The Honor in Dying by Ladieyasha
Chapter 1
The Honor in Dying
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
In a post Naraku world, the battles do not end. Sesshoumaru has recommitted to fortifying the Western Lands however, when the daughter of Ryukotsusei poisons him during a battle which nearly claims his life, he must seek the aid of a powerful priestess to eradicate the poison and restore his battered body. Unfortunately, the only priestess willing to help him, is not all that powerful. Forced to placate the humanness of one wily Kagome, Sesshoumaru unwillingly begins to forge a bond based on comradery, dependence and understanding. Quick to smut, slow to love. I’ll try to keep it as OC as possible. Sess/Kag. Rated MA for later chapters (it’s going to get real steamy!).
The cacophony of war serenaded the Western lands, echoing off the mountains and radiating into the dusk as if they were waves of sound breaking against a beach of strategic murder. A blood red sunset, an elaborate backdrop staged by the Kamis; an ominous prelude to the events that were unfolding.
Sesshoumaru swirled Bokusaiga, flourishing death’s promise with a grace only centuries of killing could perfect, and struck in the direction of the dragon’s scaly, predatory mass. Blood marred his vision and the clutching thickness of dust as his powerful strike thudded against the disrupted earth, suffocated his lungs as he inhaled in preparation for another attack.
Ryutanata was vindictive and nimbler than her father. Her power was only overshadowed by her quick wit and merciless cunning. She had infiltrated his kingdom, murdered her own mate and concocted a mutinous strategy to gain control of all Japan. This destruction and villainy was fabricated entirely for the sake of spiting the Demon Lord that had forsaken her advances, and above all, to satisfy her thirst for revenge. It was the achievement of the latter that made her quiver with delight as the sight of his anger created a fervor of orgasmic intensity, almost spurring her into recklessly assaulting him.
He was beautiful in his fury. His armor propped against him as if its only intent was to accent the brute strength that lingered beneath the robe that hung in tatters around his sweaty masculinity. Still ethereal, despite being disheveled, the only stain punctuating his appearance was from the black cherry, colored blood that trickled like an artists’ afterthought across his forehead, right eye and cheek. He was glorious floating amidst the melee underneath their personal battle. It made the experience even more stimulating for her to see the rage he displayed in response to her skillful attempts to end him and all that he had created. Today he would pay for her pain and shame with his life and his lands.
The army of dragon spawn, horded below her girth, charged head strong against the collection of Inu soldiers that clustered in a diverse mixture of fully transformed four-legged, gnarling creatures and elegant statuesque humanoid beings, across the expansive terrain.
Ryutanata cackled as she easily avoided another blast of his power, aimed with the intent of ensuring her decapitation. Her swift elusion allowed her the opportunity to advance closer to the injured Inu Lord, and as he made the motion to flick his powerful whip to scorch her eyes, she slid further into his striking range, effectively blocking his blow while simultaneously using the element of surprise as an opportunity to drive her talon, with expert precision, deep into the chiseled flesh of his torso.
His already scarlet eyes, stained with blood, intensified in redness as his beast rose to retaliate by distracting his body from the pain. His suffering was excruciating. He gripped her forearm with his right hand, and infused his claws with enough poison to make her succumb and cripplingly fall into the black void as his companion. If he were going to die, he would take her as a trophy of his valiant success in ridding his lands of her inadequate existence! She screeched in agony and drove deeper into his flesh, coiling his internal organs against her fingertips and reveling in the feeling of mushy gore accumulating beneath her nails.
“Sesshoumaru,” He could barely make out her voice as his beast threatened to take over and shield him from the inevitable finality of her blow.
“Bitch.” He growled the word as her face came closer to his, still sneering, gnashing razor-sharp teeth behind beautiful, plump purple lips.
Her breadth belied the delicate features of her face which remained humanoid though still attached to her dragon body, an homage to her heritage, at the peak of her narrowed waist. Green hair, streaked with silver and black strands, flowed about her in a wild dance with the wind. Her shoulders, shrouded with scales, glistened in the light of the sunset, seemingly matching the lemon-yellow of her almond shaped eyes framed by her ebony toned skinned. Those eyes held the reverent look of innocence. It had been those very eyes that had misled and deceived him. She was lusciously, seductive with evil. Even now, her words mimicked the cold-bloodedness of her body, confusing his sense of smell and masking the death in her words.
“Tut tut my love.” She cooed, taunting him with the honeyed harmony of her speech. “Can you feel me, dear? I am going to make you shudder.”
She leaned closer with her promise and flicked a forked tongue across his paling cheek. The intensity of his disgust increased his strength and before she could turn upward to savor the leaking gash she had inflicted at his hairline, he caught her throat in his jaw. She exhaled sharply, stunned by his speed, as he applied pressure contradictory to the curvature of her neck in preparation of cracking its bones and severing her spinal cord. Instead of becoming fearful, she chortled gleefully, eliciting his curiosity and causing him to pause.
In that moment of hesitation, he felt it. As his taste buds acknowledged the foreign elements in her blood stream, he was racked with the intelligible knowing that something was not right. Though he had caught her in a snaring move, as gruelingly deadly as the one she had inflicted upon his own body, she was morbidly pleased. And something extra was coursing in her veins. A putrid substance that made his esophagus constrict and inhibited his ability to call his beast.
Suddenly, he was again distracted by the offensive limb that had now successfully completed its journey through his midsection and was protruding out of his back. Despite this, he was incapable of summoning any influence from his beast. He could feel everything with such depth and clarity that it left his body reeling as he was assaulted by the brutality of mind-numbing pain. He released her as he experienced a tingle on the perimeter of his senses that foretold of an immense power approaching but, whether rival or foe, he was not certain. He was too distracted by the bitter liquid spilling into his jowls and the leaking life force from his dying body. Every nerve in him was shrill agony. It was like no suffering he had ever experienced and try as he might, his beast would not rise to placate the pain.
He doubled over as Ryutanata forcefully withdrew her arm from his body and allowed her shiny green and black ombre wings to drift her a meager distance from his person.
Garbling on shredded vocal cords, Ryutanata whispered, “Do I not taste delicious?” His eyes snapped downward as the words oozed from her, trickling in time with the blood from her lips. Weakened by her death blow, he cursed her, “What is this trickery? What have you done woman?”
She grinned without seeing. The yellow in her eyes completely enveloped the black pinpricked pupils and she wavered. Her other talon snaked from her right side and lifted his head higher before piercing him at the bridge of his collarbone and neck. Had he been a lesser being, he would have cried out but instead, he grit his teeth and snarled. This thrilled her despite her nearness to death. His lingering pain brought her a comfort that she used as a means of fortitude. But, before she could sputter a reply and cut into his flesh once more, a burst of pink light overshadowed their entire interlude.
His senses dulled as he was overcome by the brutal force of the purification powers. Instead of building to a rolling mass, the disturbance was like an explosion. He was suddenly aware of the nothingness. As if he were shrouded in a void, yet still aware of the unconscionable pain.
In one moment, Ryutanata was a pillar of bloodiness and strangely malevolent beauty, and then she began to unravel as bit by bit, she disintegrated. The burning of her tarred soul was pungent and audible as was the crushing and shredding of every cell in her form. He was overwhelmed by the crackling pops of her existence being exterminated and her muddled blurps of fear and confusion as she was purged.
In three blinks of the eye, she was but wisps. And then he became aware of the same sound approaching him, setting his fears aflame with the screeching of cells and flesh right before everything shone white, and he began to fall.