InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Broken Dreams: Murder of the Soul ( Chapter 22 )

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

 

Part Three: Murder of the Soul

 

Two days later…

 

Kuromakaze sat cross-legged in the large garden behind the central pagoda, meditating. The garden was atop a fourth plateau created exclusively for it. The central pagoda and its surrounding structures were pressed into the slopes. The garden entrance was at the fourth level of the five level pagoda and just even with the roof tops of the other buildings. This left its view free of obstructions and allowed the wind to pass through uninterrupted. While meditating here he could feel the stirrings of the air anywhere within the land he had taken from his father. Sometimes it was the only way to determine when something unwanted had entered his territory.

 

The wind shifted and a strand of air, strangely devoid of moisture on this cool spring night, drained the inner lining of his nose of all water causing it to crack and bleed. It was gone the next second and only the blood trickling down his face remained as proof of its passing. Kuromakaze opened his eyes and lifted a hand to his face, wiping the blood off.

 

“He's coming,” he whispered.

 

“He is? But no one has reported seeing him,” said Yamibi. Kuromakaze glanced over at his second in command. The raven haired dog hanyou was flicking water in the pool with her toes. She didn't meditate, thinking it boring and a waste of time. Only his cold temper responses to her interruptions had brought an end to her complaints. He didn't care if she did it or not as long as she respectfully let him be during his.

 

“And they probably won't until his clambering over the castle walls. He senses when ambushes are awaiting him. I can see him avoiding lookouts by the same means.” Kuromakaze stood and began striding toward the pagoda. “We must make sure everything is ready for when he arrives. I don't want anything to go wrong, now.”

 

“You're being stupid. Just kill him when he comes. You shouldn't play these kinds of games,” said Yamibi, remaining where she stood in both argument and place.

 

“I'm hardly playing,” he said over his shoulder, pausing at the shoji. Then, as he stepped into the tower, to himself, he whispered, “I just can't stand fools.”

 

****

 

Keiko stepped over the body of her guard. The man lay on the floor foam spilling out of his mouth, body convulsing; a victim of the warrior priestess's soul purification. She drew his sword then moved away from the door.

 

If I can just find the exit tunnel my father built as part of this complex I know I can escape, she thought as she tiptoed down the hall. Even if they have remodeled, I doubt it was damaged.

 

The escape tunnel's entrance was below the cellar. The cellar itself was a series of rooms within the raised terraces. The entrance was a small door that opened to a tight, steep stairwell carved in stone. It led down, dropping the height of four grown men below the cellar's floor before leveling out and leading away to the secret exit far afield.

 

If I can make it there, I'll be as good as free!

 

The door leading to the cellars was hidden behind decorated panels in the main pagoda. That doorway had its own set of stairs leading down to the cellars. Her father had designed the castle while pretending he was trying to fend off an imaginary enemy. He hadn't wanted the enemy to know how well supplied they were nor where the escape tunnel was hidden. In case of a breach the hidden cellars acted as a screen to protect the last refugees as they fled the doomed castle. She was certain the enemy had never found the cellars never mind the escape tunnel.

 

Keiko inspected the main entranceway where the panels were located. No one was around. All the guards were on the walls looking for external threats. No one was inside watching for her. She stepped out into the open space. Moonlight filtered through the paper walls of the outer section. It wasn't full tonight but she possessed excellent night vision. She approached the panels and tried hard to remember which one was the door.

 

They were all made with a repeating pattern so it wouldn't be obvious. The rising sun, the bowed tree, the rock in the river, the bamboo grove, the pair of clouds and two dozen birds flying in two formations. It takes three panels to complete the pattern. The one that is different is the entry.

 

She studied the panels put nothing seemed abnormal in any of them. It may have been a pattern but each one held a slight variation from the others, so they weren't exactly the same. What's the difference? I should know it! What is the one difference that I'm looking for? she thought, beginning to panic. The variation had the tree bowing more deeply in one than in another. The two clouds tickled the sun in one while they didn't touch it in another or obscured partly in a third. The river currents weren't drawn the same as they moved around the rock. The pattern of the bamboo grove varied in the angle the stalks leaned. The two bird formations were not evenly split, creating staggered lines.

 

The birds! she thought and began counting the number in each panel. Each panel may have a varied design but they all possess the same number of elements. The number of birds is twenty-four and the formations are not uniformed. At a glance you wouldn't notice… She stopped at the second panel from the left end and smiled, it contained twenty-five birds. If there was an extra bird in the flock.

 

She pushed on the right side and heard a click then, placing her sword against the neighboring panel, braced her hands against both sides and pushed up. The panel lifted a finger width then rotated, bringing the top-half down toward her head. Keiko smiled when she saw the stairs leading to the cellar.

 

“So there was a hidden exit, I had thought as much,” said an oily voice from behind her. Recognizing it, she whirled, focusing her power in the palm of her hand to strike with another soul purifying burst. Hanyou or not, this attack's effect would be complete. Her palm slammed into his chest over his heart and a blue light arced through his body.

 

“Yatta!” she gasped and smiled. A hand grabbed her forearm and twisted it around causing her to drop to her knees.

 

“Afraid not,” Kuromakaze said. She looked up and blinked. Black eyes stared into her own and ebony hair, darker than night, framed a pale face. She stared in disbelief then focused all of her power into the hand that held her. Kuromakaze didn't even blink as wave after wave of spiritual energy pulsed through him.

 

“That won't work, Priestess,” he said. “Your power only affects those possessing yoki or twisted souls. At this moment, I have neither.”

 

“How can you, of all people, possess a pure soul? You're more twisted then anyone alive,” said Keiko, sneering even as her gaze lost the final lights of hope.

 

“Your soul twists when it diverges from the path you were given at birth, but when one is born `twisted' living as anything else would be the true impurity. In other words my dear,” he said then leaned forward until his nose brushed hers. “I'm pure evil. That's why. You can't affect me. You can't hurt me. You're far too predictable and your power is useless.” He ran his other hand through her hair. “Just sit quietly; your fiancé is already on his way. You wouldn't want to disappoint him by not being here when he arrives, do you?”

 

****

 

Three days later…

 

Inuyasha hid in the woods outside the killing ground of the enemy castle, impressed despite himself. A few well placed master tenko on the walls and this place would be an equal to Sanshaku no Hinansho in defense plus it has the added benefit of offense.

 

He remained where he stood trying to figure out how to breach the castle and rescue Keiko. His impromptu escape had left him without provisions. He had been so focused on rescuing Keiko he had gone the first day and half without food or water. Dehydration had blurred his senses and he had almost run straight into an enemy encampment. The only thing that had saved him then was the sleeping lookout he had bowled over. Inuyasha was lucky the man's sleep had been alcohol induced or he doubted he would have gotten away without the alarm being sounded. He was pretty certain the samurai was still trying to figure out where he had gotten those light burns on his ribs and shoulder that he undoubtedly discovered upon being relieved and, most likely, chastised for his poor physical state.

 

After that, he found a stream and, after checking to see if anyone else was around, drank and ate his fill of water and river fish. He had then climbed into the high branches of an old oak for a short nap. He had proceeded more carefully after that, taking time to rest, feed and drink.

 

I can't rescue anyone if I'm too weak to stand when I finally do get there, he thought to himself over and over again. Still, his sleep was light and filled with images of Keiko being tortured. Just hang-on, Keiko, I'm coming!

 

“Now just how am I going to get into this place? They're better organized than anyone thought,” he muttered to himself. He doubted he would run into any drunken guards here. Without warning, the gates lifted into the air but nothing came out. Nothing was approaching the castle either and Inuyasha felt a familiar chill creep through him. Every part of his being was urging him to turn away. He remained frozen for some time caught between his need to go forward and his instinct to turn back.

 

“Do come in,” whispered an oily voice in his ear. Inuyasha jumped and whirled. No one was behind him. No one was anywhere near him. “Do you really want to keep your bride-to-be waiting, Inuyasha?” the voice whispered again. There was something familiar about it, but the hanyou couldn't place it. One thing was certain. The voice was being woven into the wind. In order to do that the weaver had to already know where he was.

 

There's no way to avoid it now without abandoning Keiko, he thought, grimacing. I can't hope to enter the castle now undetected no matter when, where or how I do it.

 

Breaking cover, he stepped onto the killing ground. Nothing happened. He glanced at the tops of the walls but no one was in sight. The gateway was also devoid of soldiers. He kept walking, following the path laid down by multitudes of horse hooves, cart wheels and sandaled feet. He passed through a second gateway and continued forward. It was only after entering the third that he saw someone at the end of the courtyard. A woman, painted white with heavy eye and lip makeup, her hair intertwined with that of a huge headdress, multiple robes wrapped her body, stood at the end of a short set of stairs. She was formally dressed for a wedding but, despite the heavy garb and paint, Inuyasha still recognized her.

 

Keiko looked over at him and bit her lip; her fixed gaze intense. Inuyasha choked back a cry. What the hell was the enemy doing dressing her like that? What were they planning?

 

The voice spoke again, this time originating from the top of the steps leading to the engawa. “Welcome cousin. You're just in time for your own wedding ceremony.”

 

“Wedding ceremony? What they hell are you planning? Who are-” He stopped short; the word “cousin” sinking in, allowing for the unknown voice to find a face. “No!” he whispered.

 

A figure stepped out of the shadows of the pagoda. He was dressed in a rich black kimono with two layers beneath, one of blue and the other of white. Silver cranes flew across the folds and his short white hair was tied back in a pig tail at the base of his neck. Gold eyes met gold eyes. It had been fifteen years since Inuyasha had met that gaze but he still knew that cold, cruel, calculating stare.

 

“Sagara,” Inuyasha breathed, his mouth barely moving to form the hated name.

 

“Yes, though I now go by the name Kuromakaze. I heard that my father had refused your wedding and has put your poor fiancée in a terrible predicament. I thought I might lend you a hand.”

 

“I somehow doubt you did all this from the goodness of your heart, Sagara,” said Inuyasha, stepping further into the courtyard. His eyes focused on the evil hanyou but his ears began rotating to catch any hints of flying weapons. Inuyasha remembered all too well his cousin's attack of choice.

 

“Oh come now, cousin, no need to be so rude. One might think you were raised by the wilderness if you keep talking like that. I merely sympathized with your pain and decided to hold a wedding ceremony for you. The least you could do is express your gratitude.” With Kuromakaze's final words the air began to sing and Inuyasha found the sky full of spinning double-sided scythes.

 

Inuyasha gazed at the blades with wide eyes. When did those get there? I didn't hear them approach!

 

The gate behind him slammed shut. People began appearing, soldiers mainly, but a few maids also stepped forward, throwing flower petals into the air. One stepped toward Kuromakaze and handed him a cup and poured sake into it. Inuyasha glanced around. There was nowhere to run now; all escape routes were now closed.

 

“Do step forward, cousin,” Kuromakaze said, raising his cup in toast, his smile poisonous. “Everyone has gathered just for this special occasion. And more importantly, a bride should never be alone at her own wedding. You both can be together in life - in death - forever!”

 

****

 

Kirara had been flying for days. Exhausted though she was, she refused to rest. Her best friend had been captured while she had been chasing thugs. Kirara growled at her own stupidity. She had allowed her blood-rage to control her again and now the enemy had Keiko.

 

Though, Kirara couldn't speak, she could still think and feel. She had started searching as soon as she returned to the caravan and realized Keiko had been captured. Furious with herself, she had ignored the calls of the others and had taken off to try to catch up to the assailants. She had found nothing. Even now she couldn't determine where Keiko was.

 

Thirst getting the better of her, she finally came down by a stream and drank her fill. She clawed at the ground, frustrated by her ineptitude. A scent wafted up from the soil, startling her. It wasn't Keiko's but it was someone the twin-tale knew. With no other leads, she decided to follow it.

 

****

 

Inuyasha eyes never left Kuromakaze as he went through with his wedding ceremony, but his mind was taking in every bit of stimuli the environment had to offer. The sound in the wind, the scent in the air, the vibration of the earth; Inuyasha's mind raced as he painted the area's picture in his head. Five hundred soldiers armed with spears, all armored. Not a single one off guard despite the ceremony and the sure kill this trap is. One thousand spinning blades in the air starting five feet above the heads of the soldiers and creating a hemisphere above me, a very shallow one, not more than two feet between the blades and they're two layers thick. The gate is ten feet of solid hard wood. The pagoda's back is buried in earth, but the walls are light wood and paper. However, Sagara is standing at the entrance. Could I make it…?

 

Again the chill crept through him and he knew it was impossible. The trap was well thought out. Then the most absurd image floated into his mind, that of a mouse borrowing. Predators scrapped at an entrance long after the mouse had broken through to the other side and run off. He pushed the image aside but then an image of a lava tube came to mind. He'd remembered exploring one a long time ago. Though it was created by flowing lava, when he and his master examined it the walls of the flow were still intact while the inside was hollow. His master had explained that as long as the tube remained intact, during the next eruption, most of the lava would stay inside it to appear somewhere further along.

 

Inuyasha bit his lip, he understood. The only unguarded route was the one through the earth, but he wasn't a tsuchitenko. He couldn't part the earth beneath him and create a path. The image of the lava tube continued flashing before his eyes. Earth can flow away if gets hot enough, he thought, but do I have the time? Can we even survive running through what will be a fresh lava tube? If I melted the earth then cooled it with my wind maybe then it would be fine. His cousin was coming to the end of his ceremonial speech; the wedding would end after that. I'll just have to do it! I'm running out of time!

 

Trying hard to keep the attempt from showing on his face, Inuyasha focused all his power at the balls of his feet. He then threaded it down at a steep slant, driving it deeper while keeping a sense of where it was in position to the rest of the castle. He needed the opening to appear at the base. Anywhere else would mean resurfacing still inside the walls if too soon or risk being caught in the trap and killed if he didn't create the opening soon enough due to extending it too far. He had never before used his power so finely or without gestures. Even with General Makoto he had managed to summon the cyclone by rotating his ears in two different directions. His heart hammered against his chest, his breathing began to labor and sweat broke out all over his body. He clamped his teeth together and stiffened his body to hide the effort and prayed Kuromakaze would fail to notice his perspiration.

 

Keiko glanced at Inuyasha having felt the shift in his body and fearing it was a sign of his intention to attack. She could see they were trapped and that escape was impossible. She had hoped he wouldn't come, prayed he would turn back, even as she remained alive only because she didn't want to die if rescue was still possible. She wanted to cry at her own childish weakness that had led her fiancé to his death. If she had killed herself he wouldn't be here dying with her.

 

“I now recognize you as one being, husband and wife. May your family of three enjoy great happiness in the next life!” said Kuromakaze and he swept his hand forward. The spears leveled on them as the scythes closed in.

 

“Now or never,” muttered Inuyasha while wiggling his ears. A whirlwind of fire, compact and uniform along its whole length appeared around them. The scythes plunged into the flames as the spearmen drew back. Some of the blades reappeared at the opposite sides and splashed against the ground, losing its shape in a molten puddle. The rest failed to reappear and the answer became clear a few seconds later when the cyclone went out and their glowing molten forms were seen clinging to the sides of a hole lined with black igneous rock.

 

Kuromakaze stared in disbelief then said with full admiration, “Well done, cousin.” He then turned toward his dumbstruck men and yelled, “Open the gates and go after them! They couldn't have gotten past the kill ground yet.” He spread his black wings and summoned his glaive. He rose into the air; this surprise was just further proof of why he needed Inuyasha dead. What hitenko would have even considered melting an exit in the ground beneath their feet? What hitenko would even have the power to not only burn it open but cool it just as fast without giving away their efforts? It was an astounding feat, a shocking surprise and Kuromakaze disliked surprises even more than fools.

 

****

 

Yamibi gaped at the hole in the courtyard from the roof of the pagoda. Even though she could rub this in Kuromakaze's face since she had advocated he kill his cousin immediately, she still thought the trap inescapable. She couldn't believe what Inuyasha had just done. I guess we were both right in the end. I was right to want to just kill him immediately and he was right for wanting to kill him at all. I really shouldn't underestimate the blood of the Lightwing clan, she thought.

 

She noticed movement at the base of the castle when everyone was still scrambling to open the first of the gates and spotted two figures running away. Oh no, my dears. Tisn't going to be that easy to get away from this death trap, she thought smirking. She raised her bow and drew back an arrow. She'd taken up her position in order to kill Inuyasha as soon the gate swung shut. However, she had relaxed after seeing the trap's layout. I'll have to remember to thank Inuyasha at his grave. Now the kill is mine to make!

 

She let fly.

 

****

 

Keiko's headdress and, subsequently, her hair were burned off by Inuyasha's sudden flames. She had tilted her head in surprise and the headdress had touched the funnel's side before the ground dropped out beneath them. The rush of air that had driven them down the dizzying slide had kept her head from burning but now her hair was only two finger widths in length. Though her long hair was her one vanity, she decided she could live with it being short for awhile.

 

The pair tumbled a short distance after they flew out the end of the tunnel. Keiko shrugged off the heavy robes leaving her in a kimono and hakama outfit that lay beneath them. Inuyasha pulled her to her feet and they started to run. They were within ten feet of the trees when the arrowhead sprouted from Keiko's right breast. She fell, blood flying from her wound and mouth.

 

“Keiko!” screamed Inuyasha, turning. A glint was his only warning and his right hand swiped without conscious command. The steel head sliced the back of his hand, cutting to the bone, before being deflected into the dirt. Ignoring the searing pain, he lifted Keiko into his arms and leapt, another arrow piercing the soil inches behind his heel. A fourth and final arrow sent shard of wood flying in his face as he breached the tree line.

 

He heard the sounds of the distant gate struggling to open. However, another threat had appeared. The trees exploded around him from a barrage of wind blades. He glanced up as he zigzagged to avoid the worst of the attacks and gasped before dodging to the side as another attack exploded to his right. A dozen kazetenko were in the air above him. Focusing his mind again, he sent his own hot wind racing around him and before him. His wind revealed the clearest path as it raced around trunks and through foliage, it also deflected the wind blades.

 

It wasn't enough. Branches exploded. Trunks splintered. A kunai grazed his leg as he ran. A rain of blades couldn't be deflected by wind alone. Desperate, he scattered his wind all around him, spreading its influence through the trees and into the air above, then ignited it. Trees erupted, animals, not already gone, screamed, the wind howled and burning foliage began to spin into cyclones, rising into the air to rain down on parts not yet ablaze. The firestorm was unleashed in all its hellish glory. Inuyasha ran through the flames, the only one unaffected by the suffocating inferno.

 

****

 

Kuromakaze stared in awe. If he hadn't seen Inuyasha's firestorm years ago, small as it may have been, he might have been caught by it now. The kazetenko that had pursued him in the air were nowhere to be found; their bodies vanishing in the maw of flames. Still, he hadn't expected Inuyasha to be able to affect such a large area. Only the wind barrier Kuromakaze had created during the ceremony and then expanded and placed around the castle protected it from the fire. His men crumpled to the ground and watched the flames roll passed the barrier like waves washing over rocks. Fire tornados marched forward, spreading the blaze further and faster than the initial ignition.

 

“Why didn't he do that sooner?” asked Yamibi as she glided toward Kuromakaze.

 

He didn't even look at her. “If you were going to play sniper you should at least hit the right target.”

 

“`Play sniper'? You're the one that decided to play games,” started Yamibi. She shrieked when a half-dozen wind blades flew at her and dropped to avoid them. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” she screamed flapping her wings to halt her fall.

 

“I do believe I mentioned, once upon a great while ago, that I can't stand fools,” he said, his gaze as cold as ice, his words frost laden. “I needed that ceremony in order to weave a wind barrier around him just to prevent this result, this wind barrier,” he said gesturing toward the flames. “The wind barrier is complicated and takes time to create especially when it is containing or repelling wind controlled fire.”

 

Yamibi looked around at the barrier that held the firestorm at bay. “You knew about this? Why order the pursuit then?”

 

“Keiko is not immune to the flames like he is,” he said, drifting down to the wall. “That may have been why he chose a different escape route from the one I had predicted.”

 

For a second, Yamibi didn't understand then she flinched as comprehension dawned. Keiko was now either dead or dying while before she had been healthy. The fire itself could not harm a dead woman. If she were dying the wound she received would pose a greater threat to her life. In either case, for the unborn child, time was of the essence if the Akabarai was to be performed before it was too late.

 

The Akabarai, a spell created for the sole purpose of rescuing unborn children from compromised mothers. It could only be performed by hi, mizu or kitenko. Dead or breathing, Keiko was now compromised.

 

Yamibi understood. Inuyasha had restrained his power because he had feared harming Keiko. The wound she had inflicted on the priestess had removed his inhibition. Whether it was to save Keiko or just the child, he needed to escape by any means necessary.

 

“Now that you understand, please refrain from interfering further,” he said from the top of the castle wall. Yamibi growled but she had lost all footing for her arguments. The fires beyond the barrier still raged but had lost their initial intensity. “It seems he had already cleared the flames. However, he can't continue running forever, especially if he wants to save his child.” Kuromakaze raised his glaive until the blade was even with his gaze.

 

“Aka rai sate maa. Shide maa kaji tachi raa. Uto maa tagu ii.” The glaive shivered and glowing red symbols appeared on the black blade. “Asha rei kyoto maa. Ite jii uno mou. Kata Inuyasha.” The glaive rose of its own accord and pulled away from Kuromakaze. “Shata ie bite un. Aka Aka Aka Inuyasha. Aka!” The weapon flew from his hand, plunging through the wind barrier and vanishing into the flames in pursuit of its prey.

 

****

 

Inuyasha ran through the trees. The castle and the fires were long behind him but he didn't feel safe. He glanced back, through the trees to the side and even at the sky. Nothing. Why do I feel pursued? There's nothing there, he thought.

 

“Inu-yasha,” whispered Keiko. He looked down, her skin was pasty white and her lips were pale blue. Blood soaked her kimono and his. He felt it continuing to flow down his arm.

 

“Don't talk,” he said between pants. “Save your strength.”

 

“Inu-yasha… the spell… please,” she whispered and coughed more blood all over him. Inuyasha bit his lip. He still didn't feel safe, but he was out of time. At this pace, he would reach help in a day if he was lucky. Keiko didn't have that long. He stopped and lowered Keiko's legs to the ground. He pulled his left arm free of her knees and held the hand before him in prayer. He had studied Akabarai like all hitenko but, as with all his spells, it was one he had never been allowed to actually perform due to his control issues. Inuyasha hesitated for only a second before beginning. He simply had no other choice but to try.

 

“Chito muto ake ji. Poro toro kai ou. Shitsu maa pito tai. Inu pufu kito rai.” A blue light flared around his upheld hand. “Yato jiki mou tou. Gate toro jibi bomu. Tobi maro kyoyo tabe. Shito mito rei maa.” He lowered his hand until the tip of his claw touched her abdomen. “Yuki mada tobi shata. Tsuku miru neon gate. Shibu fuma kura tapu. Paha shitsu maa kai.” The light transferred to Keiko, her whole body began to glow. “Jiji miki sashi mati. Kei mako rei sai. Soka mari shoto kai. Ito moto sahi hoto.” The glow flowed through her then began concentrating on her womb.

 

Keiko, weakened and struggling to stay awake, saw something wink between the trees. With the cold clarity of near death, Keiko knew what she needed to do. Summoning the final shreds of her strength, she pulled herself up then slammed her elbow into the back of Inuyasha's neck.

 

“Haru yumi fata chichi. Heho kara rai mai. Neto nome deto dome. Fate kai rimo hi-TE!” The last syllable ended in a gagged sound as Inuyasha tumbled forward under Keiko's blow. The blue light flashed once then went out. The hanyou had no time to realize what had happened before Kuromakaze's glaive slammed into his right shoulder, punched through, dived into Keiko's neck and chest and flew out her back. Inuyasha's left arm caught Keiko's falling body on reflex as he crumpled; his right arm dead to his commands. Blood poured from his shoulder, covering them both. He tried to rise but his vision swam and he fell back down to his knees.

 

It was over. He could hear the glaive's clumsy u-turn as it came back around to strike the finishing blow. The first blow alone was critical; he was only still breathing because he was a hanyou. The Akabarai spell had been interrupted, undoing it. He would have to start over in order to save Keiko's unborn child and there was no time for it. The only way he could survive this would be to abandon Keiko's body and the baby and run for it. Critical or not he still had the strength to force his body to move but only without any burdens.

 

Inuyasha stared down at his wife's face. Trap or not, the wedding was still authentic. He and Keiko, for a brief moment in time, were husband and wife. He wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. Why did I come? What did I accomplish in this? He leaned forward and held Keiko as close as he could with just his left arm and waited for death to take him to where his wife and child were waiting.

 

Suddenly he was flying from the ground, the glaive whistling passed below his body, missing him and Keiko completely. Through the haze of pain, he realized someone had taken hold of his belt and were flying higher. Consciousness slipped away and the last thing he saw was Keiko's body falling back down to the forest below.

 

****

 

“For all your schemes he still managed to escape your grasp,” said Yamibi, still sulking over Kuromakaze's dressing down earlier.

 

Kuromakaze held his glaive up, examining the blood on it, ignoring her jibe. The only limit on his spells was time and time was very limited for the spell that levitated the glaive. It was difficult to tie wind currents around something as narrow as a staff, strangely enough. It turned out that the more aerodynamic objects were the harder it was for air to grip them. Boulders were easier to levitate than spears.

 

Judging by the damage on the trees, the glaive circled twice in this area before pursuing a few paces further, he thought taking in the broken shrubs and wounded trunks. He turned back toward the spot where he'd found his weapon on end. And when the spell failed it was high enough in the air for the blade to have rotated down and land with enough force to bury it completely. Meaning, Inuyasha was in the air after the initial strike. He gazed at the sky. But if he could fly he would have done so from the start. The wind shifted direction carrying a new scent to mingle with the blood odor. An outsider intervened. Still he went a lot further than I anticipated. Did he sense the pursuit of my blade or was he trying on some vain hope to still save Keiko?

 

Without knowing anything about my strategy, without having seen my castle before, he was able to find the one exit that even I missed. He also almost succeeded in outrunning my glaive without knowing it was pursuing him. Then there were the other traps he avoided and the fact that he got this far without being detected by my lookouts. Sixth sense or a third eye, in either case he possesses an ability that cannot be predicted without further testing. I'll need to engage him more from now on. I can't set a proper death trap for him until I understand the limits of his power.

 

Yamibi detested being ignored. Her barb hadn't even earned an ear-flick from her so-called leader. She growled at Kuromakaze but even that failed to gain a response. I'm the one who has the most experience here. I've participated in the last few civil wars within Tenji. I'm the one who got those wars to last as long as they did instead of having it all end in a hand full of years. I'm the real driving force behind this whole thing! How dare he brush me off like that! I'm not one of his recruits; I started this alliance and got him in contact with more than half of his army! She seethed and then stalked away.

 

She tumbled forward when her foot snagged on something unseen in her rage. She turned to kick the offending object then paused at the sight. Arai Keiko's empty eyes stared at her. Yamibi blinked and put her foot down. “Our only consolation in all this is that Kuromaru's best warrior is now dead,” she muttered while brushing herself off. She returned her gaze to dead woman and said, “However, you were already leaving the battlefield weren't you, Arai? The only difference now is that your skills will never be passed onto future generations. What a pathetic way to go, I actually feel sorry for you. You were a worthy adversary. You deserved a more glorious death than this.”

 

Yamibi raised her hand and a jolt of energy passed from her fingertips to Keiko's body and it disintegrated in the dark light. The hanyou woman turned to leave when a flash of blue caught her attention. A sapphire sphere glimmered in the leaves where the priestess's body had been. “What this, a chrysalis?” she whispered, stepping closer then kneeling beside it. So he did manage to complete that part of the spell before he was hit, she thought then a smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she picked up the sphere. Such a pity, he was too weak to hold onto her body and this child is mine to do with as I please. I'll not tell Kuromakaze. He'll just insist on using it in another one of his grand schemes. I have my own plans for this war and I'm certain this will help see them to completion.

 

****

 

General Makoto was calling to his soldiers in the predawn light. He had arrived back at his own camp only hours before when his men reported a strange fire to the southwest. Ill at ease, he called his men to arms. He planned to find the enemy base where Keiko was and rescue her if she were still alive. He only hoped her hot-headed fiancé had cooled off during his run and was stalled in scouting.

 

I really hope that fool didn't try to rescue her all by himself, he thought for the thousandth time. I can use his skills in finding her but this needs to be done with careful planning. This isn't something someone can just rush into and expect to survive.

 

“General Makoto! Someone's coming!” called a lookout. General Makoto ran toward his lookout as well as several other samurai. One sniff told him it was bad even before the twin-tale descended into view.

 

“Where are those healers? Get over to her!” shouted the wolf hanyou. As the kitenko and their assistants ran forward, he turned back toward the closing feline and swallowed. The first light of dawn revealed her burden. Inuyasha hung from her jaws completely unresponsive to the activity before him. “Damn!”

 

Kirara overshot the crowd and landed in front of the healers, carefully lowering the injured hanyou. The kitenko took him and laid him down for an immediate evaluation. General Makoto jogged toward them.

 

“He's still breathing, but barely,' reported an older healer. “Blood loss is severe; I'm going to have to transfer. The wound on his shoulder is critical but he's too weak for a full healing. We'll have to stop the bleeding now and hope the limb survives until we can do a better job of it.” He turned to his younger comrades. “Take him to the medic tent.”

 

“Not all that blood is his,” muttered another dog hanyou to his friend.

 

General Makoto bit his lip but turned toward Kirara. She was unharmed. “Kirara, where's Keiko?” he asked. He thought he already knew the answer but he had to be sure. His worst fear was confirmed when Kirara looked down and let out the must pathetic half-growl, half-meow he had ever heard. “I see,” he whispered feeling the familiar weight of sorrow descending onto his shoulders. Kirara growled again and pawed at her face.

 

This isn't going to go over well with the head idiot. I better not hope for anything in this case, he thought, glancing back at Inuyasha as he was carried away.

 

To be continued…