Chapter 108

Friends and foes




"Oh, it seems, that I am too late." A feminine voice called.

The big birds made way for her and Jaken saw the demoness. Her posture was not impressive, as she was rather short, about of Mai's height. Her long hair were jet black like her eyes – they were like pools of pure darkness. Her ghostly pale skin contrasted with the black hair and attire, making her look like a wraith, sent from hell to haunt the sinners. Her robe was extraordinary. Over a beautiful kimono she wore a cloak made of feathers. They were black, but at the same time iridescent in the sun in such manner, that it seemed like she carried all the colors of a rainbow on her back. When she brought her elegant palm to her face to brush off the stray strand of hair, Jaken noticed, that she wore gloves with long silver claws on her fingers. Everything about her screamed "danger". She must be just as deadly as beautiful.

Jaken nervously looked sideways, wanting to escape, but the demoness had them surrounded by her minions.

"You will not run." She said calmly. "I cannot allow Sesshomaru to find out, what that fool Ichizo did. Does he not understand, that time and place is not right? By such rash actions he endangered the existence of the Alliance!"

Jaken blinked, as he had the impression, that the demoness was talking mainly to herself, not to him. Then, she shifted the gaze right on him, her black eyes locking with his own.

"I am terribly sorry, but I cannot let you live." She said coldly.

Jaken's eyes widened. Then, chaos ensued. The demoness leapt forward, aiming at him with her silver claws and in the same moment her minions dived to attack. However, Ah-Un proved itself to be a perfectly trained steed and reacted without hesitation. The dragon jumped forward, right at the youkai's leader. She assumed the battle stance, readying herself for the beast's attack, but Ah-Un didn't leap on her. Instead, it flew over her, leaving the startled woman and began escaping with all the speed he could muster.

The crows followed the fleeing youkai, but Jaken managed to keep them at distance, using Nintoujou to fry the ones, who flew too close. That made the enemy stay behind. Fortunately, there was a large dark storm cloud ahead. Ah-Un flew right into it. Jaken winced, as he was soaking wet, but he held on tightly. The dragon was circling inside the cloud for some time, before he emerged from it. The imp looked back, nervously anticipating the attackers, but it seemed, that Ah-Un managed to lose them somehow. Jaken patted the dragon.

"Good job, Ah-Un. Now, let's find Sesshomaru-sama." He said.



Present time

"So we traveled for three days, searching for Sesshomaru-sama and fleeing from those crow youkai." Jaken ended his tale.

Mai stared at her green companion in shock. Rin had been kidnapped? The girl glanced at Sesshomaru. The demon was showing no emotion, but she was more or less aware, what was going on in his head. He was really attached to the kid and would want to get Rin back. However, in his current state… Without his youki, having lost a lot of blood, with his leg wounded, he would never stand a chance against a bunch of youkai. He had problems with a large group of humans, so facing his kin would be disastrous. But if he does nothing…

"I believe, that our presence would be a bother." Suddenly master Sekiguchi spoke. Mai flinched and looked at the two humans, having nearly forgotten, that the old scholar and Akira were still here.
The boy looked at Sekiguchi.

"But… we have to help the teacher and…" young Maeda began, but the elderly man shushed him, placing his hand on the kid's shoulder. Mai noticed, that the hand was missing a finger.

"If we stay here, we will only hinder Sesshomaru and Mai. They do not need to worry about us. Anyway, we should begin the journey to Hizen's capital as soon as possible, for your uncle will be worried to death." Sekiguchi explained patiently.

The boy bit his lower lip, reluctant to part his ways with the new found friends, but the old scholar was right. The time has come to say goodbyes. He forced himself to smile.

"I understand." He said quietly to master Sekiguchi, before turning to Sesshomaru. He looked at his teacher and bowed deeply with respect. "Teacher, Mai, thank you for all you taught me. I'm grateful!"
The girl was taken aback by the humble words. She didn't expect Akira to change so much in a few days. In the corners of boy's eyes the tears began welling.

"I'll never forget you two." He said, his voice nearly breaking, before turning around. The old scholar nodded, saying his goodbyes in that way, and the two figures began walking away southwards, heading towards young Maeda's destiny.

Mai shouted "farewell" after them, but they didn't turn back anymore. When she was gazing after them, she didn't even realize, when she was yanked off the ground and thrown onto Ah-Un's back.

"Wha…" she began, seeing, that it was the dog demon, who tossed her onto the saddle so violently like she was a luggage.

 However, Sesshomaru wasn't paying any attention to her protest. The inu-youkai swiftly jumped onto Ah-Un and sat behind her. He grabbed the reins.

"Up!" he yelled.

Mai shrieked, when the beast leapt into the air. She was sitting with both her legs dangling on one side, so the position wasn't very stable. She frantically grabbed the saddle for support.
"Wait for me!" Jaken shouted, panic in his voice, as he managed to grab the tip of Ah-Un's tail and was holding on with one hand.

The girl slightly turned in the saddle, wanting to question Sesshomaru, what the hell was happening. When she looked back over his shoulder, she got her answer. A large black cloud was chasing them. It seemed to be a cloud, but as it began approaching, she noticed, what it truly was. Feathers. Wings. The thing, that was after them was the flock of the crow youkai, that were following Jaken. The dog demon glanced over his shoulder.

"Faster!" he hurried his steed, making Ah-Un fly close to his limits. Mai was trying to get a better view of their enemy, but she swayed in the saddle, as she was unable to hold on properly in this position. Sesshomaru instantly snatched her waist and pulled the girl close to himself, steadying her.

"Thanks." She muttered, not taking eyes off the crows.

They were closing. Then, they did something strange. Instead of flying in one big cloud, they spread into two smaller flocks. The girl cursed under her nose.

"They're trying to circle us." She informed the dog demon. Sesshomaru nodded.

"Slow down, Ah-Un." He said to his steed. Mai's eyes widened. She just told him, that the demons were trying to trap them! Wasn't he listening to her?!

"Sesshomaru, I said, that…" she began, but the inu-youkai squeezed her ribcage, making her stop and hiss from slight pain.

"I am aware of that." He said harshly, focusing on the sky before them. Mai winced and saw, how the black birds were encircling them, cutting out the escape routes.

"Down!" Sesshomaru yelled and the dragon obeyed the order, suddenly diving and misleading the attackers in this way. Mai and Jaken shrieked simultaneously, as the ground was closing with a frightening speed, before Ah-Un pulled up.

The trick managed to buy them some time, but it wasn't long before the birds began catching up again. Mai shifted her gaze from the flock behind their backs and looked in front of them. The dense mist was obscuring the view. At first it wasn't bothering them much, but as soon as the beast emerged into in completely everything vanished in whiteness. She neither saw the crows nor what was in front of them. Then, a solid rock wall appeared out of nowhere right before them. Mai gasped, unable to scream, when Ah-Un rapidly turned, barely avoiding crashing into it, its claws grazing the stone.

"Ouch!" Jaken yelped, as the beast's tail along with himself attached to it bumped into the rock.
Mai shut her eyes tightly, as her fingers clutched the edge of the saddle. Shit, why couldn't they have a moment of peace?!

Ah-Un slowed down, carefully maneuvering through the mountainous labyrinth. The beast was taking countless turns, so the girl was unable to tell, which way they were flying. She was nearly holding her breath, for even a faintest sound was loud, when it echoed throughout the rocks. She was listening, waiting for the danger to come, but it was quiet. A little bit too quiet. Mai couldn't hear any animals, no natural sounds. However it was comforting that she didn't hear the sound of wings beating against the air either. But, Ah-Un seemed to be restless. The dragon was sniffing the air, visibly nervous.

Then, a small shape appeared in the midair in front of them. Mai gasped, when she saw the woman, Jaken told about. The demoness clad in black was floating before them, her cloak made of feathers looking like wings. She twisted her carmine lips in an evil smile.

"Oh, my. You are trapped." She said in a mockingly worried voice, covering her mouth with the pale hand. Mai saw the glitter of silver at the tips of her fingers. She froze in fear. That woman looked extremely dangerous.

Sesshomaru glanced sideways, but the birds appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them from all sides. However, this time they didn't make a mistake, they did previously – the demons surrounded the dragon along with its passengers from all sides, also from above and below, trapping them in a sphere of crow youkai. The demoness pointed with her clawed finger at her victims.

"I want them dead." She ordered.

The crow youkai momentarily dashed forward, their sharp beaks ready to kill. Ah-Un roared and emitted the lighting beam, sending it straight in the middle of the enemies. Before Mai knew, what was happening, Sesshomaru shoved her down, making her lay flat on the dragon's back, holding her head down. She winced, as something heavy hit her back.

It was Jaken. Ah-Un swung his tail, sending the imp on his back, or rather Mai's back to be precise.

"Jaken, Nintoujou!" Sesshomaru commanded. The green youkai gawked at his master, unsure, why was he supposed to use it, but the dog demon's harsh glare made him forget questioning his master's motives. Jaken lifted the staff and set the flames free, burning the crows to ashes. In the meantime the dragon dashed through the hole they made and began escaping again.

"Do not them flee!" the head demoness yelled, leaping forward and beginning to pursue the escapees.
Mai clenched her teeth, still feeling Jaken on her back and Sesshomaru's hand pining her head to Ah-Un's scales. In that position she couldn't see, what was happening, not to mention, that it was extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, she didn't notice, that another pawns joined the game. Countless pairs of eyes gleamed in the mist, observing the intruders from the heights.

Suddenly, big furry shapes began leaping from the mountainsides, targeting mainly the crows, but attempting to take down Ah-Un too. Fortunately the dragon had quite a reflex, so it managed to avoid the new attackers fluently.

The furry shapes were jumping on the crows and swiftly snapping their necks, eliminating them one by one with the murderous effectiveness. The head demoness, in her humanoid form, hissed with anger, seeing, what was happening around her, but didn't attempt to save her kin. Instead, she used the commotion and flew higher, following her prey. The ones, who attacked her and her flock were unable to fly, so she was safe high in the air. Once she spotted the dog demon and his servants, she dived.

Ah-Un suddenly stopped in midair, as the escape route was cut off by the crow demoness. She smirked evilly, flexing her fingers and preparing to deliver a blow.

"It looks like I shall steal all the glory by killing you now, head of the dog clan." She said in a sing-song tone.

She leapt forward, but in the very moment, something huge and furry jumped from above, covering her with its enormous body and slamming the demoness into the rocky ground. Mai felt the pressure on her head and back lessen. She pulled herself up to see what was happening.

"The monkeys." She whispered, recognizing the shapes. She looked around. They were surrounded again, but this time by the monkey youkai instead of crows. The monkeys were all caked in the bird's blood, looking absolutely terrifying.

"LAND!" a deep voice bellowed.

The dog demon glanced sideways, estimating the chances for escape.

"Down." He said to Ah-Un quietly.

The beast obeyed and glided downwards, till it sat on the ground before the leader. Mai was sure, that the huge monkey, that took out the crow demoness was the boss here. Its mere size was intimidating – it was of the size of Sesshomaru in his true form. The monkey boss snarled at them. The girl noticed, that at the feet of the huge animal the crow demoness was laying, motionless, her limbs bent at the wrong angles, with couple of additional joints. Her head was dented at one side – she was dead.
The huge monkey glared at their group, his eyes targeting mainly Sesshomaru.

"You are trespassing on my territory." He said in a low tone, obviously intending to threaten them.
Sesshomaru returned the glare with his usual confidence. The dog demon narrowed his eyes, not answering right away. His usual reaction would be to deal with the monkeys, but there was a chance to avoid the bloodshed. As reluctant he was, it would be the ultimate foolishness to endanger himself and the woman unnecessarily. Being temporarily stripped of his strength, he decided to withdraw from the fight.

"I apologize. It was not my intention to invade your lands." He said slowly, the words leaving his throat with difficulty.
Silence fell, as the monkey was studying the dog demon and his companions.

"Despite your intentions you disturbed the peace of my people." The huge animal bellowed. "My family was injured because of your presence!"

Sesshomaru clenched his teeth, keeping his calm at all price.

"All harm, that befell your companions, was caused not by me, but by the crow youkai, you already defeated." He retorted.

"The birds were your enemies, you dragged them to our sanctuary, so that we defeat them for you. Sly, dog demon. We, monkey tribe will make you…" the monkey boss was saying, but Sesshomaru interrupted him.

"I was not aware, that you reside here." He said swiftly. "True, you defeated my enemy. For that you have my gratitude. Feel free to ask for my assistance, when you will be in need, for I always repay my debts."

The leader of the monkey tribe narrowed his eyes, listening to Sesshomaru's cheeky words. Then, his laughter sounded throughout the valley.

"You are the son of the Dog General from the west, aren't you?" the monkey looked quite amused, instead of angry. "You have to be, if you attempt to fool me with such smooth words."
The inu-youkai glared at his adversary.

"I will keep my word. I am a man of honor, just as my father was." The demon said in a low tone, close to growling.

The monkey nodded.

"I will keep that in mind." He responded, while turning around. "You are free to rest here. Depart before the nightfall though."

With that words, he left, followed by the other monkeys, that soon vanished in the mist, leaving Sesshomaru and his companions behind.


Author Note:

 Did you have happy Eastern, my dear readers. I'm terribly sorry for not leaving you any chapter to read, but I was in trouble - there was an unforseen commotion with my Internet provider going bankrupt and getting another one to give me the connection. Then I went to my parents' place for Eastern, so I was Internet-deprived for a longer time. It was a pain in the a... leg, but I imagine that lack of chapters was painful for you as well.

Anyway, please leave me a review. I promise to redeem myself!