The Witch's Curse by dianne

The Curse

Prince Sesshomaru mentally groaned to himself as he knelt down and touched the wolf tracks he had been following. They had led him all over the damned forest, then just up and vanished. It just didn’t make any sense… Suddenly he heard a twig snap from behind him. Whirling around, he came face to face with a figure emerging suddenly from the trees, startling Sesshomaru- not that he would ever admit it, of course.

“My, what a handsome prince we have here,” a strange young woman purred. He became strangely unsettled when he noticed the color of her eyes; an eerie shade of ruby red that gazed over his form lustily.

She wore a dark red dress that hung elegantly off the shoulders. The material of the dress was fine, meaning that her family must be a wealthy one. A golden cord was tied around the waist, revealing a nicely curved figure. Long raven hair spilt over her shoulders, barely covering the pale skin that the dress did not. Beautiful though she may be, Sesshomaru could tell there was something very dangerous about this woman. ‘Perhaps she is a demon,’ he thought warily to himself. ‘She has the eyes of one.’

“You are trespassing on private grounds” he said imperiously, adjusting his grip on his bow, should he have to use it. “Leave now or I will not hesitate to use force.”

“Oh, tut” She said smiling arrogantly. “Didn’t they ever teach you manners in that castle of yours?” she reprimanded. She slowly made her way towards him, her gait made her seem as though she were dancing, and began circling around him- carefully eyeing him up and down. She nodded and smiled, as though she had just made a decision.

“Yes, you’ll make a lovely husband,” she smiled coyly, lifting up a small elegant hand to run her finger along his jaw line.

“What makes you think that this Sesshomaru would marry the likes of you?” he said, slapping her hand away with a sneer. The young woman glared at him for a fraction of a second before giving a slow sultry smile.

“My dear, you seem to think that you have a choice in the matter,” she said, her ruby eyes beginning to glow menacingly. “While it is rather endearing, I have to inform you that you are mine. I have waited far too long to find a suitable husband and you will not escape me.”

Sesshomaru’s eyes widened in alarm as he suddenly felt waves of power crash over him. It seemed to sweep over and into his entire being, filling him with alien feelings of desire for the woman that did not belong to him. This woman was no demon she was, “a sorceress!” he spat, trying to reach for an arrow from his quiver. Another powerful wave of energy overtakes him. He dropped his bow with shaking hands and looked at the woman with heated eyes, though this time it is no longer contempt, but longing instead. The young woman grinned; her spell is complete.

“Come here, my love, let me taste you.” She says, sweeping her arms out in an open invitation. Sesshomaru stepped forward dazedly, and pulled her into an embrace. His lips crashed onto her hers. He didn’t know why he had struggled so much in the first place. This beautiful young lady would make a perfect queen…

“Tell me,” he said rather hazily. “What is the name of my future bride?” In his state of confusion he didn’t process the dark smile that flitted across her face.

“Kagura, my sweet, I am known as Kagura.”

“Kagura…” he murmured bewildered. Something about that name struck a chord within him somewhere in the recesses of his mind. Dimly, he seemed to recall a story he heard as a child. One about a witch that rode on the wind, reigning death and destruction on whatever kingdom she visited. Surely such a lovely woman was not responsible for such heinous acts…

She pulled him in for another kiss; a shocking sensation swept through him, the pain momentarily clearing up some of the fog from his mind.

Kagura screamed in agony as she felt a sharp pain rip into her back. She pulled back to see the prince grasping a bloodied knife in his hand. How had he escaped her spell?!

“You will pay for this!” she seethed. Quickly she began gathering her power around her like a cloak, hissing her incantations as she weaved one of the most powerful curses at her disposal. The mortal would suffer for spilling the blood of one such as her!

Fear spread through him as his body began convulsing under her invisible magic forced him on his knees and hands. Sesshomaru looked and his shaky hands and discovered, to his horror, that silver fur lined his skin. What was this witch doing to him?

He didn’t get a chance to voice his questions. He doubled over in pain as he felt his bones shifting and snapping to rearrange themselves. The feeling of his face being elongated sent him in a panic. He tried to voice his agony, only to hear the sound of mournful howling instead.

“You will remain the useless dog that you are unless you can find someone to meet the conditions of the spell.” She sneered down at the silver furred mongrel before her. He was fairly large for a dog, perhaps the size of a small bear, its eyes were as crimson as her own and its mouth was peeled back in terrifying snarl. She laughed haughtily at her handiwork; no human alive would go near him as it was. “If you don’t fulfill the conditions of this spell with in fifty years you will be mine!”

Sesshomaru lunged at her only to be thrown backwards and slammed into a tree with her damned magic. He watched helplessly as she took to the wind and left him to his own devices. He couldn’t think. The spell had cast a fog over his mind. It made his mind more animalistic; the sounds of the forest called to him. His human half struggled to keep some semblance of control over his mind, but the call of the hunt was strong. Slowly, almost frustratingly so, he realized that the knowledge of the condition of his release had been imprinted in his mind. He would dwell on that later…now was the time to feast.