Title: Jewel of Souls

Author: Growly

Genre: Fantasy

Fandom: Original

Archive: Yes, if you like

Rating: Probably PG

Status: Snippet

Disclaimer: These ones ARE mine. ^.^

Warnings: Deathfic, slash and het implied

Note: This was part of what I originally intended to be a longer fic, however the person who originally wanted to cowrite with me decided to pull out at the last moment and I was left with the prologue, which I had written myself.

Jewel of Souls
by Growly
~ * ~ * ~

~ 1422 AD ~
~ Somewhere ~

The wind howled and ripped at the tattered rags that hung around the boy's battle torn form as he glared up at his adversary. The sinking sun cast a reddish glow across his features and he drew his lips back in a toothy snarl of defiance, his mahogany eyes narrowing into mere slits. The breath burned in his lungs, and a thin trickle of blood trailed from the corner of his lip down his chin, a scarlet drop falling to the churned up mud at his feet.

"You're finished now, Youko Psi. You've fought well, now give yourself up and we will not prolong this process. You are the last." The black of the shadowed man's cloak flapped in the gusts like the wings of a huge dark bird. A vulture perhaps. His blade was leveled at the injured young man's bare chest.

Psi quivered briefly, only the tiniest of shudders running through his body, sapping the strength from his already spent limbs. This dark man would not leave him be, it seemed. It had been a grave mistake not to take this threat seriously - in light of what had been done to the others. `It seems I will be seeing my brothers and sisters again shortly…'

One quaking hand dropped to his side, pulling the Psion Whip from its harness. A flick of the wrist and the concentration of mental energies was all it took to operate the magical weapon, not a problem normally, but in his weakened condition he could barely focus enough to get the whip to flicker faintly. With a bitten-off grunt, the young demon forced his protesting muscles into a crouch. `Just a bit closer…'

"I will not go down alone, human!" Psi's normally gentle tenor wavered, low with pent up frustration and a sense of helpless rage. Bold words that he did not feel, yet as the last of the youkou, he was determined not to allow himself to lose without putting up at least a bit of a fight. The Psion Whip crackled with raw energy, purple bolts of electricity running down its length.

His efforts were to no avail. His power, which had been enough to bring him this far - even as weak as his abilities were when compared to the many infinitely more powerful youko, he had managed to outlast the hunters with luck and a skill that had absolutely no value in battle. He had avoided the fate of both of his lovers for a painfully long and lonely time.

Blood spurted as the shadowed man's blade sank into his unprotected belly. It hung in the air for a moment, like ruby raindrops, and in a distant portion of his mind, Psi thought it odd how something so vital and precious for keeping him alive could also be so beautiful. He felt more than heard the crack of bones as the sword shattered his ribs, the bloody point emerging from his back.

Funny how it didn't hurt like he thought it would…

The shadowed man pulled his sword free with a sickening splatter. Psi didn't want to look and see how badly he was hurt, not that it mattered anyway. The hunter seemed amazed that he hadn't fallen yet. `Too bad… I am a youko. It will take more than even this injury to kill me.' But not much more.

`Chi…Su…' The names of his two mates flitted across his mind, accompanied by fleeting images.

Chi with his wide, carefree smile, sunlight glinting off that wild blonde mane of hair that refused to be controlled by any amount of brushing.. Blue eyes always flashing with mischief and contentment.

Su, with an attitude suitable for someone ten times her size, never afraid to pick a fight with anyone. Her nature and temper like the fire of her hair, and like fire she could both rage out of control and be warm and comforting.

Monsters, both of them… at least according to the humans who had hunted them down, stolen their lives away for some reason that was beyond comprehension. The man was grinning at him now, a huge, ugly smile. He was killing a monster today.

`He wants a monster?' Psi wasn't even sure what direction his muddled thoughts were going in as he tried to fight off the red haze forming in his vision. `I'll give him a monster!'

With a speed that was impressive even for a demon, Psi lashed out at his attacker. Quick as he was, his claws barely struck, leaving five shallow slashes along the dark man's side. A moment later he felt a second strike of the man's sword along his bare back. Another splatter of blood filled the air like warm rain, salty and thick. The youko struck the ground on his knees, his steadying hand slipping in the bloody, mud churned ground and flinging him to the swampy earth.

This time he only got as far as his hands and knees. The scarlet stained sword rose high above his nearly prone form, and Psi winced. His hand went to his weapon, which would not even respond with the merest of flickers now. Useless.

Pain shot through his body as he drew back his arm and flung the whip up in the face of the hated human. It was enough to throw the swordsman off balance, barely. Somehow he was on his feet and running, but it was difficult moving through the swampy mud which clung to his legs and dragged him down. Above him he heard the crack of thunder pounding in his ears like his own panicked heartbeat.

Unwillingly his body ground to a stop and he stood there, his back to his killer, his face turned upward to the dark clouds overhead. Lightning flashed by, he could almost taste the electric crackle on the air. The thunder rumbled, finally drowning out the bubbly sound of his breathing.

A raindrop struck his cheek and ran down to his chin like a tear. Or was it a tear? Heavy footsteps approached him from behind and he swallowed, closing his eyes as more raindrops fell, mixing with the tears now flowing freely down his bruised cheeks. Slowly his eyes drifted shut. He was scarcely aware as his body sank to the earth below which swallowed him up eagerly, the swamp mud pulling his prone form down greedily.

He did not sink far, in reality, but in his mind Psi kept falling, tumbling through nothingness into… color? A spectrum surrounded him, flowing and warm, with more colors and shades than he had ever known existed. His last coherent thought before the bright rainbow light took swallowed him up was lost in silence.

"Funny…" The hunter hurriedly pulled his sword again as the youko spoke, the blood forming bubbles at his lips. "I always thought…it would be…dark…"

The mystic symbol of sealing appeared above the fox demon's body, hanging there for a moment, then both dissolved into light and nothingness.

The dark swordsman turned as the storm raged above him, full of an inhuman wrath. The pounding rain washed the blood from the blade he held, diluted the scarlet pools still staining the ground . It erased all traces of the last of the sennin from the earth.

And on the pedestal of the Gods, the Jewel of Souls flickered into life…

END
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Japanese Translations:
Sennin: Immortal being
Youkou: fox demon

Psi, Chi, Su -- they're not Japanese. The characters were named after Greek Letters.