InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Deadly Miscalculations ( Chapter 41 )

Chapter 41 - Deadly Miscalculations

 

“I SWEAR I DODN'T KNOW!” Loki cried out as best he could despite being suspended in the air by a very angry and very powerful taiyoukai.

 

Sesshoumaru squeezed harder, his claws sliced into the fat youkai's flesh like so much butter. His captive whined at the pain but didn't say anything else. When Sesshoumaru wasn't satisfied by the pace of information, he dropped the pathetic excuse for a lord. He then kicked Loki's legs out from under him and proceeded to step on his neck. He didn't ask the question again. Instead, he stood over the prone youkai and summoned his acid to his fingertips. Holding it off to the side, he began to allow the noxious element to drip to the ground off to the side of Loki's now horrified features.

 

“NO, STOP...PLEASE...DON'T!” The acid was now dripping so close to his face that the little splashes on the floor were hitting the youkai's cheeks and the acrid smell of just barely melting flesh began to fill the room.

 

Sesshoumaru listened dispassionately to the unintelligible begging of the creature under his boot. Soon, his slowly moving hand would be right above the traitor's face and then it would be no more than a thick pool of rendered fat and spent acid. The first drips fell on the side of his jaw and then the real screaming began.

 

“SARATH! IT HAS TO BE SARATH! I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS GOING TO TAKE HER! I DIDN'T KNOW! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP!”

 

Even though he wanted to finish what he had started with this fool, Takana was far more important than revenge. He allowed a few more drops to fall before he pulled his hand away. Besides, Tomo would be more than happy to deal with this and Sesshoumaru knew he would do as good a job at painfully ending this lowly creature's life just as well as he could. He strode out of the dungeon cell he'd thrown Loki into and set off to retrieve what had been taken from him.

 

The Northern Lord would pay for this indiscretion with his life if so much as a single blemish marred Takana's flesh. Sarath had no idea what he had unleashed onto himself and Sesshoumaru didn't care what his motivation had been. He was going to get her back and he was going to get her back now. A thousand soldiers couldn't keep him from getting to her and they wouldn't.

 

 

 

Sarath cocked his head at her curious outburst. He'd expected some sort of reaction from the woman such as intense fear or something to the like. Perhaps even a bit of pathetic sniveling or begging on the part of her life. The reaction he got, however, was nothing short of bizarre. Instead of a face dripping with tears of terror, he was met with palpable anger and obvious hate. After a brief look of shock passed over her features, the woman who was tied to her chair looked as though she wanted to rip his head right off of his neck.

 

“What did you say?” He asked, unable to keep the slight surprise out of his tone.

 

“You bastard.” Her tone was low and deadly. It was a sound that only served to intensify the serpent's current state of confusion.

 

“Pardon me?” This just wasn't making any sense to him.

 

“You disgusting, pathetic, evil son of a bi...” but she wasn't allowed to finish the tirade as a slender, coiling tail wrapped firmly around her neck, effectively silencing her.

 

Confused or not, the Northern Lord wasn't about to let a mere human spit such vitriol at him. He eased himself closer to her, tightening his grip on her neck. When his face was mere inches from hers, he asked, “Now tell me, do we somehow know one another?”

 

Sarath quickly learned that while coiling his tail around her throat ended her ability to speak, it did nothing to keep her saliva in her mouth where it belonged and off of his face. He jerked his head away as a large wad splashed right between his eyes.

 

“Woman, you will stop this behavior immediately.” He stressed his point by delivering a sharp blow to the side of her head. Had his tail not still been holding her, she would have toppled, chair and all, to the musty, wooden floor. “Now, who are you?” It wasn't a question that he had originally intended to ask. What did he care who she was? Knowing such trivial information did nothing to further his agenda. All he wanted to know about her was whether or not she was carrying the dog lord's child. But now, with her curious and wholly unusual behavior, he couldn't help but want to know. Did she know him somehow because she certainly acted as though she must? He didn't specifically recall any particular associations with humans but he had the distinct feeling that she knew very well who he was.

 

Takana didn't answer. She just sat there, frozen in place by both the bindings on her body and the tail around her neck. Her eyes remained narrowed at the creature as she felt a trickle of blood run out of her nose.

 

“Who are you?” Deadliness lined the tone. He was not used to being ignored.

 

She remembered her brother's broken body after it had all happened. She remembered having to drag herself there. She remembered trying so hard not to cry. She had loved her brother too much to want to bind his soul to the earth where it didn't belong. If she had cried, he might not have been able to pass over. It had been so hard to hold him and remain silent. So many nights she'd bolted out of sleep from the nightmares of that day, from the fear of seeing this monster's face again but now that he was here, she felt no fear. She had been through too much, lost too much and gained too much to give him that satisfaction. A sharp smack to her face brought her out of her memories and back into the moment.

 

“Who...are...you?” It was going to be the last time he asked this woman. He was just about to grab her arm and squeeze until she responded, breaking her arm is need be. His hand had just left his side when she finally spoke once more.

 

“I'm the woman who will be the cause of the end of your life.”

 

The tail left her neck and Sarath stepped back a few paces. His face was a bland for a few moments before a big grin broke out across his features. Then he laughed. It was loud and obnoxious and didn't seem to end like it should have, lasting just a little too long. When the fit ended, Sarath wiped the nonexistent tears away from his eyes and calmed himself down.

 

“You certainly think rather highly of yourself, don't you?” He asked in amusement. “Why do you think such a thing? You are only human, no matter what you might think of yourself.”

 

Takana said nothing in return but that didn't bother the serpent. He didn't care if she did know him somehow. He could explore that venue another time. For now, he was going to accomplish what he originally set out to do with this little female.

 

“Who's the father of your unborn?” He asked. He saw her eyes widen marginally, obviously surprised by the change in topic but she quickly recomposed herself and remained silent. Sarath closed his eyes and pinched his brow. This was going to take longer than he'd originally thought.

 

 

 

Sesshoumaru had never moved so quickly in all his life. He flew through the air on his youkai at a pace that human eyes could barely have seen. He flew over forests and rivers, over towns and villages. He flew into the northern mountains with such a single minded determination that time itself seemed to lay down in supplication at his feet. The journey took nearly a full day to complete but that still didn't seem enough for him. He willed himself to move even faster. It wasn't until he saw the distant ramparts of his enemy's fortress that he slowed. He would be there soon. He would save her from whatever peril she'd been placed in. He only hoped that he had been fast enough.

 

 

 

Sarath cut the ties that bound the little human to the chair. After all, it wasn't as though she presented any kind of threat to him. Humans were so weak and fragile. He was also tired of leaning over to ask his same question time and time again. He was about to ask for that twentieth time when the door to the little room flung open and a very distressed guard burst though.

 

“My Lord, we are under attack!”

 

“Attack? By whom?” Sarath asked incredulously. The guard looked pale and shuddered in his response.

 

“It seems to b-be the Western Lord.”

 

Sarath's eyes widened marginally. How could this be? He had only had the female under his captivity for the last two days. There could be no possible for the West to have mustered their army all the way here in such a short time.

 

“How many?”

 

“Sir?” asked the confused guard.

 

Sarath pushed the human aside for the moment, ignoring the infuriating expression on her face. He strode up to his servant. “How many strong is the West's army?”

 

It took a moment for the man to answer. “Just one, my lord.”

 

Sarath wanted to laugh and almost did. Just one? Just Sesshoumaru himself? This was perfect. There was no way that the Western Lord could defeat his entire army himself. This was going to be so... Suddenly his blood froze. Though Sesshoumaru could not defeat his army, he wouldn't need to. Sarath suddenly realized his foolishness. He hadn't expected the Western Lord to act so rashly to the abduction of his human.

 

Sarath turned to look at the female that stood defiantly in the center of the room. He had underestimated her worth. Loki and Sura had been wrong. She was not a novelty like the last one had been. She was not a creature meant for his pleasure. It was obvious by the dog's reaction that she was so much more. It was a mistake to have taken her. This was not going to end well.

 

While Sarath was still confident that his army could have easily defeated a lone taiyoukai, his army was not here. They were headed for the Western Lands in preparation for the rebellion that this human was supposed to help him start. They were not here to protect his domain and the scant number of fortress guards and the single battalion of warriors was not going to be sufficient.

 

With a grace that only someone who knows they are going to die possesses, Sarath turned to the scared looking youkai and sent him away with orders to protect the fortress. He and the guard both knew of its futility but the youkai turned and headed off to carry out the order dutifully.

 

 

 

Sesshoumaru fought his way through the throng of warriors. The battlefield was choked with them, it didn't matter that he outclassed them in every way; their numbers were just great enough that it made carving a passage through them difficult. He sliced off the leg of one and sent him howling to the ground in pain. The next, he spun around and took a large gash out of his chest. And then another and another and another. He snarled in fury at his progress as it didn't move him forward near quickly enough. He needed to get to her. He needed to get to her NOW! She was in danger.

 

 

She stood again, blood dribbling from her lips as the gash in her mouth bled freely. Again, she looked straight at Sarath with nothing but contempt and defiance plastered over her face. She would not let him win. She would never let another that tried to hurt her win ever again.

 

“I grow bored of asking human, who is the father of the child you carry?”

 

Again, she said nothing but just cocked her head to the side as though she were dumb to the question. She would never give into this beast and she would not betray her love. This time, the child in her belly would not be condemned by her words to the serpent in front of her like the last had been to her father. This time she would die before she let that happen, taking the child with her is she had to. It would not be alone in its journey to the afterlife.

 

Sarath sighed and turned as though he were going to leave. He suddenly spun back around, striking Takana with such force that it threw her to the ground. She stayed there for a moment, pulling her breath back inside and pushing away the pain before pulling herself up again. She looked at him with defiance and distain. He would have to do far better than that.

 

 

Sesshoumaru continued to push through the throng. Every step he took, he killed half a dozen warriors but ten more would take their place. He was now howling out his mounting frustration but he pressed on, his determination only rising. He would not give up on her. He would die before he did that.

 

 

She stood and looked the youkai in the eye. Sarath walked to her and painfully grabbed her by the jaw. “This is pointless human. I already know that the dog is the father. Save yourself the pain of all this and simply tell me. Let me hear the words and I will let you leave this place. Do not and...” He pulled a gleaming blade from the waist of his cloths.

 

 

Another youkai fell and Sesshoumaru desperately scanned the distance to the fortress walls he so dearly needed to breach. They grew closer but not quickly enough. He needed to be there now.

 

 

“Well, my fragile little prisoner, are you going to tell me what I want to hear.” Sarath hissed at his fragile human prisoner. She should have broken long ago. Weren't her kind terrified of his, especially the females and didn't this one have more reason to that any other? Didn't she have any sense of self preservation? Takana looked him dead in the eye and then spit a mouthful of blood onto his face.

 

Sarath didn't flinch or move to wipe it away. He simply looked at her. The spittle dribbled off his chin and to the cold stone floor. He'd had enough. If she wouldn't talk here then maybe... He grabbed her by her upper arm and hauled her out onto the great balcony overlooking the battle below. Sarath knew with out much inspection that his forces were losing. This was not the way it was supposed to happen but then he hadn't thought that the human variable would be such an important one. He'd miscalculated just how much the dog would risk for her and it was going to cost him as much as it was costing his army below. It no longer mattered that he would loose this war. It didn't matter that he would probably not live to see the next dawn, all that mattered was his satisfaction and that he would have.

 

He immediately picked out the quickly moving form of the dog lord cutting through his army like a hot knife through so much butter, headed for the fortress walls. He would breach them and he would win but now...it no longer mattered to Sarath. If she truly meant that much to him, then he would make the dog fall and he knew exactly how to do it. He pulled Takana to stand in front of him, in plain view of the throng below.

 

 

Sesshoumaru cut down three more with a single swipe of his blade. One was beheaded and the others cut so deeply that they would not be rising again in this battle or any other. He kept his focus ahead of him until he heard the scream of his enemy, the coward that would not even face him on the field of battle. He took a split second to look up toward the sound before refocusing on the men surrounding him. No sooner had he done this, than he threw his vision back up to the scene above him with complete disregard for the men he now fought. There, far above and currently out of his reach was his most hated enemy and his dearest love.

 

She stood in front of the serpent youkai with his blade pressed tightly against her neck.

 

Sesshoumaru blocked another attack and dispatched the opponent without even removing his steady vision from where his main focus remained above him.

 

 

“Do you see him down there?” Sarath asked the defiant little human. He had to respect her courage, misplaced as it may be. He didn't believe he'd ever had any creature as loyal to him as this little mortal was to that damned dog. Not even his own seed would have tried to protect him the way she was now trying to protect her lover.

 

She didn't answer his question but she had indeed picked her love out of the field of battle below. Her eyes never left him and she knew that he could see her too. She held her breath, terrified that she might see him fall.

 

“I smell your fear now.” Sarath inhaled again after saying it. “But it isn't for yourself is it?” He stared down at Sesshoumaru with gleaming red, slitted eyes. “It's for him, isn't it?” He hissed. “Your allegiance is misplaced. He will not be able to save you. He has failed in that endeavor.”

 

She wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he had never failed her even when she believed that he had. She wanted to tell this pathetic excuse for a youkai that she loved her lord but the words never came. She couldn't speak after she felt a sudden burning pain on her throat but she never took her eyes off of her love below. Even when her vision started to dim, she gazed down at him. She grew cold and her eyes began to sag but she willed them to remain open anyway. She saw when his face turn enraged, when his eyes bled red and she wished for nothing more that to sooth away whatever pain he was feeling but she found she couldn't move. Suddenly she just couldn't see him anymore through the coming gloom and strangely enough she felt like she was falling.

 

Then the darkness took her.

 

Sesshoumaru howled out his pain when he saw her body descend to the base of the tower. The very ground shook with his rage and pain. Nothing mattered any longer. He felt himself changing as he allowed the beast inside to take control. She was dead. There was no reason to protect her from this.

 

The last thought that passed through his mind before he let the rage take him completely was, `I failed her'.

 

 

AN: May I see a show of hands from the readers that want to kill me right now. ....Wow, it suddenly got really cold in here. This is not the end but it is quickly drawing near. The next chapter will be out within the next two days. I hope you don't all give up on me after this chapter. Well, until later....tata.

 

Cricket42: So sorry for the shortness of last chapter, this one was longer but I have a feeling that it's not the length of this one that is going to have you angry at me.

angelsfalltearfully: Though Takana didn't get to lay into him, you can trust me that Sess did. Thank you for the praise.

mrskcgoodman: Sura...what will happen to Sura? Hmmmm.

Nikkie23534: Sorry but your hopes were in vain...don't hate me please.