“Sesshoumaru-sama!” Pausing, the demon lord turned to find his ward scampering toward him up the narrow mountain path. Her dark eyes glimmered with excitement. Pale blue flowers peeked through the braids at her temples. As she skidded to a halt before him, he glanced briefly past her, to the young woman hanging back with a

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK   More than a week passed before they were able to forge a path into the boundary between worlds. Inuyasha was rabid, possessed with a frenzy of desperation Sesshoumaru had never witnessed in him before, nor would again. Though they did not speak of it, the grimness in their expressions

Breaking through the skein of clouds, Sesshoumaru alighted on the broad stone steps of the skyborn palace. As he ascended to the sweeping veranda, a small crowd lingered near the moonstone gate, the recent parade of humans through it having clearly caused a stir. At his thunderous approach, the loiterers dispersed and departed. Striding toward

WARNING: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK   Outside in the central courtyard, Sesshoumaru drew in a clarifying breath, his boots crunching lightly over the shimmering shell gravel as he approached the Lady of the Western Lands. Her back to him, Inukimi waited beneath the swaying emerald boughs of a willow tree, her form as still

Sesshoumaru’s claws curled to loose fists at his sides, his gaze slanting sharply toward a pond nearby. “Jakken—show yourself.” On the far side of an arched ruby bridge, the nintoujou jutted shakily above the pale crest of a boulder. A few crystalline pebbles skittered into the pool, the reflective surface rippling as the imp scurried

When Sesshoumaru returned to Kagome’s sickroom, he saw that her friends were still at their vigil. Seated now beside the slouching monk, the taijiya leaned against him, her red-rimmed eyes heavy-lidded as she clasped the trailing edge of the bedsheet between her bloodless fingers. Curled in her lap, Kirara raised her bleary gaze to Sesshoumaru’s

Sesshoumaru soared through the night sky in his true inuyoukai form. In a wide sweeping arc he circled the vast breadth of his dominion, the miles upon miles blurring away beneath the extensive length of his strides. Glittering vapor billowed from his massive jaws, his powerful forelimbs lunging ahead, his mighty hind legs propelling him

Inuyasha became unusually subdued as they drew to a stop before Kagome’s chamber. Sesshoumaru suspected the scents emanating from within to be the cause, and in hindsight, he should himself have been better prepared for what would transpire when his half-brother crossed that threshold and beheld her at last. Sango, Miroku and Kirara were absent—no

“This is the place?” Drawing up beside his incredulous half-brother, Sesshoumaru glanced around at the hovel before them in similar skepticism. Set back against the craggy mountainside, a dilapidated wooden shack loomed ahead, its gaping entrance partially concealed by a patchwork of tattered door curtains. In the wide dirt yard before it, several overlarge boars

Frowning, the craftsman led them out of the gallery to a large workroom below, filled with tools, wheels and blazing red kilns. Unlocking a wooden door at the back, he revealed a small, cold chamber which at first glance resembled a storeroom. Rows of sculpted limbs and other body parts lined the walls in various