Stoic and regal, Sesshoumaru stood tall before her, the lone beacon of calm in the fiery, raging maelstrom of her torment. From where she knelt, Kagome looked up at his handsome face, so surreally lovely to her in that moment that it brought a fresh stab of pain to her chest. His glowing eyes were

No, Kagome thought. No… As Tessaiga dimmed, a convulsing sob wracked through her. In her glowing hands, the dark blade began to smoke. With a pained cry, she cast it away from her and lurched to her feet. Around her, the world seemed sharply to tilt. Blinding white agony lanced between her eyes, but it

Black thunder rolled against her senses. Ominous and oppressive in its sweep. Tenseiga…it was of no further use to me. Kagome slammed the door aside. Blood stained the front of her white haori, dripped from the knife clutched in her shaking fist. Her fingers clamped around the naked blade. Red drops rained down to pit

Dread gnawed Kagome up inside, as she stood before the door of a building she’d scarcely glanced at before. The windows were fitted with wooden bars. The door was bolted heavily from the outside. As Kagome laid her hand to the bolt, the priestesses at her back hovered grimly. “Please, Miko-sama,” the eldest urged her

By the shores of a secluded lake, Kagome tied her horse. Peering up the rocky slopes that lay beyond, she could just see the temple from here. The golden top of the pagoda crested above the trees. Its wide eaves swept out like wingtips, their keen points sparking in the late afternoon sun. At the

Clothed once again in red hakama and white haori, Kagome made her way through the castle gates. It was early morning yet. Against the soft, thawing ground, her horse’s hooves made only a whisper of sound. On the way out of town, she encountered an army marching up the road. At their advance, the townsfolk