Chapter 27: Festival in advance. 

We walked aimlessly throughout the night and part of the morning, silence was all that reigned around us, making the situation more uncomfortable with each passing hour. 

Sometimes it seemed like Kikyo would start talking only to stop dead in her tracks, other times she would turn direction making us walk that way for a few hours before changing course again, everything was very erratic as if it was a reflection of her current state of mind. 

"Let 's stop here."

My words cut through the silence that had been imprinted around us for the last day, I could even feel Kikyo's surprised look on my back though I ignored it and approached the river in front of us. It was a flat river being able to see the stones in its depths, fish brimming with vitality swimming freely and a peaceful current moving the waters.

Thanks to the transparent surface and the slow pace of the current, I can easily see my horrible reflection. The yukata is torn and burned everywhere possible, be it the sleeves that are completely shredded, the leg region that has a huge cut probably from the high speed and in the middle there are cuts of different sizes. 

"Aghh."

Dipping my right arm into the waters of the river and kneeling on the bank, I open my hand revealing my palm in which multiple purple circles can be seen almost as if something is trying to pierce my skin and enter my flesh. These wounds are due to Clouded fang, which became crazier than normal at the sight of Inuyasha and steel fang. 

"Give me your hand."

Hearing Kikyo's voice behind me and getting to see her reflected in the waters of the river, I turned my body without removing my arm from the water before putting on a faint smile.

"What an intense proposal, haha, joke, OK, OK, OK, here."

I throw in a really bad joke to lighten the mood, though it doesn't work, as she keeps her gaze fixed on my hand, causing me to have to get up and show it for her to check. 

"It's a negative energy infection, your regeneration has stopped the spread though it hasn't been able to expel it from the body and it has accumulated in certain areas."

Surrounding my palm with her hands quickly and bringing her face close as if looking at every detail, she began to speak to herself unconsciously, though it also serves to inform me of the situation. Determining what caused it, she guides one of her hands to the quiver of arrows on her back, and removes one, which she breaks off to get the iron tip. 

"I'm going to have to create an opening in the skin, so the infection flows out and then your regeneration can take care of the rest."

Nodding towards Kikyo as a silent acceptance, her face turns serious and she carefully guides the tip of the arrow gently across my palm, though it glides without managing to pierce the skin. 

"Calm down, trust me."

Speaking to me without that unconscious burden that sometimes appears as if she is fighting against something inside her, she grips my hands firmly and even directs a smile at me until she stops short and stares into my eyes. 

"Healer Kikyo, please treat my wound."

Maybe changing priestess to healer won't change anything for an ordinary person, but for someone like Kikyo who is doubting about her existence on this plane, her love/hate relationship with Inuyasha and that the only maintainable thing is her purpose or duty, going as far as obsessing over her uniform, the way you refer to her can change her behavior a lot. 

We looked at each other for a few seconds until she turned her attention back to my hand. With lightness and expertise fine cuts began to appear in the contaminated areas causing a viscous black liquid to flow down my hand before falling to the ground. Finishing, she cuts a piece of cloth from my tattered yukata, washes it and then wraps my hand with that ending the operation.

"Thank you."

"To you, now let's move. This amount of negative energy attracts any yokai in the vicinity."

Thanking her like the well-mannered person I am, she thanked me back leaving me stunned for a few seconds, though those were enough for Kikyo to start walking in a particular direction.

Days later... 

Walking at night, as it was already customary in this group and in the morning of a certain day, we arrived at what could be considered in all rules as a highly populated city. This is located on the side of a mountain surrounded by fields of crops, through which dirt roads pass up to the entrance of the city, where they are exchanged for stone and a large ancient Japanese castle sits in the upper area, showing that a great feudal lord lives here. 

"Someone is coming."

Coming out of my reverie at Kikyo's words, I look off into the distance where a cloud of dust can be seen advancing towards us at full speed and in a few moments I can see it in detail. It's about five riders fully equipped and armed for any situation, though their worried faces don't say the same. 

"You must be one of the people who have answered the call of our Great Lord, we would be pleased to be able to escort you to the castle."

Although they spoke in a polite and courteous manner, their actions prove quite the opposite. The moment they arrived they began to surround us slowly but surely and their words gave no room for discussion. Easily, I could knock them out or scare them away and Kikyo seems to know this, as she looks at me for a few moments before looking towards the city and briefly closing her eyes before she begins to speak. 

"From here I can sense the dark aura surrounding the city and its surroundings, but I need information no matter how minimal."

We were walking in slow steps and Kikyo was talking loudly to our followers, their eyes seem to sparkle as they hear her first words and as they hear the rest one or the other begins to tremble, as if remembering something horrible. 

"Demons, priestess. Demons everywhere and every night they seem to increase. we have tried but they are unstoppable even for the lord's best troops... We humans are nothing against them."

"They are insatiable, at first it was every month, then every week, but now it's every night!"

Responses came from all sides, some were mere rants, others were personal impressions, but the most helpful was from the first one who had established communication with us, though even so you could feel the weariness and helplessness in the face of this supernatural enemy.