InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bearers of the Shards ❯ His Brother's Vengeance ( Chapter 7 )

Author's Notes: "Atare" (used as an incantation herein) means "strike"---not to be confused with the video game system with the really crappy graphics. "Seibai," another incantation, means "face your judgment." "Hikari no Kekkai" means "Barrier of Light."

{#} {#} {#} THE BEARERS OF THE SHARDS {#} {#} {#}

{#} {#} Chapter 7: His Brother's Vengeance {#} {#}

As the night progressed, a hush fell over the city---the quiet of anticipation, and perhaps fear as well.

In the guest quarters, Kagome's fingers were moving more and more slowly through Inuyasha's hair. Finally the movement stopped and her hand fell away.

Inuyasha's eyes flew wide open, and so did his mouth. But he glanced up and the protest died on his lips.

`Eh? Asleep?' he thought, surprised.

He lay there observing her intently for a moment, mulling this over.

`Oh, yeah, `cause she's human,' he thought, nodding to himself. `Sometimes I forget.'

Well, he couldn't stay here all night, he told himself. The monk and the fox could be back at any moment. Something inside him balked at this, but that part was soft and squishy and easy to shut up.

Carefully, he sat up---carefully dislodging Kagome's other hand, which had somehow become entangled in one of his forelocks. Unfortunately, this was the only thing holding her upright, and after teetering precariously for a moment she began to tilt sideways.

"CRAP!" he exclaimed.

Then he remembered that she was asleep and clapped one hand over his mouth to stifle any further noise.

Then he remembered that she was falling and caught her just before her head hit the wall.

He had planned to put her down gently, but instead the soft and squishy part prevailed and he just held her, breathing in her sweet scent.

And in this moment, when one of Inuyasha's arms was around her waist and the other supporting her shoulders, Miroku and Shippou reappeared in the doorway.

"Ahem," the monk said, to make himself conspicuous. The sound echoed a bit inside the overlarge helmet that he wore.

"You want us to wait outside `til you're done?" Shippou offered bluntly.

"Will you guys shut UP?" Inuyasha hissed. "She's sleeping."

"Oh, really?" Miroku asked, sounding interested. He crouched down beside Inuyasha, armor clanking. "Well, we'll just have to wake her gently." He reached out a hand toward her.

Inuyasha didn't even bother waiting to see what the hand was aiming for, but snatched her closer to him and out of its reach.

"Mine," he insisted.

Naturally, being pressed against Inuyasha so quickly caused Kagome to awaken---just in time to get a mouthful of his hair.

"Mmf!" she sputtered. "Ppfff!"

Inuyasha looked down at her head as if unaware of what he'd done, then turned very red and sat up straight so she could breathe. Naturally, Miroku had withdrawn the offending hand by this time, and Inuyasha couldn't even think of an explanation to stammer.

Fortunately, Miroku had come to bring them news.

"We have to move out," he told them. "The young prince is in very grave danger."

Quickly he filled them in on what the Wise had said, and what the king had told him.

Kagome's eyes widened.

"So Yaburenumaru was coming here. . .to kill his own brother? How horrible."

"Not so hard to believe," Inuyasha muttered.

"All to become king," Kagome said softly. "He would kill his brother, and let the Wise murder his father. . .all for that."

"Feh," Inuyasha muttered, looking away.

"We can't waste any more time," Miroku insisted, leaping to his feet. "We have to get the young lord Asano away from the Wise. They said they were waiting for a sign from Yaburenumaru. Just a sign. He doesn't need to get inside the walls for them to act."

The others followed suit and made for the door.

Kagome stopped in her tracks when she realized there were only three of them.

"Inuyasha?" she said, turning around in the doorway.

A strong hand clamped itself around her wrist, holding her fast.

His face was hard and intense.

"You're NOT going anywhere NEAR the Wise," he told her.

"Inuyasha, let GO of me," Kagome protested, tugging at her arm. "STOP it! Yaburenumaru and his brother are only kids! We can't just let this happen---to either of them!"

Inuyasha would not relinquish his hold.

"You think they're `just KIDS'?" he exploded. "Believe me, Yaburenumaru KNOWS what he's doing. Just like HIS grandfather KNEW what he was doing when he tried to kill HIS grandson. Just like the Tatesei fucking KNEW what they were doing when they betrayed my FATHER. . ."

"Inuyasha, let GO of me," Kagome demanded. "We don't have TIME for this. . ."

Inuyasha's expression was thunderous; his eyes flashed yellow lightning.

"There ARE no CHILDREN here, Kagome!" he shouted. "Don't you SEE?! The Tatesei Line is a POISON!" He paused, breathing hard, then said in a quieter voice, "They breed only murder."

"I thought you weren't going to let your hatred get in the way," Kagome said softly. "Why stop us now? Why wait this long---until it's almost too late?"

Inuyasha seemed to grow calmer, though he kept a firm hold on her wrist.

"I'm not saying `don't save them'," he said, without taking his eyes off her. "I'm just saying to let THEM go."

He was referring to Miroku and Shippou, who stood silently in the doorway, prudently letting Kagome try to smooth things over.

"But not you."

Kagome blinked, surprised.

"Inuyasha, what are you---?" she asked, flustered. Her treacherous face was growing hot.

He pressed his lips together for a moment, then, declared with great emotion, "I'm not going to lose you. Not---" He paused, then finished in more subdued tone, "Haven't I lost enough. . .to them. . .?"

Kagome was temporarily struck speechless. Then she recovered herself, understanding that this was not the time for unexplored feelings.

"Miroku, Shippou. . ." She addressed them without turning around. "Go on ahead of us."

Miroku cast Inuyasha a shrewd, appraising look, then nodded. He and the Kitsune hurried off, footsteps ringing hollowly across the marble walkway. Inuyasha finally released Kagome's arm.

She picked up her bow and quiver, which had been leaning against the wall near the doorway. Then she straightened, looking him squarely in the eye.

"You tried to seal the Bone-Eaters' Well once," Kagome reminded him. "To keep me from crossing over. To protect me."

She slid the quiver strap over her head and left shoulder, then slung the bow across her back.

"But I came back. I think I was fated to come back." Kagome turned partway toward the door. "To be by your side." She smiled at him over her shoulder to take the sting out of her next words. "Inuyasha, you can't protect me from choices that are mine to make."

He just stared at her, saying nothing, though his expression spoke volumes.

"But you can come with me," she offered.

Having said this, Kagome turned from him and stepped outside. She paused on the threshold, taking a deep breath, then began to run.

Inuyasha stood there watching her, listening to the bow clacking against the quiver.

Her black hair, flowing around the arrows as she moved.

He watched her, and for a moment his eyes were sad.

`Like Kikyou,' Inuyasha thought. `If only the strong heart came with a stronger body. Then I wouldn't be so afraid. . .'

{#} {#} {#}

Kagome was startled when his hands clamped around her waist. Then he slung her up onto his back.

"C'mon," he said, not looking at her and breaking into a run. "We'll go faster like this."

{#} {#} {#}

Down the darkened Temple halls Yaburenumaru crept, every nervous breath filling his lungs with the musty smell of old wood.

`And bone,' he thought. `Bone in the pillars.'

He paused, sniffing the air again.

`Dawn is coming,' he thought. `His blood cries out to me, waiting to be spilled. . .'

He rounded a corner, then slid a screen aside to step into the room beyond. Inside it hung many small cages of beaten metal, suspended from the rafters. Inside each of them rested the bones of Youkai. He lifted one down from its hook, then opened the cage and reached inside.

The skull he withdrew was small---no larger than a man's fist. It was the skull of an Inu Youkai child, taken from a battlefield fifty-nine years ago. Stripped of its flesh and its life, while the soul remained, to be commanded by the Wise. This was the signal that he wished to send his allies.

Drawing upon the necromancer's power, upon the teachings of his childhood, Yaburenumaru called forth the tiny, glowing soul. Its light filled the skull, giving the eye sockets an eerie semblance of life. He spoke to it softly, almost lovingly. Then he breathed a word of power, and it flew from its bony prison to deliver his message.

{#} {#} {#}

"He's here. The Great Demon's son. He would not have wanted this made known to you. But I order you to do it NOW. Then prepare for battle. He means to destroy us." A pause, and then: "She DOES possess the shards. Take them: my first gift to you as king."

In a dim, secluded room deep in the heart of the Temple, the Wise stood in silence until the message was finished. Then one of them spoke to the soul and dismissed it.

When its glow had vanished from the room, the Wise turned away. They stepped over the bodies of the warriors the king had sent to guard the prince. The king's men had been killed the instant they set foot in the room.

Now the stern, grim faces of the Wise turned, with terrible slowness, to the boy in their midst, whom they had drugged. He watched them dully, but beneath the thick layers of stupor he was afraid. Now the gray-eyed sorcerer approached Asano, steepling his long, thin fingers and uttering a spell. A strange red light began to pulse between his hands.

To Asano's horror, he realized that it pulsed in time with his heart.

{#} {#} {#}

Inuyasha and Kagome caught up with Miroku and Shippou easily---the monk's heavy armor was slowing him down.

"Will you take that shit OFF?" Inuyasha shouted at Miroku. "We don't have TIME for disguises any more!"

Miroku glanced over at him, surprised, then obediently stripped off the thick leather trappings. He left a trail of them behind him for a little ways because he didn't stop to do it. On Inuyasha's back, Kagome had become very quiet.

"What is it?" Inuyasha demanded. He always seemed to know when something was puzzling her---or when she was sensing something out of the ordinary. "What do you feel?"

"There's a shard in the Temple," she warned. "I'd bet you anything that's Yaburenumaru. He's IN THE CITY already!"

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha cried. "How could he have gotten IN? There are guards posted on EVERY fucking WALL. This city's a FORTRESS!"

"Maybe the Wise let him in?" Miroku suggested.

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Someone would've SEEN them. They couldn't have created illusions to hide it, either---their sorcery doesn't work that way. C'mon. Let's get on the roof so she can see better."

In one flying leap Inuyasha was poised on the slanted roof, gripping the tiles with his feet to keep from sliding. From this vantage point they could see the city in all directions. Kagome's gaze was drawn to the Temple pagodas, rising in tiers above the other buildings.

"There IS a shard in there," she said, frowning. "But that. . .that's not the only one I sense."

"WHAT?!" Shippou cried. "You mean NARAKU'S here?!"

"Feh," Inuyasha cut him off, slicing one hand through the air in negation. "Naraku and the brat aren't the ONLY ones with shards, fox. And I don't smell Naraku. And I can smell him from MILES away."

"It's only one other shard that I sense," Kagome told them. "I think I see it. . .there." Abruptly she turned and pointed downward. "It's moving. Fast." She paused, eyes widening. "Even in demon form Yaburenumaru didn't move that fast. . ."

"Heh, so the brat's brought a friend, eh?" Inuyasha grinned fiercely, cracking his knuckles.

"It's moving toward the palace!" Miroku cried suddenly. "It's after the king! Yaburenumaru wants them both dead, so he's given someone else a shard to go do it. . ."

"Let's go, Kagome," Inuyasha told her.

She tightened her grip on his shoulders, and with another great leap he had crossed the street and landed on the next roof. It was slanted, and he slipped a little, but dug his claws into the tile and righted himself. Then they were off again, traversing the rooftops toward the palace.

Miroku and Shippou didn't waste any time but leaped down to the streets and took off toward the Temple.

{#} {#} {#}

In the dark Temple room, the boy prince fought for breath as the gray-eyed sorcerer drew his soul from his body.

{#} {#} {#}

"They're below," Miroku whispered to Shippou. They had climbed onto the Temple roof and traversed it until the monk was certain of the location.

Now he planted his staff on the tile.

"We're going THROUGH THE ROOF?" Shippou asked worriedly.

"We can't go through the front door, can we?" Miroku pointed out. "Many guards, and lots of our Wise friends to greet us there."

"But---but it's a TEMPLE," Shippou argued. "We can't just bash in the ROOF."

Miroku smiled mirthlessly at the Kitsune.

"Whatever they call this place, it isn't holy," he said. "And it can't stand against the power of true faith."

He drew in a deep breath, and then his face hardened with concentration. The rings on his staff began to move, clinking faintly. Then a great circle of light spread forth from the staff's tip in every direction. Shippou shielded his eyes. There was a sudden, great rushing of wind, and then silence. Slowly, the Kitsune moved his arms away from his face.

Then the tile beneath their feet gave way and everything went crashing straight downward.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Shippou yelled.

Miroku landed on the floor in a crouched position amidst the massive shower of debris. He remained calm and collected, and rose quickly to his feet. He was forced to haul Shippou to his feet, however---the Kitsune still seemed convinced that he was going to die.

Around them, the gray, silent figures of the Wise could be seen shifting backward out of the way. One of them still held the boy Asano; the hands of another glowed red with sorcery.

"Let him go," Miroku said coolly. "You will not touch him."

"Finish it," one of the Wise urged their fellows. "We will deal with this. . .this violation of our sacred place."

The Wise began to close in around the would-be rescuers, eyes glowing now with an eerie white light.

"Come forth," each man whispered, and something very strange happened.

From the very Temple walls there poured forth the green light of demon souls. The lights swirled around the men who had summoned them. A chilling, hair-raising wind filled the room.

"Atare," the first of the Wise whispered. The others echoed the word. Their voices, though lowered to a near-whisper, reverberated in the small room.

"Use the Wind Tunnel!" Shippou cried, transforming into something larger and trying to bowl several of the sorcerers over. "They're going to kill us!" His maneuver didn't work. As soon as his flesh touched one of the souls, he recoiled in horror. "Cold," he cried, shuddering. "Don't let them TOUCH you, Miroku!"

"I can't use it here!" Miroku reminded him. "I might take in the boy! And the souls are innocent. They should be freed, not flung into the void. . ."

"Atare," the sorcerers repeated, gesturing toward the two intruders. Yet the demon souls seemed to be hesitating. Perhaps they sensed the power radiating from the monk. Or perhaps they understood that he wished for their freedom.

Miroku's expression hardened. He planted his staff on the ground before him.

"I SAID, you WILL NOT TOUCH THE BOY," he warned them, in a clear, strong voice. "Unholy creatures. SEIBAI!!!"

At the last incantation, the air between Miroku and those Wise nearest Asano seemed to pulse. Then the red light between the gray-eyed sorcerer's fingers shattered like glass.

In a sudden burst of phantom flame, the man's own spell expanded to engulf him in one great bright flash. Then it seemed to sink into his very flesh. He fell to the floor and lay there prone, like a dead man. His fellows backed away, unnerved. The boy's soul, which had been half-drawn out of him, flew back into his open mouth, and he pitched backward with the force of it.

In three swift bounds Shippou had reached him.

"Get him out of here," Miroku ordered. "Go find Inuyasha. I'll hold them off."

The Kitsune transformed into something resembling a large crane with very bulbous eyes. He lowered his neck to Asano, who despite his state of shock grabbed on and managed to sling a leg over Shippou's back.

"ATARE!" the sorcerers shouted, and it seemed that this third repetition of the spell exerted too much force for the demon souls to resist. They shot toward Miroku like a volley of green arrows.

The monk lowered his head, then called in a clarion voice, "HIKARI no KEKKAI!"

The demon onslaught broke like water upon the invisible barrier formed by the spell. For a moment the room was obscured by a brilliant flash of green.

"GO NOW!" Miroku cried.

In that moment of borrowed time Shippou-the-crane managed to carry the half-conscious Asano up through the hole in the roof and away into the night.

Then the barrier that shielded Miroku collapsed inward, and the monk fell to his knees.

And then the demon souls fell upon him in a great dark tide of green.

{#} {#} {#}

Inuyasha and Kagome flew from rooftop to rooftop at breakneck speed, the wind rushing past their faces.

"I knew it would be something like this," Inuyasha muttered. "There had to be two of them. That's why the demon's footprints fucking smelled like three different scents and not just two. There was a human scent, a reptilian demon scent. . .and something else. It was faint, that something. I smelled it once, when we stopped in that forest, and never again afterward."

He lapsed into thoughtful silence for a minute, then corrected himself.

"No, wait. That's not right. The very first night, when I brought you back through the Well, you sensed a shard nearby. Then I smelled something odd. . .almost familiar, really. And I smelled it again in the footprint later. . ."

"And Yaburenumaru's accomplice had a shard of its own," Kagome reminded him. "That was what I sensed. We should have guessed it, from the very beginning!"

Inuyasha's expression darkened.

`That scent. . .' he thought. `So familiar. . . And getting stronger as we get closer to the palace. . .'

"Hold on," he told Kagome. Then he leaped two stories down to the courtyard before the king's chamber.

And landed in the koi pond.

"SHIT!" he swore as lily pads scattered in all directions and fish fled his feet in terror. "So much for a sneak attack."

`Well, NOW there's no chance of that,' Kagome thought, rolling her eyes. `Swearing at the top of his lungs. . .'

He set her down and they splashed their way out of the pond.

"Yuck, my socks," Kagome complained, wrinkling her nose.

Inuyasha, who had leaped clear of the pond in one bound, had stopped suddenly, going very rigid. He was staring straight through the doorway to the king's chamber.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called softly. "Do you see it?"

Inuyasha's hand clenched around Tetsusaiga's hilt. His jaw tightened.

"Oh, I can fucking SEE it, all right," he answered in a low voice.

She moved closer to him, trying to see, but he flung out an arm to stop her.

"Stay here," he ordered in a harsh voice. "I'm going in. You find a good vantage point. Then shoot him with your arrows. But DON'T follow me closely."

Kagome nodded solemnly, then moved away from the door. And Inuyasha drew nearer to it, one hand on his sword-hilt.

{#} {#} {#}

The king lay where he had been flung. He could not have moved if he wished to; his bones had been shattered by the blow, and then splintered by the impact. His silken robes were matted with his own blood.

His tormentor crossed the room, slowly, with a predator's grace.

The king tried to speak, but his breath was leaving him. The tall man, cloaked in white, reached down and lifted him by the hair. The pain was terrible, sending fire shooting through his scalp, but it was no worse than the pain from his injuries. He was dying, he knew.

"Why?" he finally managed.

The clawed hand tightened its grip and Sesshoumaru bent nearer, eyes narrowed to slits in anger.

"Why?" the white demon echoed his question in mockery. "Why? Do you not know?"

Lord Iryokugou searched his already-fading memory. The Inu Youkai Clan. War. Death. Enslavement.

"Vengeance," the king murmured. "They said. . .none of your clan. . .lived. I have only heard. . .stories. . .AH!"

He gave out a weak cry of pain as the demon's claws dug into the flesh of his scalp and lifted him higher still.

Then Sesshoumaru dropped him, and he fell to the floor with a dull thud. For a moment stars of pain clouded his vision, and through it he heard the demon speaking.

"You forgot?" The voice was low, laced with hatred. "You use the souls of my kin to protect this accursed land, and you forget? Tell me, is it easier to forget? Easier, yes, to ignore that your empire was built not on the strength of men but the blood of demons?"

"I---banished---Yaburenumaru---for this," the king whispered. "Didn't want---that sorcery---to endure. . ."

The stars cleared, and he saw Sesshoumaru smiling.

"Ah, yes. Your disinherited son. He's here. I have brought him. I found him, and drove him here. And now he will destroy the last of your Line. The Tatesei Line is about to break. And then. . .I will batter this city to the ground."

Behind him, there came the swift sound of a sword clearing its sheath.

"You cannot oppose me in this, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, without turning around. "If there is any demon blood in you at all---you will not try to interfere. These people deserve to die."

Inuyasha halted, sword poised.

He did not move to strike his brother. But he did not move to sheath Tetsusaiga, either.

To Iryokugou, Sesshoumaru said dispassionately, "Die."

And he ran his claws through the man's heart.

Then he withdrew them, shaking the blood from them.

"Now," he said, face cold and hard as marble. "Let there be an end to this."

{END OF CHAPTER 7}