Author's Notes: Sorry for the long delays. I know a lot of you have been waiting patiently, and I truly appreciate your patience, encouragement, and faith. Pray that I get a better job so I'm not so bloody tired and can write more often than I am able to now.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha ... don't sue me.

Chapter Twenty-One: Into the Cave

Kagura visibly shivered as she lowered the feather on the air currents, beginning their descent towards a cave beside the sea. Kagome's nose wrinkled as a foul stench was carried upon the wind. The scent of rot and decay hung heavy in the salted breeze and it made the young woman severely nauseous. "He is there," said Kagura as she pointed to the cave as the waves crashed into the rocks surrounding it. "Since the events of the Underworld he has frequently stationed himself here, far from mortal eyes. Fishermen no longer haunt these shores for the fish will not remain so close to such a horrible demonic aura." Kagome scanned the countryside and felt, if possible, even more repulsed as there was no living creature in sight. Not a single bird twittered despite the oncoming dawn, nor a single hare scampered forth from their warrens. Her nausea hit critical limits as the rancid reek became defined; hundreds of dead, rotting fish lay on the shore and bobbed in the surf. These fish must not have fled quickly enough, and others swam from their doom. Damn you, Naraku! You are a poison to all life. But something must have triggered this kind of retaliation … something must have spooked him …

"Naraku is scared, isn't he?" Kagome blurted, almost thinking out loud. "Something scared him. What scared him?"

"I don't think he's scared," said Kagura. "I think he is downright terrified." Kagura lowered her tone and spoke with care, "He saw the two of you in Kanna's mirror."

"Sesshomaru and me?" Kagome asked quietly.

"Yes. He saw you being, uhm, affectionate," said Kagura almost as if she wished to warn the girl.

Kagome's cheeks flushed from gagging green to a brilliant pink in record time. "What do you mean by affectionate?" Bokusenou warned that he knew, but how much has he seen?

Kagura's eyes became overlarge. "Just how affectionate are you and Sesshomaru?" Kagome turned to look Kagura straight in her large, shocked eyes and silently confirmed the suspicions. Kagura lightly coughed to clear her throat. "Well, he definitely didn't say anything about that, but don't give him more weapons to use against you. We'll just have to play it by ear until your lover-boy shows up."

Kagome almost felt like correcting her, but now was not the time to argue semantics. The cave loomed closer on the horizon and Kagome sensed an odd flutter deep within her. Her breath caught and she felt a tingle of energy shoot down her spine and reverberate through her belly.

"We just passed through the barrier," said Kagura. "It won't be long now. I pray that Sesshomaru will be swift."

Kagome took a deep breath as an eerie calm slid over her like a veil. "He will. He is more furious than he has been in centuries," said Kagome, and she didn't realize that she spoke the truth until the words passed her lips. Kagome retained this unnatural sense of composure and peace. It was this growing calm that managed to prevent her from running screaming as Kagura landed at the mouth of the cave. The entrance loomed before them a cavernous, gaping pit of darkness, and somewhere beyond that black hole laid an evil that threatened to cover the whole world in darkness.

"Are you ready?" Kagura asked Kagome.

"More than you know."

The pair dismounted from the oversized feather and Kagura took hold of Kagome's upper arm to continue to illusion of the captor-captive relationship. Together they entered the dank sea-side cave. Soon small oil lamps affixed into the cave walls lit their path and Kagura led her expertly through the twisting labyrinthine paths while muttering in a barely audible voice, "Try to remember the path in case you or both of us must escape quickly."

"No problem, I'll just follow the smell of rotting fish," said Kagome glibly.

"I'm serious!" hissed Kagura in her ear. "Neither of us knows what he has in store for us before a slow and painful death!"

Humiliation, torment, mind games … this is Naraku we're talking about.

Kagome opened her mouth to retort, but Kagura cut her off with a careful whisper. "Enough! We draw close. Now act like you're resisting from here on in."

"My pleasure," growled Kagome. She began to pull and wrench against Kagura's grip and started to screech. "Let go of me! Sesshomaru, help me!" Might as well put on the "helpless girl" act. "Sesshomaru, please, save me!" She purposely misaimed a few kicks at Kagura. "Let go of me! Let me go!"

Kagura practically had to drag Kagome down the rest of the cavern to the entrance to Naraku's inner lair. Kagome could feel Naraku's terrible aura lurking just ahead and she kicked her act into overdrive. "Get your damn hands off me!" shrieked Kagome as she dug her fingernails into Kagura's arm.

"Quit resisting, you wretched girl!" Kagura screamed as she took the injury in stride. She joined Kagome's little game by tightening her hold on the girl's arm and pulling her along roughly.

Kagome fought against Kagura's grip with renewed ferocity and shouted threats that Naraku expected to hear. "You're going to regret this! When Sesshomaru gets here you'll wish you were never born!"

"Kagura may wish that," said a voice from a nearby patch of darkness, a voice that made Kagome halt her so-called quarrel with Kagura. Naraku stepped into the dim lights donning a malicious grin. "But I could never wish for death when I stand this close to victory." His red eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction as the sight of Kagome, captive and in his grasp. He grinned and began to gloat. "So it seems that the great Lord Sesshomaru makes mistakes after all." He allowed himself a short chuckle in celebration. "However," said Naraku as his demeanor shifted from jubilance to accusation, "how is it that you made it back, Kagura, without Hakudoushi or Moryoumaru?" His eyes bored into Kagura threateningly.

Kagura glared with equal venom at Naraku and she shoved Kagome away. "I do not know. I fled with the girl, Moryoumaru followed shortly after, and I don't know what was on Hakudoushi's mind. I was sent to get the girl and I have done as you asked."

"What happened to Moryoumaru if he was following you?"

"She woke up and hit me," said Kagura with a brusque finger pointing at Kagome. "At that point I remember Moryoumaru behind us but once I subdued her, he was gone from sight."

"I see," said Naraku scathingly. He knew that he also sent orders for Hakudoushi to finish the others, and so he knew that the young incarnation must have failed. But Moryoumaru was specifically ordered to watch Kagura … something in the plan must have gone wrong. "We shall deal with that in due time," said Naraku in a dismissive tone as he slowly stepped further from the shadows. His corrupted smile spread across his lips again as he neared Kagome. "Now I stand here with Sesshomaru's pet priestess in my grasp." He drew ever closer to Kagome, but she did not recoil.

Kagome narrowed her eyes, glaring with the utmost hatred and revulsion, and held her back straight. I will not let him intimidate me. I do not fear him anymore. Her shoulders were squared and as Naraku stopped a mere foot from her, she met him with an upturned jaw and defiant glare.

"But what would Sesshomaru want with a mere mortal? Tell me, did he lust after a clay priestess as well but settle for you?" Naraku taunted, "Is he that much like InuYasha?"

Kagome shivered slightly with ripples of anger. You bastard! You speak of what you know nothing about! She chose her retort carefully and maintained her aura of calm. "No, but I am sure that you and InuYasha can pine over Kikyo together in Hell."

Kagura could not conceal a small smirk as she thought, Good girl!

Naraku flinched slightly at Kagome's words and his lip curled in anger, but he quickly regained his composure with a forced laugh. "Oh-ho, I see that this kitty has fangs!" He reached out as if to touch her face, to antagonize her further and preen over his triumph.

However, his skin came within an inch of hers and after a flash of blue, as if he had been burned, Naraku swiftly withdrew his hand. Indeed, when he looked to his hand he saw his fingers singed and smoking. Wrath contorted his face to be nearly as marred and twisted as his soul. "You bitch!" he howled.

Kagome's aura flared and she pointed a rigid finger at him in grave warning. "If you touch me I swear by all that is Holy that it will be the last thing that you do!" Her eyes were ablaze with a power that Naraku dared not challenge yet.

Naraku glared at Kagome, his red eyes glinting in the faint light, and he loathed the fact that he could not touch her. Sesshomaru has helped this one too much. He somehow awakened her true spiritual power … But how!? I must find a way to weaken her.

"And who will stop me if I wish to touch you? Sesshomaru, perhaps?" Naraku laughed, his voice dripping with spite. "He could not save you before. A little planning goes a long way. He could not defend you from Hakudoushi, Moryoumaru, and Kagura's attack all because of a ghost." Naraku reached into a concealed pocket and held forth a glass vial, very much like the one Kagome hung round her neck containing her shards of the Shikon Jewel, only this glass contained a very old, very abused, very bald flea.

"Myoga!" Kagome gasped.

Her cry awoke the poor, beaten parasite. "Lady Kagome, forgive me! I did not know what he would do!"

She didn't understand. What did Myoga have to do with distracting Sesshomaru?

"Naraku, what have you done to Sesshomaru?" demanded Kagome.

Naraku laughed deeply, thoroughly amused by his ploy. "Why I merely granted your dear Lord Sesshomaru a wish," said Naraku, and he paused to heighten the tension and savor her misery. "Twins separated is such a tragedy even to a heartless fiend such as me."

Kagome was breathless with shock and anger. She trembled as her eyes watered with furious tears. Nothing is sacred to him! Nothing! At the sight of her suffering, Naraku burst into mad peals of laughter.

Myoga became hysterical. "I did not know! He tortured me!" The wounded flea lifted a stump on his left side. "My arm! He took my arm when I would not speak! Lady Kagome! Lady Sakura! Please forgive me!"

The flea's wails for forgiveness began to blur with the maniacal laughter flowing from Naraku. Kagome's mind began to reel among the cacophony of sounds spinning around the cavern. None of us is safe. Not even the long dead, not even the innocent; like Myoga. And Sakura, who suffered enough while living … "You bastard," growled Kagome before she could stop herself. "How dare you!"

"I dare plenty of things, you silly mortal! I dare to become the most powerful demon this world has ever seen. I dare to purge myself of impurities, like the lust that Onigumo felt for that miserable shrine maid who thought she was a trumped up priestess! I cut it from myself and made myself stronger!"

"No one without a heart is strong," stated Kagome.

"Wrong!" Naraku barked hotly, "It is a door to weakness!"

"Oh no," said Kagome coolly. "It provides the greatest strength to human and demon alike."

"What? Do you speak of love?" gibed Naraku cruelly and chuckled deep in his throat. "You poor disillusioned girl," snickered Naraku condescendingly. "Do you think that dog demon loves you?"

Kagome's earthen eyes locked on to blood red as she answered, "I don't think. I know."

"And how do you know he won't dispatch you to join his sister once I'm gone and the Shikon Jewel is complete? Have you never thought of that?"

That part was true. Kagome had never explored that thought before. But what was coming to mind was an off-handed warning from Bokusenou. "Guard yourselves, lest you find yourselves in the same trap as InuYasha and Kikyo."

Naraku mistook her silence for mistrust. "You are nothing but a pawn to him; a jewel detector, just like you were for InuYasha before him. He cares nothing for you, and he will dispose of you as soon as your use expires." Kagome gently scratched the pad of her thumb with her index fingernail as she let Naraku continue with his monologue. "He will discard you as soon as it is in his best interests, and you will be left alone and bereft; without even a clay doll to blame, only your own idealistic naïveté." Kagome continued to maintain her disgusted silence. "Do yourself a favor, little girl. You don't belong here. Give me your jewel shards and just go home."

"You are just like InuYasha," said Kagome. "You always underestimated me and assumed that I was just like Kikyo. I am not stupid enough to fall for your manipulative tricks. Unlike InuYasha and Kikyo, Sesshomaru and I trust each other. Talk all you want, try to twist things around all you want, it won't change a thing. The more you talk, the more terrified I know you are."

Naraku's lip curled like a cornered dog and he grumbled, "You damnable wench!" He let out an angry roar and suddenly thrust out his right arm. Kagome took a defensive stance, but the attack was not aimed at her. Kagura shrieked as Naraku's arm extended unnaturally, sprouting vicious spikes and crags, and pinned her against the uneven stone wall by her neck and shoulders. The sheer force of impact shook the cave and the oil lamps sputtered momentarily, causing the light to ripple like a golden strobe. The vial containing Myoga clattered to the stones and rolled miraculously to Kagome's feet. She bent swiftly to recover the beaten flea as Kagura began to scream.

"No! I have done as you asked! Don't do this!" Kagura pleaded as she struggled against Naraku's hold. She kicked and thrashed to no avail. "Damn you," she croaked as his hold on her throat tightened and the pressure began to compress her chest, "I have done as you asked!" She began to scratch weakly at the "hand" holding her. "Let me go!"

Kagome popped the cork on Myoga's prison and dumped the old flea onto her haori. "Hold tight or climb in," whispered Kagome as she slowly reached up her sleeve. "It's going to be a rough ride out of here." Kagura began to lose consciousness, her eyes blurred in and out of focus and began to roll in their sockets, and Kagome's fingers grasped the dart she stowed up her sleeve. The tassel at the end of the projectile tickled her palm as she readied the weapon in her hand. "Naraku!" she shouted to draw his attention from Kagura.

Myoga yelped and bolted into the folds of Kagome's haori as Naraku turned his malevolent crimson eyes upon them. Kagome took aim at Naraku's right shoulder – knowing that until they found Akago her only goal now was to free Kagura – and filled the dart with holy power. With great confidence and a sprinkle of hope, Kagome let her missile fly to its mark. The dart cut through the air straight and true, aglow with its infusion of spiritual energy, bright and screaming like a firework. Kagome's attack struck Naraku's shoulder squarely and obliterated it.

Naraku fell to his knees howling and writhing as Kagome's "Sacred Dart" continued to burn his flesh. The severed arm released Kagura and thrashed about like a decapitated serpent, yet all the while shrinking to its original size. Kagura dropped to the stones and panted for breath, grasping her chest as it heaved. Kagome ran to the wounded demon and grabbed her arm. She hoisted Kagura up roughly and slung an arm over her shoulder. "Run!" Kagome commanded. "Come on!"

They fled the chamber as fast as their feet could scramble over the rocky, uneven floor. Whenever Kagura would stumble over a rock Kagome would lift her upright and press her onward. Kagura hissed directions to Kagome in a winded voice. "Right … Straight … Left – your other left." The trio had progressed far through the cave when a wrathful roar caught their ears and the stones around them trembled. Myoga shivered against Kagome and she heard the flea groan, "Run, Lady Kagome! If he finds me again I'll surely lose more than an arm!"

"You coward," sighed Kagome as she adjusted Kagura's arm about her shoulder. They resumed their escape with haste and before long Kagome's nose wrinkled at the stench of decaying fish. The trio sprinted along, hoping to escape the confinement of the cave before Naraku overcame them. Rounding a corner the dim lamps of the cave were joined by the faint rosy light of pre-dawn. Kagura began to stumble more as her legs grew weary and Kagome pulled her along, determined to evade Naraku's pursuit. The rumbling behind them grew and the cavern began to quake as if portions of the cave were collapsing.

"Is he destroying paths as he chases us?" Kagura asked with fear weakly.

"Just run!" Kagome urged hotly. I will not die like this! I refuse to die like this!

Turning a final corner the entrance blazed before them and hope filled Kagome's chest. Rocks crumbled from the walls and even a few lamps fell from their brackets, spilling oil and flame in their wake. Kagome's legs were burning from the strain of pulling Kagura along, but she would not cease running. The exit was growing closer, but so was the enraged demon that followed. She felt the enormous black aura of Naraku gaining on them and just when she thought her legs would give out they passed through the mouth of the cave. Kagome let out a small cry of celebration and while still running at full steam she reached with her free hand into the folds of her haori. Her fingers fumbled around in her haste until landing upon what they searched for. Kagome pulled Sesshomaru's ocarina from its hiding place and she slowed her running to a stop.

Kagura became nearly hysterical. "What are you doing? Why have we stopped? We have to keep moving!"

Ignoring Kagura's questions, Kagome brought the flute to her lips and played a hurried, pleading tune, hoping all the while that Sesshomaru did not overestimate Ah-Un's speed and loyalty. She shoved the ocarina back into her haori unceremoniously and began running again.

Kagura withdrew her arm from Kagome's shoulder and was able to carry her own weight once freed of the suffocating atmosphere of the cave. "What was that?" asked Kagura.

"Calling for a ride."

Hoji and Mizaki marched from the compound towards the fields and livestock pens. Mizaki was recounting their duties for the day with Hoji. "After we check on the fences we should make sure that the feed isn't molding and is stored properly. If it is not it will attract mice and then cats and …" but her words faded as they were cast in shadow. Aqua and amethyst eyes gazed upward to see Ah-Un spreading across the skies with speed and grace.

Within moments Ah-Un was a speck upon the horizon. The two demons looked to each other and nodded gravely.

Kagome and Kagura continued to sprint away from the cave. Kagome silently prayed that help would arrive before she would be force to face Naraku with only her bare hands. I am not as defenseless as that, but I would feel better with at least my bow and quiver. Rocks began to fall seemingly from nowhere and into their path. Kagome glanced over her shoulder to see Naraku, burned severely by her attack but recovering, and he hurled rocks toward the retreating women. He was advancing swiftly and Kagome stopped running. She turned to face him. Well, bow or no, I make my stand.

Kagura grabbed Kagome's shoulder and attempted to turn the girl back to their escape. "Are you mad? Let's go!"

"He'll overtake us soon. We must make a stand," said Kagome.

Myoga scurried to Kagome's shoulder and screamed, "You're unarmed! It's suicide!"

"Then run if you must!" barked Kagome. "I will run no longer!" Myoga drooped with a great sigh and retreated back into Kagome's haori. Well, I must have a chance in hell if Myoga's hanging around.

"Very well," said Kagura as she pulled her fan from the folds of her kimono. "Better to go with dignity." She let her fan slide open and she gracefully moved into an attack-ready posture.

Kagome stood firmly, feet planted, and she raised her hands as Naraku closed in on them. Naraku thrust a fist forward, letting it stretch and deform unnaturally, aiming at Kagome's chest. She crossed her wrists and summoned a barrier between them and Naraku. The gnarled, knotted fist was held at bay by a dome of soft, blue light. Threads of the blue light, jagged and righteous, arched towards Naraku's arm and came dangerously close to his face. Kagome concentrated her energies and pushed, flinging Naraku back three yards or so. He growled angrily and advanced again. He contorted his arm into a grotesque, scythe-like spike and swung at Kagome. She readied to counter but before that attack could land a bright blue ball of light darted between them. Temporarily blinded, all Kagome could sense was the ringing of steel.

The light subsided to reveal Sesshomaru standing between the women and their attacker warding off Naraku's attack with the Tetsusaiga in its fully transformed glory. As the energies collided in their deadly gridlock, Sesshomaru's hair was buffeted by the swirling demonic auras and his fur pelt seemed to bristle with static electricity. Naraku curled his lip in a half-growl, half-sneer, but at the sight of the Tetsusaiga in the dog demon's hand his eyes dilated in terror.

"Sesshomaru!" Kagome exclaimed breathlessly.

Sesshomaru allowed his eyes to meet hers for the briefest of moments before he issued a single order. "Run!"