Ichimaru was down; his vision was shaking, the smell of brimstone made his eyes weep, his nose stung as hell. Chunks of the tree burned all around him, branches had turned into torches and now lighted the place. "Thermal vision", he thought, remembering what Kumari had heard from Sajin. The fire demons could see the heat in other things, that's why they saw him, even in the shadows. He stood up as fast as his numb senses allowed him.
"Idiot! Damn, you're noisier than that stupid centipede!" he heard Seikku screaming at the distance. "Get him, but try not making a mess this time!"
He saw the two Fire Tribe warriors running at him, sword and spear ready. It wasn't the time for playing hero. He was already running away when he felt strangely light; his sword was a mile away, stuck to the ground, and there was no way to reach it without going over those guys.
"Shit!"
He turned around and dodged a spear thrust, stepped closer and ripped open the fire demon's throat with his claws. He wasn't so lucky about the other; the blade slashed his back, he grunted in pain. He stroke back, but only made cut on the enemy's winter coat before scratching his armor beneath it.
At the distance, he saw Seikku running to his fallen sword. Without hesitation, he jumped at the second enemy. The tip of the blade pierced the dog demon's shoulder, but at least he brought him down; again, the claws found the exposed neck.
Ichimaru jumped up and charged at the third opponent. He needed to get out of there, to alert Oda and Kumari, but not before retrieving his weapon. With all the speed inherited from his father, he beat Seikku to the sword and pulled it off the ground, just in time to block his attack.
"Well, well, now THAT's a surprise. What's Sesshomaru's puppy doing here?"
"Bastard. That's my line!"
"We're fire demons. Do the math", Seikku replied, laughing.
Seikku pushed hard, his blade getting dangerously close to Ichimaru's neck, whose injured shoulder made him hard to fight back.
"You're going to burn down the castle!" he suddenly deduced.
"You bet, fleabag. Everyone in there will turn to ashes. And there ain't nothing you can do about it!"
"SHUT UP!!!"
Seikku was pushed away, wondering where did all that strength come from. A cold wind started blowing, while the dog demon's temperature was rising, as if the blood was running faster in his veins.
"Nothing I can do?" Ichimaru muttered. There was something different about his voice that the other demon hadn't notice a moment before. "You're wrong!" He raised his face, making the enemy step back; his eyes were red, a snarling tone sounded from his mouth as he yelled: "I'm going to kill every single one of you!!!"
Seikku could barely ready his sword in time. In an instant, Ichimaru was right ahead of him, striking without mercy. Totally forgotten of his wounds, the dog demon bashed at the enemy's sword madly, despite the pierced shoulder. The fire demon stepped back to avoid a strike, but a sudden gust of wind threw him away again.
"There's something about this sword", he thought as he stood up; a sinister energy poured from the demon blade, waving its owner's hair and clothes as if he was at the center of a storm.
"Tell me where's Houji!"
"Where do you think? He should be already setting the castle on fire by now. You'll never stop him!"
Wrathful, Ichimaru charged once again, howling. Seikku burst his blade into flames and tossed a wave of fire at him. Without thinking, the dog demon slashed back, and a mad whirlwind sprouted from his sword. The attack cut Seikku's flames in half and fully hit the fire demon.
Couldn't move his feet, couldn't lift his sword; Seikku only felt the wind crushing him down on the ground, the power of the storm bending his knees down and keeping him paralyzed. Ichimaru jumped at him, unaffected by the whirlwind.
"Die!" he yelled above the wind's noise, his sword pointed down.
