Chapter 15 - The Battle - Part 2

Chapter 15-The Battle-Part 2

Shippo ran blindly to and from small scenes of battle; too small to be considered a threat by the attackers he was left alone to call out miserably for the others.

Purely by chance he stumbled upon Sango and Miroku, their faces wore an expression of serenity even though their bodies were damaged beyond repair.

Half-blinded by tears he turned and ran, retching and calling out to Inuyasha – the sounds of battle seemed to fade in and out and after a time which seemed infinite to the distraught fox-demon cub he saw the two half-brothers facing Naraku up ahead.

Naraku was smiling as he regarded the two stood against him readied from battle; with a faint metallic swish both brothers withdrew their swords – Tokijin glittered brightly in the sunshine but Tetsusaiga didn’t transform, Inuyasha looked at it in surprise before realising with a pang that the mortal he used it to protect was gone.

“You cannot win,” Naraku’s voice was soft and yet carried easily. “I have become the monster that all other monsters fear.”

“Where is the shikon jewel?” In comparison to Naraku’s soft voice Inuyasha’s sounded as harsh as a crow’s call.

Naraku spread his arms wide and spun slowly, for all the world like a gentleman displaying his fine new outfit.

Inuyasha suddenly saw a small streak of red fur flash towards Naraku and only realised too late that it was Shippo; the small demon, overcome with rage over the deaths of his friends, was charging recklessly to the god-like form of Naraku.

Without even turning from his observation of the two half-brothers Naraku’s hand whipped out and grasped Shippo’s skull holding him tightly in his claws, Shippo struggled and cried out but to no avail.

A small trickle of blood ran down Shippo’s face and dropped to the earth, the trickle soon became a river and Shippo stopped struggling as Naraku squeezed his claws together in one sickening crunch of bone.

Inuyasha’s mouth shaped the word no but no sound issued from between his lips; instead it was Sesshoumaru who growled a warning challenge and, gripping Inuyasha’s forearm tightly to make sure he followed, advanced upon the smiling Naraku.

Naraku dropped the small broken corpse on the ground and cracked his claws menacingly.

The battle that ensued was long and tiring, Inuyasha did little more than sit in stunned silence on the ground while Sesshoumaru worked to protect both himself and his younger half-brother.

After an hour had passed Sesshoumaru had several deep gashes in his arm and a slash across his face, his eyes flashed with anger and the longing to transform but with the limitations of the curse he could not.

Holding Tokijin before him like a lance Sesshoumaru shouted a battle cry before rushing headlong at the still-smiling Naraku, he felt his sword make contact with flesh but before he could feel any elation he felt the unmistakable sensation of cold steel entering his stomach; as he sank to the floor grasping at the hilt with bloodied hands he felt the life ebb out of him with each beat of his heart.

With the last of his strength Sesshoumaru thrust his claws upwards underneath Naraku’s ribs and ripped out his heart; Naraku’s face froze in a mask of triumph before he fell to the ground.

With his fading vision Sesshoumaru saw the heart in his fist glowing and he realised he was holding the complete shikon jewel; he tried to make his mouth form the words that would save his life but the pain was too great, as he slipped into black oblivion only one thought went through his mind.

I wish everything could be as it was

As Sesshoumaru’s breath grew shallower the heart still grasped in his fist began to vibrate faster and faster before disappearing – it had fulfilled a pure hearted wish and was now no more.