Demon Miko by Byull

Prologue

Prologue

A bolt of pink lightning shot through the suddenly dark sky, quickly accompanied by three sharp claps of thunder. A gentle spring rain sprinkled over a small village located on the outskirts of the Western Lands: Jangu. The scent of sakura blossoms filled the village, and even the forest surrounding it. Every youkai around lifted his or her face to the sweet smell, and also the wave of pure power that the humans had not sensed. Immediately, they gathered around the village of Jangu, not entering, but just circling.

A new presence had been brought into the world, a powerful, supernatural one. Mira Higurashi let out one last, gasping breath and whispered, "Your name is Kagome Higurashi. I love you, my daughter." Her eyelids fluttered closed and her shivering form went still. After naming her beautiful daughter, the mistress of the Jangu shrine died. The newly-born Kagome let out a high-pitched wail, crying out at the top of her infant lungs. Tiny fists beat the air as fat, wet tears streamed down her round face.

Immediately, a young wolf youkai raced into the village and scooped the human girl up. She was the lupa of the wolves, the Head Bitch, and also a new mother. She ran back out of the village, a bundle of flesh and cloth in her strong arms. Her own son, born only two months before, mewled and growled at the lupa, clearly asking to be breast-fed. She knelt and picked up the infant wolf prince and snarled at the questioning glances of the rest of the youkai population, as she simultaneously fed both children at once.

"What are you doing, Yuri? You know that a human cannot be accepted as a youkai. She would not survive," said one lesser youkai, cringing as the lupa aimed a vehement glare in his direction.

"She is not a mere human. Didn't you feel that power? She can and will survive. I will train her to. You don't have a problem with that, do you?" she growled the last part.

The terrified lesser youkai frantically shook his head and backed away, whimpering. Yuri flashed a fanged smile and the lesser youkai fled. She turned her terrifying grin towards the rest of the crowd and they all fled as well.

Yuri then rose with astounding grace and tenderly kissed both children on their small heads. When she was sure that they were both sound asleep, she raced toward her home in the center of the Western Lands.

At the mouth of the spacious cave, she yelled, " Blooddrinkers Clan! Assemble!" The pretty lupa smiled as fifty or more wolf youkai scrambled out of the cave, hurrying into line formation. Her smile grew wider as some of them shuffled uneasily at her intense stare.

"I have brought a human girl child with me. She is to be treated with respect and utmost care, understood? Kagome is my new daughter. Any questions?" she barked. When Janu, a meek, dainty female raised her hand, Yuri nodded and asked in a softer tone, "What is it?"

"Is that child the cause of the power wave we just felt? It was very faint, as it was very far away, but I can still feel an aura emitting from her," the slender blond stated in her soft voice.

"Yes, Kagome is the source of the energy you felt. Her mother died giving birth to her. My guess is that this girl's power was so strong, that the human woman could not handle it. So I have decided that I shall be her mother, as of today," Yuri said simply, with no emotion playing on her face.

The clan nodded, too afraid of Yuri's unpredictable mood swings. She was a good ruler, to be sure, fair, kind, merciful, and sometimes, even sweet. But she wasn't one of the most feared youkai around for no reason. She was strong, fearless, and occasionally violent. They did not say a word and followed their lupa into the cave.

Six years later...

"Kagome, Kagome, Kagome... now where could she be?" mused Kouga to himself as he used his sharp sight to scan the forest around him. They were playing a game of hide-and-seek, and so far Kouga had been winning. But this time, Kagome seemed to have found a particularly good spot.

They had agreed that he would not use his strong sense of smell to sniff out her scent, but desperate times called for desperate measures, he had been at it for half an hour! He breathed in deeply and searched for Kagome's particular scent. She smelled like spring rain and sakura blossoms, like the night of her birth, but Kouga did not know that.

He found a lingering trail or her unique smell and followed it, purposely not using his demonic speed. Kagome would surely sense that. She was truly a gifted miko, or so said the psychic of the Blooddrinker's Clan. As he raced along, her scent grew stronger, but it was mingled with something: an emotion. Kouga was not yet old enough to detect which emotion so strongly came mixed with the smells of spring rain and sakura blossoms. But he knew it was not good.

Putting on a burst of speed, he dashed in Kagome's direction, sprinting as fast as his youkai speed would allow him. In record time, he found Kagome, sprawled in a heap on the forest floor, tears streaming down her face, clutching her dainty ankle.

He knelt beside her and asked with concern evident in his voice, "Kagome, what happened? Are you alright?" He tenderly probed the swollen ankle, and winced as she shrieked in his ear.

She scowled at him, gritting her teeth against the pain, tears, and nausea that threatened to emerge. "Just take me home," she growled at him, "Just take me home!"

He scooped her up, and began to sprint back the way she came. Kagome whimpered as her ankle thumped against Kouga. He looked down at her concernedly, and in doing so, fell flat on his face, completely crushing Kagome.

The wolf prince quickly got off of her, and was about to pick her up again, when suddenly, he felt a presence coming their way. He crouched low on the ground and gently laid Kagome on the leafy forest floor. She did not say a word, for she could also sense the youkai coming towards them. They heard slow footsteps circling them, prowling quietly.

Suddenly, they stopped, and Kouga and Kagome shared glances and looked around themselves carefully. Kouga sniffed the air surrounding them, but a concealment spell had been cast to hide this youkai's scent. Kouga was too young for his powers to have developed enough that he could sense under the spell.

Kagome's shriek broke his concentration. Behind him was a large panther youkai, pinning Kagome's small frame to the ground. He viciously slashed the girl's abdomen and she howled in pain. Her large blue-grey eyes filled with tears and her howl turned into a whimper as the panther snarled at her menacingly.

Kouga jumped onto the panther's back, clawing at his head and neck. The panther youkai roared and arched his back in pain.

He turned to glare at the young wolf prince. But recognizing him as a royal of the Blooddrinker's Clan, he shrank away. Everyone knew and feared the Blooddrinker's Clan, for they could track just about anything, and killed extremely violently. Everyone also knew that even though the whole clan was bloodthirsty, they trembled in fear of their lupa, a beautiful warrior named Yuri. And from the smell of it, this young pup smelled of her blood. If she found her pup dead, she would track him to the ends of the earth and kill him in the slowest and most painful way she could imagine. And she was also well known for her creative imagination.

So, the panther youkai turned and fled, seeking prey that would not be a threat to him. Perhaps he would find a young human maid that had strayed from her village. He had caught many a meal that way.

Kouga knelt by the now unconscious Kagome and moved her arms away from her abdomen to see the wound. He had spent enough time around Lydia, the clan's healer, to know that this cut was fatal. He felt tears spring into his eyes as he stared first at the ghastly cut then at her silvery-blue eyes. She would surely bleed to death.

He tried to remember what Lydia would do if one of the clan had been hurt. They would go in search of herbs and plants to bind up the wound, and then take the member home. But in some cases, they would slit their forearms and share blood with them. This would give the wounded one some strength and they would return home.

Since Kouga knew nothing of herbs, he drew back one clawed finger and quickly slashed his wrist. He winced at the sharp pain, and then squeezed the wound until blood ran freely. He laid his arm against her abdomen and watched as his blood mingled with hers. Suddenly, a bright pink burst of light emitted from their combined blood and was slowly sucked into the wound.

Kouga shielded his eyes from the light, his cobalt eyes watering from the pain. When he looked again, Kagome was healing rapidly. She looked up at him and said, "Owie, my tummy hurts. Can we go home and have Tula give me some of her sugar remedy?"

He nodded and picked up his little sister, and ran home happily. He had no idea that what he had done could have killed her and that he had changed his adoptive sibling's life forever.