InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Incomplete ❯ Chapter 37 ( Chapter 37 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Langus

Sesshomaru waited patiently in his cell for his enemy to return. He watched the door with calculating eyes as he bided his time. He'd spent one of the longest nights of his life developing a plan and he was anxious to put it into action. He could only hope that the wench was stupid enough to fall into his trap.

He cracked his knuckles in the dark and the sound echoed reassuringly off the stone walls of his cell. When his acute canine hearing picked up the sound of footfall on the stairs a brief smile spread across his lips before it withered into a tight-lipped frown; he'd heard no word about Rin and Jaken. Once the door opened he would discover whether their escape had been successful or if they were dead. He'd done his best not to dwell on that fact throughout the night, knowing full well that he could not handle losing anymore of his pack because he had failed to protect them. Sesshomaru held his breath as the door to his cell opened and the woman he'd been waiting for entered.

Lady Reikana stood tall and proud in the center of the cell, and sneered down at her prisoner. She looked down her nose at him and tried not to breathe in the stench of rotting flesh and algae surrounding them. She hated how he looked back at her, so proud and defiant as if nothing could faze him. I'll show that smug bastard. I'll kill that little brat right in front of his eyes. We'll see how proud he is then! With a malicious smile on her lips, Reikana demanded to know if he'd made a decision.

"I've given you a day, what say you now human lover? I don't think I need to remind you that the cost of your refusal is the girl's life." The demoness stared him down, her indigo eyes flashing with self-satisfaction.

Sesshomaru did his best not to react to her blatant ignorance, her naiveté was positively astounding. If she'd been any kind of intelligent leader she would have brought Rin with her as bait. Since the girl was absent, he could only assume that her escape had been successful. Perhaps his plan would not be so difficult to pull off after all. Considering the smug look on her face he also deduced that she did not yet know of Rin and Jaken's escape and breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

As the demoness eyed him down, Sesshomaru slipped into the role he'd designed for himself during the night. Hanging his head he tried to appear as weak and broken as possible which was quite difficult for someone who'd built his reputation on being invincible. After heaving a great sigh he turned his face to the side and stared fixedly at the wall. Keeping his eyes averted he spoke, his voice simultaneously hard and strained. "The Western Lands are yours."

Reikana laughed out loud, her cackles echoing loudly off the ceiling to ring painfully in Sesshomaru's ears. For him it was like listening to a shard of broken glass being dragged across metal and his teeth ground sharply together at the sound. Putting her hands on her hips, the demoness shook her head at him with disdain. Her ebony locks swayed with the movement of her head until they came to rest in a dark waterfall over her left shoulder. Fingering one of the curls between her ruby claws she fixed him with a mocking smile.

"What a fool you are Sesshomaru! Anyone who would give up their lands for the life of a mere mortal isn't fit to rule. Some day you will regret this, but by then it will be too late I'm afraid."

Calling over her shoulder for the guard, Reikana never once took her eyes off the demon lord. She wasn't naïve enough to think that he wouldn't try to resist her. Despite appearances, Sesshomaru was much too proud to give in so easily, even if the life of his charge was on the line. She knew he had to be up to something but the reassuring knowledge that the girl was still her prisoner kept her from worry all too much.

If he tried to double cross her she would slit the child's throat and be done with it, then she would have him imprisoned until he either relented to died, whichever came first. From her perspective, it was a win win situation regardless of what feeble plans he may have come up with. She'd waited too long and spent far too much energy orchestrating this plan to have it fall to pieces around her like a house of cards.

Within moments a burly, pig-faced guard entered the door and bowed to his master. He stunk of rotting meat and ale and appeared to be sweating profusely even in the dank, cool atmosphere of the prison. Reikana motioned to her prisoner and demanded that he be released. With a nod and a grunt, the guard did as she demanded and unhooked Sesshomaru's shackles from the wall but did not remove them from his body.

"Release me," he demanded coolly, his jaw clenched tight in a last ditch effort to restrain his rage. The prospect that he would be forced to walk throughout her compound in shackles like a common criminal left a bitter taste in his mouth and a desire for her blood coursing through his veins. He narrowed his cold amber eyes at the demoness as she 'tsked' him with a wave of a manicured finger.

"Really Sesshomaru, you didn't think I would let you go that easily did you? Come. I will release you once all the formal details have been settled." With that she turned her back on him and glided out the door in a swish of magenta silk. He clenched his fist to keep from dragging his claws down her back and wound up impaling his palm with his own claws. For the moment he ignored the pain and relished in the thought that he would grealy enjoy killing her later on. As he moved in step behind her he promised himself he'd make it slow and painful. She will be the last to go.

Sesshomaru stood patiently before a large stone altar and mentally calculated each move he would need to make. He was outnumbered twenty to one so every strike would have to take out as many guards as possible. Reikana stood next to him with a gloating smile plastered across her face. She actually believes she's outsmarted this Sesshomaru? The fool. The demon lord dug his nails into his palm once more and pressed them into the flesh until he could feel his own blood seeping from the tiny wounds to coat his fingers. I'll use this for a 'Blades of Blood' attack later should my demon powers not be at their fullest once they remove the chains, he thought with an inward sadistic smile.

After the advisors had read over the land transfer proposal, Reikana signed her name to it and handed the quill off to Sesshomaru. He stared at her blankly for a moment, appearing almost bored of the entire ceremony, before he set the writing instrument down on the altar.

"I will sign nothing until I see that my charge is safe. Part of this agreement is that she will remain unharmed. I will see proof of this before I sign. I will also sign nothing until I am released from these…binds." Taking in a breath he levelled an impassive glare in Reikana's direction and focused his next comment on her. "I should think that you'd want to avoid the reputation of having to chain your mates to the altar."

Reikana narrowed her eyes contemptuously at the demon standing before her. Never had someone dared to address her with such blatant disrespect! And to suggest that she would enter into a dishonourable agreement in front of her courtiers was…was…completely unforgivable! Her eyes flashing with anger, she lashed out and slapped him hard across the face. He didn't flinch, though the slap echoed loudly off the walls. When he turned his gaze to meet hers, his eyes were as cold and unwavering as ever.

Realizing that he was going to be the same stubborn bastard he always was, Reikana ordered the girl to be brought to them. Eyeing Sesshomaru warily she also motioned for a guard to come forward and unlock his chains. "I warn you," she threatened in a low voice with one clawed finger pointing into his chest, "if you so much as try to touch me with those claws of yours I'll tear her throat out so fast you won't have time to blink. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly," he replied with an approving nod.

Finally freed from his bonds, Sesshomaru flexed his wrist and cracked his knuckles experimentally. Within seconds he could see the green hue surround his claws as the poisonous acid was brought forth to their tips. Everyone turned when one of the guards stumbled into the hall in a frantic.

"My lady! The girl is gone!"

"WHAT?!" Sesshomaru and Reikana demanded at the same time. They turned to look at each other, their faces reflecting their mutual shock. Though for Sesshomaru of course the knowledge of Rin's absence was more of a welcome relief than a shock, but he had an image to uphold and a part to play. It would do no good if he acted like he'd known about her absence all along.

"Explain yourself. What has become of my charge?" he demanded fiercely, his eyes bleeding red with his ire. He picked up the land transfer agreement threateningly and allowed the acid from his claws to drip along the corners of the paper. The hiss of the poison burning its way through the parchment brought Reikana to her senses. She wasn't going to lose the Western Lands now, not when she'd sacrificed so much to get this far.

"You're telling me you can't locate one lowly human brat?! Go search again fool!" she demanded of the guard and sent others to accompany him. Turning to Sesshomaru she eyed him down. "For all I know that miserable brat escaped. If that's the case then you can be rest assured that I will personally hunt her down and tear her grubby limb from grubby limb!"

The two leaders growled at one another, their faces mere inches apart. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, yet no one moved. No one wanted to be responsible for making the first act of war. When the guards returned a second time to confirm that the human girl was missing Sesshomaru wasted no time. He dissolved the agreement in his claws and deposited the steaming mass of parchment onto the table.

"If you cannot guarantee the safety of my charge then this agreement is void. As is your life!" In a flash of green, the dog demon plunged his acid laced fingers into Reikana's chest. He pulled them out just as quickly and sliced them across her body in a large arc. Grabbing hold of her body as the blood poured from her, she stumbled down to one knee shaking with anger and pain.

"Guards! Kill him at once!" she demanded, her voice surprisingly strong considering her injuries. Sesshomaru was too fast for them though and acted with agility and speed no one could have imagined he possessed considering he'd spent the last month holed up in a cell. Using his lightning whip he lobbed off the heads of half a dozen of the closest guards while he used the 'Blades of Blood' attack to hack down a half dozen more. No one was able to get a single strike against him even though he was completely unarmed except for his claws.

After several long and agonizing moments, the death cries and screams of pain died down to shallow moans and Sesshomaru stood amidst the carnage with a smile on his face. All around him were the bodies of Reikana's guards, bloodied and broken and utterly useless. With a satisfied look on his face, he stalked through the battlefield towards the altar where Reikana lay dying. She'd watched the entire episode from where she knelt on the floor clutching her chest, trying desperately to keep the life blood from flowing out of her body. Still shaking she looked up at him as he neared her, hatred shining in her eyes.

"You bastard, you were planning this all along weren't you? You already knew that miserable brat was gone!" She broke out into a fit of coughs just then and spit out the blood that had begun to pool in her mouth. Sesshomaru watched the life slowly ebb from her body with cold satisfaction.

"Do not be angry with me for your own miscalculations. You underestimated the girl and you're going to pay with your life. It is simple." Grabbing his swords from the sash around her waist he quickly armed himself once more and felt glad for their reassuring weight resting once more against his hip. Remembering his promise to himself to kill her slowly, he grabbed her slender throat in his claws and pulled her upward so that she was forced to stand tall despite her injuries. She winced in pain as the coppery liquid began to bubble up in her throat once more.

Sesshomaru brought her face before his and tightened his grip on her neck. He watched with satisfaction as her eyes widened and her mouth gaped in a vain effort to draw in air. She didn't try to fight him and he had to commend her for attempting to die with whatever shred of pride she may have had left. Finally after a moment he watched her eyes roll into the back of her head and her body gave a final shuddering spasm. With a twitch of his fingers, he snapped her neck for good measure even though he was fairly certain the life had already left her body.

Dropping the corpse to the ground, he turned on the stairs and looked out at the bloody scene that lay before him. Red covered the walls and the floor, dripping off the stones into great puddles. Limbs hung here and there along with severed heads, mouths still gaping open in their owner's final death scream. Smiling at his work, Sesshomaru nonchalantly flipped a long silvery strand behind his shoulder and stepped out into the battlefield to begin his long journey home.