon, and dressed in the kimono Sesshomaru had given her, touching the shimmering mother of pearl that calmed her with the reminder of his form, and then she was back outside. The youkai messenger raised an eyebrow at the sword slung at her waist, and commented on it shortly.

"You dress for battle, my Lady."

Kagome smiled primly, thinking steadily of double meanings.

"One cannot be too trusting when one journeys in time of war."