AN:Yay! I finally managed to crank out another chapter! Reviews would be much appreciated, good or bad!

"Inukage, do you..know this person?" Kagome asked. Her voice wavered a little; she had seen many demons but something about this particular creature set her hair on end. It was so haggard and ghastly, yet it resonated with hate.

"I am afraid this creature was, in life, Lord Noburo Sakayama that once ruled this castle. It was he that plotted to have me put under seal those five hundred years ago." he told her, not taking his eyes of the specter. "That is why I must be the one to face him now."

"Yes, come for me, halfbreed." it seethed with glee. " I will make quick work of you with my new power. And your new friends after." it said.

"That's pretty big talk for a corpse." Inuyasha growled, his hand already on Tessaiga. " I think it would be easier if you just let me finish him off with my Tessaiga." he told Inukage.

"Thank you cousin, for your offer of assistance, but this is something that I feel is my responsibility." he replied.

"No one will defeat me with this jewel shard!" Sakayama said, staring into the glowing sliver. "And after I kill all of you, it will be mine forever! Not even Naraku will be able to take it from me!" he gloated, placing the jewel shard in his wrist.

"Then it was all a trap set by Naraku!" Miroku said. "I suspected as much."

"We all did." Sango told him. "Inukage, you must be careful. He is an onryou, and they are difficult to destroy. They remain in this world due to their intense resentment and hatred. They often remain until their souls are purified." she told him. "The jewel shard won't make it any easier."

"No doubt Naraku's plan is to take back the shard after it is tainted with the malice Sakayama feels for Inukage." Miroku said.

"This is stupid." Inuyasha said. "How are you even going to fight him? You don't even have a sword!" he reasoned.

Inukage looked back over his shoulder, his face a mask of bittersweet emotion. "I will do what I can." he said, and walked toward his opponent.

"What is it you wish from me, Sakayama?" he asked, face to face with the creature. "What can I do that will ease your suffering?"

"You can die!" it screeched, charging at him with spindly arms outstretched, as though to throttle him. Inukage was thrown to the ground with the force.

"After I am dead, who then will you kill in attempt to quell your hatred?" Inukage asked, carefully holding Sakayama's wrists away from his throat. "How many will have to die before your rage is no more? You know this will not bring you peace! Nothing you can do will bring you back your life!" Inukage told him.

Sakayama's rage swelled again, and he managed to grab Inukage and throw him through a far wall, which crumbled down with age. More walls collapsed in effect, causing more rubble to come crashing down. Inukage climbed out, his clothes torn. The battle continued, with one managing to gain advantage over the other numerous times.

"I don't care what he says, we have to help him." Inuyasha said, watching the fray. "This will go on forever if we don't. And I doubt Inukage will come out on top." he said.

"Inuyasha's right." Sango said. "This onryou is already dead."

Inuyasha lept forward, and swung down the Tessaiga upon Sakayama. He was torn in half nearly through from shoulder to waist. After a moment, tendons and ligaments reached for one another, and the wraith pullled itself back together with a gurgling laugh. Inuyasha stood in shock.

"It's heart must be purified!" Miroku shouted to him. "Inuyasha, the Tessaiga's no use!"

Inukage stood again after being slammed into another wall. He was beginning to cough blood. After all the fighting, what was left of Sakayama didn't seem to be sustaining any damage at all. Was this his fate, to die at the hands of an angry dead man? He thought of Kasumi then. It seemed like only days ago that he had seen her, and had such hope for their happiness together. Now the what remained of her father's anger was close to ending his life. Through the dust and debris, he saw something glint in the dim light. It was the statue in the shrine room. Gathering his strength, he dashed for what was left of the room.

"Kagome, can you use one of your arrows?" Inuyasha shouted to her. "We have to purify it!"

"Right!" Kagome shouted back, reaching for an arrow.

"We can't purify it unless the being lets go of the anger that has held it here." Miroku said. "It is different than purifying a demon." The group looked on, searching for ways to help Inukage.

"You can't escape me, half demon!" Sakayama said, following Inukage through the fallen castle.

Inukage made it to the shrine room, and looked frantically around for something that may help him gain the advantage. He should have know from the beginning that it was useless to fight with such a thing as Sakayama was now. The room still seemed so familiar to him, and amazingly, it was still mostly intact. The statues and incense were even still where they had been left. A stack of spells and wards still lay stacked on a shelf.

"Now is no time to be reminiscing!" Sakayama shouted, suddenly appearing behind him. "How fitting that this should be the place of your demise!" he declared, picking up the shelving nearby and hurling it at Inukage. It broke over him easily enough, but the sutras scattered and fell like cherry blossoms. Inukage couldn't escape them, and was again taken over by the searing shock of the talismans.

"Inuyasha we have to do something!" Kagome shouted. "Inukage's being taken over by the sacred sutras!

Inuyasha looked at Sango and Miroku. "Are you guys ready? Even if it buys him a little time, we have to help." he told them. "Kagome, I'll keep that thing occupied while you get the sutras off." he said. Everyone agreed, but just as they got close, they saw something and stopped.

Kneeling, Inukage looked up through the haze of pain to see Sakayama charging toward him, but he also saw something else. The dust on the floor before him seemed to swirl and glow. It slowly began to take shape, and he thought his eyes were fooling him, until he saw Sakayama stop and stare as well. It was Kasumi, or rather, her spirit.

She held her arms out, her back to Inukage. "Father, you must stop this senselessness!" she cried. "This will not bring you peace! Please, I beg you, let go of your hatred and anger so we can both be at rest!"

"Leave me be, demon!" Sakayama shouted. "This beast stole everything from me!"

"It was your shallow heart that stole your happiness!" Kasumi told him. "Please, look upon me! Have you forgotten the love of your own daughter? Can you not remember that you once held even a little love for me?" she pleaded.

Suddenly, thoughts that had not returned to Sakayama in over five hudred years flooded his memory, unbidden. He could clearly see his daughter as an infant, and a small child. Memories returned of her bringing him flowers, and singing for him little songs that she had made up for him. She had followed him in the garden, asking him to tell her the names of the flowers and birds. She had cried when one of the koi in the pond died. It was all so long ago, before everything went wrong, when his sons were still alive. Before he felt all the anger and sadness. He stared now at her spirit before him. Some of the light died that burned in the creature's dark sockets.

"Kagome, you must shoot him now, while his heart is softened!" Miroku told her. "You must hurry!"

Inukage looked on as Sakayama stared at the image of his daughter, and an arrow suddenly pierced his heart. Light spread throughout the haggard body. The light in it's eyes faded and was dark. Gradually, the creature turned to dust and the jewel shard fell to the ground. Kasumi turned to Inukage behind her. She looked just as she had in life, and the expression on her face was filled with gladness and peace. Inukage stared up at her, weak and speechless.

"Inukage, I am so glad you are alive. My father told me you had been killed." she said, a look of contentment upon her features. "My heart suffered cruelly with loneliness and guilt after we were seperated, and I was not able to find peace upon my death. Now, I will be able to be free." she said, smiling. "Please, live on, and find happiness in your own life. Know that my heart is always with you, until perhaps our spirits meet again." she told him, before fading away. Inukage stared in wonder, his hand absently reaching for her form. Still unable to speak, he collapsed, just as his friends arrived to remove the sutras that still clung to his body.