Shouldering her weapons and satchel, Kagome left her home early the next morning and made the short trek over to Kaede’s hut to borrow her horse for the journey ahead. Onyx eyes regarded her steadily as she approached the backyard paddock. Like his owner, Jiro was an aged yet sturdy creature—and a little on the

That night, for the first time in weeks, Kagome’s sleep was dreamless. Groggy and stiff, she awoke the next morning with a refreshing clarity of mind. While she would never stop hunting the Beast, her brother-in-law had been right in one sense—she couldn’t let herself be driven to destruction in the attempt. She needed to

But the nightmares didn’t stop. Even after returning to Edo village, visions of the blackened grove and its phantoms continued to haunt Kagome’s dreams. Each night, more horrors of the past re-emerged, rising corpse-like from the depths of her consciousness to linger floating at the surface. Silver hair tangled with dark twisting branches, demon blood

Sensing the magic of Kagome’s approaching barrier, Kirara rose from her curled position with an inquisitive mew. Beside her before the fire, Kohaku glanced up at the miko as she stepped into view, dropping her own small radiant shield and recasting a larger version around their entire campsite. “There’s a predator nearby,” she said as

“Ashamed…” Kohaku echoed in contemplation, the blasted ground crunching beneath his boots as he stepped up beside her. “It would also explain why he took the trouble to return Kanako’s body so close to her home village.” Eyeing the claw marks laid into the blackened tree a moment longer, he turned to Kagome. “Let’s see

Taking a deep breath to clear her lungs, Kagome turned toward the victim’s parents, who were waiting just beyond the door. The father stared blankly on as Kirara cleaned her fur on the opposite side of the entryway, the mother’s somber eyes lifting to Kohaku and Kagome. “Thank you,” the miko said, bending at the

It was midday by the time Kagome, Kohaku, and Kirara reached the remote northern village–a small scattering of sturdy huts nestled in the foothills of a snow-capped mountain range. Isolated as they were, the residents were understandably wary of outsiders–and especially of kitten-sized Kirara. But after Kohaku and Kagome introduced themselves as close acquaintances of