Mirrored

Chapter 6 Suffering Confrontation

Something's wrong. Sesshomaru had the gut feeling that something terrible was waiting for him when he found Kagome. He could barely smell her mixed within all the nauseating potions he detected. His nose also picked up the faint whiff of an ashen corpse; Kagome's corpse.

Sesshomaru willed his legs to run faster as he broke through the line of trees to find Kagome's body lying in a sickly green potion with light surrounding her as her soul was sucked out. The corpse he smelled kneeled above her, lightly touching Kagome's forehead. Pain slammed into his gut at the sight of his long dead beloved. He wanted to touch her, he wanted to hold her, but most of all, he wanted to know the truth. Though he would give anything to have his beloved back, he would not endanger the life of an innocent. Instantly, his legs kicked into gear and his voice cried out, "KAGOME!"

No, no, NO!

But he was too late. The light faded from Kagome and was transferred to the corpse. With a savage snarl, he lunged towards the corpse. Steeling himself against his feelings, he reminded himself that it was just an ashen copy. Before he could reach it, a wall of clay rose out of the ground.

"Aww, and you were so close, too." The sorceress lightly landed on the wall, looking down on Sesshomaru with a smirk. "But I can't have you ripping the shell apart with the miko's soul in it. After all, it might have some unpleasant consequences."

"Do not talk in riddles you vile wench," he growled slowly. "Explain yourself!"

"Tsk, tsk. Someone is a bit impatient. Well, since you're so eager to know, I'll tell you. If you break the vessel while the soul is still inside, then the soul will vanish. And of course you don't want that to happen do you? Besides, you should thank me for bringing back your lover."

"That thing is not my Kagome. It is but a shadow of what she was. You could never bring back what was lost in an instant of time." Sesshomaru said coldly.

But the vanishing soul is definitely a problem. Though the first thing I have to do is get past this wall.

With one stroke of his whip, the large mound crumbled and Sesshomaru wasted no time launching at the floating sorceress. However, the witch only chuckled and snapped her fingers. Instantly, a large object smashed against Sesshomaru, and he was hurled to the ground. He twisted around and landed in a crouch, glaring at the object that landed a few feet away. It was a large clay soldier, and Sesshomaru looked around with a sickening dread to find more forming out of the ground.

Wasting time, wasting time, WASTING TIME!

He brought out is whip again and started slashing dozens of the soldiers, but they only reformed once they hit the ground. From somewhere behind him, a battle cry sounded, and Hiraikotsu was crushing clay soldiers by the handful. Arrows streaked from above, taking out a few at a time with purification, while a small furry mound streaked in between the soldiers, knocking down their legs. Sesshomaru's team had arrived.

Miroku bounded down from the trees and positioned himself behind Sesshomaru. "Go take care of the witch. If you kill her, the spell on these things will vanish. I'll cover you with the Kazaana."

"Miroku..." Sesshomaru eyed him warily.

"Get goin mutt!" Koga landed on Miroku's shoulder. "We can take care of these pests! Go save the woman!" he smirked.

With a brief nod, Sesshomaru was racing towards the sorceress, the roaring sound of the Kazaana ringing in his ears. The witch glared at Sesshomaru as more soldiers lined up in front of her. With one slick movement of his poison claws, the soldiers disintegrated, and his hand had firmly clamped down on the witches throat.