Captive Inu

Chapter 33

At last, the time has come.

Kagome and her entourage remained hidden in the trees outside the Northern Palace. From the distance they watched as several people ambled about. It was clear to differentiate the servants from the nobles by the clothing they wore. What was unnerving, however, was the large number of dragons walking among them, guarding the outside walls, and just scattered about. If she didn't know any better she would've thought she was back in the eastern lands.

Kagome looked past the large windows of the ballroom, catching glimpses of Sesshomaru, Kazu, and several men from the southern lands, including Bankotsu and Kouga dressed formally. In another time and another place she would have enjoyed being in there with them, laughing and dancing and indulging in the festive atmosphere. Outside the windows on lookout were several of the west and south's soldiers. Even from the distance she could see how they sneered at the dragons around them. Dragons truly were hated by all.

She caught a glimpse of Souta as he walked around, though he kept his back to the windows. It was a foolish thing for anyone calling themselves a warrior. But then again, Souta wasn't always too keen on such things. One would think after all these centuries of being alive he would have known to always keep his guard up.

There was a quiet rustling behind her as her men got into place.

Infiltrating the prison had been surprisingly easier than she'd thought. The number of guards had been astonishingly low. As if Souta had assumed no one would dare try to escape or break into the prison. No matter. Thanks to Miroku's Wind Tunnel it had taken all of ten minutes to defeat the outside guards. Once inside everything became so much simpler. Most of the dragons, bakas that they were, were just lounging about or sleeping. Even the one patrolling the halls hadn't been alert. Kagome and her group truly had the element of surprise.

Convincing the prisoners, however, had been a different story entirely. They were stubborn, broken, and not at all willing to believe her, even after showing them all her birthmark. It was as if they'd felt so hopeless that they'd accepted their fate to rot in prison.

It had seemed like a lost cause until Kagome had transformed into her full beast, freeing everyone and destroying nearly the entire prison. And then finally, one person stepped up. One of the advisors that had once been at her father's side since they were adolescents. He believed her. After that it seemed as if everyone else slowly began to realize the truth. She was Kagome Higarashi. Twin sister to Souta, and first-born heir to the northern throne.

Out of the hundreds of men and women, Kagome had told them that anyone who did not wish to fight were free to flee to the west or south. And yet not a single one had left. They all had lost something by being thrown in prison by Souta, and they all wanted to avenge their fallen loved ones or destroyed homes. It had saddened her that all those people had lost something, but it had given Kagome an additional amount of determination to make things right.

It had taken a few weeks for most of them to catch up on their failed strength and to lay out the plans to everyone, but hopefully they all got it by now. Kagome sent a silent prayer to the kamis that they were successful.

It was late in the night and the moon was at its peak. All of the servants were indoors at this point. Time to move.

Swiftly and silently the first group- a mix of the prisoner and members from the taijiya clan- closed in on the palace. They blended in with the shadows, not making a single sound as the leapt over the wall. Kagome crept up behind a dragon. She placed one hand over his mouth and in one quick motion used a short blade to slice his neck with her free hand. She moved on to the next one as one of her men grabbed the fallen dragon and dragged him back over the gates. This was phase one of their plans. Take out the outside guards and dispose of their bodies.