Jack just prayed it would continue to flow quietly.
‘Almost there,’ he said, when they were balanced upon the final tree trunk.
Suddenly the tree shifted beneath their feet and a wave of water gushed towards them. Hana screamed. Dropping to all fours, Jack turned to grab her.
But miraculously she managed to cling on and the dam held.
With cautious urgency, they crawled along the remainder of the narrow trunk, knowing that any shift in weight could send the whole lot crashing down the mountainside, a lake full of water following in its wake.
Reaching the opposite shore, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back, Jack now wondered how he’d even dared cross the precarious dam. It was a death trap waiting to happen. The familiar pitter-patter of rain began to send ripples across the surface of the lake and Jack and Hana ducked into the shelter of the cedar forest. Retracing their steps, they headed downslope and out of the valley.
‘Still raining!’ groaned Hana, pulling her head back from the cave’s entrance.
After surviving the dam crossing, they had arrived at the lower cliff around late afternoon. Exhausted, they’d agreed it was best to stay the night, then head off at the break of dawn. But there was no sun to greet them. Rainclouds filled the sky, drowning out the feeble morning light.
‘Rain’s good,’ replied Jack, much to Hana’s surprise. ‘It means less people on the roads.’
Leaving the shelter of the cave, they headed south-west towards the bridge at Kizu. Hana was soaked to the skin in a matter of moments, but the wide-brimmed straw hat Ronin had lent Jack kept him dry a little longer. Back on the main road, Jack walked with his head bowed, in case they met other travellers. But he needn’t have worried. It was too early in the day and the torrential rain had convinced people to remain in their homes.
Emerging from the forest, they came upon the raging torrent that was the Kizu River. On the opposite bank was the town of Kizu itself. The wooden bridge, propped up on its legion of stilts, was completely deserted, its walkway now barely above the waterline. Wasting no time, they stepped on to the bridge and began to hurry across.
‘I hope this is the last time I see this place,’ said Jack.
‘Me too,’ said Hana, peering over the bridge’s handrail at the fast-flowing waters. Then she turned to Jack. ‘But I hope to see you again … one day.’
Jack smiled warmly at her. ‘My mother used to say, a journey is best measured in friends rather than miles. Nagasaki’s still a long way off, but I’ve travelled further with people like you helping me … and Ronin … than I ever could have done on my own. I’m forever grateful for that.’
‘That’s what friends are for, aren’t they?’
‘And I’m blessed to count you as one.’
Hana bowed her head, embarrassed. ‘I’m simply happy you’ve got back Akiko’s pearl, your swords and particularly your father’s rutter.’ She held up the inro. ‘I’ll be sure to return this to you … when we next meet. I wouldn’t want you thinking that I steal from friends!’
‘It’s yours,’ said Jack. ‘A gift.’
‘Really?’ she replied, staring at the exquisitely crafted case in rapture. ‘I’ve never been given such a valuable gift before. Thank you.’
She bowed again.
‘I’m the one who should be bowing to you,’ said Jack. ‘I’m indebted to you for going on this quest.’
‘It’s an honour,’ Hana replied, attaching the inro next to her bokken. ‘I just pray I can get to Akiko in time.’
‘Praying won’t help,’ said a familiar voice.
51
THE BRIDGE
‘I said I’d hunt you down, gaijin.’
Kazuki stood behind them, his shaved head glistening with the rain.
Like warrior statues, the Scorpion Gang formed an unbroken line across the entrance to the bridge. Clad in black kimono, their red sun kamon upon their chests, the five young samurai – Nobu, Hiroto, Goro, Raiden and Toru – glared at Jack, hands upon their weapons, eagerly awaiting Kazuki’s command so they could be unleashed.
Hana tugged on Jack’s arm and they began to back away.
‘There’s no escape this time,’ laughed Kazuki, nodding towards the other side of the bridge.
Glancing over his shoulder, Jack saw the Kizu end had been blocked by a garrison of dōshin. Armed with iron jutte truncheons and vicious sasumata, they formed an impenetrable barrier.
One look at the swollen river told Jack that their only other option would be suicidal, especially for a non-swimmer. It was now apparent why there had been no one on the bridge – Jack and Hana had walked straight into a trap.
Jack confronted Kazuki. He’d realized this day would come, but hadn’t imagined it would be quite so soon. He also knew there was no hope of survival against such overwhelming odds. But he had to defeat his old rival. He couldn’t allow Akiko to come to any harm at the hands of his enemy.
‘I see the Two Heavens failed you,’ smirked Kazuki, pointing to Jack’s bandaged left arm.
Jack ignored the jibe. Despite a long session of kuji-in healing, his arm was still stiff and he had reservations about its effectiveness in a sword fight.
‘Let Hana go,’ he demanded. ‘She has nothing to do with us.’
Kazuki shook his head, tutting. ‘When will you learn that anyone who helps you signs their own death warrant?’
Hana took hold of her bokken. She briefly struggled to pull it from her obi, then unsteadily raised its tip to Kazuki. ‘Jack’s my friend … I’ll willingly lay down my life for him.’
Jack was astounded at her courage. Despite being totally untrained, she was prepared to take on an experienced swordsman.
Kazuki burst out laughing. ‘Yet again, a girl fights for you, Jack! And a hinin at that!’
Incensed, Hana rushed forward and slammed the bokken into Kazuki’s thigh. ‘I’m not a nobody!’
Taken by surprise, Kazuki buckled under the blow. Hana went to hit him again. This time Kazuki blocked it with his right forearm. Miraculously, the strike didn’t break the bone; instead the wooden sword deflected off to one side. With terrifying speed, Kazuki drew his katana with his left hand and sliced for Hana’s belly, aiming to cut her in half.
Jack ran to her aid, thrusting his sword between them and halting the lethal attack. The two young samurai glared at each other, their rivalry as fierce as ever.
The pounding of feet across the boardwalk announced the rapid advance of the Scorpion Gang.
‘I will have my revenge, gaijin,’ snarled Kazuki.
‘No, you won’t!’ cried Hana, whipping him across the gut with her bokken.
Kazuki doubled over. But before she or Jack could finish him, the Scorpion Gang was on them. Driven into retreat, Jack battled to keep them at bay. Although he didn’t have the strength in his left arm to wield two swords, his skill with a single katana meant he was no easy kill.
Hiroto came in first. ‘I’m going to stick you like a pig,’ he squealed in his cruel high-pitched tone. ‘Just like you did me.’
Jack remembered throwing a knife at the boy in a last-ditch effort to stop Hiroto from hanging him during the attack on the Niten Ichi Ryū. The blade had pierced Hiroto’s stomach and the boy had let go of the noose. Jack’s mercy in allowing Hiroto to live might now be his undoing.
Meanwhile, Hana was confronted by one of Kazuki’s hulking cousins, Toru.
‘You hurt Kazuki,’ he grunted. ‘I hurt you.’
Toru didn’t use a sword; instead he favoured a kanabō, an immense iron-studded club. He swung it at Hana. Squealing, she ducked and was forced to leap out of the way as the club came smashing down a second time. It ploughed into the floor, cracking the wooden deck and sending splinters flying. Hana valiantly tried to block the follow-up blow with her bokken, but the force of the strike knocked her to the ground.
Seeing the danger she was in, Jack feigned a wide attack on Hiroto. The boy went to block it and Jack kicked him h
ard in the stomach, targeting his old injury. Hiroto crumpled, wheezing for breath. As Toru moved to crush Hana with the club, Jack charged at him, his head down in Demon Horn Fist, screaming at the top of his voice, ‘KIAAAIIIII!’
Startled, Toru turned to pummel Jack instead. He raised his club just as Jack collided into him. It was like hitting a brick wall. But the impact was enough to knock Toru off-balance. He staggered against the bridge’s handrail. It gave way and, pulled backwards by the weight of his kanabō, Toru toppled over the rail into the foaming waters of the Kizu River.
Enraged at their loss, the rest of the Scorpion Gang rushed Jack and Hana as one. Pulling Hana to her feet, Jack fled with her in the opposite direction.
The doōshin officer ordered his men to march on to the bridge, sasumata primed to meet them.
Trapped in the middle, Jack realized there was no escape.
‘I won’t let them take you,’ said Jack, his sword held protectively across her.
‘And I won’t let them kill you either,’ replied Hana, her bokken trembling in her hand.
Standing back to back, Jack and Hana faced their fate.
52
HONOUR AND SACRFICE
‘The gaijin’s head is mine!’ shouted Kazuki, pushing through the ranks.
The Scorpion Gang immediately stepped back to allow the declared duel to take place. Kazuki and Jack had fought many times before, both in training and for real. Their sword skills were well matched and no decisive victor had yet emerged. But that was before Kazuki’s right hand had been maimed by Akiko’s arrow and Jack’s left arm injured by Botan.
As Jack prepared for their final showdown, Hana was seized by a dōshin.
‘You’re the thief who stole my wife’s fan!’ he snarled.
Swinging her bokken, Hana managed to crack the man across the shin, forcing him to let go. Other dōshin rushed in, pinning her to the ground with sasumata. The officer stepped forward to skewer her with his sword.
Jack leapt to stop him, but Kazuki intervened first.
‘Don’t kill her yet!’ he ordered. ‘She has vital information.’
The officer reluctantly resheathed his sword, leaving Hana pinned down by his dōshin.
Wielding his katana left-handed, Kazuki circled Jack in the pouring rain.
‘The Shogun’s just doubled the reward for your capture – alive or dead,’ Kazuki revealed, his eyes narrowing.
‘It’s good to know I’m valued,’ replied Jack, raising his katana into a guard.
‘But … I’ll happily kill you for nothing.’
Like a bolt of lightning, a flash of steel cut through the air. Jack instinctively deflected it, then swung his own sword in a blistering attack for Kazuki’s neck. Ducking, Kazuki thrust at Jack’s stomach. Jack leapt aside, the sword’s razor-sharp edge almost scything through his obi. He retaliated with a diagonal cut across the chest at the same time as Kazuki sliced for his body. Their blades clashed and they stared at one another between the cross of steel.
‘You can’t win, gaijin,’ snarled Kazuki, pushing hard against Jack’s sword.
Jack shoved back. ‘I don’t intend to beat everyone. I only need to defeat you.’
Releasing the pressure, Jack let Kazuki come for him. As their blades met again, he executed a Flint-and-Spark strike. The steel of his sword grated against Kazuki’s. At the last moment, he deflected it aside and struck for Kazuki’s heart. Grimacing with the effort, Kazuki barely evaded the attack, the tip of Jack’s sword catching his kimono and ripping his red sun kamon from his chest.
‘You’ll have to do better than that!’ Kazuki seethed and retaliated with a flurry of furious blows.
They battled through the downpour, while the Scorpion Gang and the garrison of dōshin watched on, transfixed by the life-and-death struggle. Kazuki’s skill proved to be equal, if not better, left-handed, and Jack was forced to retreat under his onslaught.
‘Behind you!’ cried Hana.
Blocking Kazuki’s strike to the head, Jack glanced round to see Hiroto with his katana aimed for his back. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his left arm, Jack drew his wakizashi and deflected Hiroto’s blade away at the very last second. With almost blinding speed, Jack brought his katana down and thrust it backwards, driving the tip into Hiroto’s gut.
Hiroto crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach. ‘Not again,’ he wailed.
‘I said he was mine!’ snapped Kazuki, without a shred of pity.
Leaving Hiroto to bleed upon the floor, Kazuki turned on Jack.
‘That’s enough practice. Time to truly test your Two Heavens!’
Jack raised both his swords. The cut on his left arm had opened up and he could barely keep a grip on his wakizashi. In his current state, the Two Heavens was likely to be more of a hindrance than advantage against a samurai of Kazuki’s ability. But he had no choice.
All of a sudden, chaos reigned in the ranks of the dōshin. Screams and cries of pain scattered the men to one side. A dōshin standing over the imprisoned Hana gasped, then spewed up blood. He collapsed to the floor, revealing a wild-eyed, bearded samurai behind.
‘Ronin!’ cried Jack and Hana simultaneously.
Seeing Hana caught beneath the prongs of several sasumata, the samurai’s fury boiled and he went to work on her captors. Ronin was like a whirling dervish, his blade slicing through any dōshin who failed to run.
‘KILL HIM!’ screamed Kazuki, when his Scorpion Gang failed to respond to the unforeseen attack.
As soon as she was free, Hana scrambled to her feet, grabbed her bokken and rushed to Ronin’s side. ‘I knew you’d come back!’ she exclaimed.
‘It’s a question of honour,’ replied Ronin.
‘And sacrifice,’ said Jack, taking up position next to him as the Scorpion Gang lined up to attack. ‘We’re all trapped now.’
‘I’d rather die on my feet – sword in hand – than live on my knees, clasping a bottle,’ explained Ronin, looking Jack in the eye. ‘I will right my wrongs. I will not fail you.’
‘You haven’t failed me,’ said Jack, wishing there was more time to explain.
But Kazuki was on the warpath and Jack was forced to fight. His rival attacked with vengeful fury as his sword struck again and again. But Jack fought with equal passion, his strength renewed now the band of three was together once more.
Goro headed straight for Ronin, while Nobu lumbered after Hana.
The dōshin – sent into a wild panic by Ronin’s slaughter – were running in all directions. Their officer was shouting at the top of his voice, trying to reinstate order. The bridge, already weakened by the raging torrent, creaked and groaned under the added strain of the fighting.
Although Ronin was an experienced warrior, Goro was young, muscular and fresh to the fight. It took all Ronin’s focus to battle the boy and he had to leave Hana to fend for herself.
Nobu chortled at the size of his diminutive opponent. His overwhelming bulk towered over Hana, yet still she didn’t back down. Swinging her bokken, she struck him in the stomach. But it just bounced off.
‘Is that all you can manage?’ he snorted, raising his own sword to cut her down.
Hana’s resolve crumbled and, fearing for her life, she ran. Nobu stomped after her. Jack could only watch as Hana, in her frantic escape, stumbled and fell. She lay there, completely open to attack. Jack cried out to Hana to get up. But it was too late. Nobu had already caught up.
He stepped forward to deliver the killing blow when there was a sharp crack.
Nobu dropped like a stone through the bridge’s deck. Only his vast waistline, wedged between the broken planks, saved him from falling into the river below.
Hana flipped to her feet and laughed in his face. ‘That’s Drunken Fist!’
Her stumble had been a ruse all along. Playing upon her vulnerability, she’d drawn the heavyweight Nobu on to the wooden plank that Toru had cracked earlier. Jack’s spirits were lifted by her cunning and he renewed his efforts t
o defeat Kazuki. But Hana now faced the man-mountain that was Raiden. And he wouldn’t be fooled with the same trick.
The dōshin officer had finally managed to rally his men and marched them back to slay the fearsome Ronin. Still battling Goro, Ronin was forced to call upon all his drunken fighting skills. Weaving and dodging, he played one dōshin off against another. Every time they attacked him, they ended up injuring a fellow dōshin. Ronin grabbed one of the wounded as a shield, but Goro could see the samurai was tiring and hung back, waiting for the moment to strike.
Jack was fading fast too. His experience with the Riddling Monk had taken its toll and his left arm, coated in blood, was incapable of lifting his sword much higher than his waist. Taking the decision to discard the wakizashi and use his katana two-handed, he sheathed the shorter blade into its saya.
‘Giving up?’ gasped Kazuki, breathing heavily from the exertion of their duel.
‘Just giving you a chance!’ replied Jack, wiping the rain from his face.
Their katana clashed again. And still neither relinquished any ground.
Hana had become trapped against the handrail by Raiden. In an effort to save her, Ronin felled the dōshin that were in his way and took his eye off Goro, who leapt forward and stabbed him in the side.
‘NO!’ cried Jack.
Ronin reeled away, bleeding. The dōshin surrounded him and closed in for the kill.
Hana squealed, her legs kicking, as Raidon lifted her off the ground by her hair.
Jack was weakening in the face of Kazuki’s unrelenting attack and would need a miracle to defeat him and save his friends.
He knew their slaughter was inevitable …
53
WASHED AWAY
A rumbling roar brought the whole fight to a stop.
The bridge trembled beneath their feet as the noise grew louder and louder. Glancing up the valley, a terrifying sight rushed towards the battling samurai. A wall of water, twenty feet high, thundered down the river, swallowing everything in its path.
The Ring of Water Page 20