Chapter 88

Light at the end of the tunnel



Mai was carefully climbing down the ladder. She expected the way to be shorter, but the cellar wasn't like others – merely a room beneath the floor, but it looked rather like an endlessly long shaft, reaching deep into the ground beneath the stronghold. Down, the girl saw a faint light, probably Chiyo managed to light a candle or something else. Finally, she reached the bottom and took the small lamp.

"Chiyo!" she called the younger girl, her voice echoing throughout the shaft. After a while, she got her response.

"Here!" Chiyo shouted back from the darkness.

Feeling sure, now that she knew where the other girl was, Mai looked around the cellar. It was difficult, as the light cast by the lamp wasn't enough to light the entire room. She saw, that it was spacious though. Everywhere were laying old armors, weapons and various items, although everything was rusty and unusable. The place gave off an air rather of a treasury than an armory. The girl touched the rugged walls of the room – the stone under her fingers was raw, as though the pit was carved in the rock. It was not a cellar, it was a cave. The floor under her feet was the same.
"I found the torches!" Chiyo's voice was heard. Mai smiled slightly, as she heard the good news. At least they would have the proper light now.

"Great." Mai said to the younger girl, making her way towards her. "Let's see if we can use them."

Mai made each step carefully, not to trip in the complete darkness. When she reached Chiyo, she saw a content smile on the kid's face, when she showed the older girl her discovery. She took one and examined it. The cloth around the pole was still damp with oil. Fortunately, the torches had been stored properly.

"They'll do." Mai decided. Chiyo flashed a smile at her.

"There are more. I'll get them right away!" the girl exclaimed and whirled around. She made a single step and suddenly yelped. All happened in a split second – Chiyo's scream, the swift movement, the sound of breaking wooden plank and falling stones. Without thinking, Mai dashed forward and grabbed the younger girl by her arm. Immediately she got dragged forward and down, but she put a pressure on her legs, falling on her knees.

"Mai!" Chiyo yelped. The older girl clenched her teeth from the strain. The kid must have fell into some deep pit and Mai was the only thing that was holding her up. The girl held Chiyo's wrist strongly and pulled it.

"Give me the other hand!" Mai called to the kid. Chiyo nodded and reached for the older girl's palm. She succeeded after the third attempt. Mai with all her might pulled the kid up. When it was over, both of them were laying on the floor, panting.

"The torch." Mai breached out. Chiyo nodded and passed the item, lightning it from the lamp. Mai grabbed it and saw a hole in the floor, perfectly square one, as though it was man-made. A hatch? She tossed the torch into in and looked over the edge. It fell on the ground about two meters down. Mai put her head into the hole to see, what was beneath the hidden hatch. She expected a chamber, but it wasn't one. It was a corridor. The girl sat on her knees, contemplating what she just saw. A hatch, masked by stone, a corridor carved in the stone beneath the stronghold.

"It's the way out." She said the conclusion out loud. Chiyo's eyes widened.

"Way out?" she repeated. "It means… we're saved?"

Mai smiled and pulled herself back on her feet, helping Chiyo up.

"I hope so." She answered. "It looks like an escape route. Come on, we have to tell the others."
Chiyo energetically nodded and rushed to the ladder.

Both girls climbed up as fast as they could. In the dim lit chamber above everyone was waiting already, the atmosphere was grim. Souichiro and Sekiguchi were at Matsuko's side, the captain was pacing, trying to think of something, and Sesshomaru was resting, sitting with his back leaning against the wall.

"Have you found anything?" Harada asked without much hope in his voice. Mai beamed a self-satisfied smile at him, after she helped Chiyo up.

"Actually, we did." The girl said. "There is a hatch down there, an entrance to the corridor, which, I think, will lead us outside."

Harada's eyes widened and Sesshomaru stood up. The captain gasped.

"Sometimes secret passages are built in case of a siege… but to think, that you found it…" Harada clenched his fist, confidence burning in his eyes. "Everyone, let's go!"

Both old men nodded and prepared to climb down the ladder, right after Chiyo, who was supposed to lead the way. The captain tied wounded Matsuko to his back, so that he could carry the woman down. Just when master Sekiguchi was about to step on the ladder and follow Souichiro, a loud noise cut through the silence. Harada and Sesshomaru exchanged sharp looks. Mai looked at the dog demon, scared and confused.

"Sesshomaru, what was that?" she asked quickly. The dog demon, instead of answering, grabbed her shoulder and ushered her onto the ladder.

"The battering ram. Soon they will be here." He said. Mai nodded and began to climb down, slowly, as the both elderly weren't moving as fast as she wished. Then, Harada and Sesshomaru followed her. All the time the regular thuds were heard, as the battering ram was banging against the gate.
When Mai was finally down, she heard a noise louder than others. Without Sesshomaru telling her that, she knew, what it meant – the gate was destroyed. She only hoped, that the corridor wouldn't be the dead end.

"The ladder!" Souichoro exclaimed. Everyone's eyes turned to the troublesome item – with it intact, the enemy will be here in no time.

"Let's burn it!" Chiyo suggested, already marching with the lit torch towards it, but master Sekiguchi grabbed her wrist.

"No!" he protested quietly. "If you set such fire here, all air will be sucked out. We'll suffocate."

"Anyway, we have to go." Captain Harada decided. "Princess will lead the way."

Mai nodded, accepting her task and grabbed some spare torches. Sesshomaru looked at her seriously.
"Woman, no matter what, you must go forward and never look back." He told her. The girl widened her eyes. She didn't like the sound of this.

"Sesshomaru…" she began, but the demon interrupted her.

"Do not wait for me. If I do not join you later, find Inuyasha. He will track Rin down." Sesshomaru said, looking in her eyes. "Give me your word."

Mai opened her mouth. He wanted her to escape and leave him behind? No…

"Give me your word!" the inu-youkai insisted, slightly desperate look in his eyes. Mai bit her lower lip and nodded.

"I promise." She said quietly, feeling tears welling in her eyes. "But… don't leave me alone."
Sesshomaru nodded, acknowledging her words and, without any warning, showed her through the hatch, quickly lowering her.

In the meantime Harada untied Matsuko from his back and helped master Sekiguchi get down. He wanted to lower Chiyo next, but the girl insisted, that she wanted to be by her mother's side a while longer, so it was Souichiro's turn, even though the man was reluctant to leave his granddaughter and daughter-in-law.

"Now it's mother's turn." Chiyo said to Harada. The captain was about to help the wounded woman down, when he felt Sesshomaru's hand falling on his shoulder.

"This woman is a liability." The demon said in an emotionless tone. "She is already as good as dead. She will only slow them down."

Harada opened his mouth, ready to protest, but Sesshomaru's merciless logic was right – Matsuko didn't have any chance to survive and it would be difficult for two elderly and two young women to carry her all the way. However, the captain was a soldier, to whom death was familiar. The same, however, couldn't be told about Chiyo. The young girl's eyes widened and she clutched her mother protectively.

"I won't leave my mother." She said stubbornly, shaking her head, as the tears began welling in her eyes. Sesshomaru didn't seem to be moved by her display of emotions, though. He ignored the sobbing Chiyo and looked directly at the pale Matsuko.

"You know, what will happen to your daughter, should the enemy capture her." The demon said, more a statement than a question. The weak Matsuko nodded, as the tears flowed down her face. Sesshomaru took a step closer. "I will help you to the other side. You will feel no pain."

Chiyo gasped, as she saw, what he meant, when the inu-youkai put his hand on the hilt of the sword.

"Don't come closer, you monster!" she squeaked, motioning herself between him and her mother.

However, the dog demon wasn't even looking at her. He was waiting for Matsuko to make her choice.

The woman used the remaining strength to pull herself to the sitting position.

"I'll take your offer." She whispered, the words barely escaped her throat. She looked at Chiyo, reaching out to touch the girl's face. "Chiyo, lead a happy life. I love you, my child."

"Mother…" Chiyo whispered, her face wet with tears.

Then, Sesshomaru unceremoniously grabbed the girl, who was struggling and protesting and threw her into the hatch. Chiyo landed on her bottom an looked up.

"Go." The demon told her. "Tell Mai not to wait for anyone else."

The shocked girl only stared at him, as his face soon disappeared from view. The next thing she heard was a swish of the sword and a characteristic sound of the blade piercing the flesh. She covered her mouth with the palm to muffle a cry. Then the light above her went out. Chiyo pulled herself up and, tripping all the time, ran towards the source of light, where Mai was holding a torch and leading their group. The older girl smiled to her, as she saw Chiyo. Her smile was full of compassion.

"Chiyo, what about Matsuko?" Souichiro asked his granddaughter. The girl rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono.

"Mother…" she whispered. "Mother is dead."

Souichiro hung his head. The scholar patted his shoulder.

"The young should never die before the old. We will mourn her later." He said, trying to comfort the man.

"Chiyo," Mai spoke, feeling sorry for the child. "And… the others?"

Chiyo bit her lower lip and avoided looking Mai into the eye.

"He… Sesshomaru-san said not to wait." She managed to say it eventually.

Mai's eyes widened. Deep down, she knew that it was coming, but to actually hear it was devastating. She felt an urge to come back and drag the stupid demon along, but she knew, that he wanted to buy them time to escape. If she went back now, all his sacrifice would be meaningless. She clenched her fist, feeling so powerless. However, the only thing she could do for him now, was to live. After all, she promised him. Mai fought with the tears, that threatened to flow out of her eyes. She had to be strong and lead those people into safety.

"Everyone!" she said in a confident tone, trying to prevent her voice from shaking. "Let's hurry!"
She grabbed master Sekiguchi, who seemed to be the most frail from their group and dragged him after herself, to move faster.



Harada blew away the last candle and the chamber went dark. He and Sesshomaru were waiting for the enemies to come, with the blades ready for combat. They could hear the loud voices in the room above, as the Echizen's troops were searching the stronghold. Soon someone would come up with the idea to look in the cellar.

"I saw you once before." Harada spoke suddenly, his voice quiet as a whisper. "I saw you in Kanazawa a couple of months ago."

The dog demon looked at him, but it was difficult to discern anything in the darkness, now that his eyesight had become rather poor. He waited for Harada to continue.

"I thought then, that you're the most powerful creature I've ever seen. It was then, when I ran from the battlefield despite the general's orders. I saved my men, but I bear a mark of a coward since then."

"Hn." Sesshomaru's voice spoke. "There is no shame in being reasonable. A human like you had no chance against me."

Then, a long silence fell, till Harada decided to satisfy his curiosity.

"So… what happened to you? You lost your power?" he asked. Sesshomaru frowned, thinking, that Harada was worse at nagging than Mai.

"Temporarily." He muttered, hoping, that the human would finally turn his attention to something else.

"Oh. That's bad." That was the only comment, Harada offered.

The both men fell silent and kept looking up. Then, something covered the light above and they heard voices, but couldn't tell what was being said. Sesshomaru tensed. The enemy was coming down. He grabbed the hilt of the sword tighter and waited, blocking the way to the hatch. The seconds dragged on like hours, as the Echizen's soldiers were climbing down the ladder. Harada and the dog demon silently approached the ladder and delivered a blow, as soon as the first enemy was within reach.

They kept coming and Sesshomaru was slashing them, accompanied by the captain. In this manner over ten opponents were killed, before the Echizen's troops decided to wait above and develop some sort of plan. When they were coming one by one, Sesshomaru and Harada had the advantage, as their eyes were used to the dim light and could kill practically any number of enemies, as long as they didn't come more at once.
Harada smirked.

"They have no other choice, but to use the ladder and come by themselves." He said. "They think, that we have their princess here."

"Perhaps." Sesshomaru agreed, while looking around. He narrowed his eyes, as something caught his attention. Every soldier, they killed, had a musket on his back. If they had muskets, they must have… The demon crouched beside one of the corpse and searched it.

"Harada," Sesshomaru addressed his companion, throwing a small barrel in Harada's hands. "They have gunpowder with them."

On the captain's face a smile appeared.

"We can use it to collapse the ceiling in the passage." He said and began to search for the barrels frantically, as Sesshomaru lit the torch.

Once the barrels were gathered, Harada and the demon looked up and saw the Echizen's soldiers lowering ropes.

The inu-youkai smirked and lit them with the torch. He observed as the ropes served as a large candlewicks, surely irritating the enemy quite a bit.

"There's no time!" Harada said, grabbing the barrels. They were to be detonated inside the corridor, if they were supposed to blow out the ceiling. The captain jumped through the hatch. In the moment he was about to follow him, Sesshomaru saw the soldiers lowering the ropes again. He reached with his torch to set them on fire, but there was no effect.

"Tch!" the demon hissed, realizing, that the ropes were wet. The enemy was quite resourceful. Without any unnecessary delay, the demon jumped after Harada. Once in the corridor, he handed the torch to the captain and drew his sword.

"Demon." The soldier spoke, looking at Sesshomaru seriously. The inu-youkai glanced at him.

"Hm?" he muttered, expecting more personal questions coming. However, Harada had a look in his eye, that indicated no such thing.

"You should go." The captain said. "One man is more than enough to blow up the cave."

The demon frowned.

"You tell me to escape?" Sesshomaru asked in a mocking tone. Harada's fingers went white from how forcefully he was clenching them on the hilt of his sword. He furrowed his brows.

"Are you stupid?!" he hissed out to the demon. "Don't annoy me more and move your ass!"
Sesshomaru sent him a glare, angered by the manner, Harada spoke to him.

"Do not dare to insult me, human!" he said, nearly growling, but the captain wasn't impressed.

"You're quite an egoist, aren't you?" Harada stated, his voice shaking with anger. "If you die here, you'll make a woman cry! What kind of man are you, if you're all right with that? Go! She needs you!"

Sesshomaru's eyes softened, as Harada's voice reached him. The human soldier was right – he could see her again.

The Echizen's troops were now right above them. The captain looked at Sesshomaru harshly.

"Go to her! I'll handle the enemy!" Harada exclaimed.

The demon nodded and sheathed his sword. Then, he bowed his head slightly, showing respect for the captain. A human he may be, but the soldier was more virtuous than most of the youkai, Sesshomaru met in his long life.

The demon turned around and ran along the corridor, towards Mai.



Harada positioned himself steady on his feet, in one hand clenching his sword and the torch in the other. He couldn't light the barrels with the gunpowder right away, for the ceiling would collapse above the demon's head. He had to hold on for a while. The enemies began jumping through the hatch one by one and the captain kept slashing them, his sword dancing in the dim light. However, the opponents kept coming, endlessly like a flood, and he was more and more tired. His body was moving slowly, not listening to his owner. One of the attackers managed to get through his defense and pierced his blade through his stomach. Harada coughed blood and his sword fell from his fingers. With a look of wild determination, he grabbed the blade, that was stuck in his stomach with bare hand and, ignoring the horrible pain, pulled it out. He felt, as the sharp sword was slashing his intestines. He smiled for a last time and threw the torch in the direction of the gunpowder.
"Now I redeemed myself." He whispered, before the explosion shook the cave.