Chapter 21
I don't own Inuyasha.
"Can you hear it?" Miroku asked. He leaned against a tall strong tree, his head sagging to the right toward the temple, and his staff resting in his arms against his chest. His form was murky and ghostlike in the still heavy fog, and his chocolate eyes were closed.
"Yeah." Sango replied. She sat at the base of the same tree, her legs crossed beneath her, Hiraikotsu at her side. She looked up thoughtfully into the bough and rested her head against the trunk, listening to the dull rumble of the battle beyond.
"Think they're alright?" She asked. When the monk didn't respond she wrenched her eyes away from the branches above to look at him.
Miroku stared into the distance, searching the mist for an answer to Sango's question.
The battle refused to slow its pace. The dark priestess was fierce and unyielding, and while some of the siblings' attacks had connected, she remained undaunted. Shallow cuts and scrapes covered Sesshomaru and Seshiru, and both were winded. Seshiru's left sleeve was stained red where the ripped fabric of her kimono met with a long gash in her arm. Inuyasha suffered the worst. He had leapt out of the way too slowly to miss one of the priestess's beams, and it had sliced through is left side, shredding his fire rat robes. Blood oozed from the wound, and his breath became more haggard after every offensive.
Inuyasha's movements had slowly become more haphazard and clumsy, and Sesshomaru had noticed, with something that straddled the line between concern and bored interest. He caught Seshiru's eye, and they silently agreed that this would need to end, soon, or Inuyasha at least would not survive.
They danced around one another, striking and defending, dodging and attacking, a waltz of furious motion, the music of blades and battle cries spurring them forward.
"My blade must pierce her heart, it will purify her" Seshiru growled under her breath at an awkward pause in the fight, "we need to work together."
The priestess surged forward once more, her eyes bulging and her teeth bared in a snarling grin. She seemed to hover above the ground, gliding toward them as if carried by her shadow. More of the destructive energy erupted, and all three leapt backward.
"Fools." Maitenshi rasped. The battle seemed to have worn on her more than any of the siblings had previously assessed, her voice proof of her fatigue. "You will not overcome me."
"Inuyasha." Sesshomaru snapped beneath his breath. Inuyasha's ears turned in his brother's direction, but the hanyou could not move. His body was hunched over, Tetsusaiga's blade resting against the rocks and rubble. He gasped for breath, coughed and spat blood. Assuming that he had Inuyasha's attention, and limited with time, Sesshomaru breathed his plan, barely above a whisper. "We will attack her at the same time. You will use the Adamant Barrage."
The air around Sesshomaru began to throb with energy. Sensing this, Inuyasha heaved Tetsusaiga from the ground preparing for a final assault.
Sesshomaru's features lengthened and morphed as his true form, the massive white dog emerged, growling and snapping at the air. As if on cue, both brothers burst forward. Sesshomaru reached the priestess moments before his younger sibling. Lunging, he latched onto an arm tossing the screeching Maitenshi into the air.
"ADAMANT BARRAGE!" Inuyasha screamed as he unleashed the attack. The force of the transformed Tetsusaiga blasted the witch into the side of the mountain a few yards away, a cloud of dust and debris erupting from the place where she crashed.
Seshiru was quick to respond to her brothers' attack. She dashed to where the witch was flailing through the air, on the way down from her collision. She griped Hikarimono in both hands, the blade glowing bright white. "I will finish what began so long ago today, priestess." She growled. Caught off guard, Maitenshi was unable to defend herself as Seshiru's blade drove through her chest. Wailing horribly, the woman's body dissolved in a final blast of energy from within her, fanning into flame what was left of the shrine complex below.
Miroku and Sango both heard the explosive crash, even from the distance they assumed they were from the actual shrine. A red light appeared, and the fog seemed to funnel away into its center, leaving a clear view of the destruction the long battle with the priestess had caused. Chunks of stone littered the ground, and the steps that led up to what had probably been three magnificent buildings were decimated.
The barely standing remnants of the buildings were glowing with flames. The heat from the inferno kept both the monk and demon slayer at bay.
"Inuyasha! Kagome! Seshiru!" Sango screamed at the top of her lungs, but there was no response. The entire space was empty, except for the blazing buildings.
"They must be inside." Sango gasped, starting toward the flames.
"Sango, no!" Miroku jumped after her, blocking her path. He held her still as she fought against him. "If they are inside, we won't be any help."
Dazed, she stared blankly at the red and orange tongues leaping into the sky.
It had taken only milliseconds for the siblings to redirect their attention from the now defeated priestess to the blazing structures. Inuyasha had sprinted directly into the flames, screaming for Kagome, and Sesshomaru and Seshiru had followed. Inside they had split apart, wordlessly acknowledging this would be best.
Sesshomaru had ventured into the smaller of the two buildings left standing. Gracefully, he swept around the room, looking for any sign of life, avoiding as much of the flame as possible. The smoke licked at his eyes, and the heat made it hard to focus. As he searched the room once more, he noticed a small limb, snaking out from behind a row of tall containers. Smashing the pottery with a lash of his green poison whip, he discovered Rin, sprawled on the ground, her face sooty and her skin warm from the heat of the flames but otherwise unharmed. He released a breath slowly that he did not realize he had been holding, and stooped to pick up the child. Her eyes fluttered open at his touch, and she smiled weakly as she focused on him.
"Lord Sesshomaru, you came." She coughed.
The demon turned to leave, but paused as the tiny girl in his arms tugged softly on his sleeve.
"Please M'Lord, help Ka…gome." She struggled to finish, passing out again in his arm. Bewildered, Sesshomaru looked one last time around the crumbling shrine. In a corner, near where he had found Rin, he saw his brother's human companion, barely breathing as she lay against the wall. He set the child down, tossed the raven haired girl gently over his shoulder, and scooped Rin back into the crook of his lone arm, gliding out of the building as the doorway collapsed behind him
"Sesshomaru! KAGOME!" Sango wailed with relief as the demon set both the little girl and the reincarnated miko on the ground.
"Where are Inuyasha and Seshiru?" Miroku asked.
Sesshomaru regarded the monk for a moment, then turned toward the other blazing building.
A/N: almost done, almost done, almost done, almost done…