InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ The Sacrifice ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Sesshomaru or anyone else from the hit anime/manga series "Inuyasha". Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's in this story.

 

195 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

Chapter Twelve: The Sacrifice

 

Sesshomaru's pursuit of Sagara was probably the only choice anyone could make. However, I think Sagara's barbs were the real motivation behind the chase. After all, it wasn't Sesshomaru's place to be chasing after the clan's devils... At least at that time it wasn't.

-Inuyasha

 

Kakiboufuu and Hitomi raced back to Kyoto, Inuyasha panting heavily in the old hanyou's arms.  Fever burned the child's body as the poison worked its way through his system.  Kakiboufuu glanced down at the boy and grimaced at the sight of the blackening right arm and split hand oozing green pus instead of blood.  Time was running out.

 

They cleared the trees and gasped at the sight of the imperial city.  Parts of it were in ruins.  The appeared cause of the damage varied from place to place.  Some buildings were burned while others looked like a cyclone had struck.  One spot seemed to have been hit by a small avalanche.

 

The two sprinted toward their clan's mansion, though it was the worst hit.  As they entered the courtyard they paused.  Bodies and debris littered the area; the injured were being carried inside, some moaning others deathly quiet.  Then Hitomi spotted Toromaru speaking with a pair of samurai.

 

`The Emperor and the Shogun must want to know what's going on as much as I do,' thought Hitomi tugging on Kakiboufuu's sleeve.  They stopped next to the young man just as he finished speaking.  He turned toward them; blood flowed down his face from a wound on his forehead.

 

“Hitomi,” started Toromaru but was cut off by Kakiboufuu.

 

“We'll talk later, but this little one is in serious trouble,” said Kakiboufuu and nodded at the child in his arms.  Toromaru paled at the sight of his little cousin then turned and called for a healer.  A young woman approached and Kakiboufuu held the boy to her.  She swallowed and glanced back at the old hanyou.  “That wound is not infected by ordinary means.  That's dark magic corrupting the hand and arm,” he said.  The healer nodded and bolted inside with the child.

 

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Sagara glanced over his shoulder and saw Sesshomaru gaining ground.  The evil hanyou smirked, tightening his grip on his glaive.

 

“Let's see how well you can sky dance, Sesshomaru,” whispered Sagara then he shot upward with Sesshomaru close behind.  The hanyou's dark wings beat once as he changed direction, angling his ascent toward the sun and looked back, waiting for the signs that the dog demon was blind to his next action.

 

Sesshomaru flinched against the glare of the afternoon sun and slowed his ascent.  He knew better than to charge forward when he couldn't see what the enemy was doing.  His ears barely detected the faint whirring of wind blades as they shot toward him.  Snowy wings flapped once, pulling him up and avoiding the deadly assault by millimeters.  He glanced up again just in time to see Sagara's silhouette against the sun diving toward him.  Folding his wings, Sesshomaru barrel-rolled to the right, the wind from the failed attack tickling his face.

 

Sagara whirled and darted toward Sesshomaru.  Spotting the hanyou, the dog demon summoned his celestial magic.  Blue light haloed his left hand, forming a disc of energy between his fingers and thumb.  Sweeping his hand sideways, he sent it flying toward Sagara.  Lightning swirled around the spinning disc as it soared through the air.  Sagara dodged upward to avoid the attack only to jerk in surprise when the disc followed.  He swung his glaive down, the blade slicing it in two.  The disc exploded in a colossal display of sapphire lightning and deafening thunder sending the hanyou tumbling through the sky.

 

Sesshomaru used wind caused by the explosion to climb; he had gotten far too low.  Sagara pulled out of the wild spin and looked around for Sesshomaru.  Wild golden eyes darted across the sky as the devil tenko searched for his opponent, growing more desperate the longer the demon went unseen.  Panicking at his failure to find Sesshomaru, Sagara barely registered the growing shadow above him.  Now it was his turn to barrel-roll to safety as Sesshomaru sliced through the space where the hanyou had been.  Angling his wings, Sesshomaru slid out of his dive, turning in a broad arc.  Sagara hovered above the trees as the dog demon flew higher again.

 

Sagara growled and muttered, “He can handle an areole battle.  A change of scenery is called for.”  He climbed as Sesshomaru came back around in pursuit.

 

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“The spell is too foul!  I don't have the power to reverse this,” said the healer as she looked at the gathered group.  The aged Katsuya looked down at the young boy struggling to breathe as the others looked away.

 

“I understand then that removing the diseased arm will not help him,” said the sage as he turned toward the healer again.

 

The healer shook her head and said, “The shock caused by a lost limb at this time would only worsen his chances.  Besides, the poison is already past the shoulder, it would do little good.”

 

“So what are we supposed to do, just sit here and watch him die?” demanded Toromaru.

 

“I can't do anything else!  If Princess Izay-,” she paused and clenched her fist is frustration.  “I'm just not powerful enough.

 

“Then we have no choice,” said Katsuya.  Everyone glanced up at him and waited.  “Something has told me many times that Inuyasha is important.  So he must live and there is only one method left to us.”

 

“What are you saying?” whispered Hitomi not daring to believe he meant what she feared he meant.

 

“You already know what he means,” said a velvety voice.  The group turned to look at the black and gold feline-like creature sitting behind them.  Maou wore his usual smug look as his tail whipped back and forth.  His over-long ears were facing the old man, his amber gaze piercing.  “So what will you offer me to save this boy's life, Sage Katsuya? What is to be our deal?”

 

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Sagara swooped between two towering cliffs.  The space was narrow and the rock-filled river far below.  The hanyou grinned.

 

`This is much better,' he thought and glanced back.  Sesshomaru hadn't disappointed him.  The dog demon was still in pursuit.  “Good,” he whispered.  “Now learn the difference between one who soars at the beck and call of the wind and the one who is master of it.”

 

Sesshomaru entered the steep, narrow canyon, determined to end the devil's life today.  Sagara howled in glee then summoned the wind to him.  A violet gust exploded through the canyon, wrenching smaller unattached rocks and pebbles from the walls and ripping branches off of dwarf shrubs before catching Sesshomaru from behind.  The dog demon tumbled through the air as the wind tore at his wings and ricocheted off the walls.  The hanyou laughed as he drifted backward out of the gorge.

 

Sesshomaru grabbed a rocky outcrop just as he cleared the end of the canyon and pulled himself out of the wind's merciless clutches.  He remained perched on the tiny ledge for a moment gasping then raised his wings to take flight again.  White, blinding agony seared through his body bringing the dog demon to his knees.  A few seconds later the pain subsided to a throb.  Panting, he glanced over his shoulder dreading what he would see.  His left wing was broken and twisted.  Blood leaked from several wounds including the place where the bone protruded.  Growling in disgust, he slowly rose to his feet then froze at the sound of maniacal laughter.

 

Sagara grinned down at the grounded dog demon then raised his glaive for the final blow.  Unable to escape, Sesshomaru growled and held his hands close together.  He could smell the wind winding around Sagara and his weapon.  It was no different than the Tetsusaiga's wind scar and he feared the results would be just as damning.

 

`I have one chance,' thought Sesshomaru as his celestial power gathered in his hands.

 

`Now!' Sagara thought as he felt the wind magic around his glaive peak, oblivious to Sesshomaru's actions.  He sent a small but devastating cyclone down toward the dog demon.

 

`Now,' Sesshomaru echoed in his mind as he watched the descending whirlwind and hurled his sphere of white-blue energy down the center of the cyclone toward Sagara.

 

“What!” screamed Sagara as his spell was sucked into Sesshomaru's and the two came flying back at him.  He flew backwards and put his glaive between him and the orb.  The spells exploded into a maelstrom of lightning and wind.  Sesshomaru crouched down and leaned against the cliff as debris zipped by, fighting to stay conscious as the gales pushed and pulled against his broken wing and flinching against the thunderclaps.  When it quieted, the dog demon stood up and searched the sky and trees for Sagara, but could find no sign of him.

 

`He was vaporized by the attack,' he thought then he grimaced as a wave of nausea swept over him.  `Is it the liberal use of power or the broken wing that makes me ill?' wondered Sesshomaru as he leaned against the cliff, panting.  He gazed at the skies above.  `Or is it dread?'

 

Shaking his head, he glanced back at his injured wing and sighed.  It wouldn't heal unless he kept them out and he risked falling unconscious from the pain when he moved.  “What a bother,” he muttered then he withdrew his celestial power, the wings shrank into his back and the fur returned.  Pain lanced through his left shoulder blade when the twisted appendage vanished then faded into a dull, persistent throb.

 

His right hand gripped his left shoulder as he grimaced then stared down the canyon in the direction of Kyoto.  He remained where he was for several minutes before finally turning away and returning to his father's castle to recover.

 

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“So this is how it all ends,” said Kuromaru in resignation as he stared at the lifeless bodies of his father and the sage.  The sage had offered his life to Maou in order to save Inuyasha's.  However, the crafty dealer had followed the contract to the letter without subtractions or additions.  The poison threatening the child's life had been neutralized, but the wound in his right hand remained untouched and impossible to heal.

 

The hanyou child slept but whimpered and cried in his sleep; his right hand wrapped tightly to hold his split palm together in the hopes that time would do what their powers could not.  Some didn't believe they were doing the child any favors by trying to save it, Kuromaru didn't either.

 

“You think this is over?” asked Kakiboufuu as he turned his emerald eyes on the man.  Kuromaru rubbed the black jewel in the bronze circlet he wore on his head.  It still felt strange for him to be wearing the lord's crown.

 

It wasn't an impressive thing by itself.  The crown was only a band as wide around as a lady's pinky with a single, thumbnail-sized jewel embedded into it.  What made it special was that it had been crafted by their ancient and more powerful ancestors to judge and protect the lords of the tenko clan.  The item could only be worn by one who the magic judged to be the right man, or woman, for the job.  It then protected the lord from mind controlling specials.

 

The drawback was the circlet made it impossible for the lord to deceive anyone.  He couldn't lie nor could he hide his identity.  Even white lies were not allowed.  So there was the unspoken rule among the wives of the lords to never ask for his opinion on their appearance.  For, even if the unfortunate man knew how to answer that dangerous question correctly the circlet wouldn't allow him to speak it.  Of course, if the wife forgot and asked anyway the rule among the lords was to pretend she didn't say anything and pray the silence reminded her she wasn't supposed to ask that of them.

 

The circlet also couldn't be removed from the lord's head until death or abdication of the throne and once abdicated it couldn't be taken back.  The crown would not rest on the former lord's head ever again.  During the time it isn't worn the circlet is dull and even less remarkable.  The metal band appeared no different from old steel and the jewel was as clear as tears.  On Jounochi's head the circlet had been a sapphire in a gold band.  On Kuromaru's it was an ebony diamond in a bronze band.

 

Kuromaru turned to the old hanyou and met his gaze.  “You said Sesshomaru went after him.  I would think a celestial demon would be more than enough to stop a devil.”  The new lord flinched at his own words.  It was still hard for him to accept that one of his own children was the new threat to the clan and, ultimately, Japan.

 

“Ordinarily, I would agree with you,” replied Kakiboufuu then sighed.  “But this one is different from the previous devils.  I can't help but worry about his resourceful nature.”

 

“I don't see how that makes a bit of difference,” said Kuromaru, his temper spiking.  “There have been `resourceful' devils in the past.”

 

“And they only lost to time!  They died of old age,” snapped Kakiboufuu.

 

“Lord Kuromaru!  Kakiboufuu!  Please, you'll wake Inuyasha!” hissed Hitomi then she turned and began cooing to the squirming, sobbing child.  The boy hadn't woken up, but the argument added to the terror of his nightmare.

 

“With all due respect, my lord, Sagara has turned himself into a hanyou.  Time is now on his side and I fear that Lord Sesshomaru may not be able to handle him as well as we would wish,” said the old hanyou in a more subdued voice.

 

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Tsubaki was strolling along the road, enjoying the scenery, when she heard crashing in the brush ahead.  Fearing bandits, she stopped and brought her staff before her, ready for whatever might jump from the bushes.  She gasped when a lone man stumbled onto the road.  The flesh on his right arm was peeled back on one side exposing bone, his legs and left arm had severe lacerations, and the left side of his face had no skin at all.

 

Running forward, she noticed the pointy ears on top of his head and realized he was a hanyou.  “Don't move!  Let me help you first,” she said as she knelt down beside him and took her pack off.  She pushed back the lid and began pulling out her medicines and bandages.

 

Next to her Sagara stared at the young wood tenko in suspicion, but when he saw her intentions were pure he smiled a cold and dark smile.  “Thank you for saving me,” whispered the evil hanyou in a hoarse voice as she turned her attention to his wounds and began casting a healing spell.

 

“That's why I am,” she replied distractedly, her full concentration on her spell.  Sagara watched her clean and close the terrible wounds.  Her skills were excellent, and though her powers weren't the strongest he had ever seen, her ability to combine medicine with magic put her on par with the greatest the clan had to offer.  If he had had a shred of compassion in him he would have felt guilty from what he did next.

 

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I'm a little disappointed with this chapter but I can't seem to make it better. I wanted the aerial battle between Sesshomaru and Sagara to more impressive, but I somehow failed to convey that. *sigh*