Trails of Pain and Love

Chapter 4



Kagome looked around her, seeking any weapon that she could find. There was a small branch that had fallen from the great tree of ages nearby, and she picked it up, wielding it before her as a club of sorts.



"Heh, and I suppose you'll brain me senseless with that pitiful twig?" Amaru mocked as he closed the distance. He stopped within two feet of her, and just stood there, as if daring her to do her worst.



"You asked for it, buddy." Kagome replied, feeding her spiritual powers into the twig. Using the little branch as a conductor for her powers, she swung it into Amaru, making contact with his left arm.



The twig discharged her powers, purifying most of his arm and eliciting a horrible shriek from him. He glanced down from his arm in suprise to look at her, his expression turning from one of sudden suprise to malovelent hatred.



"You bitch..." he sputtered, reaching forth with his right hand to wrap around her throat. He pushed her up against the great tree, then constricted his hold around her neck, causing Kagome to gasp for breath.



"Gasp...." Kagome chocked out as the hand continued to tighten, cutting off her air supply. Once again, she called upon her miko powers of purificant, this time concentrating them on the hand around her neck.



There was a sudden flash of pink light, and Amaru's right hand dissolved, leaving a stump at the wristline. He backed off, once again startled, before sudden understanding came to his eyes.



"Ahhh, so you are a priestess. I have heard of those who are holy enough to use such powers to vanquish demons and the like, but until now I have never met one." muttered Amaru in a thoughful manner.



"It seems you made a fatal error in coming after me." Kagome almost taunted him in turn, smirking at both of his handless arms.



"Hmph, fortunatley for me, your powers are useless against one such as myself." informed Amaru, a grin spreading over his face as his arms suddenly regenerated. Kagome's triumphant smirk faded away to one of sudden fear and uncertainty.



Kagome tried to reach into the lower tree branches for another twig to snap off and use as a conductor. However, before she could find one, Amaru rushed forward and buried his fist into Kagome's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.



The miko collapsed to her knees, hacking and gasping for air as pain spread out from the center of her body.



Amaru grabbed a handful of her hair with his left hand, hauling her up to where she was in a standing position. He then delivered a mighty backhand blow across her face with his right hand, sending her flying several feet from the tree into a clearing.



Kagome rolled several times on the ground before coming to a rest on her back, bruising her knees and elbows on the various exposed roots and rocks littering the forest floor. She lay there with stars in her eyes, gasping and panting for breath as her face began to swell.



Amaru walked over to her slowly, coming to stand over her, looking down at her with an expression that bordered somewhere between contempt and satisfaction. Kagome returned his stare with one of her own, her's filled with anger and defiance.



He raised his foot, and brought his boot down squarely into her stomach once more, killing off any breath that she had managed to gather, and causing her to spit up blood.



Kagome rolled over onto her stomach, and raised herself up onto her hands and knees, not willing to give up the fight just yet.



Amaru was more than happy to oblige, bringing his foot up in a vicious kick into her mid-section for a third time, raising her entire body into the air. Once again Kagome rolled a few times, before finally coming to a rest, for the final time, on her back, her eyes fluttering open as she barely retained consciousness against the searing pain racing throughout her body.



"A valiant stand, miko, but merely delaying the inevitable, in the end." said Amaru, kneeling beside her upper body.



He cradled her head under his arms, as he opened his mouth to reveal four glittering fangs among his teeth...



* * *



The three wolves went on the offensive, slashing their claws. Sesshomaru, Sango, and Miroku all parried with their weapons, looking for some way to defeat the wolves. Their standard tatics didn't work, so they needed to figure out another solution.



One of the wolves got around Sango's Hirakotsu and slashed away at her mid-section, leaving three trails of blood running down her belly. The demonslayer collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.



"And now human, you shall feel my fangs as I devour your body." said the wolf, preparing to devour his prey.



With one hand on the Tokijin, parrying his own wolf opponent, Sesshomaru used his other hand to send out his poision whip, wrapping it around the throat of the wolf preparing to devour Sango. He pulled sharply, yanking the wolf off of his feet and onto the ground.



Sesshomaru's own opponent took advantage of his distraction to try and get in a strike of his own.



However, now that Sango was out of danger, Sesshomaru dissovled his poision whip and let loose with a cloud of poision vapours, with the wolf getting it full on in the face.



The being staggered backwards, howling as the poision went to work dissolving his eyes and skin.



"Hah, as if that'll work. Remember, none of your tatics can work on us." taunted the third wolf, who was busy preventing Miroku from rushing to Sango's side.



"Oh no? I beg to differ." replied Sesshomaru with a cold voice. With a mighty swing, he unleashed an energy attack from the Tokijin, the bright ball of energy enveloping the wolf who had been poisioned. The wolf let out one long howl before he dissapeared within the blinding ball of light.



The energy attack faded away, to reveal nothing but a small crater where the wolf had once stood.



"It seems simple incineration works just fine." said Sesshomaru, openly taunting the wolf's himself now, with a small smirk gracing his lips.



The third wolf growled, the deep and ominous sound coming from far below in his throat. He broke off his attack on Miroku, allowing the monk to rush to the side of Sango, who was writhing around on the ground in pain, blood pooling around her mid-section.



The two remaining wolves circled Sesshomaru, seeing him as the most potent threat they had to face.



Sesshomaru closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again. They showed nothing but a firm coldness and confidence about him, as he beckoned for the two remaining wolves to attack....