InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bearers of the Shards ❯ The True King ( Chapter 12 )

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

{#} {#} Chapter 12: The True King {#} {#}

In the tunnel beneath the lake, Shippou and Asano ran in darkness. By this time both were drenched with the moisture that dripped from the stone ceiling. Shippou's foxfire had long since died out, because in order to keep up with the human prince the Kitsune was forced to scamper on all fours. From somewhere behind them there came a sudden, resounding thud that echoed deafeningly through the narrow space. Though they had run a long ways, the impact still caused a flurry of small rocks to rain down upon them.

"What's going ON?!" Shippou panted, periodically casting nervous glances over his shoulder.

"I---I don't know!" Asano replied, breathing hard. "It sounds like something's trying to come through the ceiling!"

The sound came again; louder this time.

"The Wise have found us!" Shippou yelped.

"Come on!" Asano scooped the Kitsune up in his arms. "We have to make it to the exit before they break through!"

The sound came again, before they had run three steps.

And then, with a mighty, heaving groan the tunnel gave way.

Water spurted through the breach like blood through a vein. It filled the narrow passageway and tossed Asano and Shippou like rag dolls. The pressure of the water's weight was causing the tunnel to cave in. Cracks and then further decimation of the stone ceiling spread rapidly from the breach, but the massive, surging tide carried both of them through the tunnel. Ahead of him, through the murky water, Shippou could see a blurry square of light growing larger. Then, abruptly, he and Asano burst free of the tunnel's exit.

The force of the flood bore them upward and onto the rocky banks of the lake. Behind and below them, the tunnel's entire structure finally gave way with a deafening roar, and the level of the lake ebbed slightly as the water quickly filled it. Shippou lay there in a daze, bedraggled and soaked and blinded the brightness of daylight after the long stint in the dark underground.

Then a shadow moved across the sun, and he could see again.

Shippou raised his head, blinking muddy water out of his eyes. Somewhere behind him, he heard Asano gasp and exclaim: "That's---!"

But whatever the prince intended to say, he never finished it, because the shadow loomed down and struck him with its claws.

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"Asano!" Kagome gasped, realizing what Honechi was saying. "What's happened to Asano and Shippou?!"

"Fuck!" Inuyasha exclaimed, brandishing Tetsusaiga and making those nearest him duck again. "I forgot about them! Didn't Miroku tell them to go hide somewhere?"

"Asano," Sesshoumaru murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "The prince. . ."

"Inuyasha, why hasn't Yaburenumaru shown himself before now?" Miroku asked. "Unless. . ."

"Damnit," Inuyasha swore again, sheathing Tetsusaiga and making ready to be off. "That little bastard's more trouble. . ."

"Inuyasha, he didn't come to fight us," Kagome reminded him worriedly. "He came here to kill his brother."

"We have to find them!" Miroku urged them. "Kagome-sama, can you locate the kehai of Yaburenumaru's jewel shard?"

Kagome nodded solemnly and Inuyasha knelt so that she could climb onto his back. Then he sprang forward and they were off, in the direction that she indicated. Miroku, left alone in the company of Sesshoumaru and the Wise and a whole lot of half-melted corpses, took off after them with great haste.

The Wise watched him go with great misgivings.

"What must we do?" one asked. "What can we do?"

"These outsiders will choose our king for us if we don't act!" another argued heatedly, clenching his fist so violently that his long gray sleeve fell back below his forearm. "They will kill Yaburenumaru to save the younger one, and all our efforts will have come to nothing."

All eyes turned to Honechi, who had risen from where he knelt before Inuyasha and glided over to stand among them.

"We can't hope to defeat Inuyasha," he told them gravely. "We have already tried to defeat the prophecy and failed. He wields a power heirloom whose magic contains a part of the Great Demon's soul. This mere hanyou can force our legions to retreat; even if we called them back what good would it do?"

"You are all fools," a smooth voice interrupted their discussion. "Listening to some old man's inane babble and thinking a mere hanyou has come to destroy you."

A hush fell over the sorcerers as Sesshoumaru stalked straight through their midst. They parted around him to all him a wide berth.

"The words spoken by our prophet are not to be taken lightly," Honechi warned. His eyes narrowed, and he lowered his head until his face disappeared into the shadow of his cowl. "And you, white demon, take us too lightly for one who would have died beneath our magic. . .had not the hanyou's sword saved you."

Sesshoumaru stopped walking and turned his head ever so slightly. One eye glared balefully down at Honechi.

"You will regret saying that," he told the sorcerer. "Inuyasha is a fool. He came here because I led him here. He is too human to hate you as I do." He paused, turning away again, then said with his back facing them: "I don't care which whelp the kirin ordains. Only know this: if the one chosen will not free the souls of my kin, then I swear I will hunt down every man, woman and child of Tatesei blood until Reiyama truly is a city of ghosts."

Then the white demon stalked clear of the gathered Wise, moving swiftly in the direction that Inuyasha had taken. One of his strides was as long as two mortals', and soon he had vanished from view.

Then the Wise began to move, gray-robed figures seeming to glide over the gore-soaked ground. They followed Sesshoumaru, knowing that he would lead them to Yaburenumaru.

"Unlike Inuyasha, that one cannot be reasoned with," one of the Wise observed. "He is too angry. What is to stop him from slaughtering us all once he has achieved what he wants?"

With seeming indifference the sorcerers passed over the bodies of the murdered Tatesei, as if planting a foot upon a child's face was no different from treading upon a lump of dirt in the road.

"Yes, he is angry," Honechi agreed, "angry enough to act rashly." The leader of the Wise lowered his head, smiling. "Did you not see his face? He wants the hanyou's sword. Why not goad him into taking it? The human girl bearing the Shikon Jewel shards said that only Inuyasha can wield it. If the hanyou and the sword are separated, then. . ."

The other Wise nodded understanding. If Inuyasha and the sword shielding him were parted, then he and his jealous, dangerous brother would see the same doom as their forebears.

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"STOP IT! Don't you realize what you're DOING?! He's your BROTHER!"

Shippou cried out in terror as the demon's claws raked across Asano's back and right arm. The blow had not struck directly, or the human prince would have been impaled by it. At the last second Asano had thrown himself to one side, and so was only wounded.

But the demon was agile and lightning-quick, and as soon as the strike was pulled its other arm was moving.

"FOXFIRE!" Shippou shouted, recovering his wits and aiming his attack at the space between the demon and its prey.

The green fire shot forth from between the Kitsune's cupped palms, enveloping Asano and giving the demon pause. The human prince, terrified by the sudden appearance of the flames around him, crawled backward rapidly. The demon drew back for a moment, but the flames that had been intended to scorch him were instead absorbed into his scaly hide. Yaburenumaru's eyes, so eerily human in the demon's face, narrowed to slits as if in ecstasy. He seemed to be consciously drawing the fire into himself.

"Oh no!" Shippou cried, slapping his forehead with his paws. "I forgot he's a SALAMANDER demon! Salamanders are DRAWN to fire!"

As Asano simultaneously tried to scramble to his feet and dive behind a rock for shelter, Yaburenumaru lowered himself onto all four reptilian feet, lashing his tail. He seemed to convulse, as if he were about to wretch, and then his jaws snapped open and he spat a fireball toward his brother. It was massive---roughly the size of the boulder behind which Asano was hiding---and so hot that it left a scorched furrow through everything in its path.

It would have scorched right through Asano's makeshift barricade had not another barrier imposed itself between the fire and the boy.

The fireball struck Inuyasha dead on. But he held his sleeves in front of his face, and his fire-rat robes shielded him completely. The orb seemed to burst upon contact with him, spattering flames in all directions but nevertheless coming nowhere near Asano.

"Kyah!" Kagome screamed as the flames shot toward her. Inuyasha had put her down at what he judged to be a safe distance away once they'd arrived on the scene, but it wasn't far enough for her liking.

"Gah!" Miroku cried, facing the same threat. He lunged for Kagome, grabbed her around the waist, and tackled her to the ground. The flames shot over their heads, less than a meter above.

"Oy! Monk! Keep your hands off her!" Inuyasha yelled, glancing over at them.

"YOU watch where you make the demon's attacks ricochet!" Miroku fired back, raising his head to glare over at the hanyou. His arms still encircled Kagome's waist, even though the flames had disappeared.

"Better you than me, yah pervert!" Inuyasha retorted.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, clearly incensed by the attack's near miss. "Will you SHUT UP and STOP that thing before it barfs up ANOTHER fireball?"

"Heh," Inuyasha snorted, turning back toward the demon and raising Tetsusaiga. "Consider it done."

The demon, having been given time to re-gather its strength, now spat forth two fireballs in rapid succession. Inuyasha took a swing at the first one with Tetsusaiga, wielding the sword like a player at bat. It flew about a hundred yards away, scorching the tops of the trees at the edge of the lake. Inuyasha didn't see the second one until it was almost upon him.

"Shit!" he swore, dodging it. "Who the FUCK tried using fire against this thing?!"

Shippou, who had been watching all of this in a wide-eyed, dumbstruck manner, now scampered toward Kagome, where Inuyasha was least likely to pound him.

"Feh," Inuyasha grumbled, shooting a glare Shippou's way. "I'll deal with YOU later. . ."

"Say, Kagome-sama," Miroku murmured into Kagome's ear. "Do you see where the demon's shard is?"

"HEY, you CAN remove your hands now, you know!" Kagome told him, using both arms and one foot to pry herself from his grasp.

When she had put at least three yards between them she squinted at Yaburenumaru, looking for the shard. She saw the telltale glow located in the demon's back. A sudden memory came to her of when they had first met Yaburenumaru, and there had been a great bloody weal across his back. Now she knew why. He had torn the shard from his own body that night and hidden it somewhere to prevent her from sensing it and realizing that he was after the jewel. Sesshoumaru had warned him that she had the ability to see the shards, and Sesshoumaru had given Yaburenumaru the means to return to Reiyama, but in the end it had been Yaburenumaru's choice to come. It made Kagome very sad to think that a young boy could have such an ugly heart.

"Inuyasha, it's in his back!" she called, cupping her hands to her mouth. "Just underneath the largest spine!" The salamander demon had a single ridge of razor-sharp spikes growing down along the length of its spine.

Inuyasha nodded understanding and ran at Yaburenumaru. The demon spat another fireball at him, but he took a flying leap and vaulted over it. As he flew through the air, he slashed Tetsusaiga downward in one vicious strike. The blow cut deep beneath the largest spike and into the flesh beneath. The demon howled in fury as a great gout of red-orange blood sprang from the wound. The jewel shard that had been embedded in that flesh became airborne upon the spray of this fount.

"Inuyasha, quick!" Kagome cried, but he had already seen it.

With his Youkai reflexes he snatched it up and bounded over the rest of the demon's body to land on his feet on the ground below.

"Damnit," he swore, pocketing the shard and hurrying off toward the lake with even greater speed.

Kagome, Shippou and Miroku watched with a good deal of surprise and chagrin.

"He's running away?" Shippou asked, sounding shocked.

Kagome had her doubts, but she was wondering the same thing as well until Inuyasha crouched down and stuck his hand under the water. A small puff of steam escaped the surface just above his hand, and the hanyou let out a sigh of vast relief.

"Damn, that was hot!" he complained. "That thing's blood's like sticking your hand in boiling water."

Kagome, still watching him, thought, `Well he's certainly had enough experience trying to steal ramen from the pot to know. . .'

The demon, its opponent temporarily distracted, was headed for Asano again. It reared up on its hind legs and came down upon the boulder that he was hiding behind. Broken chunks of rock flew in all directions. Asano gave a hoarse yell and flattened himself against the ground, attempting to shield his head and neck with his hands.

"Yaburenumaru!" he cried, in a voice both fearful and anguished. "Brother!"

The demon's jaws descended toward him, glowing with the heat of the fire building within them. Then Inuyasha's red-clad form imposed itself between the two brothers.

"Oh no you DON'T!" he shouted, swinging Tetsusaiga.

The blade's kenatsu sent energy crackling along the flesh of the demon's face, and it retreated, roaring and shaking its head as if to clear it. Some of its blood spattered on the ground again, causing the grass to sizzle where it landed. Then it was lunging for Asano again, this time on all fours and spewing fire. Again Inuyasha imposed himself between the demon and its prey, and this time the fireball broke and scattered before even touching Tetsusaiga because the kenatsu was growing in strength.

As the demon recoiled from the crackling field of energy, Miroku hastened to Inuyasha's side and stepped in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Inuyasha hollered, swatting at the monk with his sword. "Get the fuck outta my way!"

Miroku stepped forward more to avoid being swatted and planted his staff firmly in the sodden earth.

"Let me help," he insisted, facing down the demon with an expression of determination. "Perhaps I can defeat him without spilling more blood."

Miroku placed his hands on either sides of the staff's ring and concentrated his spiritual energy into a locus around the ring. The smaller rings on the staff jangled violently as the staff vibrated. Then the monk uttered a low incantation, and the light building between his hands shot forth and struck the demon between the eyes.

"Yaburenumaru!" Miroku said clearly, calling to the boy within the demon. "Kikan! Kikan!"

Kagome scooted backward to crouch behind a tree stump to watch from a safer vantage point.

``Kikan'?' she thought, surprised. ``Return'? He's exorcising the demon?'

"KIKAN!" the monk repeated, more forcefully.

"Hmm. . ." Shippou mused. "You know, we've never actually SEEN him perform an exorcism. I always thought he was faking it."

From the amount of power Miroku was sending through the air he apparently wasn't faking it, but from the looks of things he wasn't having an easy time of it, either. The demon's outline was becoming blurred and wavered, but it was still advancing toward Asano---albeit slowly and steadily. Miroku's expression was becoming strained. At first Kagome thought it was because he'd already been drained by the long battle with the Wise. But then, abruptly, Miroku aborted the exorcism, catching up his staff in his left hand before retreating behind Inuyasha.

"You done now, dumb-ass?" Inuyasha jeered at him. "NOW can I get on with this?"

"He---he wouldn't let me," Miroku panted. A thin sheen of perspiration had developed across his forehead. "Yaburenumaru is there, in the demon's form. But he refuses to let the Youkai spirit be exorcised." Miroku's expression was one of utter dismay. "It's like he's chosen to become one with the demon so that he can control it."

The demon seemed temporarily stunned by the monk's spell, but it was recovering fast.

"Well, I could've told you THAT!" Inuyasha replied, but his expression was grim. "If this is what the kid wants, then we can't make him see reason. If he WANTS to be an evil little runt in a big body then I'm gonna have to kill him."

And then, without further ado, Inuyasha proceeded to raise Tetsusaiga for one final, fatal slash downward. The blade descended toward Yaburenumaru in an arc so swift it blurred.

But something moving just as swiftly stopped Tetsusaiga's deadly descent. The force of the counter-blow knocked it from Inuyasha's grasp and sent it flying. Caught completely by surprise, Inuyasha scarcely dodged the crackling cord of light before it retracted and fell back toward its wielder. Had he not leaped back in time, it would have struck him directly across the face.

"You. . .fool!" Sesshoumaru hissed.

Inuyasha dove after Tetsusaiga, which went somersaulting through the air before landing with a splash in the lake. Sesshoumaru snapped the whip-like weapon at his brother again. Inuyasha was forced to jump off course to avoid it. He landed in a crouched position, glaring at his assailant.

"What the HELL do you think you're DOING?!" he shouted. "That THING isn't the new ruler! It's not even human any more!"

"That," Sesshoumaru replied, "is the point." He remained planted between his brother and the demon, staring down at Inuyasha with a kind of feverish intensity.

"He's---he's defending Yaburenumaru," Kagome exclaimed, surprised. "But why?"

"What the hell d'you MEAN; `That's the point.'?" Inuyasha demanded. He tried another mad dash toward the lake, where the ripples still spread around the place where his sword sank. Once again Sesshoumaru's weapon diverted him from his course. "Why are you doing this? Is this about Tetsusaiga?"

Jealousy flared in the white demon's eyes, but he lowered his head and visibly drove it back.

"Yaburenumaru knows what it is to be Youkai," he answered softly. "He has tasted demon power, and he has chosen to become one with it." He added, "That soft, puling little princeling does not," making scornful reference to Asano.

This seemed to give Yaburenumaru pause. Until this instant he had been moving away from the two Inu Youkai, searching for Asano amidst the debris with his roving, burning gaze. Now he hesitated, turning to look at Sesshoumaru.

"What difference does that make?" Miroku asked, leaving his hiding place to approach them. "You can't choose their king for them. . ."

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed, and his claws tightened around the end of his weapon.

"Can't I?" he asked, in a low, warning tone of voice.

He sent the whip cracking down on Inuyasha, who rolled to the side to get out of the way. The weapon left a deep furrow in the ground that glowed a poisoned green.

"Stop! He's right!" It was Asano, rising to his feet and stepping out from behind the barricade of debris he'd been using for shelter. "You can't choose which of us will be king. Only the---"

Then the prince saw the murderous gleam in Sesshoumaru's eye, as the white demon turned slowly toward him.

"One cannot be ordained," Sesshoumaru murmured, "if the other is dead."

Moving so fast that his body became a white blur, he launched himself toward Asano, who could only watch in horror his approaching doom. Then Inuyasha was between them, absorbing the impact of Sesshoumaru's momentum and letting it bowl him over. Asano stood stock still, frozen with fear but also unwilling to flee. He watched as the two brothers rolled over and over, scraping a deep gouge into the earth until they finally came to a stop.

They landed with Inuyasha crouching over his brother. Both of them had each other in a strangle hold.

"Will you just GIVE IT UP?!" Inuyasha bellowed. "Ass-holes who want to kill their own brothers don't get ordained!"

"We have to do something!" Kagome exclaimed, watching worriedly. "And QUICK!"

"Not necessarily," Miroku muttered, scratching his head and looking pensive. "They don't exactly seem to be destroying anything at the moment. . .except maybe each other. . ."

For once the two brothers were evenly matched in physical strength. Though Sesshoumaru was full Youkai, his injuries were worse than he let on and he had only one hand with which to strangle his brother. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was relatively fresh and spry, and had two hands with which to throttle the throat between them.

Kagome wasn't reassured by the sight of this, and vowed that she would retrieve Tetsusaiga before things got out of hand. She kicked off her shoes and socks.

"Kagome, WAIT!" Miroku cried. "Have you lost all common SENSE?!"

But she ignored him, took a running start and dove into the lake.

"Kagome, WAIT FOR ME!" Shippou cried, and hurried after her.

Yaburenumaru, in the meantime, had resumed his advance upon Asano. Asano wasn't running any more, but had picked up a sharp, broken branch and was swinging it at his brother.

"Don't come near me!" he cried in desperation. "Don't do this! I don't care what you are now---you're still my BROTHER!"

But Yaburenumaru didn't stop. His advance was slow. He slashed at his brother lazily with his long claws, as a cat might swat at a mouse. The human eyes in the demon's head were calm, and gave no indication that he cared what Asano might say.

"Asano, if you value your life, grab onto that tree stump near you and DON'T LET GO!" Miroku had come to the prince's aid, standing behind the advancing demon and preparing to use his right hand.

Asano froze, not understanding what the monk meant. He had never seen the Wind Tunnel in action.

"Do it NOW!" Miroku ordered. Still the prince didn't move---he was too reluctant to drop the branch he was wielding with Yaburenumaru bearing down on him.

`Damnit,' Miroku thought worriedly. `If he doesn't hold onto something, I can't use the Wind Tunnel or he'll be sucked in, too.'

Meanwhile, the second pair of siblings trying to kill each other was still at it.

"Fool!" Sesshoumaru rasped at Inuyasha, eyes red with rage. "Just which boy. . .do you think. . .is going to choose. . .to free the Youkai souls? The human. . .or the one who's chosen demonification?"

Inuyasha jabbed a clawed finger in Asano's general direction.

"Shut up and LISTEN! Asano's the only one of that pair with any kind of compassion! The other one's a twisted little freak who's all but sold his SOUL to the Wise!"

Then Inuyasha realized the very stupid error he'd just made.

He'd just lost his one-hand advantage over Sesshoumaru---to POINT at someone, of all things---and now Sesshoumaru was able to break free of his choke-hold. The white demon threw him off with a sudden surge of strength, sending him sprawling. Now Sesshoumaru tackled Inuyasha to the ground and flew at him. He ended up kneeling over Inuyasha with his claws at his brother's throat. The white demon's eyes glittered feverishly, and his breath quickened.

"I see now," he breathed, "that I must first finish you. Finish. . .what should have been done all those years ago. . ."

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Diving down beneath the murky lake water, Kagome forced her self to keep her eyes open. She hoped desperately that with her spiritual powers she'd be able to see Tetsusaiga, even though it had probably reverted to its ordinary, banged-up-looking mode. But after descending about ten feet she couldn't see anything, and swimming with one good arm was difficult. She let herself be buoyed upward and resurfaced, gasping. She almost collided with Shippou, who was dog-paddling around her and calling her name into the water.

"Shippou!" she said, grabbing his shirt collar to hoist him up. "I need your help!"

"O-ok-kay," he sputtered, spitting up lake scum.

"I'm going to dive again to find Tetsusaiga," Kagome explained. "You swim after me and use your foxfire to light things up. It's so dark down there!"

Shippou nodded solemnly. They both took a deep lungful of air, then disappeared below the surface again.

"Foxfire," Shippou managed, despite the bubbles escaping from his mouth.

A small green light appeared, cutting through the murky water. Kagome thought she saw something gleaming below her, and kicked her legs with renewed hope. She tried not to think about the pressure in her ears or the burning in her lungs or the fierce throbbing in her arm as she swam. The added weight of her clothes helped; she sank like a stone. Five feet more, and then she thought in exultation, `I SEE it!'

It was inches away from her outstretched fingertips. She had the faint impression that it was surrounded by dark, wavy things, but she didn't have time to think about anything but the sword. Inuyasha was in danger, and her own breath was also in danger of running out. She felt the wavy things touch her arm. Impatiently she pushed them aside, reaching further into their midst to grasp the sword hilt.

Then Shippou's light disappeared.

He had resurfaced, the incantation having released too much air for him to go as far as Kagome had.

"Kagome!" he cried, alarmed because when he looked down he couldn't see her at all.

At the bottom of the lake, Kagome panicked. The sword was stuck in the mud below. In desperation she tugged it with both arms---including the broken one---and still it wouldn't budge. But she couldn't let go of the sword, either, or all this would be for nothing. She looked up, thinking that if she could swim down with Shippou then maybe the two of them could pull it out together.

Thinking, however, was becoming difficult. Resigning herself to a second try, Kagome attempted to swim toward the surface. She needed air. It was so dark that she couldn't see what direction to go, so she used her grasp of Tetsusaiga's hilt to pull her feet under her to rest on the lake bottom. However, when Kagome tried to push off of it, she found that she was stuck. The wavy things---apparently lake weeds---had somehow become tangled around her legs. Frantically she thrashed and tried to free herself, but she was losing strength, and with it consciousness.

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Thinking quickly, Shippou conjured up the foxfire again and plunged down as far as his little legs would take him. It was hard for him to swim with the little green flame cupped between his palms. Soon he was rewarded with the sight of the answering gleam off Tetsusaiga's blade, but also horror-struck at the sight of Kagome, trapped among the weeds. Her eyes were open, but so was her mouth, and there were only a few bubbles trailing from it. Desperately, Shippou transformed into the heaviest thing he could think of: a small Buddha statue. It sank like the rock it resembled, and then he transformed back when he had hit the bottom.

The Kitsune tugged on both Kagome's arm and Tetsusaiga's hilt, but neither would budge. Kagome floated up a little ways, her hair billowing around her face, but something kept tugging her downward, and even unconscious she wouldn't let go of the sword. After a few more unsuccessful attempts Shippou's air ran out, and he floated back up to the surface.

"INUYASHA!" he cried, flailing and splashing in a panic. "You've gotta help Kagome! She's stuck at the bottom of the lake!"

Inuyasha was still pinioned beneath Sesshoumaru, whose claws at his throat had begun to glow green.

"What the hell?!" Inuyasha barked. "What was she THINKING?!"

"She was trying to get Tetsusaiga back!" Shippou answered. "So HELP her, already!"

"Tetsusaiga," Inuyasha murmured, remembering what had befallen the sword. As Sesshoumaru's claws descended toward his neck, he thought, `I still have the scabbard. If I can call Tetsusaiga with it. . .'

Sesshoumaru's claws stabbed downward, and Inuyasha whipped his head to the left to avoid being skewered. With one hand, Inuyasha caught his brother's wrist just before Sesshoumaru's rapid counterstrike could reach his face. Holding his brother off required a lot of strength, but the hanyou couldn't spare the use of the other hand, which closed convulsively around the scabbard at his hip. He thanked his lucky stars that it hadn't been torn from him at some point during the battle. As he gripped the scabbard, he felt it send out a pulse.

Sesshoumaru felt the pulse and glanced down to see what was happening. The white demon didn't know that Tetsusaiga could be summoned by its scabbard, but he could sense the power emanating from it. He brought one knee up and stamped down hard on it, attempting to shatter it, but all he succeeded in doing was grinding it into the earth with his weight.

Treading water in the lake, Shippou let out a squawk of surprise as the water around him began to pulse and ripple. But when he looked down and saw a light drawing nearer to the surface of the water.

Then Tetsusaiga broke the surface, dragging Kagome with it.

"KAGOME!" Shippou exclaimed.

When the sword changed direction to zoom over the bank toward Inuyasha, Kagome loosed her death-grip on its hilt and sank back down into the water. Shippou transformed into a round, buoy-like thing and dragged her toward the shore, where he half-pushed, half-rolled her a little ways up the bank.

Tetsusaiga shot toward Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

The instant its hilt reached Inuyasha's palm and his fingers closed around it, everything began happening at once.

Wary as he was of Tetsusaiga's power, Sesshoumaru was also determined to kill his brother. His claws stabbed downward again, but Inuyasha rolled to the side and they only raked the earth beside him. Inuyasha slashed at his brother with Tetsusaiga, but Sesshoumaru was up in a flash and jumping back a good five meters. Asano finally listened to Miroku and grabbed hold of the stump, and Miroku flung aside the prayer beads, shouting, "KAZAANA!" Yaburenumaru dug tried to dig his claws into the earth, scrabbling desperately for some purchase in the loose, churned-up soil to keep from being sucked in. Inuyasha was caught off guard in mid-leap by Sesshoumaru's whip-like weapon. It coiled around Tetsusaiga's blade and held fast, though Inuyasha tried to wrench the sword away. He landed in a crouch, planting his feet to keep from being thrown completely off balance.

While all this was happening, the air had developed a sudden chill, and the sky became lit with a weird green cast. Both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru glanced up and saw what was coming. Borne on the backs of a hundred souls, the Wise rolled onto the scene in the midst of their legions, finally coaxed from their retreat once Tetsusaiga was out of range. Miroku closed off the Wind Tunnel once he had noted the presence of the Inu Youkai souls, and Yaburenumaru paused as well to see what the Wise would do.

"Let GO, stupid!" Inuyasha bellowed at Sesshoumaru. "Can't you see them hovering like damned VULTURES? If this sword leaves my hands we're ALL done for!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he studied the ranks of the Wise, waiting silent and cowled atop the Youkai spirits.

"Let GO of it, before they attack!" Inuyasha urged, pulling on Tetsusaiga's hilt with all his might to keep from being dragged off his feet. "Heirloom or not, the sword's not worth DYING for!"

Slowly, Sesshoumaru turned to face his brother. The red had gone from his eyes, as had the rage. His expression was calm and smooth now, but his eyes were bitter---bitter to a depth that even Inuyasha could scarcely fathom.

"You are wrong," Sesshoumaru said softly. But with a flick of his wrist the coils of the whip loosened and fell away. "Because of your impure blood you can never understand," he murmured. "But while the sword is a worthy cause. . .I have no desire to die in this place."

Astride the back of a great Inu Youkai, hovering over those facing each other on the ground, Honechi watched this exchange with narrowed eyes. If the white demon would not take the sword from Inuyasha, then Reiyama's doom, predicted long ago, would now come to pass.

On the banks of the lake below, Shippou raised himself from where he had lain in the mud, panting with exhaustion. Kagome still lay on her stomach; half submerged, with her arms sprawled over her head, which was turned to the side. Her eyes were slightly open, as was her mouth, but the rising and falling of her back was very faint.

"Kagome!" Shippou gasped, dragging himself closer to her. "Kagome, please be okay!"

He pummeled her shoulder and back with his tiny paws, then tried slapping her face. When she didn't respond, he raised his head to peer over the top of the bank, searching urgently for someone to help.

What he saw was the gray edge of the robes of the man standing above him.

"The hanyou Inuyasha loves this girl," Honechi murmured, gazing down upon Kagome in a very calculating manner. "She is his weakness." Then he uttered a soft incantation, and a thin red mist appeared between them. It formed a visible connection between Kagome's body and Honechi's outstretched hand.

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Inuyasha cried, brandishing Tetsusaiga.

Honechi turned and called, "Inuyasha! Lay down the sword and step away from it, or the girl's soul joins the ranks of those you see here."

"Don't do it, Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled. "Kill him now, before he can cast the spell to take her soul!"

"Don't deal with these treacherous mortals," Sesshoumaru warned from beside Inuyasha. "Don't give up Tetsusaiga for the sake of some mortal girl!"

Honechi smiled thinly. "I am the High Priest of Sorcerers, Inuyasha. Think carefully. I already hold her soul in my grasp, and she is near death. I can bind her to Reiyama faster than you could blink, let alone swing that sword."

Inuyasha's face was very grim as he surveyed the red mist and Kagome's lifeless expression.

"You will do this?!" Sesshoumaru whispered, recognizing the look on his brother's face for what it was. "For the sake of your pathetic human sympathies, you would condemn us all to death?! Do you really think the Wise will spare her?"

Inuyasha didn't say a word; his eyes never left Kagome. Honechi's smile deepened.

Then, at this crucial moment, when words were all that was left to sway the course of things, a hush fell over all present. It was not a true silence, but a supernatural stillness. A sudden peace descended upon the hearts of those who stood upon this field of battle, and all turned to see the reason for it.

The white beast moved calmly through their midst. Its delicate cloven hooves scarcely seemed to touch the ground at all; it moved with a grace so unearthly as to be considered floating. Though its gaze upon each individual was wise and penetrating, its eyes were also merciful; round and soft as pearls. Its horn flashed with borrowed radiance, for it still possessed the jewel shard, embedded there.

"It is the kirin," Honechi breathed. His face wore an uncharacteristic expression of awe. "The kirin, here to ordain the one to rule us."

"The kirin," Asano echoed, still clutching the stump so hard that his fingers turned white at the knuckles. "To choose the true king."

Miroku thought to himself, `If it chooses Asano-sama, then this will end well. Honechi himself said that the power of the Wise is bound to the ruler. . .'

"It has to choose Asano-sama," Shippou whispered. "It HAS to. . ."

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru stood transfixed, watching the kirin move in silence. Yaburenumaru turned from his brother to face it, human eyes watching it intensely from the grotesque demon's face.

"The kirin always chooses the strongest ruler," Honechi murmured to himself. "It chooses the man who is powerful enough to defend Reiyama from those outsiders who would invade it. Thus has every Tatesei king been chosen."

Among the grim ranks of the Wise, sorcerers murmured to themselves, "It MUST be Yaburenumaru-sama."

The kirin passed through the ranks of the Wise, who stood at a respectful distance from it, and also through the legions of souls, which parted like a green tide before it. It walked to the center of the battlefield, where it stood like the calm eye of the storm, luminous eyes taking in all who stood around it. Then, after a long and pregnant silence, it moved forward toward the one it had chosen. As with all kirin of legend, it sank to its front knees and bowed its head so low that the silken mane brushed the churned-up mud. Its long, silver horn angled downward, touching the ground with the tip.

A faint, sweet scent of orange blossoms filled the air, and a shimmering radiance pervaded the space between the white beast and the choice it had made. A silence full of mixed emotions reigned among those who stood around where the kirin knelt.

The ruler had been ordained.

What had been done in this moment would now bind all present to the new lord's fate.

{END OF CHAPTER 12}

Reader: O_O

Yamisui: kukuku