Chapter 18

The first attack

A couple of days passed since Mai became Sesshomaru’s servant. The girl got used to the new daily routine – their group would wake up every day at dawn, then Mai, Jaken and Rin would eat breakfast. Next, they all were walking till dusk and then set camp for the night. The girl spent most of the day playing various games with Rin or talking with Jaken. She learned from the green demon a lot of interesting things about the medieval Japan, the youkai and Jaken’s adventures as Sesshomaru’s servant. Mai was quite surprised, when the small demon told her, that he was travelling about a hundred years with their current boss. She was even more shocked, when Jaken told her, that Sesshomaru was over three hundred years old.

Mai managed to maintain a truce between herself and the silver-haired demon. They talked as little as possible, Mai refrained from talking back to him and Sesshomaru controlled his habit of grabbing people’s throats.

The girl tried to befriend Ah-Un, as she was riding on the creature half of the time. Mai kept bribing the dragon with fruit and had an impression, that he liked her a little more now. At least he wasn’t scaring her on purpose anymore.

However, Mai had a hard time getting used to the everyday hardships. Her back was sore from sleeping on the bare ground. During nights, she was covering herself and Rin with one of the spare kimonos, but she was always shivering before dawn anyway. 

The menu was also dull – they ate mostly mushrooms, fish and fruit sometimes. Jaken’s favorites were roasted lizards, but neither Mai nor Rin were willing even to try them.

The most challenging was the issue of hygiene. Mai seized every opportunity to bath, wherever they passed near water, much to Sesshomaru’s annoyance. The girl did her best to scrub herself without any soap or shampoo and would kill for a toothbrush. Mai usually dragged Rin along and washed her as well, not caring about the kid’s protests. The girl was grateful, that her hair wasn’t knee-length anymore. Without a brush, keeping them untangled was a nightmare. She tried to comb her and Rin’s hair with her fingers, but the effect was miserable. All in all, the journey wasn’t pleasant.

“Jaken,” spoke up bored Mai. “Tell me, where exactly are we going? We have a destination or something like that?”

“Ekhem.” The green imp cleared his throat. “Sesshomaru-sama is searching for Naraku.”

“And…” Mai made a gesture with her hand to urge Jaken to tell her more. “Who is it?”

“You must know, that Naraku is an evil demon, who doesn’t respect Sesshomaru-sama. It is a goal of Sesshomaru-sama to track him down and defeat him.” Jaken answered. Rin stirred in Ah-Un’s saddle.

“Naraku is a bad person. He kidnapped Rin once.” The child added. Mai folded her eyes.

“No wonder Sesshomaru wants him dead.” She said, thinking how protective of Rin the silver haired-demon was, for some unknown reasons.

Mai made Jaken tell her more about the mysterious Naraku. From time to time, Rin interrupted to add something in her childish way. Both of them described Naraku as a despicable villain, cruel and cunning. Mai got interested in this hunt for him.

“So, how are we exactly tracking him down?” the girl asked. Jaken sighed.

“Sesshomaru-sama is looking for him.” The green demon explained. Mai furrowed her brows, not satisfied by the answer.

“How?” the girl asked. Jaken was looking at her, unable to answer her. After a moment of silence Mai spoke up, as she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tell me, that he tries to pick up his scent.” She said, folding her arms. During the long walks Jaken told her already, that Sesshomaru was a dog youkai and that his senses were very acute, especially the sense of smell and hearing.

The green imp averted his gaze and didn’t say a word, what confirmed Mai’s suspicions.

 No wonder, that we walk in circles. - Mai thought – Didn’t he ever hear about getting intel? Where does he have his brains?

“Sesshomaru-sama has a great sense of smell!” Rin exclaimed happily as Mai winced.

“Sure.” The older girl muttered.

.

“Mai.” Jaken tugged her sleeve to get her attention and pointed at Sesshomaru, who stopped abruptly. Rin shifted in the saddle, a little nervous.

“Is something wrong, Sesshomaru-sama?” the child called to the tall demon.

He didn’t answer to Rin. He drew one of his swords, the one called Tokijin. Mai got a little scared and moved closer to Rin and Ah-Un. She never saw Sesshomaru drawing a sword before. If he did it, there will be serious trouble for sure. 

Then the sky darkened, storm clouds gathering out of nowhere. Mai covered her eyes with her arm, as she was blinded by sudden flash of light. When she lowered the arm, she saw a figure standing in front of Sesshomaru. The stranger was a male demon, his form was humanoid. The long dark hair were tied in a single braid. Mai noticed, that his eyes were vividly green, but there was something wrong with them. The pupils – Mai realized. – They’re vertical, like the pupils of a reptile. His arms were covered in scales.

The newcomer licked his lips with his split tongue and narrowed his eyes.

“Who are you to trespass my territory?” he asked, looking at Sesshomaru with contempt.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru answered, annoyed, as he lifted his sword.

The silver-haired demon leaped forward and slashed his opponent with the sword. The lizard-like youkai managed to avoid Sesshomaru’s final blow in the last moment and jumped to the air. While floating above the ground, he outstretched his arm and a ball of energy began to form in his hand. 

Suddenly, the threw it in the direction, where Mai and the group were standing.

The girl gave out a cry of fear and surprise, as she scooped Rin in her arms in attempt to protect the child. 

Mai thought, that they were all going to die, but Sesshomaru appeared between them and the deadly lightning ball. The silver-haired demon managed to parry it with Tokijin, the clash of his sword and the energy caused explosion. Mai turned her head to see what was happening. Sesshomaru was still standing, unharmed. His opponent glided towards ground, a look of surprise on his face.

“Jaken, get back.” Sesshomaru ordered shortly. The green imp nodded quickly and started pulling Ah-Un’s reins and motioning Mai to go with him, further from fighting demons.

“If we stay here, we’ll be only in the way.” He explained to the girl. Mai followed him, eager to get into safety.

The lizard-demon lost his patience and started to create another energy ball. He called to Sesshomaru: 

“Don’t turn your back onto me, dog!”

The silver haired demon remained silent and rushed straight to the opponent. The other youkai laughed and tried to get out of Sesshomaru’s way, but the dog demon abruptly changed direction and appeared right above the startled opponent. He swung with Tokijin and sliced his enemy in half.

“As expected of Sesshomaru-sama!” called Jaken, a wide smile on his face, as he praised his master.

Mai had to admit, Sesshomaru was a skilled warrior. The way he defeated the demon was simply amazing. As the girl thought, her boss was indeed a fearsome demon.

She observed, as the silver-haired youkai landed gracefully on the ground and placed Tokijin beneath his obi. Mai noticed, that something strange was happening with the dead body of his opponent. The both halves began to twitch and moved on their own towards each other.

“Sesshomaru!” Mai cried, pointing it with her finger. “Behind you!”

The demon whirled around, his long hair swirling, as he reached out with his hand. Something green shot from his clawed hand, melting the moving corpse and burning the grass around them.

“What was that?” she asked with her eyes wide open.

Jaken grabbed the reins and made his way to Sesshomaru, leading the dragon.

“Sesshomaru-sama has poisonous claws.” He explained to Mai.

The girl took Rin’s hand and followed Jaken, feeling disturbed, as she discovered yet another deadly weapon of her fearsome boss. As they reached Sesshomaru, the tall demon turned around and started walking away. Mai lifted Rin onto Ah-Un’s saddle.

Then, she caught a glimpse of something glittering. She walked over towards it and picked a small sparkling fragment from the ground. She brought it to her eyes, examining it closer. It looked like a purple shard of quartz. Mai admired, how beautifully the light danced on the surface of the stone.

“Woman.” Mai yelped and jumped, as she heard Sesshomaru’s voice. She was so busy studying her finding, that didn’t notice, when the demon approached her. She tilted her head up and fought the urge to take a few steps back. The youkai glared at her, as he was towering above the girl. She clasped her hand shut and hid it behind her back. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.

“Show me that.” He demanded harshly.

“Show what?” Mai answered, trying her best to make an innocent face. The demon growled, showing his sharp fangs. The girl took a step back, scared of him showing his anger. Defeated, she sighed and showed him the quartz shard.

“It’s only a shining stone.” Said Mai.

To her surprise, Sesshomaru slapped her hand, causing the purple shard fall to the ground. Mai bent to pick it up, but the demon grabbed her arm and yanked her upwards. The girl hissed from pain and glared at him furiously.

“Leave that.” He told her, freeing the girl from his grip. Mai massaged her arm, as Jaken ran toward them. He leaned over the shining stone, squeaking from surprise.

“Sesshomaru-sama!” he exclaimed. “It’s the shard of Shikon no Tama!”

Mai furrowed her brows, not knowing, why Jaken was so worked up because of the stone. “What’s Shikon no Tama?”

“Shikon no Tama is a sacred jewel, which is said to grant any wish of the person, who possesses it.” Jaken started explaining.

Mai’s eyes brightened. If the jewel could grant any wish, could it help her get home? Maybe even a shard could suffice.

Jaken kept on blabbing, that the jewel enhanced youkai’s powers, but Mai was now only thinking, how to use the stone. Maybe, Sesshomaru and the rest of the group would go first and she will feign tripping and tell, them she will catch up later…

However, the strange expression on her face didn’t go unnoticed to Sesshomaru.

“Do not even think of keeping the shard.” he said to her, warning in his voice. Mai stared at him, genuinely terrified.

Great. He can read my thoughts?! – she thought. The girl sighed and nodded.

“We are leaving.” Sesshomaru stated and, as they set off, he was keeping an eye on Mai to ensure, that she won’t try pick up the jewel shard. The girl took her place by Ah-Un’s side.

They were walking in silence for some time, when Rin spoke up.

“Mai?” the child asked.

“Hmm?” Mai looked at the kid, who seemed to think about something intensely.

“If you could make one wish, what would you wish for?” she asked.

 “I didn’t think of it.” Mai lied. She couldn’t possibly tell the child, that she wanted to return to the 21^st century. “What about you?”

“I wish, I could stay with Sesshomaru-sama forever!” she exclaimed happily and added after a moment: “And with Mai, too.”