InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ The Gate of Hell ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru or Inuyasha or anyone from the hit Anime/Manga series Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's in this story.

 

Chapter Fourteen: The Gates of Hell

 

179 years Before the Search for the Jewel Shards

 

It's not gradual… There's no warning… We weren't ready.

People died. A lot of people died. A lot of good people died and most were guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That's war.

Brutal… Bloody… Cruel… Ugly.

Everything else is just a bard's fantasy.

That was the truth I was forced to embrace that day. No matter how much I screamed.

-Inuyasha

 

Kenji topped a rise and slid to a halt, gapping. Tsubame and the other two stopped next to him, shocked by the sight of the writhing land below him. Like a tsunami rushing the shore, a massive army surged across fields, destroying everything in its path. Villagers screamed as they vanished beneath the tide of flesh and steel. The attackers were humans, samurai, ronin or bound didn't matter at that point; there were far too many of them for the four wolf-demons to handle.

 

“We need the tenko; the inner guard will be overwhelmed,” said Tsubame.

 

“Right,” said Kenji without looking away. “You two run ahead and convince the villagers to flee. Tsubame, you and I go to the border.” The four split at a run.

 

“I don't understand,” panted Tsubame, “how did such a force get past the border guard in the first place?”

 

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Keiko drew the arrow's feathers to her ear, sighted along the shaft, then released. It flew straight toward the target, and for one exhilarating moment, she thought it might strike. Then the head dipped down and buried itself in the dirt just shy of the tree. The young girl growled in frustration and notched another one. She much preferred swords. Sure it meant being in the midst of the action, but when a blade sought a throat or heart, it would never drop just shy of its target!

 

She drew the arrow back and sighted along the shaft. Her stomach tightened into a heavy lump, her anger drained, and a chill iced her blood. Freezing, she lowered her bow and glanced over her shoulder. From the hill behind the temple came several flashes, sparkles like rain in the sun. The bits of light blinked, soaring closer. They arched up then turned downward to rain on the temple grounds.

 

Only then did she see the shadows of shafts and feathers and realize they were arrowheads.

 

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Hiroshi and several other young wolves lazed on the green slope and grumbled about the pigheadedness of the tribe elders. Koga ignored their grumbles, the whole subject flying high over his head. He was much more interested in beating his friend and rival in wrestling. Laughing, the boys rolled in the grass and several other children squealed in glee at the sight.

 

“Huh? What's that?” asked one of the older wolves with Koga's brother. A few of the children looked up, but Koga and his friend were too busy to care.

 

“I don't know but there's a lot of them,” said another, a female. Koga yanked on his opponent's leg, causing the other to yelp.

 

“They're turning this way!” The boy twisted Koga's pointy ear, and the young wolf lost his grip on the other's leg.

 

“Run!” screamed Hiroshi. The older wolves turned and bolted, some pausing only long enough to snatch up startled children. Koga squeaked as he was hoisted on to his brother's shoulders. Koga was faced backward and could see everything behind them.

 

Things that appeared to be black wolves ganged on the pack at an alarming rate. They made strange grinding shrieks and clanks as they moved; sunlight reflected off their smooth black hides. A female wolf-demon screamed when one bit her leg and fell. The bitter tang of copper filled the air and her anguish cries were extinguished disturbingly but mercifully quick. Another, one carrying a child, went down in the same manner. He tried to throw the child to one further ahead, but the child only went a foot more and was overtaken in a heartbeat, their cries vanishing almost as soon as the girl's.

 

The other wolf-demons panted and tried to run faster, panic wild in their eyes. The terrible shrieking of the creatures ever present in their ears, Koga soon realized what the sound was. The creatures weren't howling or roaring. They had no voice at all. The sound came from the creatures' joints as they moved, the sound of metal rubbing metal!

 

Two more howled and disappeared beneath the knives and daggers that passed for claws and fangs in these beasts. Hiroshi could run the fastest and the farthest of the whole western pack, but was it possible to outrun something as unnatural as these armored wolves?

 

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Kakiboufuu and Inuyasha trotted at the back of a fleeing group of villagers, shooting fire-bolts over their shoulders to hold the soldiers back. Parts of the forests were aflame thanks in part to their efforts. Inuyasha risked much to occasionally run backwards even stopping for a dangerous moment to aim his lightning.

 

The rogue samurai attacked right at the time when many villagers were just beginning to stir for the day. No one would be alive now had the wild battle cries of the charging men not awakened Inuyasha from a sound sleep. The surviving samurai fled shocked and terrified by the fields' abrupt and unexplainable eruption, spewing burning rice plants, steam and half melted rocks into the air as well as charred human parts of unlucky warriors.

 

Kakiboufuu's morbid humor caused him to congratulate his student on successfully avoiding blowing up the village as well. Inuyasha, not finding the situation funny at all, told the villagers to evacuate. No one understood why since the attackers were either dead or fleeing.

 

“I don't think they were the only ones!” said Inuyasha. He sniffed the air and growled. A kitsune nearby sniffed as well then paled.

 

“A slaughter and they aren't our new friends either,” snarled Kakiboufuu. Smoke rising over the tree tops in several places silenced the last of the protests.

 

Looking ahead they could see several villagers pausing to breathe, exhaustion setting in. Elderly and children rode on the village's few horses. Inuyasha glanced at his mentor, surely he had noticed their attacks weren't hitting their targets as often or how the flames twisted and jumped to the side as if being batted away.

 

Someone powerful was back there.

 

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Sesshomaru stared at the female dog demon, wary. Her appearance more than enough to generate suspicion, the armor she wore only made him more uneasy. She smirked as she said, “Heh, silent and cold as usual. Too proud to even ask what I'm doing all `dressed up'.” Sesshomaru merely narrowed his golden eyes.

 

She sneered and said, “As little as you care about your people do try to keep them in mind as I voice my proposal.”

 

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