InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Edge of Resistance ❯ We Go To Battle ( Chapter 27 )

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

The Edge of Resistance
Book Two: The Dissidents

“The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Jinenji and Nobunaga were up and about before first light, cooking the beans and seaweed that were all that remained of their meager rations. They had rebuilt the fire in the shelter of the rocky hill. Inuyasha roused everyone else as soon as the eastern sky began to cast off the shade of night.

After a long process of mumbling, groaning, and stretching, they were at last all seated around the cooking fire. Several of these people had never met before a couple of days ago and though they seemed friendly enough, they tended to gather in their accustomed groups. Miroku and Sango, dressed in drab peasant clothes, with thick socks and several layers of shabby kimonos, sat together. Near to them, Momiji, Botan, and Suzi shared their scant meal after murmuring a short prayer over it. They had long set aside their priestess robes, however, as those had become unsafe, so they were dressed in similar fashion to Miroku and Sango. Sango, Momiji, and Suzi had scrounged through their packs to come up with a hodgepodge of spare clothing for Botan. Kyotou sat beside Momiji, his black hair tied back away from his rough and scarred face, falling down the shoulder of an old, black haori. He ate very little, and gave most of his food to Momiji and Suzi. Most people, if they happened across the five of them, would not have given them a second glance, taking them for simple peasants or a poor family.

The same could not be said for the other group, consisting of Nobunaga, Nazuna, and Jinenji. For one thing, despite being lordless, Nobunaga still wore the robes of a samurai, if a little threadbare by now. Nazuna, though pretty, was dressed plainly enough but, as she ate, she spoke to Jinenji in low tones, sometimes smiling at something the colossal demon said back to her. Jinenji’s clothing spoke of a certain indifference to both vanity and climate. He sat between Nazuna and Sango.

Inuyasha did not sit. He paced the ground while they ate, taking none for himself, and casting the occasional glance at the eastern sky. More than once, his eyes sought out Sango and Miroku, on their own, as if to be reassured that they were truly there. At last, he took Miroku’s staff from the monk’s hand and rapped it on the rock face.

“Hey!” Miroku jumped and almost choked on his food. “Be easy with that! It’s banged up enough as it is.”

He snatched the rod back, but Inuyasha ignored him.

“Everybody listen up,” he said. “We need to decide who is going, and where we are going.”

The others turned to look at him, puzzled.

“Do you have any ideas?” Sango asked him.

Inuyasha sat down with a sigh, on the ground next to Nobunga.

“Nope.”

They were all silent for some time. The fire crackled and birds in the hedges kicked and scratched in the leaf litter. Surprisingly, it was Jinenji who spoke first.

“There is nowhere else for me to go,” he said. “I would like to stay with Inuyasha-san, if it is not too much trouble.”

“I also prefer to stay with Inuyasha-sama,” Nobunaga said, though he was looking at Nazuna.

She looked away.

“I also have nowhere else to go,” she said.

“We could take you to the nearest village,” Miroku suggested.

“And do what?” she asked. “I have no desire to try to start a new life with strangers.”

“Besides,” Nobunaga added, rather hastily. “There isn’t likely to be a welcoming village anywhere around here. People are worried enough about their own; they will not want more mouths to feed.”

“What about you, Botan?” Inuyasha turned to the young miko.

“I’m staying with my sister, and I’ll leave it up to her.”

Everyone turned to Momiji.

“And I will leave it up to Suzi-chan,” she said.

Suzi started. “What?” she exclaimed.

“You said before that you wanted to go to a village and give up being a priestess. If you still want that, I will go with you. I won’t leave you to strangers.”

Kyotou watched them, but said nothing.

“Well?” Inuyasha demanded, impatient. “What’s it gonna be?”

Suzi flushed and squirmed at the crowd of eyes suddenly turned her way. She turned to Sango and Miroku.

“I want to know what you want,” she said to them.

“Well, we’re staying with Inuyasha,” Sango said.

“I know that. But do you want us?”

Sango and Miroku stared at her.

“Do you want us around?” she asked again. “I want to know if you have…any need of us.”

Sango and Miroku looked at each other for a long moment, then Sango rose and went to the girl, kneeling beside her and taking her hand.

“I don’t think I should decide your destiny,” she said to her. “But, I will tell you the truth. I do want you, Suzi-chan. I would miss you, and Momiji-sama and Kyotou-sama, if you were gone.”

Suzi smiled. “OK then. I’ll stay with you.”

Kyotou exhaled a long, slow breath.

Inuyasha looked at them all in amazement.

“So then…you’re all staying? Even though you have no idea where I’m going?”

“It looks that way,” Miroku said.

“So, reverend leader,” Sango said, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “Where to?”

“I told you already, I don’t know!”

“What about Midoriko?” Nazuna said suddenly.

Everyone turned to her.

“What do you mean?” Inuyasha asked.

“You remember, back at the old temple, when she came to us? You said that she was enshrined in a cave. Maybe if you went there, she could tell you what to do.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened, then he looked at Miroku and Sango.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Miroku said. “I wish we had more to go on. I mean, we still need—

“To find Shippou, and Kagome,” Inuyasha said. “Yeah, I know.”

“What exactly did Midoriko say to you?” Sango asked.

“Uhh…well…,” Inuyasha’s eyes went distant and he scratched on ear. “She said something about time running short…and the ocean…”

Sango gave him an exasperated look.

“She said,” Nazuna spoke up, “you have exactly forty-two days before you must stand before me with all your companions, and believe me, that is not as great a time as it sounds.”

Inuyasha looked at her, startled.

“I remember words very well,” Nazuna told him. “I can see them in my head.”

“That’s helpful,” Miroku said. “Did she say anything else?”

“She said: Look for me in the west by the sea, in the fields of eternal snow. By the sea, by the sea. And that was it.”

“Inuyasha-sama, I for one think that going to the shrine is a good idea.”

Several of Inuyasha’s companions looked around for the unseen speaker. Inuyasha, however, grunted and made a slap at his neck.

“Oh, it’s Myouga!” Sango exclaimed.

“Yes, long time no see, old flea,” Miroku said.

Suzi came over and stood on her tip toes, peering at what Inuyasha held up between two claws.

“Miroku-sama, Sango-san,” he said. “Good morning to you. It’s great to see you again. You’re looking well.”

“You don’t seem surprised to see us,” Miroku remarked.

“I actually returned to my lord last night,” he said. “I discovered then that he had been reunited with you. I was overjoyed, of course, but you were already asleep.”

“Where did you go to?” Nazuna asked him, curious.

“Oh, here and there.”

“Yeah whatever,” Inuyasha said. “You were saying, you think we should go to Midoriko’s cave.”

“Well, unless someone here has a better idea.”

“What about that ‘by the sea’ business?” Momiji asked. “What does that mean?”

“I have no idea,” Inuyasha answered.

“In the fields of eternal snow,” Sango murmured. “That means something, I’m sure of it.”

“Wait a minute,” Nobunaga said. “Weren’t we going to your brother’s house originally, because it was in the west and near the sea? But then we got sidetracked.”

“Hey Myouga,” Inuyasha said, “what did you say that house was called?”

“Uhh…I forget exactly,” the flea mumbled.

“Myouga,” Inuyasha shook him.

“OK, OK,” the little demon cried. “It’s the Hyouden!”

“Hyouden?” Sango exclaimed. “That’s what that name means, Inuyasha, the fields of eternal snow!”

Inuyasha peered at his vassal with suspicion. “Why didn’t you say that, Myouga? Why did you insist we go to Midoriko’s?”

“I still think that’s the best plan,” Myouga insisted. “What good would it do for you to go to the Hyouden? I for one have watched you and your brother bicker enough to last two lifetimes.”

“Ah, Inuyasha and his brother are not close,” Miroku explained to Momiji and Botan, who were standing near.

“You’re forgetting something else,” Nazuna said. “This Midoriko said you were to stand in her presence in forty-two days. Assuming she meant the shrine, how long would it take us to get there from here?”

Inuyasha thought it over. “About three days,” he said, “at the most.”

“Then not enough time has passed,” she said. “Not even close.”

“She’s right,” Inuyasha said. “I don’t know exactly how many days have gone by since we saw her at the temple—

“Seventeen,” Nazuna injected.

“—OK then, not even close.”

“So it’s the Hyouden,” Sango said.

“I still think that is a bad idea,” Myouga said.

“Oh, be quiet,” Inuyasha snapped at him.

“No, listen,” he said. “You got distracted before, right? But what happened? You were reunited with Sango and Miroku.”

“So?”

“So maybe you were not supposed to go to the Hyouden!”

“Ugh,” Inuyasha groaned in frustration. “I’m sick of all this talk about what we’re supposed to do and what we’re meant to do. Going to the Hyouden is still the—

“Inuyasha-sama!” Nobunaga’s voice was a sharp warning. “Look!”

Everyone turned and saw that Nobunaga, who had climbed the rock ledge to get a better view of his surroundings, was pointing to the eastern tree line. Inuyasha peered into the gloom, not yet lit by the early sun. At first, he thought he was looking at an odd-shaped tree trunk, obscured in the shadow.

“That’s a person,” he murmured. “Someone is there.”

“Oh no,” he heard Sango whisper. “It’s her again.”

“What?” he asked.

Then the gray shadow, which had been distant and vague, moved across the ground in queer, jerky motions.

It’s the paper monster, Inuyasha thought, in a moment of sheer, gripping panic.

But when it was closer, he recognized it for the wolf demoness, Ayame. She still wore white fur, and irises in her red hair. One change was undeniable. She was dead.

“Hey,” he stammered. “What?”

“Inuyasha,” Sango cried. “It’s Ayame!”

“Yeah, I see that,” he said. “What’s she doing here?”

The apparition continued to move toward him, and when she was facing him, Inuyasha knew in his bones that she was the paper monster. She was the one who, in his dreams, had emerged from the dark, shell of a house by the woods, shrouded in funeral paper and wailing with hatred, reaching out with rotting arms to hold him down and snuff out his sanity forever. And just like in his dream, he was frozen, muscles rigidly locked in place.

Her lips did not move, but a voice spoke in his head.

“Those who are fighting against Naraku do not fight to survive, as some think, or even for a higher cause, as you all think, but you all fight and lose for the same reason: pure and simple pride.”

“What?” he whispered, unable to think of anything else.

She pointed, extending a straight and determined arm to the northwest, then she was gone.

They did not travel anywhere that day. Jinenji and Nobunaga used the time to forage the surrounding countryside for food. Botan and Momiji were inseparable, and the two of them, along with Suzi, scrubbed clothes in the freezing creek nearby. Miroku spent most of the morning trying to improve the condition of his weathered staff, adding prayers and incantations to the work, just for good measure. Sango attempted to draw Inuyasha into conversation, but after the vision of Ayame he had sat down on the dead grass to stare at the distant mountains and remained there for most of the day, refusing to speak to anyone.

An hour or two after midday, Jinenji and Nobunaga returned with a few satchels filled with nuts and berries, as well as three scrawny hares and one unlucky deer. Kyotou helped them skin and smoke the meat, using the firewood that had been meant for Botan’s pyre. The women used the opportunity to hang the laundry nearby, so that it would not freeze. It took nearly all day for the clothes to dry, and the meat was tough and stringy, but at least they were able to sleep that night with full stomachs and in clean clothing, for the first time in months.

The next day dawned as clear and cold as all the others had. Inuyasha had not slept, and he watched the sun rise in the east, thinking about its rays hitting the Mushashi country and wondering if Kaede was awake yet. Nobunaga and Jinenji were already busy gathering more firewood and building up the fire. The others began to stir, pulling on extra clothing and groaning as their stiff limbs and fingers creaked in the cold.

“I wish I could switch places with you, Inuyasha,” Nazuna said. “You never seem to be cold.”

She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Inuyasha gave her a sharp glance.

“You’re not getting sick again, are you?” he asked.

“No. I’m just cold.”

She went to the fire and knelt by it, holding her hands.

“We need more supplies,” he said.

“I don’t know where we can get them,” Nobunaga said. “If there are any villages or towns nearby, they won’t be generous.”

“We may have to resort to drastic measures,” Inuyasha answered, his face grim.

“We can’t do that, Inuyasha,” Miroku said.

Inuyasha looked up at him.

“It may seem as though the winter has gone on forever, but it’s really only the beginning. If we go around taking precious rations from humans, we will be condemning them to death.”

“Yeah OK, I hear you. But what about the fact that they would kill you, your wife, me, the priestesses, just about everybody here, if they got the chance? If they knew who we were?”

“Some of them might. But I believe,” Miroku answered, sinking to the ground to sit beside him, “that most of those people are desperate and deceived. Maybe even stupid. But that’s not enough to condemn them.”

Inuyasha sighed. “Listen Miroku, have you seen her before? Ayame, I mean.”

“Yes.”

“When?”
< br> “Not long ago, a couple of days, I think. She pointed us toward you.”

Inuyasha stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“As I can be. There is no doubt. We would not have crossed your path if not for Ayame-sama.”

Inuyasha exhaled a long, slow breath. “This is good news,” he said.

“How’s that?”

“It’s better to have direction than to wander around the wild, blind.”

“I agree,” Sango said. She was standing beside them. She lowered herself to the ground to sit on the other side of Inuyasha.

“I don’t know what exactly Ayame is now,” Inuyasha went on, “except that she is dead. I don’t know what happened to her, though I have some suspicions about that. But if she really brought the two of you to me, then I think we can assume that she is trying to help us.”

“Yes, and if she is a spirit from another plane,” Miroku added, “it is very possible that she has access to information that we do not.”

“I think she is trying to lead us to Kagome-chan, or to Shippou-chan,” Sango said.

Inuyasha had to close his eyes, to endure the hitch in his chest he always felt when he heard Kagome’s name.

“We can’t steal what we need,” Inuyasha said, “but we have to do what we can, all we can. We’re responsible for these humans now. We have to keep them alive.”

“I agree. We, Sango and I, owe Momiji and Kyotou our lives. But, I’m a little surprised at you, Inuyasha.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t deny that these humans, including Sango and myself, slow you down. Considering the circumstances, I’m a little surprised you don’t run off on your own to find Kagome.”

Closing his eyes again, Inuyasha shook his head.

“That’s what I would have done, before. I can’t do things that way anymore.”

The three of them fell silent. On either side of him, Inuyasha could feel them staring at him. He stood in a sudden movement and, grabbing their hands, pulled them up.

“We have to keep pressing on,” he said. “Are you ready?”

Sango squeezed his hand.

“I am ready.”

“I am ready,” Miroku whispered.

“I am ready,” Inuyasha brought their heads towards him, to lean against his own temples. “I am ready.”

The others had meanwhile gathered around the fire to take their breakfast. They fell silent and looked at the three persons that had become the undisputable center of their lives, the masters of their destinies. Momiji remembered living by the sea, enduring the interminable rains and the lashes of despair, and for the first time in months she wore a genuine smile.

***

“Shippou! Stop!” Kagura cried.

She finally caught up with him, pulling his haori and almost yanking him off his feet. Already, feathers had sprouted on his shoulders. He spun around, his eyes wild.

“Lemme go!” he almost screamed.

“Damnit, snap out of it! Taroumaru saw Inuyasha weeks ago. There’s no telling where he is now!”

Shippou blinked at her, uncomprehending. “But…I…”

Kagura grabbed his shoulders. “I know, alright? I get it. But you have to calm down.”

Shippou shook his head. He turned to the direction Taroumaru had pointed. He turned back to Kagura. Taroumaru meanwhile had emerged from tent and stood watching them.

“Kagura,” Shippou said. “I have to get back to them.”

Kagura’s voice was stern and her hands still on him. “Look around. Look!”

Shippou turned his head back and forth to look at the surrounding army. The women, children, and elderly were in a camp in the center, and most of the men were taking advantage of the break in fighting to sleep, drink, and gamble. They were mixed in with the wolf demons.

“These people depend on us,” she said. “Don’t forget, you were the one who persuaded them to fight with you. And you’re going to run off now because there’s something you want more somewhere else?”

Shippou gaped at her. He tried several times to speak, but at last he hung his head, his face betraying an old pain.

“Shippou-sama!”

They looked up and saw Norio walking towards them, his narrow face and sharp features grim, even severe. His black hair, caught behind his neck with a metal clasp, lifted in the wind.

“I think something is wrong,” he said in a quiet voice, when he was closer.

“What do you mean?” Kagura asked him.

“I sent scouts out this morning,” he said. “A few have not returned. They should have by now. They were not supposed to go far.”

“Which way did they go?” Shippou asked.

“They were the ones I sent north.”

Shippou chewed his lower lip.

“OK,” he said. “I’ll go look for them. Kagura, stay here with the armies.”

“Shippou-sama, if those men were killed or captured by a lurking enemy, you may be going into a trap. You should not go alone.”

Shippou shook his head. “There’s no good in risking more men.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kagura said.

“No, I want you to be here with the armies.”

“I agree with Norio-san,” she insisted. “I don’t think you should go alone.”

Shippou thought, chewing his lip again. “I guess I can take some of the wolf demons with me. Listen, just in case, if I don’t come back—

“No,” Kagura shook her head, laughing a little. “No, no. Not an option.”

Shippou was about to respond, when he was cut off by a shocking detonation that rattled the very ground. The three of them struggled to keep their balance. Around them, people began to shout.

“What was that?” Kagura exclaimed, looking around.

“I don’t know,” Shippou, without thinking, took her hand.

From somewhere in the camp, they heard the first cries of alarms rising above the general din. The screaming spread, and soon they could see people running away from the disturbance and towards the river.

“Oh no. Heaven help us.”

Shippou looked at Norio sharply. His face had drained of color and Shippou followed his eyes and saw that from the north the noon was blotted out. A cloud of dust spread southwards, overtaking the army. Shippou heard more and more people scream in terror. Some cried out in agony.

Something grabbed Shippou’s coat and yanked him around. He found himself face to face with a wolf demon he only barely recognized.

“It’s a surprise attack!” the demon shouted. “You better get these humans out of here, while you can.”

Kagura bolted for the tent.

“Norio-san,” Shippou addressed his captain. “Can we mount a counter-attack?”

The warrior shook his head. “They have every advantage. We’re not ready. They’re coming from the high ground, and pushing us against the river. If we don’t get out of here, it will be a blood bath.”

Shippou stomped his feet and cursed. “Where in the hell did they come from?”

“I really don’t know,” Norio answered.

Kagura returned, holding her weapon, with Taroumaru in tow.

“Get as many people out as you can,” Shippou told Norio. “Here, take Taroumaru with you for help. Get them across the river!”

“What about you?” Taroumaru asked.

“We’re gonna try to hold them off. Go!”

Norio bowed smartly and pulled Taroumaru away, speaking and gesturing in great haste.

Shippou looked up at the northern mountain slopes. The Tsuchigumo were like ink spilled on the hillsides. The black mass of them had almost reached the valley. Shippou looked around and saw the house leaders striving to order their people toward the river. The wolf demons, however, stomped their feet and beat their chests, and showed no sign of fleeing.

“Not much strategy this time,” Shippou raised his voice over the commotion of screams and battle cries. “Just kill as many as you can.”

“Got it,” Kagura answered. She lifted herself in the air, carrying her deadly staff above her head.

“Wait, Kagura,” Shippou reached out to her. “This could be the last time I see you.”

“What?” she turned to him. “What are you babbling about?”

He stared at her, unable to bring the words up from the cellar in his mind.

“You better get going,” she said to him, moving away again. “Or I’ll get them all and there won’t be any left for you.”

Shippou swore under his breath, then took off running toward the hills. As he ran he spread out his arms. The wind lifted him and his talons left the ground.

***

Kouga was the first one to sense what was waiting for them. On the wind he caught the scent of dust and blood. His sharps ears began to pick up the cries of battle and the moans and sighs of the dying.

Damnit, he thought, what am I going to do with these women?

He did not have long to think on it. Within minutes they burst into a scene of chaos and carnage. They came out of the forested hills to a flat valley with a wide river dividing it. On the northern shore humans were fleeing in terror, taking their chances in the muddy river to escape a torrent of spider monsters that poured out of the northern hills. He saw behind them men fighting the monsters to aid the escape of their woman and children. He knew they were Shippou’s men.

“Holy shit,” Hakkaku whispered as they came to a halt.

Kouga looked around and could only just make out some of his own kinsmen, fighting the Tsuchigumo in the hills.

“This is a disaster,” Ginta exclaimed. “Where did all those damned demons come from?”

The girls, of course, were terrified.

“We have to get away!” Yuka shouted in his ear, making him wince.

“What do we do, Kouga-kun?” Higurashi asked him, still clinging to Ginta’s back.

Kouga turned around. To the south, the valley rose into more hills, blanketed with dark firs.

“There!” he shouted, pointing up into the low mountains.

Ginta and Hakkaku looked up.

“Do you see that bit of grey rock?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

“I don’t see anything,” Yuka protested.

“Of course you don’t,” he replied. “You’re just a human. But I know there’s a large cave up there. I’ve used it before. What’s more, it winds down into the hills and opens up again in another valley, so if worse comes to worse, you won’t be trapped.”

“What do you mean?” Higurashi asked in alarm.

“We’re taking the four of you there right now.”

“You’re going to leave us?”

“I have to come back to help as many of my kinsman survive as I can. I can’t do that carrying around a bunch of human women. I can’t take you across the river.”

“But—

“Come on,” he ordered the other wolf demons. “Let’s go before any of those vermin over there see us and get wise.”

Kouga ran so fast that the wind whistled in Yuka’s ears and she clenched her teeth to keep in the screams. It took the wolf demons less than three minutes to get to the mouth of the cave, where they unceremoniously dumped the women off their backs and took off running again, before Higurashi and the others could say anything to them.

When they returned, many humans had made it across the river, though, by the looks of it, many more had not. Kouga could see their bodies on the opposite bank, and floating in the water, and the Tsuchigumo continued crossing the river, their numbers unabated.

“Alright men,” he said, his eyes grim. “To war.”

“To war!” they shouted.

Kouga leaped over the fleeing humans and cut down Tsuchigumo before they even knew to look up, slashing their necks and sending their heads bobbing down the river like grotesque apples. On land, once he was sure he was clear of all humans, he stormed through their ranks like a cyclone of swords, a storm that sent blood and black limbs flying in all directions. He heard more than one wolf demon voice rise above the fray in triumph.

“It’s Kouga!” they shouted. “Kouga has come!”

He paused when he saw a wolf demon he knew well, a close kinsmen he had left in charge.

“What happened here?” Kouga demanded.

The wolf demon wiped blood from the side of his face, and Kouga saw that he was now missing an ear, but he seemed to take no notice. He looked around, squinting.

“We were doing well until this morning,” he shouted above the fray, “but a surprise attack pinned us against the river. Those humans took heavy losses. They don’t smell like anything Kouga. You can’t sense them!”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

They could not continue talking. It seemed that they were standing on a beach, and they were only an inch tall, trying to fight off the sand.

***

“You know that this direction leads right to that commotion you saw the other day?” Nobunaga questioned him.

“I know it,” Inuyasha answered him.

They were traveling a good pace, as fast as the slowest among them could move, making their way through the barren pine forests that blanketed the hills. It was not yet midday, but the sky was darkened.

“That’s all well and good for us, Inuyasha-sama,” Nobunaga continued, “but what about the women?”

“I know,” Inuyasha waved him off impatiently. “We’ll just have to protect them.”

“But—

“Stop worrying, Nobunaga.”

“I can’t. It’s in my nature. And since when were you so carefree?”

“I’m not, but there’s no use in you worrying about it.”

“When do you think we’ll get there?”

“Soon,” Inuyasha answered. “These hills are going to sink into a valley. I think it has a river in it. That’s where the trouble is.”

Inuyasha and Nobunaga were in front of the company, almost running. Miroku and Sango were not far behind, and it pained Inuyasha to hear their strained breathing. From all they had told him about the past six months, it was no wonder that they were weaker. If Miroku and Sango had been weakened by injury, exertion, and privation, Inuyasha feared the other humans were hanging on the edge of life. He was especially worried about Nazuna, who had never been strong to begin with and had already sickened once.

I can’t take them into battle.

Despite what he said to Nobunaga, he did not put this worry from his mind.

The trees thinned and as they emerged from the forest he could see the exact location of the battle. Though the others only saw some movement and a great deal of dust, Inuyasha could see that there were humans and spider demons engaged in combat, which the humans were mostly losing. Mixed among them he could make out wolf demons.

“Wolf demons?” Miroku asked. “I wonder if they are related to Kouga?”

“I don’t know,” Inuyasha answered. “There are a lot of wolf demon tribes out there.”

He peered into the clamor and dust.

“Wait,” he said sharply. “That’s him.”

“What?”

“There,” Inuyasha pointed. “You see that dust cloud, moving across to the east?”

“Yes, I think so,” Sango murmured, shading her eyes.

“That’s Kouga.”

Sango gasped. “Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah, that’s him alright. I can almost smell him from here.”

“What do we do?”

Inuyasha looked around, then back towards the fighting.

“I know what I have to do,” he said at last. “I have to go there. But I can’t take the rest of you.”

“I can fight,” Nobunaga responded.

“So can I,” Kyotou said.

“Yeah, maybe, but someone has to stay with the others.”

“What do you mean?” Sango demanded. “You intend to leave us behind?”

“I think not,” Miroku exclaimed.

The others began to clamor in agreement.

“We’ve come this far together,” Botan said.

“It’s not safe here,” Nazuna said. “Those monsters are everywhere. Sango and Miroku were attacked two days ago.”

“I’m telling you,” Nobunaga insisted. “I can fight with you!”

“Enough!” Inuyasha yelled.

The rest stopped and stared at him in amazement. He pointed to the fighting.

“People are dying over there. I don’t have time for this shit. I can’t take you with me. Yes, it’s dangerous to separate, but it’s a hell of a lot worse over there!”

They looked around at each other, but said nothing.

“Now, as you said before, I’m leading this little company,” he continued. “You have your orders and—

He stopped and fell silent. He sniffed the air.

“Inuyasha?” Miroku took a step toward him. “What is it?”

Inuyasha held up one hand, and continued smelling the air.

“I thought I—

He stopped again.

After a few moments, he spoke. “I thought I caught a familiar scent. It’s coming from those hills.” He pointed to the southwest.

“What is it?” Sango asked him.

“I’m not sure who or what it is,” he said, “but I’m sure I know it.”

“Then we should go that way.”

“But—

“There are only so many scents that you would recognize Inuyasha,” she said. “We have to find it out. Maybe there’s somewhere you can stash us.”

Inuyasha ignored her slightly bitter tone. He hesitated and looked back toward the river, then he shook his head.

“Alright, but we have to move fast.”

In order to go in that direction, they had to come down out of the hills, cut through a corner of the valley, and ascend again into rocky knolls to the south. Inuyasha pushed the rest of them as much as he was willing, but the going was slow, and it was early afternoon before they reached the foot of the low mountains. Now the scent was clear, but he could still not name it.

“There’s a cave up there,” he said.

He turned and looked at the humans. Several of them were red-faced and panting, despite the frosty air.

“I want the rest of you to stay here,” he told them. “It will only take me a few minutes to go up and look.”

He moved to leap away immediately, but Miroku grabbed his sleeve.

“Wait, Inuyasha,” he said. “Take me with you.”

“What the hell for?”

“Just in case.”

“In case of what? There’s nothing in that cave that I can’t handle. And if there were, you’d be no help.”

Miroku sighed and shook his head.

“Why do you argue with me, Inuyasha?” he asked. “Is it out of some obscure principle?”

Inuyasha glared at him and muttered under his breath.

“Fine,” he said, kneeling. “Let’s go.”

“Look after the others,” Miroku said to Sango, climbing on Inuyasha’s back.

She nodded.

They left so quickly that the others could scarce see it. Miroku held the staff across Inuyasha’s chest and the rings jingled as Inuyasha ran up the side of the hills, dodging trees and shrubs and leaping from rock to rock.

“I can’t say I missed this sort of thing!” Miroku shouted over the freezing wind, trying to keep Inuyasha’s hair out of his face.

Inuyasha grunted.

Within a minute or two, Inuyasha came to a sudden stop on a ledge. Miroku clambered off his back and saw a small cave mouth opening up onto the ledge.

“I’ll go in first,” Inuyasha said.

Miroku followed Inuyasha into the cave. The ceiling was so low that they had to stoop, and they were obliged to walk single file. After only a few moments in the dim light, Miroku was sure he could hear voices. It sounded like women talking.

Inuyasha stopped and sniffed the air.

“There are three—no, four, woman ahead. Humans.”

“That’s it?” Miroku whispered. “Why would they be here alone?”

“Who’s there?” a voice cried out into the darkness.

Inuyasha was still for a moment, then he nudged Miroku.

“You go first,” he whispered.

Miroku smirked. “Told you so.”

“Just go the hell on.”

“Who’s there?” the voice asked again. “Don’t come any closer!”

“It is alright,” Miroku called out. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“Are you human or demon?” the woman asked.

“I am human.”

He heard them whispering.

“Come closer then,” another one said. “Into the light.”

Miroku took slow steps further down into the cave, until he walked into the faint light of a small fire. He was not at all prepared for what he found. They were human women, but they were dressed in furs and leather from their chins to their toes, sort of similar to…

Wolf demons, he thought to himself.

Three of them were very close in age, one with rather long, black hair that was twisted into thick ropes that hung behind her ears. The fourth looked older, and wiser, and somewhat familiar. From behind him, he heard Inuyasha’s sharp intake of breath.

The girls caught sight of him.

“Hey!” the one with the long hair shouted. “Who is that? You didn’t say anyone was with you!”

“He’s a friend,” Miroku said quickly, holding up the palm of his hands and trying to look especially monkish.

“Oh my god,” the older woman gasped, and covered her mouth.

“Higurashi?” the girl turned to her.

“Higurashi?” Miroku echoed the name.

Inuyasha pushed past him.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed.

“Oh, it is you!” the older one cried. She ran to Inuyasha and threw her arms around him. “Thank the stars above! Inuyasha!”

“Umm…” was all Miroku could manage.

Inuyasha pulled the woman away and, holding her head, studied her face.

“How did you get here?” he demanded. “This isn’t possible!”

“But it is!” she said. “A demon brought us here.”

“A demon?” Miroku interrupted.

“Yes! I think he was working for Naraku!”

“Naraku?” both Inuyasha and Miroku exclaimed.

“Yes!” the woman called Higurashi said. Then she sighed, trying to calm herself. “It’s a long story.”

Inuyasha scratched his head. “Everything is a long story these days.”

“Inuyasha,” she looked into his eyes intently. “Where is Kagome?”

It seemed to Miroku that Inuyasha’s face was suddenly drawn and weary.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “I’m sorry.”

The woman hung her head and slumped her shoulders.

“Don’t you worry,” Inuyasha said to her. “I will get Kagome back, I promise.”

Higurashi turned back to him and smiled wryly.

“Believe me when I say that I know for certain you will.”

“So…” Miroku began, looking back and forth between the two. “You know each other? And you know Kagome.”

“Miroku,” Inuyasha said, “this is Kagome’s mother.”

For one of the few occasions in his life, Miroku was struck speechless. He could only stare at the woman with his mouth hanging open.

“Listen,” Inuyasha said to them. “I—

He stopped, and looked closer at the younger girls. “Hey, wait a minute. I know you, too.”

“And I remember you,” the long-haired girl said. Miroku thought her voice harsh and her eyes hard. “You’re not what you seemed to be, I can see that now.”

“Uh…well…actually…”

“You’re a demon,” she said simply.

“Half-demon, to tell the truth.”

“Whatever,” she waved that aside. “Either way, it explains a lot. A lot.”

“Indeed,” another girl, one with short, straight hair, murmured.

“I’m sure you all have a lot to talk about,” Miroku began, still staring at them a little wild-eyed. “But the others are waiting.”

“Right. Stay here, Miroku. I’m going to go get them.”

“I don’t think they can all climb up this mountain, at least not very fast.”

“I’m going to carry them up, stupid.”

“One by one?”

“More or less,” Inuyasha called back as he walked out of the cave. “Wait here.”

It seemed to take hours to get everyone up into the cave, and all the while Inuyasha could hear the sounds of fighting and dying.

How much longer can that go on?

When everyone was at last sitting around the fire he bid them one abrupt goodbye and was gone before they could say anything to stop him. Kyotou probably and Nobunaga certainly would have insisted on going with him, and he thought it best that they stay behind. With that many people hiding, some of them needed to know how to use a sword.

Inuyasha cleared the slope in one leap and tore across the valley toward the river, still obsessing in his mind how Higurashi came to be here and why.

Just hope I’ll have the chance to find out.

The sun was already getting lower. Night came early this time of year, and even earlier in the hill country. On his way, he was gratified to see not a few humans, refugees making their way in groups to the south. They were not being pursued. It seemed that the fighters had managed to hold the Tsuchigumo away from the river. As he got closer, he saw human men and wolf demons forming a spearhead that aimed north. However, he could see even in this dim light that the northern slopes were still covered in the black monsters. The comforting weight of Tessaiga hung at his hip.

“To battle,” he murmured.

Inuyasha took to the sky. He leapt over the heads of the humans and wolf demons, who did not even know he was there. Coming down nearer the foot of the hills, Inuyasha drew his sword and, in one stroke, lit the gray afternoon with searing lightening. The energy left his heart, his hands, and his sword, and cleared a path, acres wide and nearly half a mile long, straight into the mountains. Tsuchigumo disintegrated, chunks of sod and grass flew up into the air, and trees split by the score. The noise was awful.

It was definitely enough to get everyone’s attention. A towering silence hung in the air. The Tsuchigumo seemed shocked into sanity. Those that were not incinerated stood up straight and stared with glittering eyes and gaping maws, uncomprehending. For a moment that seemed to drag on forever, no one moved.

But of course it was not forever. The Tsuchigumo screamed in hateful defiance and came rushing in, like black water, to fill the gaps in their ranks. Behind Inuyasha, the fighting resumed, as the men and wolf demons tried to exterminate the Tsuchigumo that had been lucky enough to not be in front of Inuyasha.

“That’s OK,” Inuyasha said, his expression grim.

He raised his sword again as the monsters resumed their plunge down the slopes.

“I can do this all night.”

***

Shippou fought off the furtive flutters of the edge of panic. He had killed many, many Tsuchigumo, but it did not seem to make a difference. All around him he heard and smelled humans dying. The wolf demons were faring better of course, but they were not without their own losses. Kouga’s return had been fortuitous, but that brought to Shippou’s mind another problem.

What would Kouga do when he saw Kagura?

Shippou had come to take the ‘new’ Kagura for granted, but he reminded himself that Kouga had never met the ‘new’ Kagura. To him, Kagura was still a mortal enemy. And speaking of Kagura…

Where the hell was she?

It seemed hours since he had seen her, an alarming situation considering he spent most of that time in the air, picking up Tsuchigumo and flinging them against the rocks.

This will never end. It will just go on and on like this forever. This is hell.

These things ran on a loop through his mind even as he fought. Shippou rode a current of air that rolled off the hills into the valley, soaring low over the heads of his allies and enemies, carefully choosing which ones to tear with his talons. His metallic cries pierced the air, which was growing darker with each minute.

He had to find Kagura. He did not doubt that she could take care of herself, but it had been too long. He could not wait anymore. He beat his wings to lift higher, thinking that flying seemed so much more natural now than walking.

He did not see Kagura, but his eyes caught a strange motion and he saw Norio being swarmed under. Shippou lost no time in rushing to the scene and his talons and beak frightened the monsters away long enough for Norio to get to his feet. The man looked up at him, but his eyes had an alarming vacancy and his face was chalk white. Then Shippou saw the blood. Norio’s left arm was mangled and shapeless.

Shippou resumed his normal shape and rushed to his side. For a moment, he was disoriented, being so close to the ground.

“What happened?” he shouted.

Norio’s mouth wagged at him, but nothing came out.

“I have to get you out of here,” Shippou said, mostly to himself. “I’m going to carry you out, OK?”

Not waiting for an answer, Shippou stood and held out his arms, and was bringing himself up on the wind in minutes. He thought to himself how had only ever carried Kagura and that was only once. Anything else he had purposefully impaled, and he worried that he would be unable to carry his friend without killing him.

As it turned out, he would not get the chance to try.

Shippou was about six feet off the ground when he felt an odd, unfamiliar resistance to his power of flight. Something was pulling him down. He struggled harder to rise, then he understood. Tsuchigumo were gathered around, and now he could see the white, sticky ropes that they cast over him like fishing nets. The monsters, or at least a few of them, were spitting out the thin, but unbreakable, strands.

This is new, he thought, before he hit the ground.

Grasping, bony hands clawed at him as he struggled to pull off the webbing. One hand gripped his shoulder and yanked him over onto his back and he found himself staring into a dark face, with clusters of glittering eyes and a slobbering maw of a mouth. He managed to free his left arm and made a clumsy swing at the demon’s head, but it anticipated the move and threw its head back, grabbing the arm and twisting it. Pain shot to his shoulder and Shippou cried out.

An urgent panic grew in his mind. There were so many, he had to get away or he would be covered in them, and so would Norio. His ears filled with the sound of his pumping heart and rushing blood, drowning out the din of battle.

All the bony hands were gone, and when he looked around he saw that there were no Tsuchigumo nearer than fifteen feet. He was still held down by the webbing. A strong burst of foxfire, however, melted it away. Shippou got to his feet and stumbled toward Norio, but a terrific force landed with a boom on the ground between them. Something large moved again up in the air and Shippou could hear the air whistling as it swung around again. Uncomprehending, moving only on instinct, he dodged the next hammer fall, tumbling head over heels. A long shadow covered him and he looked up at the towering figure of a black ogre. Its eyes were red and its long, curved fangs seemed impossible for its mouth. He was nine, maybe ten, feet tall, and he held a club that was bigger than Shippou.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Shippou yelled at him.

The monster only grinned, an expression of cruelty and malice. To Shippou’s dismay, he realized that the demon was actually singing!

The stupid little fox brat
Thinks he so fast!
Better run, better run
Faster than my club!
All the little kits
With their dumb toy tricks
Better run, better run
Outrun my club!

Every time he said club, the creature swung his weapon again. Shippou dodged the blows and looked past the ogre. He saw that the injured Norio was lying crumpled on the ground now.

“Why are you here?” he shouted, hoping to distract the giant from using his weapon long enough to catch his breath.

The demon did not answer, but opened his mouth wide, then wider, then impossibly wide. To his horror, Shippou saw something coming through the ogre’s throat. A dozen or more Tsuchigumo came pouring out, spilling on the ground like shiny black pebbles and, within seconds, were up and running, joining their kindred.

“That’s really disgusting, you know that?” Shippou said, trying to mimic Inuyasha’s bravado.

He dodged another fall of the weapon, and the monster kept singing his morbid song.

Bring me the black pans
And a hot water bath
Gonna mince, gonna scald
The baby’s gonna bawl!
Stoke the cooking fires
Heat up the fryers
Better run, better run
Outrun my club!

Shippou was tired. He had been fighting all day and was suffering from small but numerous wounds. One Tsuchigumo had even bitten him, and he suspected that it was effecting him; his head felt numb and his stomach sloshed around in his insides. When another blow came roaring down, Shippou only mostly dodge it. It glanced off the side of his head and sent him reeling and sprawling on the ground, blood oozing from his ears. He clung to the ground, feeling as though he would fall off the face of the earth.

The heavy steps of the ogre shook the ground as he came closer to him.

This is it, he thought. It’s over. I’m not strong enough.

He was so tired he hardly cared, except…except…

“Kagura,” he croaked, trying to lift one hand.

Darkness took him and he knew no more.

***

“Have you seen Shippou?”

It sounded like a woman’s voice, which was enough to get Kouga’s attention. What the hell would a woman be doing in the middle of this?

Despite all the shocks he had received in the last week, none had prepared him for what he saw when he turned around.

For a second, he did not recognize her. Two things were immediately clear: she was a demon, and she was fighting against, not for, the Tsuchigumo. She was covered in their black-green blood. She was tall and wore black boots up to her knees, with black hakama tucked into them. Several layers of short, red kimonos were tied around her, topped with a black haori. Her hair was long and wavy and flew in all directions.

It was the eyes that did it, eyes that bored into him like scalding rubies.

“Son of a bitch!”

Not waiting one second, he threw all his strength into a devastating punch. Kagura, however, dodged him easily and his fist hit only sod.

“I don’t have time for this, Kouga,” she warned him. “Have you seen Shippou or not?”

“You don’t need to worry about him,” he growled at her. “You got me.”

“Damn it, you always were a bloody fool. Don’t you—

“Kagura-sama!” a man shouted, grabbing her haori.

Kagura turned quickly. “What is it?”

“All the women, children, and old people, what’s left of them, are across the river and into the hills to the south,” he told her.

“Good! Get the rest of the men across the water if you can. Retreat to higher ground!”

“Yes!”

He turned to leave, but Kagura held on to him.

“Wait! Have you seen Shippou?”

The man shook his head. “No, my lady.”

She released him. “Go! But don’t take any unnecessary risks, Fukushima. Just get the hell out of here!”

He nodded and hurried away.

Kouga watched this exchange, astounded.

“The Motherless,” he said, staring at her.

“What?”

“You’re the other captain!”

“I’m sure this is all very confusing and fascinating,” she said. “But I need to know if you’ve seen Shippou.”

He shook his head, his eyes still wide.

“Damn!” she lifted herself in the air as if it were water she could swim through. “Keep your eye out for him!”

She turned to leave, but she was only a few feet from the ground when a gust of wind burst through the valley and knocked them both onto their backs. The air was oddly charged; Kouga noticed the hair on his arms standing up.

“What the hell was that?” she shouted, getting to her feet.

“I don’t know. It came from over there.”

He pointed toward the northern slopes, where the Tsuchigumo had been pouring out all day.

Something, some kind of power, grew in the air, like a drawn coil, and a terrific wind was released again. This time they were looking in the right direction to see the brassy electricity tear up into the hills like lightning, born of dirt instead of clouds.

“I know what that is,” she whispered.

“So do I,” he said. “And I can’t believe it.”

Kagura started in that direction, but he grabbed her sleeve.

“We have a lot to discuss,” he told her, “at some length, if you know what I mean.”

“Fine,” she said, jerking her arm away. “But do you mind if we try to live until then?”

In the next instant she was flying away. Kouga swore under his breath and followed her.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered to himself. “What next?”

He and Kagura caught up to Inuyasha at about the same time. Even in the middle of the destruction and confusion, Kouga almost laughed at the sight of him, swinging his gigantic sword like a kid knocking down lilies in a garden.

Kagura shouted something that Kouga didn’t catch and Inuyasha turned around, but his eyes found Kouga’s face first. For a second, he stood stock still, gaping at him.

“So, you finally showed up, you mangy mutt!” Kouga shouted at him, kicking a few piles of dead spider demons aside to get to him.

Inuyasha stared at him, then, much to Kouga’s surprise, he smiled. He reached out a hand and grabbed Kouga's shoulder.

“How’s it going? Long time no see.”

Kouga was beginning to feel overloaded with surprises.

“Is that all you have to say to me?” he demanded, shaking his fist.

“What did you expect?” Inuyasha shouted back. “Did you want me to recite love poetry?”

Kouga shook his head.

“Sorry,” he said, “but I owe you this.”

He punched Inuyasha square in the mouth. His heart was not wholly in it, so the blow only caused Inuyasha to stumble back a little.

“What the hell did you do that for?”

“It’d take too long to explain,” Kouga answered. “Believe me, you deserve it.”

Kagura laughed. “He did that to me too, but at least I dodged it, Inuyasha!”

Inuyasha glanced at her and started to say something to Kouga again, but then he stopped short and grabbed her coat, his eyes somewhat protruding from his head.

“Whaaa…?”

“Yo, Inuyasha!” she said. “You’ve been well, I hope.”

“Wha…what the…how did you…?”

“Yes, yes, riveting,” she said. “But I don’t have time. Have you seen Shippou?”

“Shippou?” he shouted. “What the hell do you mean? Is he here?”

“Damn,” she muttered. “I guess that’s a ‘no’.”

She tore away from him, turning away.

“Hey! Wait!”

“I can't! I have to find him!”

She was gone. Inuyasha almost chased after her, but Kouga rapped him on the temple with his knuckles.

“Pay attention!” he yelled at him. “Look!”

Inuyasha's eyes followed his pointing hand to the north, where the monsters were making gains again.

“Keep on 'em!” Kouga shouted. “You're giving these people their best chance to get away.”

Kouga ran in the direction Kagura had gone, but he knew Inuyasha had listened to him because, even as he ran, he could feel the energy of the Tessaiga sizzling the air.


***

Kagura flew low over the fighting. She was relieved to see that few humans remained on this side of the river. It was mostly wolf demons who remained. Still, the battle spread over a fair amount of land, some of which was dotted with trees. The dust and confusion blurred everything together. All the Tsuchigumo looked the same; all the wolf demons looked the same. Kagura moved up and down the length of the field, keeping her eyes peeled for flaming red hair.

What if I don’t find him? What if he washed away in the river?

What if I do find him, and he’s dead?

A cold knot of fear wrapped around her insides. Shippou could not be dead. It was unthinkable. It was—

At last she caught sight of him, sprawled face down on the ground. A movement off to the side caught her eye. It was a shape so large she almost believed that it was a moving tree. A black ogre lumbered toward Shippou, swinging a club that may as well have been a tree. Kagura managed to get to the ground and lift her weapon above her head, letting it take the intended death blow. The ogre’s crushing weight pressed down on the staff and she heard it creaking. Her bones rattled and she grit her teeth. The monster glared down at her through a maniacal grin.

Kagura released her muscles for a split second and swung her weapon around. The curved tip of the blade sank into the ogre’s flesh like cutting a ripe peach. A wide, scarlet gash appeared across its belly and the blue and grey intestines peaked out. The ogre wailed and stumbled back, holding its wound with its free hand and turning around and around, spraying blood on the muddy grass.

“Get back!” she shouted. “I will let you go if you leave now! I will kill you if you touch him!”

The ogre’s wail trailed away to a pathetic, dismayed moan. Then he turned on her again and she saw with a shock that he was still grinning. Then his mouthed opened wider, wider, and wider still. A black ooze started to pour forth, and Kagura thought he was in his death throws already. But the ooze took shape, and from the monster’s gut there came at least a dozen Tsuchigumo, fully formed by the time they hit the ground.

“What?” was all she could manage before they were on her, tiny black hands clawing her everywhere and pulling her down.

She relieved some arms of their hands, but it did not help. Something else was on her, some kind of sticky rope. White strands of it came out of nowhere and covered her. Through it, and through the claws and hairy arms, she could see Kouga attacking the ogre. A terrific thud shook the ground, and she knew it was the monster landing on his back.

Shippou! I have to get out of this!

She struggled, pulled, and twisted, and finally freed herself of their hands. She tried to escape to the air, but the strings launched over her head like a net and pulled her down, not slowly, but all at once with a violent jerk. The impact with the ground knocked the wind out of her; she heard a loud, short crack, and felt an agonizing pain in her left leg. Gasping for breath, she could not put up any more fight. A hand grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.

In the next second the little demons scattered everywhere. Kouga’s fist and feet were blurring in the air above her and she heard angry and outraged cries of pain.

She sat up, holding her throat and choking for air.

“Kouga!” she gasped. “Shippou!”

She looked around but did not see either one.

“He’s fine,” Kouga’s voice came from somewhere. “He’s just knocked out.”

Kagura wrenched herself around to find him, but a searing pain gripped her leg again. She cried out but continued turning. Kouga was kneeling beside the young fox demon, studying his face and shaking his shoulders.

“He’s coming around.”

Kagura could see nothing from where she was, so she pulled herself in that direction, dragging her weight with her elbows.

Shippou groaned. “Kagura…”

“I’m here!” she cried. “I’m right here. Are you alright?”

He groaned again, but sat up, rubbing his head. “I think so. You?”

“I’m fine,” she answered.

“Did you know that your leg is broken?” Kouga asked her in an acidic tone.

“What?” Shippou got to his feet, but he stumbled and bowed over, holding his head.

“Steady there, kid,” Kouga held his elbow.

Shippou looked around. For the first time, he noticed something unusual to the west. Through the dust and trees he could only make out an eerie light that flashed again and again near the hills.

“What is that?”

Kouga hesitated. “It’s…it’s Inuyasha.”

Kagura was looking up in his face and saw a light come into his eyes, a hope, a need that was almost dreadful.

“What?” Shippou gasped for breath.

Kagura thought he was about to speed away, but he stopped, stood still for a moment, then he turned back to her.

“Can you move?” he asked her. “Can you get out of here?”

“I can still fly,” she said. “I think.”

He helped her to her feet. She could not put any weight on the injured leg.

“I want you to get across the river,” he told her. “The people…we need to get them to safety.”

“Where would that be?” she asked.

“There are caves,” Kouga injected. “To the south.”

“Caves?” Shippou turned to him. “We still have a lot of people.”

“The caves are big,” Kouga said. “It’s more like a bunch of tunnels that go back into the mountains. I think they’ll fit.”

“Good. Kagura, I want you to go with Kouga and get the people to those caves.”

She nodded. “You’re going to Inuyasha.”

It was not a question.

“Yes. Here, Kouga.”

Shippou went a few feet away where Kagura saw that Norio was lying on the ground.

“Take this man with you,” he said. “He’s still breathing. I can’t leave him behind.”

Kouga grunted. “Fine,” he said. “The man I’ll take, for your sake. But Kagura…”

Shippou stood inches from Kouga’s face and looked him in the eye.

“I understand your feelings,” he said. “But you have no idea what we’ve been through together. If Kagura doesn’t make it to those caves, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”

Kouga bristled. “You’re asking a lot, you little brat.”

“Not just me, Kouga, but Kagome too.”

“Kagome?” Kouga was startled.

“That’s right. Kagome went through hell to keep Kagura alive and away from Naraku, so don’t dishonor her sacrifice now.”

Kagura watched this exchange holding her breath, but that seemed to put some resolve into Kouga. He glared at her, as Shippou put Norio into his arms and flew away, but once Kagura had retrieved her weapon, he motioned with his head.

“This way,” he said shortly. “Let’s go.”

***

Inuyasha was getting tired. Thirty minutes or so had passed since Kouga and Kagura had run off, though he could think of nothing else except the fact that Shippou—

spinning tops and acorns, grilled fish and summer dips in the river, potato chips and candy and noodles and big, green, frightened eyes—Shippou, little Shippou

—was so near. If he could get his hands on the little fox brat, he could take him back to Miroku and Sango and it would almost be over.

Almost.

But he had to keep killing these demons. Between Kouga’s men and Inuyasha, almost none of the Tsuchigumo even made it to the water, let alone across. Fewer and fewer where coming down the northern hills, until it was barely a trickle.

At last he returned the Tessaiga to its home, deciding that it was time to join the retreat. His arms and legs trembled with exhaustion, and he was disgusted by how weak he had become.

Even after all this time, he heard Kagome’s voice in his head.

It’s no wonder! All you’ve been through!

He shrugged her off and did not excuse himself.

A shadow passed between him and the sinking sun. It stretched across the field and for a moment covered him completely. Somewhat startled, Inuyasha looked up and saw some enormous, dark shape, gliding overhead and covering the twilight.

Is that a dragon?

No, it was a bird, a golden-brown falcon with wings that spanned at least twelve feet, tip to tip. As it beat its huge wings, the air fanned Inuyasha’s face.

What now? he thought.

The hawk circled him and let out a shrill, ear-piercing cry. It descended in an upsurge of cyclonic force that sent dust and leaves swirling around him and, before he knew what was happening, Inuyasha found himself rising in the air, watching the ground between his feet get smaller and smaller. The bird had his arms in its powerful feet.

“What do you want?” he yelled at it.

“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me, Inuyasha,” a voice came from the bird, though its beak did not move. “Even if I look different, I’m sure I pretty much smell the same.”

The scent of a familiar fox demon came into his lungs and Inuyasha’s heart wrenched in his chest even before his mind comprehended the truth.

“Shippou?” he whispered.

“Yeah. You looked tired. Thought I’d give you a ride to the caves.”

“Caves?”

“That’s where Kouga and Kagura are leading everybody.”

“Oh,” was all Inuyasha could think to say, and he was too tired anyway to shout above the rushing air.

He looked down and saw the column of humans marching south, flanked by the wolf demons. He could still see the carnage, littering the field on the north banks of the river, but Inuyasha could think of nothing but Shippou. From the corner of his eye a tiny tear flew away and was swallowed by the biting wind.

[End of Chapter 27]

[Next chapter: The Path]