They were nearly to the top of the mountain when Jakken returned. At the sight of Ah-Un’s hulking form sailing toward them, Kagome let out a breath of relief she had no idea she’d been holding. Let alone why.

Sesshoumaru’s impish retainer had never been anything less than rude to her. Nevertheless, she was still happy to see that he remained in one stumpy, pea-green piece. Shaking her head inwardly, Kagome was starting to suspect that she was too sentimental for her own good.

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the imp hailed as he drew Ah-Un to a sluggish stop.

“Jakken,” the daiyoukai returned evenly. “What have you discovered?”

The whole group paused in anticipation.

Jakken shrank a little under the weight of such intense regard, his capped head hanging dejectedly. “…Nothing, milord.”

Kagome sighed, her shoulders sinking. Kouga crossed his arms irritably.

“Tch, some use you are,” the wolf prince grumbled.

Jakken glared at him defensively. “‘Twas not my fault! There was another barrier sealing the summit gates—I could go no further!”

“Another barrier?!” Ayame exclaimed, Kouga tensing at her side.

Sesshoumaru’s flat stare at the imp really said it all: What an idiot.

Kagome ground the heel of her hand between her eyes in frustration. “Jakken…mind telling us what else you didn’t discover…?”

“T-that was all,” the imp replied, looking sheepishly toward his silent lord.

As the wolves and their allies resumed their climb, Kagome caught Sesshoumaru’s eye. “Guess we’ll be needing that Red Tessaiga of yours again.”

“So it would appear,” he replied, folding his arms into his sleeves.

“Two barriers seems like major overkill to me,” Kagome mused. “This guy is awfully determined to keep people out.”

“Perhaps,” Sesshoumaru allowed, frowning in thought, “or to keep himself concealed.”

Kagome frowned as well, mulling over this possibility. The lack of detectable youki seemed to corroborate Sesshoumaru’s theory. But if the one who’d raised the barriers was scared or weak in some way, how could he have slaughtered the majority of Ayame’s clan? Something just wasn’t adding up.

It was scary—the prospect of going into battle against a faceless enemy. Kagome could only hope that their combined strength would be enough to stop him—whoever he was…

…Along with his army of undead wolf soldiers.

As she and the others ascended the last frozen, crumbling slope, the towering gates of the northern wolf demons’ summit fortress appeared in the distance. Extending her senses, Kagome could just see the red shimmer of yet another barrier enclosing the peak. A vast plateau still separated the wolves and their allies from their destination. Touching down to the ground along with Sesshoumaru and Jakken, Kagome continued with the wolves on foot.

The group had just crossed the center of the plateau when the whole cliff began to shake, Entei rearing as the dirt shifted suddenly beneath his hooves. Sesshoumaru’s left hand went to Kagome’s back to catch her, his right hand curving around the hilt of his sword.

“What the hell?!” Kouga growled, leaping aside as a set of half-decomposed claws speared up at him through the gravelly earth.

“An ambush,” the Elder wolf rumbled through his bared fangs.

Why is it always an ambush? Kagome groaned to herself, reaching for her bow.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi