Chapter 106

Escaping the unavoidable


As the storm was getting stronger, the rowing became more and more difficult. All four of them were taking turns in rowing, but soon the group was exhausted. Wet and cold, they hardly could tell, where the east was. Mai was struggling to spill the water out of the boat with the bucket, but the waves were merciless. When she emptied the bucket for like hundredth time and lifted her head, she saw something, that made her freeze in place.

A gigantic wave was rushing right at them.

"Grab the boat!" she yelled, outshouting the storm, and clenched her fingers on the side.

She took a deep breath and then it came – the wave hit them with full force, covering the little boat and turning it over several times. Mai didn't know, how she managed to hold on to it, as her arms felt like ripped out of the joints. Finally, the boat emerged, but it was turned over. The girl frantically gripped the wet wood, afraid, that she would be taken away by the next wave. She looked around, counting her companions. Sesshomaru's silver head emerged from the water beside her, as he pulled up the scholar. Akira was also alive and clutching the boat.

Mai smiled faintly, glad, that they were okay, when she heard a roar behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw another huge wave coming at them. She had only the time to draw a deep breath, when she was hit by the mass of water. Then, her head slammed into the wooden surface and she let out the air, feeling the salty water fill her lungs.



Mai's eyes fluttered open, as she discovered, that she couldn't breathe. Cough attacks began shaking her body, as her lungs emptied from the sea water. She clutched the surface beneath her palms and noticed, that it wasn't wood – it was sand. Feeling a painful bump on her head, she slowly pulled herself up and looked around.

Apparently, she was washed away onto the shore – the waves were gently washing her legs and there was solid land before her. A little further, three more figures were laying on the beach, motionless. Panicked, that she may be the only one alive, she got up on her wobbly legs and limped towards her friends. She leaned over Akira and heard the boy's regular breaths. She smiled, a little bit relieved.
"Wake up!" she said in a creaking voice, slapping the boy's cheek. Young Maeda flipped on his stomach, coughing. The girl thought, that he would be all right and quickly approached Sesshomaru.

The demon was pale as a ghost, blood slowly, but steadily flowing from the wound on his leg. Having the worst suspicions, Mai snatched his wrist, checking the pulse. She stilled, when she felt it faint, only to disappear completely after a while. She almost panicked, but reminded herself to keep calm. She learnt at school, how to give first aid. Maybe it wasn't too late.

"Akira, help me!" she screamed to the boy, who just sat up.



Sesshomaru drew breath and opened his eyes, seeing Mai and Akira leaning over him, tears in their eyes.

"Teacher!" the boy exclaimed happily, before turning to the girl, who looked tired, but extremely happy as well. "We saved him!"

The inu-youkai furrowed his brows, not remembering, what was happening to him nor how he got on the beach.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Your heart stopped." Mai hurried with the explanation. "But Akira helped me do CPR and it worked!"

"CPR?" Sesshomaru repeated the unfamiliar word, wondering, how it was possible, that he was still alive after his heart stopped. Did the woman have such special abilities, he was unaware of?

"Oh," Mai realized, that a man from middle-ages may not know about it. "It's when someone presses your chest in a rhythm, while providing breaths. You know, mouth-to-mouth."

Sesshomaru nodded. What she said seemed simple, yet it was unknown to him before. Besides, the last part… must have meant, that while he was unconscious, she was touching her lips to his. The mere thought seems pleasurable.

"So you did those… breaths?" he asked, waiting for Mai's face to be covered in blush, he adored so. However, she did not seem to be ashamed in least.

"Actually…" she began, but Akira interrupted her.

"She was doing the compressions, so I was the one providing the breaths!" he explained, happy with himself.

The boy's smile dropped from his face, when Sesshomaru glared at him, suddenly looking very displeased. The silly situation could drag on, but someone exclaimed:

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're in trouble!" everyone's heads turned to see master Sekiguchi, all conscious and standing. Mai frowned – she forgot about the old man in the middle of the commotion. She glanced in the direction, the old man was pointing and cursed loudly, seeing the ship "Gorouza" sailing right in their direction. The wind was strong and their sails were set. Additionally the crew and the soldiers were rowing, so the ship was sailing at amazing speed. They would be on the beach within minutes.

She glances at Sesshomaru and saw his wound.

"Wait." She said to the demon, placing her hand on his chest, to prevent him from standing up. Swiftly, she tore the fabric of her kimono and began bandaging his thigh. Once she was done, she stood up and reached her hand to help Sesshomaru up, but he sent her a cold glare and ignored her gesture. Slowly, he stood up.

"Come on!" Akira hurried the rest, skipping forward, to get out of the beach. Master Sekiguchi rushed after him with mediocre speed. The dog demon gritted his teeth and limped after them, swaying, as the injured leg gave him barely any support. Mai bit her lower lip, seeing how terrible the inu-youkai looked – wounded, pale from the blood loss.

"You can lean on me." She said quietly, coming closer to him, but he glared at her warningly, angry at himself, that he was so weak at the moment. The girl furrowed her brows. "The world won't end if you accept help from time to time."

"Hn. Do not be ridiculous." He said proudly and limped forward, as fast as he could. Mai narrowed her eyes, glaring at his back. Idiot! He and his damn pride. The girl jogged after the dog demon, observing him with the corner of her eye. He was moving suspiciously fast for a person with a hole in his leg, who just got revived. Apparently he was a tough beast. She smiled to herself. It was good to have him here, alive. Just as it should be.

"I'm sorry for what I said that time. I guess, I was just scared. It's not, that I blame you for all those bad things, that happen to me, maybe I do, but that's not the point… you saved me that many times, that it's meaningless. I like my life the way it is now." She said the demon, trying to distract him a little from all the worries. "Sesshomaru, you wanted to say something to me earlier, but you got interrupted. Come on, tell me now."

The dog demon stole a glance at her. She referred to the moment, that he was about to confess to her, that he thought of her as of his woman. Would it be right to tell her that now? Sesshomaru remembered her sudden outburst at the ship and one of the things, she said, made him hesitate – she mentioned, that she wanted to have family in the future. It was a natural wish for a female, maternal instinct is not uncommon after all. However, should she become his mistress, it would be beyond her reach. He was too prideful to make a human his spouse and produce hanyou offspring, even if it was her. From the relationship, he wanted, there will be no children, she desired. Would it be right to strip her off her dreams, to deprive her of the joy of holding her child in arms? Suddenly Sesshomaru felt like the worst bastard. Thinking of satisfying his own desires, he forgot about the woman's needs. He could provide for her, protect her, give her a considerably high status, but could never build with her a family she wanted. Making Mai his mistress would only cause her suffer in the long run and that was not his intention.

Sesshomaru glanced at her, smiling at him carelessly, even though she faced death recently more times than most people in the entire life. He did not want to become the reason for this smile to disappear, even if it pained him. He decided to let her be and subside his desires for her own good. It would be enough to see her happy as a free creature, not miserable like a bird in his cage.

"Sesshomaru, are you listening?" her nagging voice reached him, as the woman began to grow impatient. "I asked what was that, you wanted to tell me?"

The demon glanced at her.

"I forgot." He lied.

"Teacher, Mai! Hurry up!" Akira's voice got the pair's attention.

The girl looked at the boy and then in the direction the boy was pointing. The ship was getting closer and closer to the shore, much faster than she estimated. She frantically gazed at their surroundings – there were plains everywhere, without any plants reaching higher than up to the knees and the tree line was far away. There was no place to hide in the radius of two miles, what meant, that their group was left without a possible hiding place. Mai gritted her teeth and sped up – she knew, that they had to outrun the enemy. Luckily Sesshomaru got rid of all the horses, but still, the soldiers had advantage. The girl glanced at her companions. The dog demon was awfully slow, as he was limping, his leg injured. Master Sekiguchi was no racer either and Akira was just a tired kid. She bit her lower lip and kept moving forward.

Unfortunately, their group was much slower than their opponents. The ship already reached the beach. While close to the shore, it didn't even slow down, the sails still set. The ship cut into the land, making its way through the sand till it finally stopped half kilometer from the sea line. The soldiers and armed sailors hopped off the deck and began the chase after the escapees. The group consisted of twenty heavily armed men, led by enraged Sasaki. Without delay, they started running after their victims.

"Get them! I want their heads!" Sasaki yelled, when he was jogging beside the soldiers.

Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder, as he was struggling to keep a good pace despite his injury. According to his estimation, the enemy would catch up in a half an hour. Unfortunately, the terrain offered no hiding place nor any other advantage. Escaping the attackers was pointless and would only drain the remaining strength. As he was an experienced warrior, the inu-youkai stopped. He leaned on his uninjured leg and breathed slowly, attempting to restore as much of his energy as possible.
"Sesshomaru! What are you doing?! We have to run!" Mai shouted at him, seeing, that he stopped.
The demon looked at her, before setting his gaze on the closing opponents.

"We will not escape them. Killing them is the only option." He stated firmly.

The girl gawked at him, nervousness all over her face. Was he mad?!

"But… they're armed and there's twenty of them!" She protested, glancing at the demon unsurely. Not only was Sesshomaru unarmed, but he was barely standing because of his wounded leg. Maybe if he was totally healthy, he would stand a chance, but now it was doubtful.
However, the inu-youkai was determined.

"I have no choice but to fight them." He explained patiently. Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder and looked straight in Mai's eyes. "This Sesshomaru will always protect you."

The demon smiled slightly. The girl's gasped slightly, as her eyes widened and a light blush adorned her cheeks. What Sesshomaru just said was so…

"You look creepy, teacher." Akira stated suddenly, coming closer to the dog demon. The boy reached to the bundle on his back and passed it to the dog demon. "There's only a blunt sword inside, but I guess, it belongs to you, teacher."

The dog demon reached inside the rag and fished out the sheathed sword. When he saw it, his eyes widened slightly.

"Tenseiga." He said quietly, seeing the sword, he presumed to be lost. In his current state the blade was useless, but Tenseiga itself could protect Mai a little. Sesshomaru handed the sword to Mai. "Woman, hold onto that. It will grant you some protection."

The girl nodded and accepted the sword. She ushered master Sekiguchi and Akira to come closer to her. The three of them hid behind Sesshomaru's back, waiting for their attackers to arrive. Mai's fingers were clutching the sheath so forcefully, that they went almost white. She was horribly worried for all of them. Why those dangerous situations kept occurring?

"They're close." Akira said, his voice was trembling from fear. The girl patted the boy on the shoulder, trying to encourage him.

"Everything will be all right." She whispered, trying to hide her own nervousness. "Sesshomaru will defeat them. He always does that."

However, she was not so sure of that. The opponents were closing. Unfortunately, the soldiers weren't so stupid to attack the dog demon right away. Instead, they trapped their four-people group in a circle. Mai, Akira and master Sekiguchi motioned themselves closer to Sesshomaru. They were surrounded by a circle of steel. Then, a laughter sounded, as the wall parted, giving place to Sasaki, who seemed to be in sickeningly high spirits.

"It looks like you didn't manage to escape me, after all." He said, laughing.

The dog demon graced the nobleman with a cold glare, stretching his fingers and readying himself for a fight. Sasaki returned the gaze, but decided not to waste more time. He addressed his men.

"Kill them all. Spare no one, even the boy." He said shortly, before turning away.

Mai took a step back, till she bumped into Sesshomaru's back. She embraced Akira, who was looking at the soldiers with disbelief in his eyes. She flinched, as the men pulled the bowstrings, aiming at them. It would be more an execution, that a fight. The girl closed her eyes, expecting a characteristic whizz and pain.

Then the sound hit her - it was like a bee hive. The bowstrings sang and the arrows flew towards their group. Mai clenched her teeth, waiting for the pain, but instead she saw a flash of light through her eyelids and heard gasps.

"What wizardry is this?" one of the soldiers asked, taking a step back.

The girl's eyes fluttered open. They were still alive and the broken arrows were laying everywhere around them. Apparently Tenseiga acted on its own and protected them. Mai let out a relieved breath. They were alive, at least for now.

However, it was too early to celebrate. Sasaki scowled, angry, that he didn't manage to kill the escapees the easy way.

"Attack!" he commanded and the soldiers leapt forward, the swords in their hands.

Mai, Sekiguchi and Akira motioned themselves closer, scared out of their wits, but Sesshomaru acted swiftly.

Ignoring the pain in his injured leg, he forced his body to do his bidding. He jumped forward, disarming one of the men in a split second. He cut down another and put the blade between his teeth. He snatched the second sword and threw it towards his companions. The blade stuck into the ground, just before Akira. The dog demon snatched the hilt of his own blade in the last moment to block the attack and kill another enemy.

Mai readied herself to smack the opponents with the scabbard. Once Sasaki's men attacked, chaos ensued. Sesshomaru left them and she was not sure, what to do – should she follow him or stay, where she was. However, there was no time to think, as two soldiers already lifted their swords to attack them. The girl took a step back, trying to drag along the kid and the elderly scholar, but she nearly bumped into the enemy. A huge man ginned, while he was towering above her. She recognized him – that was Juro, the sailor, who picked a fight with Sesshomaru. Juro smiled widely, lifting a massive axe. She was sure, that she would be a goner in a second, but she saw something rush past her.

The boy snatched the sword, his teacher threw to him, and without any hesitation moved in front of Mai, protecting her, and delivered a blow, just like Sesshomaru taught him. Akira's eyes widened, as blood gushed from the cut on Juro's stomach. The big man looked down, startled. He wasn't expecting an attack coming from a child. He brought his hands to the stomach, only to catch the intestines, that spilled out. He gave out a last croak and fell, his legs slightly twitching in agony.

"Akira." Mai said, shocked, that the child protected her and killed the opponent. Young Maeda gazed back at her, the bewilderment in his eyes. Apparently, it was equally shocking for the boy.

"RETREAT!" one of the soldiers yelled and the men backed away, suddenly leaving their victims. Mai glanced at Sesshomaru, who was standing a few steps from them. The bodies of four opponents were laying in the dirt before his feet. Five were killed, but thrice as much remained. The girl saw, that the dog demon was barely standing – he had to lean on the sword to keep himself on his feet. His chest was raising in a fast rhythm, as the inu-youkai was panting from the strain. Mai knew, that he was at his limit. There was no way, that he could defeat all remaining troops in his condition.

In the meantime, the soldiers and sailors regrouped, making a more solid formation instead of a circle. There was no point in trapping the escapees, as all of them were too exhausted to flee. One of the sailors distributed long spears, fit to kill from a safe distance. Armed in that way, the men began moving forward in a half-circle.

Mai and her companions were taking steps back, but their legs were refusing to listen to them. Akira lifted the sword, that was too big and too heavy for him. Sesshomaru was standing still, saving his strength for his last battle.

"Attack!" someone gave out an order. The soldier picked up speed, closing to their victims.
Mai clutched sheathed Tenseiga tighter, wanting to use it as a club.

Suddenly, a flash of light flew from above. The girl gasped, as the lightning ball stuck right in the middle of the enemy's ranks, burning a hole in the ground, killing some men in the process and sending their companions flying. She looked up and her eyes widened.


Author Note

Hello again. In case you were wondering, I didn't forget you. I'm simply busy and when I have some free time I'm focusing on "Mystic Mirror". It needs more work than I orinally thought and I'm slaving doing it. It's still under the construction, so I'll write you when it'll be ready to read. 

Thank you for the comments. You know, that I love them and every time I see a new one, my eyes brighten and I begin grinning like some mentally impaired criminal (psycho killers and such). Please continue on supporting me and keep commenting.