InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lord of the West ❯ Dragon's Blood ( Chapter 10 )

Author's Note: A “tennyou” is a “heavenly maiden”---sort of like a fairy in Japanese folklore, for those of you who've no familiarity with Ayashi no Ceres. “Gaijin” is the Japanese term for “foreigner.” “Chichi-ue” is a term used to address one's father with endearment. “Otou-sama” is a respectful way of addressing one's father. “Ningen,” in case you've forgotten, means “human.” Sesshoumaru uses the term in a derogatory fashion, because he is usually speaking condescendingly when addressing a human. His use of this term implies that to him all humans are alike and scarcely worthy of his attention.

 

This chapter is going to clear up a lot of mysteries at once, so hopefully you readers are fully awake. Of course, not all the mysteries will be cleared up . . . got quite a few plot twistses up our sleeves in the chapters ahead, yesss, don't we preciousss?

 

{+} {+} {+} LORD OF THE WEST {+} {+} {+}

 

{+} {+} Chapter 9: Dragon's Blood {+} {+}

 

“Drifting snow

 

A soft curse upon the bride's dark hair

 

White, the color of my sorrow . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

Seventy Years in the Past

 

It also snowed on that day---the day his father betrayed him.

 

He came home from one of his long absences at midday, when the sun shone weakly through the mountain haze and the air was clear and cold. He walked lightly atop the snow through Reiyama's fields, crossing the valley at a leisurely pace. Such a slow pace was rare for Sesshoumaru, who always felt that the destination's importance far outweighed the journey's, yet today he moved idly through the territory of his enemies. He walked with a warrior's grace and dignity, knowing that the Tatesei watched him from atop their walls.

 

The Tatesei were always watching. And always, whether in the company of the city guards or standing alone, the ones in gray robes watched him with cold eyes. He saw the Wise more and more frequently as the years progressed; those of his kinsmen who had been inside the city said that their numbers had grown.

 

Calmly, Sesshoumaru approached Reiyama's northern gate and stopped when he stood in its shadow. He made no formal announcement of his presence, but atop the walls the guards hastened to draw the gate aside to let him in. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he passed between their ranks, which stood at attention on either side as he entered. He remembered many years ago, when Reiyama's gates were always open, because under his father's protection there had been no need for defense. Now they closed the city unless they were formally called upon to conduct business with their Youkai guardians. Even now, the Tatesei flourished under dominion of the Lord of the West, and feared no invasion.

 

It was the Inu Youkai that they shut their gates against.

 

Seeing the gates of Reiyama closed even on the day when the Inu Youkai lord was to be wedded to its princess, Sesshoumaru understood that it was only a matter of time before the Tatesei betrayed his father.

 

He walked silently through the streets, where the venders and the merchants and the women on their errands scattered to either side of the road to make way for him. As with the samurai in the ages to come, the Tatesei people sank to their knees and averted their faces from him lest he strike them down for their disrespect. He passed them by without sparing them so much as a glance, lip curling slightly at the strange scent of their flesh. In general all Ningen smelled alike to Sesshoumaru, but the Tatesei were different. Their scent bore the odd mixture of pine and cinnamon, beneath which ran an undercurrent of fire-smell, like burning wood.

 

Eventually he reached the palace grounds, and after following the familiar scent of Inu Youkai through the gardens he entered a courtyard and came upon the place where the wedding was being held. An enormous crowd had gathered there; Ningen on the right and Inu Youkai on the left. The snow had been cleared from the ground here, and all were kneeling in the presence of the Tatesei royal family and the demon lord who ruled over them.

 

Sesshoumaru did not kneel to join his kinsmen. He had entered the courtyard on a path hidden from view behind a bamboo grove; now he stopped and stood utterly still, watching the ceremony from between the dense cluster of stalks.

 

From this vantage point, Sesshoumaru could see his father kneeling beside the princess. Both faced away from him---she in her white kimono and silk drapings, hung with silver; he in the black groom's attire that Ningen wore, bare-headed yet crowned with the silver of his hair. Facing both of them and the assembled crowd was the Temple's head priest, resplendent in a cloak embroidered with the twisting shapes of flames and dragons' claws. Standing in silent attendance behind him were his gray-robed servants---the Wise. They wore their hoods low so that their expressions were impossible to read, but even from that distance Sesshoumaru sensed that they were not pleased at all with what was taking place.

 

Sesshoumaru, of course, was not pleased either.

 

Later, after the ceremony had ended and the obligatory feast had been consumed by the wedding's attendees, his father remained for a while with the princess to speak to her father the king. While the rest of the Inu Youkai Clan left the valley and returned home, Sesshoumaru waited in the outskirts of the forest just outside Reiyama. The Lord of the West and his bride followed soon after, passing beneath the pine tree in whose branches Sesshoumaru waited. The thick winter needles hid him from view as he sat comfortably in the cradling boughs.

 

“Your plan won't work,” Sesshoumaru said softly.

 

Both the Lord of the West and his new bride stopped in their tracks; the woman seeming startled, while Sesshoumaru's father seemed to have been expecting this.

 

“A white bird calls to me from the branches, returned from his long migration,” the Lord of the West said softly, turning and gazing up at his son. “I caught your scent in the Tatesei gardens as well. After all this time, you come to speak with me? Then speak.”

 

Smoothly, Sesshoumaru descended from his perch and landed a little ways in front of his father. Sesshoumaru's long white hair, bound behind him to keep it out of his face, fell heavily across his back.

 

“This is futile, and you know it,” he repeated. “This union.” His resentful stare was directed at the back of the princess, who turned around slowly turned to face this new and unexpected opposition to her marriage.

 

Her new husband had draped a black fur cloak over her shoulders for the journey to the Inu Youkai palace. Above this dark mantle, her face was exquisitely delicate, possessing a pure beauty to rival any tennyou's. She regarded him calmly and without judgment, despite the obvious resentment with which he regarded her.

 

Hastily, Sesshoumaru averted his gaze and rounded to confront his father.

 

“Do you truly think this charade will keep Reiyama loyal to the Inu Youkai Line?” he asked in a low voice. He was forcing his tone to remain reasonable though his hands clenched inside the folds of his long sleeves. “It is a blind hope, Otou-sama. They grow restless beneath our rule.”

 

“I have known this for quite a long time,” his father replied, unruffled. “Even before they stopped paying us tribute.”

 

The princess' brow knitted at this, but she did not speak up in defense of her kinsmen.

 

“This is not fitting tribute,” Sesshoumaru said coldly, pointing at her without sparing her a glance. “This is a ruse, meant to buy them time while they gather their strength to move against you.” He lowered his hand. “She is meant to be a distraction from their disloyalty.”

 

The Lord of the West did not grow angry, as Sesshoumaru had hoped he might.

 

“Moriatae,” his father said softly, using the name from Sesshoumaru's childhood. “I recall your bitterness when first I came to you to give you news of my imminent marriage. You left me in anger that day, taking with you nothing and no one and journeying alone into the wilderness. And now you return, but your bitterness remains unresolved. And your rashness and your warrior's spirit have led you to judgment without wisdom or foresight.”

 

Sesshoumaru took a step toward his father, his foot crunching in the snow.

 

“I foresee the Wise, with their strange death-magic, coming for the souls of your children,” he said, voice trembling with ill-restrained emotion. “I see a coward who clings to peace when we stand on the brink of war.”

 

Still the Lord of the West did not grow angry, but nodded slowly instead.

 

“When first I laid claim to this valley, the Tatesei were already there,” he told his son. “You are right in saying that the Tatesei are dangerous. They are a people of many secrets. I know what you would have me do---slaughter them all, as I could have when first I encountered them. Slaughter them before they become a danger. But . . . it isn't that easy. You can't condemn a man simply for the blood that runs in his veins; only for the path he chooses for himself.”

 

Sesshoumaru stood silent after this speech, but his mouth was set in a stubborn line. Reading in Sesshoumaru's face his closed state of mind, the Lord of the West adopted a sterner manner.

 

“I will do all that is in my power to make this peace last,” he told his son. “Even though I, too, foresee what it is you fear. I do this because as a Lord of the West it is my sacred charge to love those over whom I have been given dominion. If you cannot learn this before the time comes, then you are not worthy to inherit the title.”

 

For a moment father and son stared at one another, each vying silently for the other's accord. Yet when the moment passed, neither had gained it. Sesshoumaru's father turned and rejoined his new wife, who had listened patiently to all that was said.

 

“Come, my beloved and my son,” the Lord of the West said to them both. “Let us go home.”

 

As they began to walk ahead of him, the words that had been on the tip of Sesshoumaru's tongue from the beginning spilled forth.

 

“How can you love something so weak?” He glared at the princess' receding back, but he was also referring to the Tatesei.

 

His father glanced over his shoulder to answer.

 

“Not all strength lies in a man's ability to bring death to his enemies.”

 

Sesshoumaru made no move to follow them. Standing silently in the snow until they passed from view, he murmured softly, “On this day you have betrayed us.”

 

Yet in his heart, the white demon was thinking, `On this day, you have betrayed me.'

 

A soft snow drifted down, beginning to settle on the branches and on Sesshoumaru's head. With these bitter thoughts in his heart, he started up the slope toward the place he called home.

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

The Feudal Era

 

Inuyasha awoke at sunset and sat up with a start.

 

Immediately, he wished he hadn't.

 

“Shit!” he exclaimed, and laid back down. Apparently his friends had wrapped him up in a blanket to keep him warm while he was unconscious.

 

“Oh, you're up, are you?” Miroku observed from across the campfire. Everyone was seated around it except for Kirara, who was curled up in Sango's lap, asleep.

 

“Inuyasha, how do you feel?” Kagome asked, coming over to kneel beside him.

 

Inuyasha started to bluster something about being perfectly fine, but then Kagome laid a gentle hand on his forehead and he decided maybe he still felt sick after all.

 

“I feel like there's a demon in my skull trying to gnaw its way out,” he groaned.

 

“Well, at least you got to enjoy the effects of the coffee before you crashed,” Shippou reminded him, sounding somewhat jealous. “All she ever gives me is chock-lit.”

 

“Let us just be thankful it was someone else who enjoyed Inuyasha under its influence,” Miroku remarked to Sango, who nodded in agreement.

 

“Huh.” Inuyasha rubbed his jaw with one hand. “Actually, I don't remember much at all. I sort of recall Sesshoumaru's face. He looked really pissed off.”

 

“Well, you obviously had to fight him to take the shard back,” Kagome pointed out. “And you obviously won, because you're here now with the shard. I can see where that would make him mad.”

 

Inuyasha sat up, headache completely forgotten.

 

“I defeated Sesshoumaru, and I can't even remember it!” he exclaimed, pounding the blanket with both fists in frustration. “Of all the rotten luck . . .”

 

“Inuyasha, we're just glad you're back safely,” Kagome said, interrupting his tirade.

 

“Hmm . . .” The hanyou shifted to sit cross-legged, tucking his hands into his sleeves. “I wonder if I actually killed him, or just beat the crap out of him . . .” While Inuyasha lapsed into pleasant rumination, Shippou finished his bowl of ramen and scampered over to sit in Kagome's lap.

 

“Hey, Kagome?” he asked, gazing up at her. “Since Inuyasha has the Shikon fragment back, does this mean the problem will fix itself? Can we just forget about Reiyama and go home?”

 

Kagome, Miroku and Sango exchanged very serious glances.

 

“You were out looking for firewood, Shippou, so you wouldn't remember,” Kagome told him. “We already came to the conclusion that the problem is far from over.”

 

“What'd I miss?” Inuyasha asked, frowning at their serious faces. “You guys look like someone's died.”

 

“On the contrary, it's someone's survival that presents a problem,” Miroku remarked darkly. “Kagome-sama, please show him the maps, and the paper.”

 

Kagome unzipped her backpack and pulled the maps out. There were two of them; she unrolled the first one and spread it out over her lap.

 

“There it is,” she said, pointing to a spot on it surrounded by mountains. “Reiyama. This is a map of feudal Japan, according to archaeologists from my time. This is what Reiyama looked like about twenty years ago on your timeline. There's the mountain Reiyama, the valley's highest peak.”

 

She unrolled the second map, spreading across the first one.

 

“And this is a map of historical Japan in the eighteen hundreds. Reiyama is still there in that time, and it's grown a lot since we last saw it. There are roads leading in and out of the valley---a lot of them---which means the Tatesei are making regular contact with the outside world. There are even roads leading to the sea.”

 

Inuyasha leaned closer to follow the path she traced with her finger.

 

“That means that the Tatesei must've made contact with the Gaijin during the Meiji Era,” Kagome explained. “This must have been where they became so powerful---introducing the special metal they call `ryunochi' to the world.”

 

Inuyasha rocked back onto his heels, looking pensive.

 

“For the Tatesei to be alive and well at that time,” he said, “can only mean one thing--- sooner or later they'd have to face the wrath of Kenshin Himura.”

 

This earned him blank stares from all present.

 

“You've got the wrong anime,” Kagome whispered, nudging him with her elbow. “The Battousai isn't one of Takahashi's characters.”

 

“Feh,” Inuyasha scoffed. “Well, he should be. We need more sword action on this show to balance out the romantic shit.”

 

Kagome gave him a weird look.

 

“Er---right.” She turned her attention back to the map. “Let's not get sidetracked here. In my era, the sorcerer Reikotsu's reincarnation told me that there was an eruption in the Tatesei valley---an eruption that exposed the ryunochi metal. He said that, according to the history, at the time of the eruption the boy king Asano sacrificed himself in the fire so that somehow it would spare his people. And afterward . . . someone named `Raiiru' took over, and that was the start of the Tatesei Line's success. And Reikotsu---Tatesei Sano---also told me of a legend . . . one in which the last two sons of the Inu Youkai died in that same eruption, fighting each other to the bitter end.”

 

“So you're saying there's supposed to be some sort of eruption tying in all of this?” Inuyasha asked, sobering up. “In the Tatesei Valley?”

 

Kagome frowned.

 

“That's the weird thing. There aren't supposed to be any volcanoes in this mountain range. Before the future---my time---was changed, there wasn't even a mountain called `Reiyama'. It simply didn't exist. But in the Feudal Era map we can see it marked clearly right here.” She jabbed the spot on the first map with her finger for emphasis.

 

“What about the second map?” Shippou asked. The Kitsune was leaning on Kagome's knee and peering over her arm at the maps. “Was it on the second map, too?”

 

Kagome shook her head.

 

“No, it isn't. Look there.” She pointed. “In the eighteen hundreds, there IS no mountain called Reiyama. There isn't even a mountain drawn here. It's like it vanished completely, even though the Tatesei city at its base is still there.”

 

“Or,” Miroku interjected, “maybe it didn't vanish . . . it erupted. Maybe the eruption destroyed the entire mountain.”

 

“So that means . . . it did happen,” Sango murmured, absently stroking Kirara's head. Kirara stirred but didn't awaken. “What this man Reikotsu told you wasn't just a legend---there really was an eruption. And the part about the three deaths . . . it's probably true.”

 

Inuyasha folded his arms, looking unusually pensive. The firelight flickered, fading a little. Shippou fed it some more dry wood.

 

“Tomorrow we'll probably reach Reiyama,” Miroku remarked. “We've made very good time. We'll find a way to fix this.” Unobtrusively, his hand slid to the right to cover Sango's. “Don't worry.”

 

Kagome sighed, shivering a little and rubbing at her arms.

 

“I just wish,” she said, “that I knew what I did to change the future like this. It could be something so simple . . . even though it's leading to death.”

 

“Feh.” Inuyasha picked up the blanket he'd been sitting on and dropping around her shoulders. “Hey, like Miroku said, don't worry so much. What's done is done, and if you can't change it then there's no sense beating yourself up over it.” He plopped down again beside her and folded his arms.

 

Shippou tossed a pinecone into the fire. While a brief flurry of sparks ascended from it, he slyly suggested, “I bet Inuyasha's responsible for all this. He probably stepped on a beetle or something and now mountains are exploding.”

 

“HEY, YOU FUCKING BRAT!” Inuyasha exclaimed, slamming one palm down right in front of the Kitsune, who dodged it hurriedly. “I WAS TRYING TO CHEER US ALL UP AND YOU'VE GOT TO GO AND---”

 

“Well, you've certainly squashed something . . .”

 

All five heads swiveled downward at the sound of this new voice. It was strikingly familiar, if somewhat small and feeble.

 

“Myouga Jii-san?” Inuyasha identified it, lifting his hand from the ground. A nickel-sized Myouga pancake floated down from beneath his palm before re-inflating with a pop.

 

“Master Inuyasha! We have to stop meeting like this,” the old flea demon said earnestly. Looking somewhat indignant, he hopped onto Inuyasha's knee to address the hanyou from a higher vantage point. “Really---squashing me when I've come all this way to tell you something of such vast importance . . .”

 

“Eh? Vast importance?” Inuyasha bent nearer to Myouga in surprise. “Are you saying you know what's going on?”

 

Myouga nodded sagely.

 

“I sensed that something was amiss, so I journeyed down to the Tatesei Valley riding on a raccoon,” he explained. “There I made the arduous trek into the Tatesei city itself to see what had happened. What I found there chilled my very blood . . .” The old flea demon paused dramatically, apparently savoring his tale's importance.

 

“Well? Get on with it,” Inuyasha demanded, one thumb hovering perilously close to squishing the little demon.

 

Myouga sighed with the patience of the long-suffering.

 

“Very well,” he conceded, seating himself cross-legged on Inuyasha's knee and bowing his head. “But in order for you to understand what you'll be facing when you reach Reiyama, I must tell you where the problem began. It all started two hundred years ago, before the Tatesei even existed . . . when your father added fuel to the fire of a bitter feud that would eventually lead to his death, and the deaths of all your kinsmen . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“At the dawn of the Greater Youkai, there were also dragons.”

 

“What?” Sesshoumaru came to a halt and pulled a sharp about-face. “What did you just say?”

 

The Seer, who had been trailing after him, stopped also, eyeing him warily. Though his face was as calm as ever, Sesshoumaru had been in a foul mood since their return from Reiyama.

 

“You spoke those words before you lost consciousness, when we saw the dragon in the scrying bowl,” the Seer answered. “I was wondering what they meant.”

 

They were standing in the cavernous main hall of the Inu Youkai palace, whose walls were lined with tapestries and whose central tables and gilt cushions were abandoned and empty. Though the afternoon sun warmed the palace's outer chambers, here the air was cold.

 

The words struck a resonant chord in Sesshoumaru.

 

“Moriatae,” his father had said, carrying the child through the darkened halls. “Since tomorrow I leave for battle, tonight I will tell you a story.”

 

“Chichi-ue, why must you go?” the boy asked earnestly.

 

His father's footfalls, unlike the strong arms that held his son, were soft and measured upon the stone floor. All of their kinsmen had retired for the night; the soft echoes of his father's voice in the hall and the darkness---broken only by periodic torches along the wall---made it seem that the two of them were the only living souls in the world.

 

“I must because I am Lord here,” his father answered. At that time, there was a grave, sad quality in his father's face that the child did not understand.

 

“What is the story?” the boy asked, understanding only the safety and the warmth of his father's arms, and that they would soon be parted.

 

A fierce gleam came into his father's eyes.

 

“Before the dawn of the Greater Youkai,” he began, “there were also dragons . . .”

 

“Sit,” Sesshoumaru said sharply.

 

The Seer flinched, startled by the command after so long a silence. She had begun backing away in preparation to leave the demon lord alone with his bad temper. Yet now he gestured toward the cushions nearest the end of the hall. Slowly, the Seer nodded and approached them. The ones closest to her were arranged neatly before a great stone hearth. A fire blazed cheerily therein, in front of the empty seats. The imps that served the demon lord kept the palace clean and warm and hospitable . . . for kinsmen who would never return here to wander its shining halls.

 

Feeling as if she were taking the seat belonging to a ghost, the Seer sank down onto her knees on one of the cushions facing the fire. As she arranged her dark blue robes around her lap, she was surprised yet again as the demon lord knelt down on the cushion beside hers. His shoulder did not brush hers, but she felt his presence and the shift of his weight as surely as if it had. She did not need to touch his mind to sense his strong presence.

 

“You are Tatesei,” he said coolly, settling into a cross-legged position, “and yet you do not know how the Inu Youkai Line ties into your own history . . . though your people saw fit to destroy us and make slaves of our souls.”

 

The Seer bowed her head in assent.

 

“No,” she agreed. “I know only what I've been taught, and what little I've Seen.”

 

Staring moodily into the flames, Sesshoumaru frowned.

 

“I myself do not know it in full,” he murmured. “What I do know. . .is the story my father once told me . . .” He paused, casting a brief glance toward the woman at his side. “Your people believe that a dragon created this land. In a way, the legend is true. One hundred years ago . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“. . . when Inuyasha's father had yet to lay claim to the Western Lands, there were also dragons,” Myouga began. “There were two great forces in this world: dragons, and demons, and both of them were born of the human race.”

 

“Feh. Dragons, born of the human race?” Inuyasha scoffed. “And I could give birth to a chicken.”

 

“Don't interrupt, Inuyasha,” Kagome murmured. “Myouga, what do you mean by that?”

 

The flea demon pointed on finger skyward, looking very professorial.

 

“Well, you first have to understand how demons came to be,” he explained. “Every one of us, fierce or gentle, is descended from a demon born of a human. Not in the physical sense,” he added hastily, “but in the spiritual sense. Human thoughts and dreams; human passions---these things are full of power. With them, it is possible to create anything, and also to destroy anything . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“Humans are fools,” Sesshoumaru murmured, staring into the hearth without really seeing it. “They were not content to live on this world while the gods watched over them from the heavens. They found no comfort in the worship of infinite beings; Ningen in their greed and shortsightedness sought instead what they could touch, and see. They told stories. Legend was born . . . and the beings of which these stories told were born as well.

 

“From the hearts of those humans longing for simpler days, when their kind lived in harmony with all nature, came the demons of the woods and hills; spirits of rock and stream. From the minds of those who longed for human dominion over land and sea, rock and river . . . there came the dragons . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“So you're saying that demons first manifested from the souls of humans?” Sango asked, clearly taken aback by this suggestion. In her lap, Kirara stirred, awakened by the sudden movement of her mistress' body.

 

“That is precisely what I am saying,” Myouga responded, turning toward her. Upon noticing her strange black eyes for the first time, he frowned, rubbing his chin pensively. “So . . . it isn't just the Tatesei . . . it's all the dragon's descendants as well . . .”

 

“Myouga-sama, please continue,” Miroku interjected, laying a hand on Inuyasha's knee near where the flea demon was seated. “It's important that we understand this.” (He then hastily withdrew the hand, because Inuyasha was bristling---apparently the hanyou disliked being touched so familiarly by anyone who wasn't Kagome.)

 

“Very well.” Myouga nodded. “The first demons were indeed born of human dreams and emotions. Demons are still born that way. For example, the Mu-Onna: the demon born of a woman's grief over her lost child. Inuyasha and Kagome encountered such a demon, long ago. Also there are the Spider-Headed Demons, born of the souls of soldiers beheaded in battle. Demons are born of love and greed, grief and hatred . . . and in times like these, when the human world is consumed by wars, many demons are born.”

 

Inuyasha frowned.

 

“So I came from my ancestors . . . who were created by humans?” This thought apparently rankled, because his left ear had developed a slight twitch.

 

“Correct,” Myouga replied. “After all, Inuyasha, your father was one of the Greater Youkai. And isn't it interesting . . . I met many Great Demons when I served your father in my youth, and there is one trait that they all shared to the greatest degree: they---the most powerful of all demons---were the most like humans. Not just in form, but in spirit as well . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“But dragons are a force of creation,” the Seer dared to argue, interrupting the demon lord's tale. “How can both demons and dragons be born of the same human souls?”

 

Sesshoumaru paused, glancing down at her. Her expression was earnest; almost childlike as she attempted to defend her heritage. The foolish, fearless way in which humans so unabashedly bared their vulnerabilities was oddly painful for him to see. He turned away from her to face the fire, which despite its brightness was easier to look at.

 

“Creation, woman, is merely the earliest form of destruction,” he said coolly. “You say that the Dragon's body shaped your land, and its fire shaped your mountains? That is true. In my father's time---in the time of the Greater Youkai---the Western Dragon Clan did indeed shape the land.

 

“They laid waste to the forests and rivers. Where their tails lashed the sea, tsunami arose. Where the tsunami crashed, the coastline was formed. They summoned volcanic fire into the mountains from the deep places in the earth, granting to Ningen the gifts of metal-shaping and jewel-mining. With their breath they burned away the old forests, exposing the fertile land beneath. They made war on the Youkai, their brethren, so that we would not seize control of the land they had prepared . . . so that we would not rise to power and take the land that they had prepared for their precious humans.”

 

Sesshoumaru lowered his head, absently running his hand along the white fur over his shoulder.

 

“But my father saw the danger back then,” he said softly. “He foresaw that the dragons' nurturing of humankind was a dangerous thing. He saw how the greed of Ningen grown powerful would eventually lead to the doom of all Youkai. Of all the Greater Youkai, it was the Lord of the Inu Youkai Clan who possessed the most foresight. He saw then the poison that mankind could become if they were not kept weak beneath demon rule . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“Inuyasha's father never wanted to see humankind grow weak and fall prey to demonkind,” Myouga continued. “Don't make the mistake of assuming that. Yet neither did he wish to see them grow too strong. Under the protection and guidance of the Western Dragon Clan, Ningen would become too powerful too fast. They would grow in population; develop in government and technology---before they acquired the wisdom to use it. And then, because those were turbulent times, they would make war on each other with their newfound power instead of growing peacefully as a civilization.

 

Inuyasha's face had grown quite solemn.

 

“So Otou-sama led an alliance of Greater Youkai against the dragons,” he murmured. “He drove them into the mountains, didn't he?”

 

Myouga nodded sagely.

 

“That's correct, Inuyasha. The dragon Ryukoutsussei, whom you fought to strengthen your Tetsusaiga, was once your father's enemy. Ryukoutsussei was one of the dragons that went to war with the Greater Youkai long ago.”

 

“But Otou-sama completely destroyed the Western Dragon Clan, didn't he?” Inuyasha asked, frowning. “My mother told me the stories. So what do dragons have to do with the Tatesei?”

 

“Be patient,” Myouga admonished, waving both hands at him. “I'll explain . . .”

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“Until recently, I believed that my father had slaughtered all the dragons save one,” Sesshoumaru said, “and that one was destroyed by the hanyou Inuyasha a year ago. The Western Dragon Clan was no more. And yet . . . their blood remained.” He paused, evidently mulling over something distasteful to him. “In the same manner which Youkai interbred with humans, the dragons had been interbreeding as well. There came to be a new race of Ningen, bearing the blood of dragons in their veins. This was the Western Dragon Clan's chosen race: the hanryu, of whom you spoke when Irusei came here.

 

“When the dragons were defeated, the hanryu fled into the mountains, fearing for their lives because they were no longer protected by their progenitors. However . . . now I see that I was mistaken. The hanryu survived the harsh life in the mountains because they were still under the dragons' protection. I was mistaken---my father did not destroy all the dragons. One remained---the one whom you call the `Great Dragon' . . . the one whom I saw in the scrying bowl. Somehow, that dragon escaped being killed, and has survived even to this day. That is the one who watched over your ancestors, and who sent into their midst the hanryu priestess Midoriko. The hanryu survived, and the Tatesei are their descendants.”

 

The Seer looked down at her hands, shivering despite the fire's warmth.

 

“The Dragon survived war with the Greater Youkai because he was the strongest. He was the Lord of all Ryu. But he was weakened, somehow . . . I don't understand it fully. All I know is that my gift combined with the Shikon no Tama in the scrying bowl sent out a summons to him. And now he has awakened, wherever he is.” She glanced up at Sesshoumaru, wonder and horror at war upon her face. “And he is calling upon his children to restore him to power.”

 

The firelight flickered across Sesshoumaru's face, deepening the shadows there and setting his eyes aflame. His gaze flitted briefly toward the Seer, and then returned to the blazing hearth.

 

“If I am to destroy this threat before it claims dominion over your people,” he said softly, slyly, “then I must know the nature of this monster's weakness. How is it that something so powerful is kept from rising up and taking what it truly wants? Why must it use humans bearing its blood as its pawns? Can it be that my father . . . imprisoned it, somehow . . . ?”

 

The Seer bit her lip, bowing her head.

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“Now that I've seen you, Sango-sama, I understand,” Myouga said, nodding as he addressed her. “The dragon's blood has been awakened in all of its descendants; the Tatesei . . . and the demon-slayers.”

 

Sango stiffened. Her face went deathly pale.

 

“You're saying that I---that I'm a hanryu also?” she asked. Miroku squeezed her hand, which was shaking. “Because I'm one of the two remaining demon-slayers?”

 

Myouga stood up and walked closer to the edge of Inuyasha's knee.

 

“That has to be it,” he agreed. “And whatever's happened in Reiyama has awakened the dragon's blood in you as well as in the Tatesei.”

 

Inuyasha slammed a fist down on his knee, nearly bouncing the flea demon clear off it.

 

“That's why Shippou and I couldn't smell anything different about Sango!” he exclaimed fiercely. “Her scent didn't change when the dragon's blood was awakened in her, because it's always been inside her. It's a part of her---we just never realized what it was.”

 

“Only her aura changed,” Kagome murmured, glancing sidelong at the horror-struck Sango. “Her blood was always the same---it's only the spiritual part that the dragon has awakened.”

 

Suddenly, Sango's eyes widened as a sudden realization occurred to her.

 

“Kohaku!” she cried, placing one palm against the ground as if making ready to push herself up and rush off somewhere. “This must be happening to him, too! What if Naraku kills him, to prevent him from becoming dangerous . . . ?”

 

Miroku laid a calming hand on her arm, gently forcing her to remain seated.

 

“Sango . . . Kohaku's not alive in the same way you are. His life's blood flows only at the command of the Shikon shard in his back.” The monk paused, sighing. “I don't think his body is capable of responding to the dragon's call.”

 

Sango sighed heavily---a sigh full of both misery and relief.

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“I can't tell you, my Lord.”

 

Sesshoumaru's head whipped around to glare at the Seer, who refused to look at him as she spoke. Her long, dark hair fell over her thin shoulders, hiding her face.

 

“Surely,” he said icily, “you do not profess to retain actual loyalties to the hanryu . . .”

 

The claws of his hand clicked against the stone floor as he shifted on the cushion into a position facing the Seer.

 

“No, my Lord!” she replied hastily. “I truly don't know! I Saw only what you saw in the scrying bowl! There was nothing . . . nothing to tell me what it is that keeps the Dragon from rising in the flesh.”

 

Sesshoumaru was silent for a while, staring at her and trying to gauge the truth of what she said. The fire crackled beside them, sending a small shower of sparks onto the stones. Slowly, the Seer lifted her head and turned to face him. Though Sesshoumaru kept his face a cold mask, he had the impression that the Seer was beginning to sense his intentions---regardless of whether or not she could read his mind.

 

“Demon lord . . .” she murmured, speaking with a puzzled little frown. “The answer that you seek . . . wouldn't Irusei know . . . ? Perhaps you must speak with Irusei, and not Asano-o-sama. I think that Irusei is the one who seeks the Dragon, while the king has been reduced to a mere pawn in all this.”

 

Sesshoumaru offered no reply. For some reason, the mention of Irusei's name roused in him a deep pain that he had not anticipated.

 

`Have I become so weak,' Sesshoumaru thought, `and so foolish . . . that human treachery brings me to sorrow?' His eyes narrowed to slits, red demonic anger beginning to creep into them. `No,' he amended, rising abruptly to his feet. `I have seen centuries of life. Human poison no longer surprises me.'

 

To the Seer, he only said, “There is no need to seek Irusei. He will come to me.”

 

Yet as Sesshoumaru turned to leave, something stopped him---her hand, tugging on the corner of his white robes. She knelt at his feet, blue robes pooled around her and pale face upturned and earnest.

 

“If you will destroy the Dragon,” she told him, “I will serve you.” There was something hard and fierce in the way she said it that gave Sesshoumaru pause. In that moment, she became a person to him, and they were two people, united by the cause of destruction.

 

Then sorrow stirred again in the Lord of the West, and his anger returned . . .

 

. . . and she became a pawn, kneeling at his feet.

 

“Irusei will come,” Sesshoumaru told her coldly. “And I will destroy the Dragon. If the Tatesei fall with it, then so be it. If you fall, so be it. I no longer care what lives are spent, so long as this threat is vanquished.”

 

He turned from her once more, white robes flowing around him as he went.

 

“You don't trust me,” she called after him. It wasn't a question.

 

Sesshoumaru came to a halt again, his last footstep scraping harshly against the stone floor. He was silent for a moment, his one hand hanging placidly at his side. Then he raised his chin and breathed in the damp winter air.

 

“It is no longer a matter of trust,” he said softly. “I never had faith in the honor of humankind.”

 

The Seer bowed her head in humble acceptance, staring down at her folded hands. There was nothing to say to him---nothing she might say that could sway him from his bitterness. Nevertheless, she dared to ask, “Then what of Rin?”

 

The Lord of the West did not deign to answer this, but swept from the room and left her, kneeling alone in the vast hall. Her question made him angrier---he did not understand why she brought Rin into this; nor did he care to. Rin, like the Seer, like Jakken---like all whom he surrounded himself with---was nothing but a pawn. The child had been useful to him once, and because of that he had brought her here. One day Rin would serve him further, when he had need of her again.

 

But in the end, as always, Sesshoumaru of the Inu Youkai walked alone.

 

{+} {+} {+}

 

“There's one final thing I must tell you before you venture into the Tatesei lands,” Myouga told his listeners, seated cross-legged on Inuyasha's knee. “It is a great secret . . . one that your father told only to me and no one else. Not even Sesshoumaru knows of this.”

 

Inuyasha leaned forward eagerly, greatly intrigued by a secret being divulged to him that his brother wasn't aware of. The hanyou's ears perked forward with interest.

 

“One dragon survived your father's war,” the flea demon told him. “The strongest of all dragons; the first. This Great Dragon was too strong for even the Greater Youkai to slay. Instead, your father imprisoned the beast deep within the mountains. I don't know exactly how he managed this . . . but I was meant to tell you this, Inuyasha: the place in which the Dragon has slept until this time . . . is the mountain that both men and demons have named `Reiyama'.”

 

“You-you're saying the Dragon is actually inside the mountain?” Kagome asked, amazed. “Could this mean, then, that the eruption, the deaths . . . are all going to be tied into the fact that the Dragon in the mountain is awake?”

 

Myouga nodded. He was strapping his tiny pack back over his tiny shoulders and standing up.

 

“Well, that said, I'll be off,” he announced, and stuck a foot out to start walking.

 

Inuyasha, however, caught him by the tiny pack between the nails of his thumb and forefinger.

 

“Leaving so soon?” the hanyou asked, baring his fangs. “I think you ought to come with us, since you seem to know so much.”

 

Myouga's little legs flailed in mid-air as he struggled to free himself from Inuyasha's grip.

 

“Really, I've told you everything I know,” he insisted. “I'll be of no further use to you.”

 

“Hmph.” Inuyasha bent nearer to the flea demon. “Then answer me this: why did my father only tell you this, and why were you meant to tell only me? Sesshoumaru is the Lord of the West; the Tatesei are under his dominion. The way I see it, this is more his problem than it is mine.”

 

Myouga stopped struggling, and a puzzled frown crossed his wizened face.

 

“I don't know myself,” he mused, fingering his chin with two of his arms and scratching his bulbous head with a third. “But I do know that all those years ago, when the Tatesei betrayed your father and made war on the Inu Youkai . . . it wasn't Sesshoumaru that their prophecies spoke of. The one they truly feared . . . was you, Inuyasha.”

 

Surprised, Inuyasha released his hold on the flea demon's pack.

 

“Best of luck!” Myouga called, giving them all a general salute. Then he hopped off the hanyou's knee and disappeared into the snowy darkness beyond the campfire.

 

{END OF CHAPTER 9}