InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Side of the Sun ❯ Intermission Eleven ( Chapter 23 )

Kagome stared, her eyes wide with shock and horror, at the sight before her. No more than a dozen warriors stood before the Lady Izayoi and her army. Behind them stood the silver-haired half-demon from before as well as the one demon she had released from the Goshinboku tree and their father. There were more demons there, according to Sango the demon slayer, but Kagome could not see them. Wherever they were, they were well hidden. To either side of her, she noticed her newfound companions shifting. She tilted her head.

“Sango,” she whispered. “What is it?”

“We're in trouble,” the demon slayer replied, also whispering. “We're in very serous trouble. These are not your average demons.”

“They're not?”

Sango shook her head.

“No,” she whispered. “They're not. They are inuyoukai. Do you see the green stripes on their faces?”

To that, Kagome nodded. Already, her heart hammered in fear, and the palms of her hand began to sweat.

“They're warriors,” Sango continued. “And among the deadliest fighters. All inuyoukai can fight, but those with the green facial stripes are different. They are born warriors, born into warrior clans, and the only groups of demons who can possibly fight an inuyoukai warrior are the wolf demons and kitsune. Even then, a wolf or kitsune will try to avoid fighting an inuyoukai with green facial markings.”

Kagome listened carefully, despite the fact she was mortally afraid now. Sango's words were of no reassurance - if anything, they felt more like a proclamation of death - but, to her schoolgirl mind, the inuyoukai sounded as if they had a caste system. The curious student in her wondered how it was working out for them. She knew many countries no longer had the caste system simply because such a system failed miserably.

“And what about the three standing behind them?” she asked. “Can you tell what kind of system they belong to?”

Sango paused then inhaled a deep breath. She brought her bone boomerang up to hide their faces for a brief moment.

“They,” she began, “are the Lords of the Western Lands, InuTaisho and his sons, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. I believe the Lady Izayoi has chosen the wrong fight.”