Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Six: The Siege ( Chapter 6 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Six: The Siege

 

Yusuke awoke the next morning feeling only slightly less exhausted then he had last night.

 

`Damn. I didn't think I'd used up this much energy beating that guy,' he thought as he rubbed his chin, which was still a little sore.

 

“It's bout time you woke up, sleepy,” greeted Kagome cheerfully as she shoved a plate of food into his face. “Rise and shine!”

 

“Kagome? I thought that you weren't gonna' be back until this afternoon,” he said groggily as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

 

“It turns out that there was no school today,” she replied with a little laugh. “I've been here in the feudal era so often that I've totally forgotten the school's schedule.”

 

Yusuke shook his head and started to eat his breakfast. After a few bites, though, he realized that he and Kagome were the only ones in the hut.

 

“Hey, where's everyone else?” he asked, a little puzzled.

 

“Oh, they woke up a couple hours ago,” Kagome answered. “You were out like a light, though, so everyone decided to wait until you were awake. After all, Inuyasha did say that you fought Sesshomaru, so you probably needed the rest.”

 

“Aw man! Now I've got to hurry up my breakfast!” he complained, and immediately began to wolf down his food.

 

Before Kagome could tell him that there was no rush, he had already swallowed the last bite, and was racing out the door. With an exasperated sigh, she followed him.

 

“All right! I'm all ready, so let's go kick some ass!” announced Yusuke as he approached the rest of the group except (shock of all shocks) Hiei, who had already left.

 

“Quite enthusiastic today, aren't we?” commented Kurama with an amused smile.

 

“That's `cause today we're gonna' find that Naraku guy and beat his face in so I can go home!” declared Yusuke, smacking his fist into his palm for emphasis. “I can feel it!”

 

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Over three days had passed since Yusuke had made his bold declaration. Not only had they failed to find Naraku, they had failed to encounter much of anything at all. Dissatisfaction was apparent on Yusuke's face as he surveyed the scene of everyone sitting around the fire eating their dinner. To him it was…well…boring as hell.

 

“This sucks,” stated Yusuke finally, before taking another bite out of his fish.

 

“What are you talking about, Urameshi? This fish is awesome!” replied Kuwabara, who was now tearing into his fourth helping.

 

“Not the fish, stupid,” Yusuke corrected with impatience. “It sucks that we haven't found Naraku yet. I'm sick of this damned camping trip.”

 

“What, you scared of sleeping outside or somthin'?” taunted Inuyasha

 

“He'll make his presence known soon enough, Yusuke,” promised Kurama before Yusuke could start to hurl insults at Inuyasha. “In the meantime we'll just have to be patient.”

 

Yusuke muttered some unintelligible, but doubtlessly obscene, complaints as he turned his attention back to his fish. Everyone silently continued their meal for a few minutes, until Hiei stepped out of the undergrowth and into the camp.

 

“Kurama, there's something you should see,” he said without bothering to even look at the others.

 

“What is it?” asked Miroku, rising quickly to his feet.

 

“I believe I said `Kurama', not `lecherous buffoon',” snapped Hiei impatiently.

 

Looking a little embarrassed, Miroku sat back down while Kurama rose and followed Hiei into the woods.

 

“That was uncalled for…” commented Miroku with a sigh, practically begging for sympathy.

 

“But true,” added Sango, showing that she had none.

 

As the banter continued behind them, Hiei and Kurama made their way through the forest silently. When they came out on the other side, they found themselves standing on a ridge overlooking a series of canyons, and Kurama immediately saw what it was that Hiei felt he needed to see. In the midst of the canyons was a village, protected by a sturdy wall with four gates. The gates facing to the north and south each corresponded with a canyon n the same direction, which served as four paths towards the village. While this was certainly noteworthy in that it provided superb natural defense, it was the eastern and western gates that caught Kurama's attention.

 

These two gates didn't correspond with canyons, but rather they each had a sutra covered rope fence in the shape of one. To the untrained eye, this would seem insignificant, but to Hiei and Kurama, the fence appeared as a crackling barrier of spiritual energy emanating from a large temple in the center of the village. Not only that, but the flow of energy from the temple to the fences created a shield above the village as well, defending against a demonic attack from above.

 

“What do you make of it?” asked Hiei after Kurama had the chance to take it all in.

 

“Well, it's certainly well defended from any demon attacks,” stated Kurama bluntly. “Should demons ever attack this village they would be herded into attacking just those four gates, and from there an effective defense would be quite manageable…”

 

“I can see that,” interrupted Hiei with annoyance. “But does it mean anything to us?”

 

“It's not demonic, so I don't think Naraku has anything to do with it,” he said after a short pause to gather his thoughts. “It's possible that the barrier is powered by shards of the Sacred Jewel, but even if it's not, we should go there simply because it will provide a good place to rest and recuperate.”

 

“And you don't think the fact that we ourselves are demons will cause a problem?” Hiei inquired skeptically. “Or can I expect to fight a bunch of humans with pitchforks?

 

“Fortunately for us, we're traveling with a monk and a demon hunter. As long as we are with them, we will be accepted, I think,” Kurama assured, albeit with slight hesitation. “I shall go inform the others.”

 

Kurama returned to the camp and found everyone sitting around trying to pass the time between eating dinner and going to sleep.

 

“Hiei's found a rather…unique village up ahead,” announced Kurama when everyone had noticed his arrival. “I suggest we stay there for the night. It's both safer and more comfortable than sleeping in the wilds.”

 

“C'mon people, let's go!” ordered Yusuke, jumping to his feet with excitement. “I don't know about you, but that sure sounds better than sleeping on dirt again.”

 

“The little guy did something useful for once, huh?” commented Inuyasha as everyone made ready to leave the camp. “It's about time. He hasn't done nothin' for us up `til now.”

 

“Can't you do anything without complaining?” scolded Kagome.

 

The group eventually managed to stop talking long enough to make it out of the forest and down into the canyon, where they were fast approaching the village's southern gate. Hiei met up with them halfway, seeing as he couldn't make it into the village without being in their company.

 

“I've never seen a village with such elaborate defenses against demons…” Sango noted, now close enough to see the barriers.

 

“Humans only go through that much trouble protecting themselves for one of two reasons,” responded Hiei. “Either they're coveting something valuable, or they're complete cowards. It's usually the later.”

 

Sango was about to reply when Hiei suddenly whirled around and drew his sword. Though this startled her greatly, she noticed that his eyes were looking skyward, and not at her. Everyone followed his gaze to see something rapidly descending downwards towards them - a woman riding upon a giant feather.

 

“Kagura,” growled Inuyasha as the wind sorceress in question landed on the ground and reapplied the now normal sized feather to her hair.

 

“Well, it looks like you've gained a few more losers for your little gang, Inuyasha,” greeted Kagura with a mocking smile on her face.

 

“Tell me…if you get decapitated by a loser, then what does that make you?” Hiei threatened, brandishing his katana menacingly.

 

“I didn't come here to pick a fight, little man,” Kagura retorted, but upon seeing Hiei's eyes become suddenly more deadly, she turned back to Inuyasha. “I've just come to deliver a message from Naraku.”

 

“I've got a message too: shove it up your ass!” yelled Yusuke, unable to remain silent after being called a “loser”.

 

“Naraku will attack that village over there tomorrow night, whether you are there or not,” continued Kagura, ignoring Yusuke completely. “That is all he wanted to tell you, so farewell!”

 

A sudden gust of wind burst out from around Kagura as she removed the feather from her hair and took to the skies, once again riding the giant feather.

 

“The fool. She makes it too easy,” Hiei said as he sheathed his sword. “I'll simply follow her to Naraku and destroy him.”

 

“Not likely. Look,” refuted Kurama, pointing up towards Kagura as she rose above the clouds. “Her altitude is too high, and no matter how fast you are, you still have to deal with terrain, so she will lose you.”

 

“Hn,” grunted Hiei as he finally complied and started to walk towards the village.

 

“I don't get it, why would he tell us his plan?” voiced Shippou, scratching his head in confusion. “Now we can just protect the village from him.”

 

“He must want us at that village for some reason,” Miroku answered. “And we really have no choice but to go there. We can't just let those villagers be slaughtered.”

 

“But can't they fight him off with that barrier? Do they even need our help?” proposed Inuyasha.

 

“If it weren't Naraku they were dealing with, then they probably wouldn't need us,” replied Sango. “But I don't think they'll stand a chance against him.”

 

“Then let's go already!” demanded Kuwabara, racing ahead of the group. “We gotta' tell those people!”

 

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Getting inside the village had been easy enough, thanks to Miroku's status as a monk combined with a bit of his usual charm. The same proved true for gaining an audience with the village's headman, but once they were actually meeting with the headman, things got a little more difficult. It had to be expected, of course. They were total strangers asking for control over the village's defenses to prevent a demon attack that only they knew would occur.

 

While the shrewd man would be wary of such requests, only the stubborn man would refuse to consider them. Unfortunately, it appeared that the village headman was the latter. Elderly, but still giving off the appearance of being physically fit, the headman clearly had been a warrior in his youth, which have might explained his proud nature. That being said, there is a fine line between pride and stupidity, and the headman was close to crossing that line.

 

“Our village has warded off such attacks in the past. We have no need of mercenaries to defend ourselves, and we certainly don't need mercenaries that want access to our temple,” mandated the headman, arms crossed in defiance.

 

“I can assure you we are not mercenaries, your lordship,” interjected Kurama, seeing as Miroku was failing to convince the man. “We ask for absolutely nothing in return.”

 

“And you'd do it out of the kindness of your hearts? Ha!” responded the headman cynically. “All the more reason for suspicion. Why should I even believe you? You'll probably just raid the temple and leave!”

 

“Why would we bother to meet with you if demons weren't coming? That would only hinder us were we thieves,” countered Kurama, though little did the headman know this was coming from experience.

 

“You make a point…” consented the headman, but the lapse in stubbornness was only momentary. “But regardless, we don't need you to defend the village anyway. I doubt your nearly strong enough to actually fight a horde of demons. Why you-”

 

“SHUT UP, DAMNIT!” roared Kuwabara suddenly, slamming his fist on the floor as exclamation. “We're just trying to help you guys, and you're too stupid to let us! You wanna' see if we're strong enough? Fine!”

 

Rising to his feet, Kuwabara extended his right hand in front of him. The headman and his guards all reached for their weapons in alarm, and Yusuke was about to go restrain Kuwabara before Kurama motioned for him to stay seated.

 

“Spirit Sword!” Kuwabara yelled, and instantly the crackling blade of energy came to life in his hand.

 

The headman and his guards stared dumbfounded at Kuwabara's Spirit Sword, completely awestruck by the display. The headman opened his mouth as if to say something, but found himself speechless and closed it.

 

“And if that impressed ya', then you'll be even more impressed when you find out that I'm not even the strongest guy here,” continued Kuwabara, still holding his Spirit Sword. “So, Mr. Chief-guy, still don't want us to help?”

 

It took a moment for the headman to regain his composure enough to respond, but after clearing his throat, he was able to speak again, though with much less bravado.

 

“I've reconsidered your offer,” he stated. “You may have access to the temple and take part the defense of the village. My guard, however, will be keeping an eye on you during your tenure here, so don't try anything funny.”

 

“Thank you, your lordship,” said Miroku, bowing his head courteously.

 

The others followed suit, although Yusuke had to tug on Kuwabara's sleeve to remind him. Having completed their formalities, they were led to the guest chambers of the headman's mansion.

“That was pretty gutsy back there, Kuwabara,” complimented Kagome once their escort had departed. “Those guards could've tried to kill you.”

 

“Actually… I kinda' forgot those guys were there,” Kuwabara admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “So, I didn't really think about that.”

 

“I was about to congratulate ya', kid, but now all I can think of is how much of a moron you are,” chimed in Inuyasha, never missing an opportunity to insult someone.

 

“Inuyasha, sit,” commanded Kagome, and with a slight glow from his beaded necklace, Inuyasha was slammed face-first into the floor.

 

“Kagome, could I talk to you for a second?” requested Kurama while Inuyasha was dusted himself off, muttering all forms of curses.

 

“What is it, Kurama?” she inquired, a bit puzzled as to why she was needed.

 

“I want you and Miroku to go investigate the temple tonight so that I can have a strategy by tomorrow morning,” stated Kurama. “Make sure to check carefully for any shards of the Sacred Jewel. They may have figured out a way to at least dampen their aura.”

 

“Right, I'll get Miroku,” she concurred, and left to retrieve the monk, who was ever so carefully working his way towards Sango's rear end.

 

Kurama shook his head as he thought about just how strange their little entourage was when he felt something tug at his pant leg. He looked down to see Shippou looking up at him with a concerned look on his face.

 

“You've got a plan to beat Naraku, right, Kurama?” he asked expectantly.

 

“I will by morning,” Kurama assured the little fox demon, patting him on the head. “You just get some sleep.”

 

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While the village slept, lifeless eyes gazed down upon it from behind a white baboon mask, and through those eyes gazed Naraku. Some would call him a coward for using a mere puppet to venture beyond his castle walls rather than use his own body, but less assuming beings would call him cunning for it. Indeed, Naraku was as cunning as any being in existence, for it was through cunning alone that he had acquired his power and his prestige, which was now feared throughout the land, and it was through cunning that he had orchestrated this latest trap.

 

`Inuyasha and his little friends are in perfect position for death,' he thought with twisted satisfaction. `This village and its defenses may appear to them as a strength, but it is in fact their greatest weakness. These four gates, which they think will make my forces easier to defeat, will divide them, and they will be slain one by one by my minions.'

 

Suddenly, though, he paused in his gloating. This plan had been devised to destroy Inuyasha and his friends…but these four new faces that had recently joined him were unexpected.

 

`No matter, they are merely youths. One or two may be a demon of some kind, but I doubt any of them are strong enough to be of any real consequence,' he convinced himself. `Besides, my promise of Sacred Jewel shards to any demon who brigs me Inuyasha's head has added every demon in the region to my horde. Nothing can stand in my path, even Inuyasha's little gang.'

 

The puppeteer's sadistic smile was reflected on the puppet's face as it disappeared into the night.

 

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The next morning was lacking in the lighthearted atmosphere that usually came with breakfast these days. Everyone ate quickly, and without much conversation, eager to hear of the strategy Kurama had devised during the night, though Hiei simply wanted to spend as little time in their company as possible. When breakfast had been finished, they gathered in the garden, where Kurama awaited them.

 

“So then, lets hear this plan of yours,” voiced Inuyasha once everyone had gotten situated.

 

“Before I discuss my strategy, I must first speak of our enemy's strategy,” stated Kurama simply. “Now, if Naraku is indeed as skilled in these matters as you have said before, than there is only one strategy I could see him using against this village. He has no choice but to attack the four gates due to the barrier, which shall be discussed later. He will attack all four gates at once so we are forced to divide our forces. However, that would still leave him at a tactical disadvantage, and in order to overcome that he will need to win one of the four gates-”

 

“Well that's easy, we just don't die,” scoffed Inuyasha, clearly skeptical of Kurama's supposed intellect.

 

“It's not quite that simple,” Kurama answered before continuing. “Since he needs one of the gates, he will likely choose one gate and overload it with the majority of his forces. At the other gates he will send enough demons to force us to actively defend that gate, meaning we cannot simply all aid the overloaded gate. As to which gate he will overload, it will likely be a random selection, thus making it unpredictable.”

 

After taking a moment to catch his breath and allow the others to soak everything discussed to that point, he continued.

“There are two possible ways to counter this,” he explained. “The first strategy would be gather all the villagers at one defendable point and allow the demons to breach the village so that we could fight as a combined force at one position.”

 

“But that would defeat the purpose of defending the village in the first place,” observed Sango, now in full understanding of his logic.

 

“Correct. That forces us to defend the gates as Naraku had intended all along. However…” the fox demon said, allowing a small smile to appear on his face as he spoke. “I have devised a variation of such a strategy that will give us an extremely high chance of success.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. You're a freakin' genius, we get it already,” interjected Yusuke, impatience written all over his face. “Get on with the damned plan already.”

 

“If you so insist, Yusuke,” replied Kurama politely, though with an amused expression. “Last night, Miroku and Kagome discovered that the barrier surrounding this village is in fact maintained by an order of monks that reside at the temple here. They do this in shifts, of course, so they can eat and sleep, but that is besides the point. Seeing as the power of the barrier comes from sacred energy, Miroku and Kagome will contribute their own power to the barrier.”

 

“Me?” gasped a surprised Kagome. “I told you, I'm not really a priestess, or at least not a normal one. Besides, what would that even do?”

 

“It would actually increase the power of the barrier several fold, since the two of you posses sacred auras well above the normal level,” he answered. “This will prevent Naraku from finding any other way to gain entrance to the village, since apparently the barrier extends underground as well. While this is just a precaution, both of you would be at a disadvantage fighting on the field, since Naraku is likely to bring those poison insects you told me about earlier, and Kagome simply wont excel against these numbers.”

 

“Hey! I don't need to be protected! I've fought plenty of Naraku's demons before!” shouted Kagome indignantly.

 

“And what do you plan to do when you run out of arrows?” sneered Hiei. “Hit the demons with your bow?”

 

“Yes, actually, I do!” Kagome retorted, much to everyone's exasperation.

 

“I meant no offense,” apologized Kurama, doing his best to keep a straight face. “I simply meant that you'd be more useful at the temple.”

 

“Yeah. Give me a break from saving you all the time, already,” added Inuyasha, making an effort to appear unconcerned. “Just stay out of trouble this time, ok?”

 

“Fine,” Kagome said, finally resigned to her role. “But you'd better be careful out there, or I'll never forgive you.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” dismissed the half-demon, hoping to get off this line of conversation as quickly as possible.

 

“Getting back to the plan,” cut in Kurama, attempting to regain everyone's attention. “The rest is very simple. Yusuke will take the west gate, Inuyasha will have the east, Hiei the north, and Kuwabara and I shall take the south. Sango, you and Kirara will act as our reinforcements, and thereby are the key to our success. You will be positioned above the village before the battle commences, and from there you should be able to judge which gate has been overloaded. Once this is determined, you will assist whoever is at that gate.”

 

“Right, I understand,” Sango stated with a nod of confirmation.

 

“Hey, what about me?” asked Shippou suddenly, jumping in front of Kurama to get his attention. “I can fight too!”

 

“Don't worry, Shippou, I saved the most important job for you,” Kurama said with a kind smile. “You're going to stay with all the villagers and make sure they stay safe. Can you do that for me?”

 

“You can count on me, Kurama!” Shippou announced as he thumped his chest in a salute. “I'll keep those villagers safe!”

 

“Good. Now, does anyone have any questions?” asked Kurama, to which there was no response save Kuwabara grumbling about not getting his own gate. “Very well, then that concludes this discussion. Make sure to be in your positions by sundown.”

 

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Sango looked downwards towards the village as Kirara slowed to a stop , positioning them around a hundred meters above the top of the barrier.

 

`I'd better be careful of that,' she reminded herself. `It would be a long fall if that barrier knocked me off Kirara.'

 

She turned her attention back to the scene below. She could still make out the others waiting at their respective gates even at this height, though Hiei proved harder to see due to his black cloak…and his stature. All that remained was to wait for Naraku's horde. They did not have to wait long. From all four directions, legions of demons made their presence known as they charged each gate, roaring and howling as they went. In the east and west, the spiritual barrier fences intensified in response, and some of the weaker demons who were too close to then were vaporized instantly.

 

Then, the gate's defenders went to work. Inuyasha loosed the Wind Scar upon the demons at his gate, decimating scores of them in one strike. A hail of blue energy bolts at the west gate signified Yusuke's Shotgun taking down the first wave of demons. In the south, Kuwabara was wielding a glowing Spirit Sword in each hand, cutting down any demons that came near, while Kurama twirled his Rose Whip about him with deadly precision. The scene to the north, however, was far less glamorous. While the others were using attacks to take out multiple demons at once, Hiei was forced to take care of each demon one by one. Granted, his unsurpassed speed negated this as a true disadvantage, but when Sango looked down upon the northern gate, Hiei looked like nothing more than an insect against the mass of demons converging on the gate.

 

`I can't believe that he's guarding that gate all by himself…' thought Sango with both amazement and a little concern. `He'll probably be just fine, though. Kurama wouldn't put him in a position to get killed.'

 

The demon exterminator pried her gaze away from the north and surveyed the whole battlefield, searching for the direction Naraku's reinforcements would come. Finally, after several minutes of waiting, she saw them. A large group of demons was moving to reinforce the northern gate.

 

“Kirara, take us down at the northern gate,” she ordered, and with a roar Kirara began their descent.

 

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Hiei took a short pause in the battle to survey his enemies. The demons' advance had been temporarily slowed after he had decapitated a large demon and kicked both head and body into the next wave. He removed his now blood soaked cloak and tossed it the wayside as he prepared to launch himself at the next group of attackers. He didn't have to, though, since a giant boomerang swooped down from above and ripped them all to shreds.

 

He looked upwards to see Sango catch her returning boomerang and leap down from Kirara, landing next to him in a crouch.

 

 

“Kirara!” she called up to her mount. “Go make sure the others are all right!”

 

The beast roared an affirmative and sped off through the night to obey her orders.

 

“I take it that most of the demons are here, then?” asked Hiei as he shifted into an attacking stance.

 

“Yes, so we sh-”

 

“Good.”

Without further warning, Hiei charged into the demons with his usual blinding speed. He appeared almost invisible as he darted through the horde, with the light that reflected off his sword and the spout of blood that followed being the only indicators of his position. Not one to remain idle, Sango flung her boomerang into the demons, and when it returned she wasted no time in sending it right at the next wave.

 

 

For a while, they fought like this, and countless demons fell before them, but when one was killed, it felt like ten took its place. Sango was beginning to feel a little fatigued, and shouldered her boomerang for just a moment so she could catch her breath. This left her completely defenseless against the purple blades of energy that ripped through the next wave of demons from behind and continued on their path right towards her.

 

She cried out in pain and released her grip on her boomerang as the blades tore through her armor and into her flesh. They had been slightly off target, which saved her from an immediate death, but they had been close enough to do serious damage. One had cut into her left shoulder, another had clipped her right thigh, and one more had sliced into her abdomen, leaving a deep gash that bled profusely.

 

Even as she fell towards the ground she could her Kagura laugh and let loose with another one of her Dance of Blades, and at that moment, it seemed that she was about to die. To her good fortune, however, Hiei intervened and, quickly tucking her under in his left arm, carried her out of harms way right before the blades reached her. The ground where she had once stood was completely decimated by the attack, throwing her abandoned boomerang off to the wayside in a cloud off dust, almost as demonstration of the fate she had just avoided. Upon landing on the ground, Hiei did an about face so that he could face his assailant, and a split second later was forced leap out of the way of a third barrage from Kagura, with Sango still safely in his grasp. However, he now had her squarely in his sights.

 

“Die, witch!” he commanded, and whipped his sword at Kagura, who was well over fifty meters away.

 

The edge of the blade missed her artery by mere centimeters, leaving the stunned wind sorceress with a long cut on the right side of her neck. Preferring not to risk another encounter with Hiei, she hastily retreated towards the rear, using the other demons as cover.

 

Hiei, however, wasn't at all concerned with her survival, and had instead made his own retreat back towards the gate, where he gently set Sango down and rolled her onto her back to check her wounds. She was still conscious, but she was extremely weak from the blood loss caused by the gash on her abdomen. Indeed, Hiei's left arm was now covered in her blood.

 

`She will die soon if that wound is not sealed,' he observed. `This battle has to end now if she is to survive.'

 

The demons had pulled back a little to give Kagura room, and Hiei was able to leap a good distance forward, so as to put as much space as possible between him and Sango while still facing the demon horde. She would need to be far away from him for what was to come next. He removed his headband and tossed it aside, revealing his Jagan which was now glowing with a fierce intensity as he began to raise his spirit energy. Within moments, the air around him shone like a beacon with his power. This alone was enough to cause any demons that had begun to resume their advance to immediately halt again, either from simple fear or a primitive instinct. This allowed for him to remain relatively unrushed, which was of great preference considering the difficulty of what he was about to do. In one swift motion, he tore off the bandages that covered his right forearm, revealing a tattoo of a black dragon coiled about it. He slowly brought his right arm in front of his face, and suddenly black flames burst to life around it.

 

“All of you cretins have been chosen as sacrifices to the dragon,” he declared with a deadly calm in his voice. “Not one of you will survive its wrath.”

 

He then clenched his hand into a fist, and the black flames intensified, seemingly consuming his entire arm. He then sharply brought the fiery arm back as if in preparation for a punch, and the look on his face changed to one of unbridled fury.

 

“Dragon of the Darkness Flame!”

 

His voice boomed through the canyon as he thrust his arm forward, and from it burst a massive dragon made entirely of black fire. The great serpent let out a terrifying roar as it rushed towards Naraku's horde. Every last one of the demons was paralyzed by fear, unable to even utter a scream before they were incinerated by the burning monstrosity. It burned through the demons in seconds and was soon rushing at the only one left in its path, Kagura. She herself had a look of horror upon her face that rivaled that of the lesser demons, and now it was her death that seemed a certainty. However, she would be spared, for a white haired little girl clad in a white gown leaped in front of her seemingly out of nowhere and held forth a mirror.

 

Sango had rolled onto her stomach and turned herself towards the battlefield in time to see Hiei unleash the dragon, and when she saw Kana appear in front of Kagura her eyes widened in fear.

 

“Hiei, get out of there!” she yelled, wincing in pain at the effort.

 

Her warning went unheeded, and Hiei just stood there as the dragon rammed into Kana's mirror full force, and was redirected back towards its master. The dragon slammed into the fire demon in an explosion of black fire, and Sango had to shield her eyes from the light that came with it. When her eyes had readjusted, Hiei was replaced with a tower of black fire, still burning where the demon had once stood.

 

Kagura was now recovered from her initial shock, and once she saw the resulting inferno, she let out a cruel laugh, and walked forward, stopping when she was at a safe distance from the flames.

 

“That's the end of him,” she announced with a smirk, before turning her attention to Sango. “Now to send him some company...”

 

Sango could only clench her teeth in frustration while Kagura raised her fan above her head in preparation for the final strike. However, she froze when the black inferno between her and Sango suddenly rose to new heights, filled with new life. For several moments, the black flames burned with renewed intensity, and then dispersed in a flash of heat and light. Kagura's expression changed from stunned bewilderment to shear horror as the smoke cleared, revealing Hiei standing before her with steam streaming off of his body.

 

“Y-you…but...but how?” stuttered Kagura, taking a step backwards from the fire demon.

 

“It's not that hard to understand,” responded Hiei with a terrifyingly cold voice. “The dragon didn't consume me. I consumed the dragon, and all of its power.”

 

Kagura was unable to speak, and instead took another shaky step backwards. Kana, being devoid of emotion, shared no such fear, and stepped in front of her “sister” clutching her mirror.

 

“Hn,” scoffed Hiei with disgust. “That thing may have turned the Dragon of the Darkness Flame back on me, but it is useless to you now. Let me show you!”

 

Hiei leapt high up in the air, and positioned his fists in preparation to strike. Kana raised her mirror in response, trying to use it to suck out Hiei's soul as she had done with other opponents in the past. However, even that would require a small fraction of time to execute, and Hiei was far too fast for any maneuver that required any time at all. In fact, his speed was so great that it would appear to an observer that he had teleported down in front of Kana, and naturally she had no time to react as he ducked under the mirror and delivered a powerful left uppercut to her chin.

 

The force of the blow knocked Kana unconscious, and the mirror slipped from her hands as they went slack. Fortunately for Kana, Kagura was already airborne, and caught her “sister” on her giant feather before the demon girl hit the ground.

 

“You won't escape!” declared Hiei furiously and pursued the duo as Kagura's feather skimmed the ground, trying to find an opportunity to safely ascend.

 

Kagura twisted her torso around to face her pursuer and unleashed her Dance of Blades to try and slow him down, but he simply beat the purple energy blades out of the way with his fists and continued to race after them. Suddenly, a strange creature with many tentacles and wearing a white baboon skin leapt into Hiei's path from out of the brush, wrapping its tentacles around Hiei as if to squeeze the life out of him. The fire demon simply grabbed a tentacle in each hand and ripped the thing in two, but the time he used to free himself had been enough to let Kagura and Kana rise into the night sky and escape.

 

He cursed under his breath as he saw the feather rise into the clouds above and out of reach, but he quickly forgot about that upon hearing labored breathing from behind him. He whirled around to see Sango attempting to stand up, the front of her armor now completely covered in blood and dust. By now, though, she had lost too much blood, and was totally drained of strength. As a result, before she had even managed to rise off of one knee, she went limp and fell unconscious upon the ground.

 

Hiei made his way over to her fallen form and kneeled down to check her pulse. Finding her to still be alive, he gathered her in his arms and began to walk towards the village gate.

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Yusuke wiped the sweat off his brow with his forearm as he walked the western gate's archway and into the village. He didn't hear or sense much activity from in the area, so he assumed that the battle had been won.

 

`Damn…now where the hell were we supposed to meet?' he wondered, scratching his head. `Ah well, I'll just head over to the temple.'

 

As he started on his chosen path, however, he heard an alarmed voice shouting from the north.

 

“We need a healer over at the northern gate right now!” came the panicked voice. “We've got one in bad shape over here!”

 

`That's Hiei's gate!' recalled Yusuke with alarm, and bolted off towards the northern gate as fast as his legs would carry him.

 

When he arrived, he found that it wasn't Hiei who was injured, but Sango. It only took a moment for him to realize that the northern gate had been the one that was overloaded, but he only gave it passing thought as he took in Sango's condition. Yusuke had seen some serious injuries before, but hers was definitely near the top of the list. He didn't bother going over though, seeing as Kurama and the village healers were already starting to treat her wounds, and most of the others were already gathered around her. Yusuke had never been the most tactful in these situations, so he decided that he could only make things worse by joining them.

 

Instead, he started scanning the area for Hiei, who he found leaning against the wall of the gatehouse with a tired look upon his face.

 

“Hey there, three-eyes. What happened?” he inquired as casually as possible as he walked up to the short demon.

 

“I don't have the time or the patience to explain it in simple enough terms for your pathetic level of intelligence to understand,” Hiei replied with a yawn.

 

`Oh boy. I've seen this before,' thought Yusuke as he noticed Hiei's droopy eyelids, slouched posture, and limp arms. `He was exactly like this after beating Bui. He must have used the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.'

 

“Now get out of my sight, human, or I'll make you wish I was just cutting your limbs off…” threatened Hiei sleepily, though it proved more amusing than intimidating since he slumped to the ground in a deep slumber immediately afterward.

 

Yusuke chuckled and shook his head as he looked down upon the snoozing demon.

 

`If only I had a marker…'