InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Fifty-One: Betrayed ( Chapter 52 )

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, etc. Rumiko Takahashi does.

A/N: Ok, y'all are gonna kill me for posting this chapter without the next, but I do promise Kagome by the end of the week. I was going to make you wait until I had both completed, but my schedule has allowed me to edit this one earlier than I expected. I want to thank Vyncent for sparking this new twist, for Fairia's addition of Kagura being quite mouthy and the wonderful Japanese/English website, and Tausha for encouragement. Jazngurl, I hope your able to log back in again, Kilala, I miss the banter, and Bob (aff.net), I promise a lemon in the near future. XD Some of my translations/words might be off, but here are the ones I have used in this chapter: Buta means "pig", boushi means "hat", kumo means "spider", and I found three words for "butterfly", kochou, chou, and chouchou. I'm using kochou, but if anyone knows which one is best, please let me know and thanks! Again, I appreciate all of the continued support and awesome reviews. Many thanks!

WARNING: SOME DARK IMAGERY

Chapter Fifty-One (Betrayed)

He could sense her presence.

*Kikyo...*

His eyes glowed for a moment, the red dominating the icy blue of them as he almost purred her name with delight, and fear.

She was his one weakness, and he despised the heart of Onigumo who still longed for the pure priestess of old. *I should kill her.* Senses heightened by the delicious thought, he contemplated it like one might a fine wine, savoring the infinite possibilities of how he might bring about her demise...with slow torture and cries of weakening resistance to his dark arts, he could---

"Naraku."

His mind snapped shut on the delightful contemplations that had distracted him. She was THERE, in his rooms. His for the taking...

"Kikyo." His eyes glowed.

Her knowing smirk made the glow die into icy regard. The dead miko's white Soul Collectors twined around her, and his anger turned on them. With a small wave of his hand, they were disintegrated into vapors, their silent screams dying in hissed whispers of torment.

A single brow lifted on the cold miko's beautiful face, and she held the knowledge of his anger in the icy regard of her own brown eyes.

"You are a fool." She said.

Blue eyes narrowed, the anger beating through him.

He despised her...he loathed her...he loved her...

"I have come to offer my services to you, hanyou." She said, the curling disdain in her arched voice making him want to grasp the life from her cold body with his own hands.

The anger rose, defeating the colder side of him, and he was there, at her throat, claws curling around the white column and tangling in the midnight hair that hung silkily down her back.

"I should kill you."

Her cold eyes laughed at him. "I am already dead."

His claws turned caressing and soft as his fingers touched the fine white skin of her neck. He leaned his head toward hers, so that their mouths were mere inches apart. His reddened eyes were intense and full of the inner fire of his lust.

"You have told me, yourself, of the way to disrupt your powers. I should take you, little Kikyo, miko, love..."

Her hand, small and white, the nails tapered, came up to brush the side of his face. Her cold touch was like a fire to his blood, and he inhaled the dying scent of her that could intoxicate and overwhelm his very senses.

"You would have me carry your demon seed, so that I would be as helpless as the girl Kagome." She said softly, her voice as caressing as her soft fingers.

His claws fell from her throat and slid over her shoulders, peeling the white material of her kimono with them, so that the upper part of her soft breasts were exposed by the opened vee of her clothing. His eyes glowed once more, the red of lust.

"I could take you, here and now, little miko, and you could do nothing." He purred.

Her thumb grazed across the sensuous line of his mouth, and his eyes closed as he allowed the sensation to devour him.

The pain was sudden and burst like snapping fire from her hand. He released her immediately, falling back away from her with a hiss of angry rejection. The hand that had caressed glowed with the pale power of her sacred energy, and his claws touched the burnt spot on his cheek where she had branded him.

"BITCH." He snarled at her.

She merely smiled at him, a smile of the dead. "Do you think, Naraku, that this body of dirt and ash could bring forth life?"

"You are a fool, Onigumo."

*~*~*~*~*

Koga sauntered across the caverns, his blue eyes glaring around at the idle wolves who lolled all over the place. *Lazy louts.*

He had to stop, damn it, and wait for Kagura's more sedate pace to catch up to his. His eyes glowed for a moment as they watched her graceful, unhurried steps. She held herself like a queen, her head up, her back straight, her torn and dirty yukata the finest silks. Gods, she was a proud one.

*Hurry up, woman.* He sent at her, just to get under her skin.

She deliberately slowed her pace, her red eyes mocking.

A toothy grin was his only warning before rushing back to her side, swooping her up in his strong arms and planting a good, smacking kiss on her red lips, which parted in an outraged gasp at his man-handling.

A cheer went up, and Kagura flushed, hissing at him as he kissed her again, to the howling approval of the whole wolf-tribe, who came pouring out of every crevice and cave-mouth to cheer on their leader and his new mate.

The clan converged in a press of furry bodies and gleeful grins. Kagura withstood the mauling pretty well, before Koga started feeling crowded and claustrophobic from the swarm of eager young brothers bent on congratulating him. His roar echoed off the rocks above, and the milling pile of wolf-brothers disintegrated, melting back to stand in an attentive circle and giving him some damn space.

"Okay, listen up you mutts!" His fierce scowl didn't put a damper on their mood. His fist curled over Kagura's white arm, and he pulled her to his side in an unconscious move of possessiveness. "This is my mate. Got that?"

"You are ever eloquent." Kagura whispered in his ear, and he turned his glare on her, before realizing that her thoughts were tinged with mischief.

She was teasing him?

~I wondered if any thoughts ever penetrated that thick skull of yours.~ She flashed her fangs at him, before gracefully disengaging herself from his hold. She lifted her head, scanned the grinning wolves around her, and gave a slight nod to them all, her dignity never ruffled.

Until she was mobbed by a four-legged horde who attacked her with salivating vengeance, her nod a signal for them to pounce. She was knocked off her feet by the monsters, her gasp lost under a yipping welcome of excitement as the furry brutes swarmed over her small frame and she all but disappeared under a mass of wriggling bodies and wagging tails.

Koga's roar at their antics was abruptly cut off as a giggle reached his ears. His ears twitched, disbelieving the sound. Laughter followed, a clear laugh of pure joy, as Kagura dodged drool and was tickled by rough paws and wet noses. She patted and petted and tumbled around like a pup, much to Koga's stunned disbelief.

He was soon surrounded by his men, their cheeky grins and hearty back-slaps just as rowdy as their four-legged brethren. Koga would never have allowed such nonsense, but that kaze female was making his mind splinter into a thousand directions, damn her. He glared at her, even as he absorbed Ginta's hard punch on his shoulder like it was the sting of an annoying gnat. She was turning his tribe into a bunch of grinning idiots.

He caught the red glow of her eyes as she actually smiled at him, before a pink tongue took a swipe at her scarred cheek and she giggled like an idiot herself, dodging the attack. A red wolf nuzzled her chin in submissive welcome, and she grinned as Koga growled.

Gods, he wanted to throttle her. And then kiss her. And then...

She eyed him, her red eyes glinting. ~Welcome home, wolf.~

*~*~*~*~*

There was no sign of any northerners, and Koga was smugly satisfied to see that there wasn't a wisp of wiry grey hair around. *Ha! Went back home with their tails between their legs, no doubt!*

He wondered idly how many bones he had broken in Katashi's face...

In all the noise and commotion of the impromptu feast, he had not noticed, at first, the absense of another ookami youkai. Sake casks (stolen from a foolish merchant who hadn't the sense to guard them better) had been cracked open, and a fat, juicy boar was roasting over the dancing fire. The night was touched with cold, but most of the furry clansmen were too sake-soaked to notice. Koga had seen Kagura's slight shiver as the wind kicked up, and nonchalantly threw a treated fur hide across her shoulders. Some of her four-legged admirers lumped themselves around the flat rock she had chosen as a casual throne, and she was drowsily watching the fire, leaning against the rocky wall behind her.

Koga looked around, searching for Hideki. Where was the old Crack-Tooth anyway? The old fart should have been in the thick of it, lording it over him with sly "I told you so's" and smug superiority...

His ears twitched, catching the faint sound of bouncing pebbles on rock. He was distracted, though, by a loud snore from a wolf-brother passed out on one side, his body draped over his wolfish friends, the furry armor barely distinguishable from the shadowy hides of his companions. He dismissed the sound---until he heard it again.

A thin, thready howl broke through the night, almost lost in the drunken song some of his men were muttering through in hoarse voices.

Jumping to his feet, he snatched up the nearest spear in passing. Kagura had started to yawn sleepily before she noticed his abrupt movement, and her head jerked up. Her eyes glowed crimson as she sent a question to him, suddenly tense.

~What is it?~

A wolf whined softly.

He shrugged, even as he sped up. Without his Jewel shards, he was no where near the speed he had once been, but he still could set a good pace. Muscles bunched in his thighs as he leapt for the uppermost crag of rock, so that he could see further down the jagged mountainside of his home. Using one hand to grasp the rocky face, he jumped up and crouched on the craggy knoll.

His sharp eyes caught the stumbling run of two of his ookami brothers, their panting scramble up the steep incline a testament to their desperation. "What the hell..."

The one with rumpled black hair looked up, saw his leader's braced form against the shadowed night, and drew a hoarse breath to shout, "Koga!"

Koga was down the cliff-face in a moment, gravity granting him speed. He jumped the last bit in a shower of pebbles and stones that rattled further down the steep mountainside. The disturbance did not go unnoticed, and a dozen wolves were scrambling down after him, a bleary guard stationed closer to the caverns pulling himself up and over where the water-fall thundered down behind their dens.

"What's happened?" Koga bit out, waiting for the two breathless youkai to catch their wind with an impatient growl.

He felt a sudden chill as a single name was gasped out.

"Hideki..."

*Damn.*

*~*~*~*~*

Kagura watched, her eyes intense as she saw the slow procession that was bringing the old youkai home. She had climbed her way up the lookout knoll that Koga had crested earlier, and stood there like a statue, awaiting their return.

One of the escorting wolves who had stationed themselves by her side sniffed the air and sent out a low wuff of question. A long, mournful reply howled across the night, and then was abruptly silenced.

*Betrayed.*

Was it Naraku's doing, or just Katashi's jealousy? She could not be sure. One thing for certain, though, was that Hideki had been summoned to tend the northern clan-leader, and had been attacked and left for dead by the grey wolves. There was no question in Kagura's mind that it was the Jewel shards Hideki had carried for Koga that was the prize they were after. She knew instinctively that Koga's Shikon shards, the ones that had been embedded in his calves and only removed at Katashi's sneering instigation, were now gone.

She burned with a smoldering anger, knowing not whether it was hers, or Koga's. His thoughts had dimmed to a slight awareness as he followed his youkai brothers back to where they had found Hideki, beaten and bloody. As the returning party drew closer, she could see the image of a wounded ookami left broken in the dirt, a bloody testament to their betrayal. The image was being broadcast from Koga's mind, fueling the molten heat of his rage and bitterness.

Kagura's mind burned with the image, a picture she would never forget. She knew not whether the old wolf, the first being who had ever been kind to her, would survive. Her own burning anger was not of fire, but ice. The icy cold knowledge of betrayal, and the anger that would fuel her retribution.

Katashi would fall. He had hurt one of hers.

There was only one certainty in her cold rage. She would have it.

Vengeance.

*~*~*~*~*

She could only touch every other stone with her left foot, it was imperative that she not let the toes of her right foot settle down on a wrong stone, or that she allow her feet to mis-step, or certain doom would assuredly follow.

Rin gasped as she nearly over-balanced, her right leg kicking out in unconscious reaction. Arms wind-milling for balance, she nearly toppled over, and was only saved by her fingers pulling at the harsh stoned wall beside her. Collecting her poise, the small girl leaned wearily against the supporting stone wall and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

She'd almost lost the game.

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage in her hands, her small chin thrusting forward in determination. She would make it. She would.

With a hopping skip, she hit the next square, and grinned wide at having accomplished the feat without the least risk of stepping on the wrong stone.

The hallway was bisected by another at the far end, and wide windows were spaced along the length, facing one of several inner gardens. Even though the chill of late autumn was in the air, nipping the coming of a harsh winter in its fierce breath, it did not reach the inner precincts of the castle. Many of the outer gardens had long lost their precious bounty of beautiful floral appeal, but these inner gardens were protected, so that it almost seemed as if a mild spring day bathed them in warmth. Suyo had once told her that the guardians kept the inner gardens blooming year-round, and she liked to look at them, they could be so beautiful.

A small flicker of ghostly light caught her eye, and her left foot touched the floor, unheeded. Game forgotten, she dashed over to the nearest window, her rich brown eyes wide and her small mouth parted in an amazement as the pearlescent glow of the youkai butterflies intensified to a warmer gold.

Clapping her hands, she sang out with delight. "Oh, pretty!"

*~*~*~*~*

His eyes squeezed tight against the intrusion of light into the shadowy darkness of his rooms. *Can't she leave me alone for one wretched moment?* Jaken sniffled to himself. He tried to block out that encroaching light, he really did. He was so exhausted. That stinking ningen brat had led him a merry chase this afternoon...all over the castle and through the buta pens, where he had been horrified to find her sitting in the middle of a dirty pile of squealing piglets, hugging them for all they were worth and GIGGLING as they tried to squirm out of her grasping hands.

Thankfully, the mother pig had been distracted. Buta didn't mess around when they thought their babies were in danger, and Rin had barely been saved...the irate mother's attention had been focused on HIM, grand advisor to me lord SesshouMaru, Taiyoukai of the Western Lands. He had only been flapping his arms to get Rin's attention, and he had only been screeching at her to get the hell out of the pig pen and away from certain death. Rin, of course, had ignored him, and he, of course, had ignored the pig (who was beneath his notice), until the stupid buta had decided to take an interest in HIM.

*Oh, the humiliation!*

Rin had been no help. She had just run around in circles, screaming as loud as the squealing piglets, irritating Mama Buta even more. Jaken had barely escaped down the path as the pig had taken her wrath out on the fence, broken it, and rushed after him. He had had to kilt his robes up above his knees, bawling for all he was worth, the buta a screaming fury behind him. Up past the barren gardens and right into the maw of the castle, down across the kitchens and out into the store-rooms, and not one sniveling servant or bungling guard had lifted their hands or swords to save him. They had just stood there like a bunch of startled fishes, eyes wide and mouths hanging open in shock as he ran past.

*Stupid incompetents!*

They hadn't stood there gaping long. No, they had finally done something. They had finally started laughing, and hadn't stopped.

*Oh, the humiliation!*

What a spectacle he must have been, austere brown robes kilted up around his waist, eyes bulging in fright, screeching for all he was worth. His ancestors must be mortified at the loss of face he had suffered, his innate dignity now scattered to the four winds. The whole castle was abuzz with the news of the escapade, and that it had only been by the grace of the gods, and a quick snatch-up by a startled four-armed Suyo that had saved him...

To have to be grateful to that four-armed snob was more than he could stomach. Bad enough Suyo had been left in charge of the castle, and he, Jaken, first advisor and long a most loyal---and overly humble---servant to me Lord, had been left in charge of a mere scrap of a ningen brat who just completely---

A strange noise, scratching on the edge of his delicate hearing, broke into his mournful thoughts, and he frowned in irritation. Bad enough that stupid light was intruding on his pitiful retreat to his rooms, but to be disturbed by that awful squealing sound, like a screeching pig...

*PIG?!*

He popped his head out of the covers, suddenly terrified.

There was nothing in his chambers---no scent reached his nose, even though his eyes were suddenly blinded. His pupils had expanded instinctively in the shadows, and he had to take a moment to blink them back into normal visionary range, as the light coming in through his two windows and shining past the drawn draperies of his balcony were chasing the darkness back.

*What is happening?*

He sat up in bed, drawing his little feet up to his stomach and gazing around him in awe as the light grew and grew, the nasty sound stretching across his awareness and making his poor ears ring. It was as bright as day now, and growing brighter, but the light was not as blinding yellow as the sun at fierce noon. It was pearled and laced with pale gold, and that noise, that awful, awful noise wasn't like an irrate pig's squeal at all. It was like the highest note of a tinkling chime struck and stuck on one single note. And it wasn't only that high-pitched chime that was giving him such a shiver right down to his bones, it was the aura of outraged sadness that went along with it.

*Rin!*

The girl was his charge, me Lord would skin him alive (and delight in taking his time) if anything happened to that nasty little turnip. *Drat it all!* He really, really wanted to bury his head in the covers and ignore that awful noise, but he couldn't. The Taiyoukai, even in his mournfully long absence, would certainly know if something happened to that stupid little ningen girl, and it would be his last moments on earth if something DID happen to that stupid little ningen girl.

*Why me?*

Sniffle.

How many times had he asked himself that question? Countless times since me Lord had abandoned them to this lonely old pile of stones. His thoughts were muddled---wouldn't that damn noise STOP?!---even as he grabbed up his outer robes and pulled his black boushi down from its resting place. Grabbing up his beloved Staff of Skulls---he wouldn't leave that behind again, if he had had it, that stupid buta would have been dinner tonight, fried to a crisp and done to a turn---and hurried out of the room.

The stupid guards outside his door were nowhere to be found, and Jaken screeched with the insanity of it all. The noise was growing louder, and he could see the light creeping from under his slammed door and outlining the other doors that aligned the dimmed hallway. It was becoming unbearable, and he desperately wanted to find that stupid brat...

He hurried trhough the hall, and scrambled down the deserted stairways that led down to the floor level of this infernal maze of a castle. There was no one around, and he cursed under his breath as the claws of his feet clicked a counterpoint to that hideous ringing. Light was flooding through from the inside of the castle, so that the pale blue-white globes that dotted the upper ceiling of the castle were being drowned in a pearly golden aura that was intensifying by the moment.

He was out of breath and out of patience by the time he finally found Rin. And Suyo, the stupid kumo. He gaped out of the window at the sight of them both standing in one of the inner gardens, which held sanctuary for one of the smaller---and more useless, in Jaken's opinion---of me Lord's youkai servants. He was startled out of his selfish outrage by the blossoming light, which was blinding in the very center of the tree-ridden garden, the blooms of various flowers all but swallowed by the ghostly origin of that annoying light. The ringing had reached a level that he could not hear, only picking up the very edge of that piercing note of unending noise.

Rin, with her limited human senses, could not hear that awful sound at all, and she was dancing around like a simpleton, her hands clapping at the "Pretty 'flies!" Jaken couldn't hurry out the door fast enough, he wanted to smack that brat (but didn't dare) for being so foolish as to parade around with no shoes on. And look at Suyo, standing there with his arms splayed wide, ignoring Rin completely, the oaf.

Suyo, with his keener hearing, could probably detect the higher decibels needed to understand those useless, if pretty, butterflies' language. He must be understanding what all the damn fuss was about. Jaken was suddenly very much a fish out of water, not knowing what was going on and not liking it one bit.

Thudding his Staff on the stone path (and not making much of an impression with all the keening going on), he snapped out waspishly, "Rin! Be still! Suyo! I demand to know what is going on---"

The spider youkai turned, and the flickering fire in his blazing red eyes made Jaken freeze into stillness, his beak falling open in shock at the very raging sadness that flickered across the normally-composed and mild pink eyes.

The volume intensified, reaching a higher level, and his scaly hide was goose-bumping with nervous fear. Even Rin had stopped her twirling, and she suddenly looked frightened.

"What is it?" He hissed, anxiety bulging his yellow eyes out to a new circumference.

The glowing youkai gathered and knit, their glittering light reaching a new height in fury as their voice called across the Western Lands, igniting their blood and that of their allies with its strident, piercing sound.

Suyo's eyes, the fiery red glitter of blood sparkling with tears in the light of the butterflies, made Jaken shiver, and the three claws of both hands tightened their grip on the wood of his Staff of Skulls as true fear tugged at his quaking heart. The spider's voice was a counterpoint to the sharp call of the youkai, a single word falling between them like a stone.

"War."

*~*~*~*~*

The small globe of blue-swirled whiteness was a beacon of hope to the messenger who fastened on that tiny point of intensity. Suddenly filled with a renewal of faith among the sad bitterness of defeat, the promise of that hope was beat into his tiny wings, adding strength to their faltering rhythm. The pale golden glow, which had diminished with the weariness that consumed him, so that only stark resolve drove him, started to brighten, and the lone butterfly sent out its call to the Western Lord.

The white globe flashed and expanded, becoming a trailing cloud of silver and red-hued rose, the Taiyoukai revealed to the darkened night. The kochou had flown just ahead of the swarming hordes of Saimyousho, who had kept up their chase throughout the long day and into the coming night. The early evening had brought despair, as his song was returned by fewer and fewer of his brothers and sisters, their numbers falling before the impenetrable wave of Hell's children.

His wings faltered as he heard the distinctive buzzing of their coming. He would not make it, they were nearly upon him! Red death glittered in their eyes, and he sent out a last lilting call to the Taiyoukai---at least he would be warned that they were betrayed...

Claws grasped the tiny form, and he gathered in his demonic energies, making certain that his demise would inflict the most damage it could. He would fall with a warrior's heart and the knowledge that he had not fallen alone, that his enemies would pay dearly for his death.

But the claws were suddenly ripped away, freeing him. Hissing screams rolled on the chilling wind of the night, and the Saimyousho's ominous buzzing turned into the throes of the dying. Green light flashed in and out, fanning and dazzling the weakening glow of the tiny butterfly as he was overwhelmed by the sudden, eerie quiet that surrounded him.

"Come." The Lord's voice was like the warming toll of a bell, the firm tone adding reassurance to the faltering heart of the loyal messenger. The palm, the green poisonous glow dissolving, opened, and the small youkai alighted in grateful weariness. He glowed and sang a new note, the first of his missive, anxious to get it out, but the Taiyoukai's intense golden eyes were narrowed to the far left.

"Soon." He reassured the twittering youkai, carefully placing his small ally on the steel-tipped points of the armor that encircled his maimed shoulder, where the empty sleeve of his white haori flapped in the rising winds of the night.

A distinctive glow, flickering pearl in the far distance, was almost swallowed by a thick black wave of menace behind it, the dull roar and the desperate song of the youkai butterfly sent forth on the night. In a breath's moment, they were there, the Taiyoukai's poisoned whip striking out and decimating the ranks of Saimyousho with the snap of lightening. None escaped the Lord's wrath, and the youkai allies were caught up in a singing harmony of glad reunion.

A sparkling shower of lights to the right turned their song to sorrow, as they watched one of their brethren nearly make it to the Lord's side, and die beneath the swarming insects of Hell just moments before. The Taiyoukai's golden eyes flashed red fire and a deep growl emerged from the Lord, startling the little kochou in its intensity. They sang back, spying the tell-tale light of two more of their brothers, and the Taiyoukai, the inu now enraged at the threat to his allies and servants, was there, devouring Hell's children in the snarling blood of his demon rage...

*~*~*~*~*

SesshouMaru's eyes bled fury, but he kept his tone light, though the inu raged inside of him at the attack on one of his. The exhausted butterflies, their unspoken courage in the face of an overwhelming foe, refused to calm themselves until they had delivered their message.

The inu raged in sorrow at what he saw as his failure. Five...FIVE...of his loyal allies had made it to his side. The showering death of the one who hadn't was burned into his mind. The inu within howled at the betrayal, and the Taiyoukai vowed vengeance on the dark hanyou, Naraku.

*He will die beneath my claws!*

His blood surged, thundering through him, before the cooler side of his mind collared it. The baboon would die, and slowly. But the dark hanyou held unknown powers, unknown legions. His allies would be summoned, the butterfly youkai had already sent out the call to their own, their raging sorrow over the senseless deaths of their brethren demanding payment. His allies and servants would gather, and corner the white monkey in his filthy lair. Naraku's death was signed in the blood of his allies, none who touched one of his would be allowed to draw breath a moment longer than necessary, but he wouldn't go unprepared against the dark forces Naraku controlled. He well knew the power of the Shikon no Tama, and how the hanyou grasped it close to him.

But the fanged maw of vengeance had been opened, and now it would come crashing down...

The inu snarled, as the piping sounds of one of the surviving kochou interrupted his consuming thoughts. Red streaked the golden eyes, but the Taiyoukai coolly dissolved his rage at the butterfly's anxious fluttering of delicate wings.

The champagne aura of the kochou, whom he recognized as the first youkai to come to him on the very edge of that chilling swarm of insects, lightened with urgency, it's song a lilting music at odds with the imperative nature of its communication.

The blood of the inu faded from his eyes, the gold intensifying as the little youkai spoke its message, the original message from his spider-servant, Suyo. Frozen with shock, his eyes widened the merest hint, the only expression on his stilled countenance. The reddened haze of the trailing clouds that bore him and his allies back home to the Western Lands, streaking across the earth, intensified as well, speaking of the emotions he kept from his cold features.

The miko...

*Kagome.*

::Mine.::

She bore his child.

It was then, as he stood frozen, eyes brightened to a fervent light of intense emotion, that the first sounds of the widening call of his small allies came to him faintly on the breeze.

:VENGEANCE!: