Chapter 81

Practice makes perfect
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"Try again. Focus." Mai couched Sesshomaru, who was looking like fury incarnated.
For nearly half an hour the inu-youkai tried to summon his demonic aura and transform into his true form, but his efforts were fruitless. He couldn't produce the shimmering cloud either nor soar into the sky. Mai sighed, now seriously worried. However, she tried not to lose her cool even in such crisis situation.
"How about using your poisonous claws." She suggested. Sesshomaru immediately marched towards the nearest tree.
"Dokkasou!" he called and attempted his attack.
Nothing happened. The tree was supposed to be melted by the poison, but there was no sign, that the dog demon's claws were able to do it.
"Tch!" the inu-youkai hissed, angered by another failure and swung his arm to simply slash the innocent tree. However, instead of slicing the trunk in two, the claws ripped only some bark from the tree.
Mai folded her arms, not knowing what to do. She wasn't ready for anything like this – everything indicated, that Sesshomaru lost his youkai powers. To make the matters worse, he wasn't taking it well and attempted to slice the poor tree one time after another, but his claws were as harmful as sharp nails now.
"Sesshomaru, I think, that's enough." She said gently, but the demon didn't react, as though he didn't hear her and kept attacking the trunk.
The girl cautiously came closer to Sesshomaru and gently put her hand on his arm. The demon's arm stilled and he looked at Mai, who smiled at him encouragingly. The inu-youkai looked away, as he supported himself against the tree with his arm.
"We have to think, what to do now." The girl said quietly. Sesshomaru nodded, refusing to even glance at her.
Mai sighed. It must be tough on him, to lose his youkai powers – he was born with them, after all. Nevertheless, it was shocking for her to see the demon in deep despair. She was used to him showing only confidence, even if the odds were against him. The girl bit her lower lip, deciding, that she had to be strong for both of them now. The most important thing now was getting Sesshomaru back to his old self, at least to make him quit mopping for now. The girl furrowed her brows and tugged the inu-youkai's silver stands.
"Hey! It's not the end of the world!" she reprimanded him.
The effect was immediate. He snatched her wrist and squeezed it forcefully, till her fingers let go of his hair. Sesshomaru's golden eyes glared at her furiously.
"If you have not noticed yet, the old woman deprived me of my youki!" he hissed into his face, nearly emitting an aura of anger. Mai glared back at the demon.
"That's right. And? You're going to sit here on your sorry butt and mop? If yes, you can dig your grave and lay in it, waiting for death!" she shouted at him, ignoring, that Sesshomaru whirled her around so that she was trapped between the trunk and his large frame, completely at the demon's mercy. Mai looked at him, not showing any signs of fear. "Or you can do something about it. I'll help you."
"Help me?" Sesshomaru snorted, as though she told him a good joke, and brought his face closer to hers. "What a weak human woman like you could do to help me?"
Mai closed her eyes and took a calming breath. Jerk! She was trying to help him and he kept insulting her! She opened her eyes and looked back at the demon confidently.
"I'll think of something. But you have to let me help you for once." She said, feeling, that Sesshomaru kept squishing her more and more. Damn this domination issue of his!
The demon was about to retort sharply to her offer, but closed his mouth and set his piercing gaze on her eyes, probably considering, what she just said.

"What plan do you have?" he asked after a longer while of silence. Mai smiled inwardly, as Sesshomaru began to act reasonably. Unfortunately, he still had her pinned to the tree and holding her wrist in his steel grip. She really would have preferred if he stopped doing such things. The girl narrowed her eyes at the inu-youkai.

"Maybe my brain will work better if you weren't squishing my poor breast with your armor." She said sarcastically.

Sesshomaru looked down, taking suspiciously much time to stare at Mai's assets, and pulled back. The girl took a deep breath and massaged her wrist. She sat down and stretched her legs.

"All right." She clapped her hands. "Let's sum up, what we know. It was this eremite's work, that you lost your youkai powers. She said something about giving back, what you lost – that will be your powers – once you complete this trial. And to do so you have to…"

"Reach Saga in twelve days." Sesshomaru finished.

"Doesn't seem complicated." Mai said, but furrowed her brows after a while. "Wait, don't tell me, that by Saga she meant that city in the south!"

"There is no other town by this name." the demon confirmed her fears. The girl felt like losing her footing.

"Holy crap. That's on the other end of Japan." Mai commented, estimating the distance. "There in no way we could get there on foot… even on horseback it would be tough."

"We better begin the journey immediately." Sesshomaru said, sending Mai an impatient look, she ignored.

The girl bit her lower lip. Her father always told her to think first and act then. It was better not to make rash decisions, they would regret later. She focused on the problem, considered few options, they had, and picked the best.

"We're going towards the sea." She stated confidently and decided to explain quickly. "If he find a haven, we could board a ship. It would be the fastest mean of transportation. This way we could still have a chance."

The demon looked at Mai with disapproval.

"It would be a human ship." He said slowly. "This Sesshomaru is a youkai."

"We'll think of something along the way." She said, standing up. "Let's go."

Mai began walking away in the direction, she believed to be right, when she felt a heavy hand falling on her shoulder and turning her in other direction.

"West is that way." Sesshomaru told her with an amused look on his face and began walking in front of her. The girl smiled and ran after him.



"Slow down, I can't catch breath." Mai complained after two hours of marching, even though it should have been called jogging.

Sesshomaru was making use of his long legs and wasn't strolling slowly, like usually when he travelled with his group, but was marching, while keeping a good pace. Mai, with her much shorter legs, had to keep running after him, not wanting to be left behind. The demon glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Keep up." He said shortly, not showing any intention to slow down. The girl glared daggers at his back.

"Easy to say so." She hissed out and kept jogging after the demon.

Suddenly, Sesshomaru stopped. Mai let out a relieved breath.

"Finally." She said with a faint smile, hoping for a five-minute break, but the way the inu-youkai tensed made the smile fall from her face. Usually he behaved like that when he was sensing danger.
 The girl thought, that it was definitely not the best moment to be attacked and prayed for it to be a false alarm. If they got attacked, when the demon was so powerless…

"Hn." Sesshomaru spoke. "It must be my imagination."

The demon continued marching and Mai rushed after him, feeling a wave of relief washing all over her. However, after a moment he stopped again, placing his hand on Tenseiga's hilt. This time the girl also heard the suspicious rustling and the sound of a snapped twig. Instinctively she clutched her umbrella stronger and moved closer to Sesshomaru.

"It looks like catch of the day!" a raspy male voice sounded behind them. The inu-youkai immediately whirled around, unsheathing the sword.

"Meidou Zangetsuha!" he called and swung Tenseiga, not wasting any time.

However, nothing happened. Mai looked at the dog demon, panicked. Tenseiga was a youkai blade, so it must work for youkai with their demon powers intact. It seemed, that without his youki, the inu-youkai couldn't use it. Sesshomaru cursed inwardly and tried once more.

"Meidou Zangetsuha!"

As previously, the sword was useless. He quickly sheathed it and looked around. From the bushes were emerging more and more highway robbers.

Mai counted eleven. All of them looked like criminals with a huge experience in murdering, plundering and raping. She and Sesshomaru were completely surrounded. Without his sword and powers, the demon was defenseless like an unarmed human. The girl began shaking, as panic began take over – they stood no chance against so many opponents. Maybe if there were one or two, but eleven… they were done for. And to make the thing worse, the robbers weren't leaving to imagination, what were they planning.

"Rich people." One of the thugs stated scanning Mai and Sesshomaru up and down. "We'll get a nice sum for those kimonos and armor."

"They must have a lot of gold with them." Another one said, readying his sword. "What's the plan, boss?"

The one called boss smirked and looked at Mai with a sickening grin. Slowly, he licked his lips.

"We'll take the woman." He said pointing his disgusting finger at the girl. "Once I'm done, you can line up and get your share too, guys!"

The thugs roared with excitement, eagerly waiting for this. Mai glued herself to Sesshomaru's side, scared out of her wits. To be raped by them… it would be the worst. She was in such a situation before, but now it was completely different. Now she wouldn't be saved by the inuyoukai.

The dog demon's blood boiled in his veins, when he heard, what the robbers were planning to do with Mai. There was no possibility he could allow anyone lay a finger on her! However, would he succeed when he was so shamefully weak? The demon clenched his teeth. This Sesshomaru will protect her no matter what.

"Over my dead body." He growled at the thugs, glaring at them furiously. The leader of the robbers grinned at him.

"If you want to die that badly, cripple." He said indifferently. "Who kills him, takes the woman first!"
In that moment all ten underlings charged at Sesshomaru, eager to get the promised reward. The inu-youkai forcefully pushed the girl aside, deftly avoided the sword of the first attacker and delivered a blow right on his nose. Mai heard a nauseating sound, as the bone cracked and the demon's fist sent the loose fragments of it deep into the thug's skull, till they were stuck in his brain.

Before anyone saw, what was happening, Sesshomaru grabbed Mai's arm and pushed the girl through the gap in the enemy's ranks. They didn't manage to get away far, as behind plants was a high and steep stone wall, blocking the escape route. It made running away impossible, but also granted a faint advantage in fight – now Sesshomaru and Mai weren't surrounded from all sides. The inu-youkai positioned himself in front of the girl, ready to defend her.

The thugs were slightly surprised by the quick maneuver, but managed to get over it already and were approaching the pair with the horribly content smiles.

"Now you won't escape!" one of the robbers called. Mai took a step back, but her back hit the stone wall.

"There're too many." She whined, sure, that the end was near. Sesshomaru would have at least quick death, but she… The girl was scared out of wits to even think about, what would happen to her soon.

"I will protect you." The dog demon said quietly, not being sure if he would be able to fulfill his promise. Under the normal circumstances such fight would be nothing for him, but now everything was different – he could not rely neither on his sword nor most abilities. He was as defenseless as a human, equally slow and weak. His body did not move according to his will. He lost all advantage he had as a demon and the odds were against him. Ten opponents could prove challenging for him.
"Now!" the robbers' leader commanded and all thugs rushed at Sesshomaru at once.

Mai opened her eyes wider, expecting the worst – to see the inu-youkai getting killed in front of her eyes.

The dog demon maintained his calm demeanor and was keenly observing the movements of the attacking opponents. He seemed, as though he gave up and was waiting to be cut down. The first enemy thought so and swung his sword, counting on the easy victory. His eyes widened in surprise, when Sesshomaru quickly changed his position and grabbed his wrist, using his momentum against him. The demon twisted the thug's hand and sent him flying towards the two other attackers, while grabbing the sword in midair.

"You bastard!" one of the robbers yelled, swinging with an axe above his head. Sesshomaru only smirked and jumped right in the middle of the enemies.

Mai gasped, scared for his life. Even though the demon wasn't using his youkai speed, she wasn't able to make out all of his movements nor could the thugs. The girl saw only a lot of blood and flying fragments of bodies. Another six opponents were down, before she discerned properly what was actually happening. Apparently Mai underestimated Sesshomaru and didn't take into consideration the fact, that he spent over three centuries doing nothing other than fighting. Surely even if he didn't have his youkai abilities, no human could match that many years of experience.

There were four thugs remaining, including one that looked like a giant – the man was over two meters tall and seemed to be a walking mountain of muscles. The inu-youkai decided to eliminate the strongest one first and made a move to cut down the huge one, but the giant had a good armor. The demon swiftly backed away, calculating how to kill the strongest enemy – slashing with the sword was out of option, as the blade was rather blunt, and he could not reach the eyes easily. There was only one way.

Sesshomaru intently slashed the giant's armor, provoking an attack. Fortunately, intelligence wasn't the thug's strongest side and almost instantly he lifted the heavy blade, preparing to strike from above. Using the moment, when his arms were lifted, the demon darted sideways and with deadly precision pierced the blade through the small gap in armor place in the place, where the armpit was. Once the tip of the sword was in, Sesshomaru skillfully twisted the blade and directed it straight towards the heart. The giant coughed blood and fell limply to the ground. Unexpectedly he changed the direction of moving and fell straight at the demon, who didn't manage to get out of the way without his youkai speed. Sesshomaru was knocked down and the heavy body immobilized one of his legs.

"Sadaharu!" the thug's leader yelled and with face distorted by the furious grimace rushed on the inu-youkai, followed by his two companions. The demon pulled the sword, wanting to draw it, but the blade was stuck in the giant's flesh and would not budge.

"Tch!" Sesshomaru hissed and quickly looked around, searching for something he could use as a weapon. There was a shabby naginata laying nearby. If only he could reach…

The opponents were closing. Just before one of the thugs managed to stick the sword into the demon's flesh, Sesshomaru's fingers snatched the wooden pole of naginata and with a swift move he pierced the thug's chest. Unfortunately, the blade broke and remained in the dead body. The two remaining thugs already swung their swords at the nearly defenseless inu-youkai, who blocked them with the wooden pole, breaking it into pieces.

"What now, cripple?" the thug's leader mocked Sesshomaru, as he lifted his blade. The demon was out of his tricks and was certain, that this blow would be fatal for him.
WHACK!

The robbers' leader froze in place, as his eyes rolled back into the skull. After a longer while he fell limply to the ground. Sesshomaru looked up and saw Mai standing firmly, her teeth clenched, with the broken pole of the umbrella in her hand – obviously she just hit the thug with it with all her strength. The last robber gawked at her with wide-opened eyes, apparently not believing, that this short woman just took down his boss. The girl shifted her fiery gaze to him and he shivered. Maybe she was small and looked harmless, but right now it felt like a demon was looking at him. Before he even had time to lift his weapon, she rushed at him.

"You bastard!" she yelled and aimed at him with the broken umbrella pole. The thug tried to dodge, but it was already too late – he felt pain, as the sharp pole pierced the flesh in the vicinity of the collarbone. Mai pushed it as deep as she could, but the robber was still standing and lifted his sword, about to cut her down.

In the last moment Sesshomaru's hand grabbed the back of her obi and pulled her back. She turned her head to look at him – the demon managed to free himself in the middle of the commotion. He was holding a sword in his teeth. Once Mai was out of the thug's attack range, he grabbed the handle of the blade and swiftly struck down the opponent. He turned around to check if the woman was fine. She stood firmly on her feet, panting.

"My umbrella is broken." She said, looking around at the dead bodies, intestines and blood, that covered everything around.

The dog demon walked towards her and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"You made good use of it." He said, as his fingers wandered to brush the stray strand of hair of her face. "You should have been born a youkai."

Mai's eyes widened at the strange words, but Sesshomaru swiftly walked past her and looked down at the thugs' leader, laying in the dirt.

"I killed him." The girl said quietly, realizing what she just did – killed another living being. She did that defending the inu-youkai, but still…

Sesshomaru kicked the limp body and a faint moan could be heard.

"This one is still alive." He stated and looked for a better sword. He grabbed one and slashed swiftly, separating the thug's head from the rest of the body. The demon smirked with satisfaction. "Not anymore."

Mai winced and tried to control the nausea, she felt from looking at the scene of the massacre. She hiked the hem of her kimono and made her way towards the tree line, to wait for Sesshomaru there. When the demon finally joined her, the girl noticed, that he had another sword by his hip – probably he took it from one of the dead. In his hand he was holding a knife in a sheath.

"Take this." He said, handing Mai the blade. She reluctantly accepted it and hid in her kimono. Without another word, the inu-youkai continued the march, making the girl jog after him once again.