by Unknown
‘I’d never become a ninja!’ retorted Jack, almost laughing out loud at the idea. ‘Masamoto’s no murderer. You are. You killed my father. You will always be my enemy.’
‘So be it,’ said Dragon Eye.
With lightning speed, Black Cloud cut through the air.
Drawing both his swords, Jack rushed to stop Dragon Eye slicing him from head to toe. He cross-blocked the ninjatō between the blades of his wakizashi and katana. In the flickering light, the name etched into the steel of his swords glinted in direct challenge to Black Cloud.
Shizu.
Dragon Eye snarled his frustration and kicked Jack in the chest. Jack went flying backwards, crashing against the rail of the balcony. Below him, the war raged on as Dragon Eye advanced on him, wheeling the ninjatō in a lethal arc towards his neck.
Jack blocked the attack with his katana, letting the force of the blow whip his own blade round in a counterstrike at Dragon Eye’s head. The assassin ducked, dropping into a spinning leg sweep. He caught Jack’s ankle and sent him crashing to the floor. Dragon Eye jumped into the air. Jack rolled out of the way as the ninja drove the shaft of his sword down at Jack’s chest. Black Cloud pierced the decking as if the wood were no thicker than paper.
Flipping to his feet, Jack went on the attack. He cut across with his wakizashi, at the same time slicing down with his katana. Dragon Eye backflipped out of danger. But he was forced to retreat under Jack’s unrelenting onslaught. Feverishly blocking the blur of blades, he was driven across the chamber. Jack almost had him backed into a corner when the ninja kicked over a lamp, sending flaming oil across the floor. The tatami caught alight in an instant and flames began to lick the walls, blistering the painted mural.
‘Masamoto has taught you well,’ sneered Dragon Eye, circling away from Jack and the spreading fire. ‘But the Two Heavens will only prolong your inevitable death.’
The ninja thrust forward, almost impaling Jack through the heart. Jack deflected the strike at the last moment and countered with his wakizashi, catching Dragon Eye across the chest and slicing through the ninja’s clothing. A line of blood appeared. Though the cut wasn’t deep, Dragon Eye glanced down in surprise that he’d been wounded at all.
Jack, taking advantage of the ninja’s lapse in concentration, sliced upwards with his katana. Dragon Eye’s reactions were razor sharp, and he leant away from the lethal blade, bending like a reed in the wind.
But he wasn’t quite fast enough.
The kissaki of Jack’s sword cut through the hood of the ninja’s shinobi shozoku.
Until that moment Dragon Eye had always been a faceless one-eyed nightmare to Jack. Now the assassin stood before him, exposed.
Hattori Tatsuo might have been a handsome man, for he possessed a strong jawline and well-defined cheekbones, worthy of admiration at any lordly court in Japan. His face, though, was a terrible sight to behold. Ravaged by the smallpox of his youth, the skin was horrifically scarred with lesions as if the flesh had rotted away. And, where his poxed eye had once been, was now a ragged black hole.
Dragon Eye glared at Jack with his remaining green eye.
‘To look upon my face is to look upon death itself,’ he snarled. ‘Die, young samurai!’
Attacking Jack with insane ferocity, he slashed with Black Cloud, seeking to decapitate him. Jack brought his katana across to block the strike.
Their two swords clashed.
Black Cloud shattered the Shizu blade in two.
As Jack stared in shock at the useless stub of sword he now wielded, Dragon Eye kicked him in the chest.
Landing upon a blazing tatami, Jack screamed as his hand entered the flames, forcing him to drop his wakizashi. He rolled away from the fire, but was stopped by the edge of a blade.
‘Kunitome swore on his life that this was the best sword he’d ever made,’ said Dragon Eye, inspecting Black Cloud with grim satisfaction. ‘He was right. Now kneel, gaijin.’
Faced with the kissaki of the ninjatō, Jack got to his knees.
He’d failed. Despite all his Two Heavens training, Dragon Eye had proved too powerful an adversary.
Dragon Eye raised Black Cloud aloft, pausing a moment to allow a malicious grin to spread across his ruined face.
‘I’m going to take immense pleasure in beheading you.’
55
AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE
Recalling Masamoto’s Two Heavens training – obtain victory by any means and with any weapon – Jack silently slipped the ninja tantō from the back of his obi.
‘You once told me,’ said Jack, as Dragon Eye relished his coming moment of triumph, ‘Never hesitate.’
Jack sliced the demon blade across the ninja’s leg.
Crying out in shock and pain, Dragon Eye staggered back.
Jack jumped to his feet, knife in hand. But Dragon Eye recovered faster than he’d expected. Black Cloud flashed like a bolt of lightning towards his neck.
All of a sudden the wall to their right exploded as a cannonball ripped through the chamber. The hunting scene was obliterated and flaming chunks of wall flew through the air, knocking Jack and Dragon Eye off their feet.
Jack landed on the devastated balcony, pieces of gold leaf falling around him like snow. Completely disorientated, his head ringing, Jack stared down at the ground eight floors below. He could see Red Devils swarming like ants across the courtyard and Jack felt a sickening wave of vertigo pulling him over the edge.
He rolled away, gasping for breath, the deadly tantō still in his grasp.
To his left lay Dragon Eye, barely conscious.
He crawled over to him.
‘Now your time has come,’ said Jack, raising the knife to deliver the killing blow.
He would avenge his father’s death.
End the nightmares.
Kill the ninja.
The Devil blade seemed to pulse in Jack’s hand like a heartbeat.
The name etched into the steel glinted red in the fires, calling to him.
Kunitome. Kill. Kill. Kill!
Far in the recesses of his mind, Jack heard the warning of the tea-house owner.
Such a weapon hungers for blood, impels their owner to commit murder.
Jack felt its power.
The bloodlust was almost overwhelming.
Jack held the tantō high above his head.
But his hand was stayed by the memory of Sensei Yamada on the night Jack had chosen to follow the Way of the Warrior. His Zen master had explained the essence of bushido and what it meant to be samurai.
The Way of the Warrior is not to destroy and kill, but to foster life. To protect it.
Jack realized that, however much pain and suffering Dragon Eye had caused, he could not be ruled by vengeance.
He wasn’t a murderer like this ninja.
Indeed, sparing the ninja’s life might save another’s. Akiko’s brother, Kiyoshi.
‘NO!’ screamed a voice as he brought down the knife.
Throwing the Devil blade over the balcony and into the night, Jack turned to see Akiko at the top of the stairs.
‘I thought you were going to kill him,’ she said, picking her way through the burning ruins of the chamber.
Leaving the comatose Dragon Eye where he lay, Jack rushed to meet Akiko, happier than ever to see her. ‘I almost did,’ he replied, glad to be rid of the tantō’s murderous influence. ‘But he’s worth more to you alive than dead.’
‘Are you hurt?’ she said, her eyes widening at the appalling state he was in.
Jack examined himself. Black with ash, his armour charred, a split lip where the Red Devil had punched him, his left hand burnt and his hair a tangle of dust and debris, he must have looked half-dead.
‘It’s nothing serious,’ he replied, as she inspected his hand.
‘When we found Father Bobadillo dead in his study, I was worried for you – WATCH OUT!’
Akiko shoved Jack to the floor.
Suddenly she was yanked off her feet and di
sappeared over the balcony.
Jack heard her screaming as she fell.
‘My patience is at its end, gaijin,’ hissed Dragon Eye. ‘Give me the rutter or I let her go.’
Dragon Eye was holding on to a kaginawa. The hooked climbing rope, having wrapped itself round Akiko’s body, was now snapped taut under her weight.
Jack’s eyes flicked to the ninja’s sword lying in the rubble between them.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ said Dragon Eye, letting the rope slip a little through his fingers. ‘She’ll be dead before you take your first step.’
Jack had no choice. He opened his bag and reached for the logbook.
‘I’d hurry if I were you,’ said Dragon Eye, a sadistic smile curling the corner of his twisted mouth. ‘I’m losing my grip.’
Handing him the rutter, Jack demanded, ‘Now give me the rope.’
‘Certainly,’ said Dragon Eye, letting go.
‘NO!’ screamed Jack, diving for the kaginawa as it rapidly uncoiled, the rope fast disappearing over the edge.
His hands caught hold, but the line continued to run through his fingers. The rope cut deep into his palms. But he’d suffered worse on the rigging of the Alexandria and clamped down harder, biting his lip against the pain.
Drawing on all his reserves of strength, he slowed the kaginawa to a stop. He heard Akiko cry out. At least he knew she was still alive.
Bracing himself against a balcony post, Jack began to haul her back to safety. Hand over hand he pulled up the rope, but his arms began to tremble with the effort and he felt the rope once again slipping through his fingers.
‘Your efforts are heroic, but ultimately wasted,’ said Dragon Eye, standing over Jack, the rutter in one hand, Black Cloud in the other.
‘You’ve got the rutter!’ gasped Jack, struggling to keep hold. ‘What more do you want?’
‘Revenge,’ he replied, raising the sword. ‘Now, shall I kill you? Or shall I cut the rope first and watch you suffer?’
There was a thud as a wooden staff struck the back of the ninja’s head. Reeling from the blow, Dragon Eye dropped the logbook and crashed into the balcony rail before toppling over it head first, Black Cloud disappearing with him into the night.
A bandaged Yamato hobbled up to Jack. ‘I think Sensei Kano would consider that a last resort situation!’ he grinned, retrieving his bō.
He glanced round at the devastation. ‘Where’s Akiko?’
Jack nodded towards the edge, too shattered to speak, as he started pulling her up again.
Yamato looked nervously over the balcony. ‘I can see her! She’s almost at the –’
A gloved hand shot from the darkness below, grabbing Yamato by the throat. Yamato desperately held on to the rail as Dragon Eye tried to pull him over. Jack lashed out with a stomping kick to the ninja’s chest. But he sacrificed a length of rope in the process and strained hard not to lose Akiko completely. The kick failed to dislodge Dragon Eye, but it was enough to force him to let go of Yamato.
Moving away from the balcony, Yamato grabbed his bō with both hands and prepared to fight back. Dragon Eye flipped over the rail to land beside him. Targeting Yamato’s wounded side, Dragon Eye roundhouse-kicked him in the midriff. But Yamato whipped his bō across, blocking the attack. Undeterred, the ninja retaliated with a spinning-hook kick to the head. Once again, Yamato drove his staff at Dragon Eye’s leg and stopped it.
He then lashed out with the end of his bō, aiming for the ninja’s head. But Dragon Eye ducked beneath it, flipping away as Yamato followed through with a rising strike.
Jack could only watch as Yamato fought bravely on, his staff twirling through the air in a series of devastating attacks. But Dragon Eye constantly ducked and dived, waiting for Yamato to tire and make a fatal mistake.
Yamato drove the tip of his bō at Dragon Eye’s chest. The ninja, evading it, grabbed the end and at the same time side-kicked Yamato in the ribs. Yamato crumpled under the blow, blood soaking through his bandages as his wound reopened.
But Yamato would not surrender.
He rolled the staff over, trapping Dragon Eye’s wrist in a lock. Bellowing a war cry, he drove the ninja backwards on to the balcony. Dragon Eye crashed against the now weakened rail and it gave way.
Yamato began to pummel Dragon Eye with his staff, striking him both in the head and sides. The ninja tried to block the barrage of blows, but they rained down on him from every direction.
‘You killed my brother!’ yelled Yamato, his fury and pain fuelling his attack.
As Dragon Eye was driven off the balcony, he made a final lunge for Yamato, catching hold of the boy’s ankle. Yamato was dragged over the edge with him. There was a sharp crack as the bō caught between the two broken rail posts. A split appeared in the shaft, fracturing like ice along the grain.
‘JACK!’ cried Yamato, desperately clinging on.
But Jack was faced with an impossible choice.
He could rescue Akiko. Or save Yamato.
But he couldn’t do both.
56
LIFE OF A SAMURAI
‘Pull yourself up, Yamato!’ urged Jack, frantically hauling in Akiko’s rope.
‘I can’t,’ he gasped, the staff splintering. ‘Dragon Eye’s climbing my leg!’
‘Hold on, I’m coming,’ said Jack, realizing if the ninja reached the balcony, no one would survive.
‘No, save Akiko!’ insisted Yamato, as a gloved hand clasped on to his obi.
‘But you’ll die –’
Yamato, his pale face suddenly resolute, nodded.
‘But I’ll die with honour.’
The staff cracked loudly on the verge of snapping.
‘Tell my father I know what it means to be a Masamoto. It means sacrifice. For your lord, family and friends.’
Dragon Eye’s malevolent green eye rose up behind Yamato’s shoulder.
‘You’ve been a loyal friend, Jack. Sayonara, my brother.’
With that Yamato let go, taking Dragon Eye with him into the darkness.
* * *
Jack pulled the sobbing Akiko into his arms.
She’d witnessed it all. Dragon Eye hanging off Yamato’s leg, crawling up him like a black widow spider, then the two of them tumbling into the night.
‘He died for us,’ she croaked, her skin bruised and raw where the kaginawa had bitten in.
Jack could only hold her, his grief too great to speak, sorrow silencing his joy at her survival.
Masamoto had said the Way of the Warrior is found in death.
Jack now understood. Yamato was the very essence of bushido. His unwavering loyalty had saved both their lives. His decision to let go had taken great courage. And by fighting to the bitter end against the ninja who’d killed his brother, Yamato had died with honour.
He’d lived the life of a true samurai.
Among the ruins of the chamber, Jack spotted the torn hood of Dragon Eye’s shinobi shizoku fluttering in the breeze.
He was surprised to feel nothing at the ninja’s fate. No pleasure. No satisfaction. Not even a sense of relief. Just a numbness and the ever-aching emptiness in his heart at the loss of his father. Not even Dragon Eye’s death could bring back his father. The wound in his heart hadn’t been healed.
Jack realized it probably never would be.
Akiko, wiping her tears away, looked sadly up at Jack.
Jack knew she must be grieving, not only for Yamato, but for her brother too, her hope of discovering his whereabouts gone with Dragon Eye.
‘Forever bound to one another,’ she whispered, taking Jack’s hand.
He was about to respond, when the keep was rocked by another cannonball blast to its walls. The chamber began to collapse around them burying his wakizashi and threatening to do the same to them.
‘We have to go,’ said Jack, pulling Akiko to her feet and putting the rutter back in his bag.
Jack may have found the logbook, but he’d lost almost everything else.
&
nbsp; Masamoto’s swords. His loyal friend, Yori. A samurai brother.
But he had no intention of losing Akiko.
His only thoughts were of escape.
57
SENSEI KYUZO
Jack and Akiko dashed down the stairs, past the corpses of Satoshi and his retainers. He snatched up two of the attendants’ used wakizashi and gave one to Akiko, who’d lost her bow in the fall over the balcony.
On the sixth floor, they discovered daimyo Kamakura’s ninja had breached the donjon itself. Four samurai lay dead at the foot of the stairs and further down the corridor ninja were slipping in and out of the shadows, silently assassinating the personal guard of the Council.
‘Daimyo Takatomi!’ said Akiko in alarm. ‘He went to his room to check on Emi.’
She rushed off down a side corridor, Jack hot on her heels. Approaching the shoji, their worst fears were confirmed. His bodyguards were already dead, their throats slit.
Peeking through the open shoji, Jack glimpsed daimyo Takatomi preparing tea. It was a bizarre sight among such carnage. Beside him sat Emi, her bandaged leg outstretched, a cup in her hand. Surrounding them were four ninja. But they hadn’t attacked. In fact, they appeared to be holding the two of them captive. It seemed daimyo Kamakura had alternative plans for his old friend.
Jack caught Emi’s eye. But she seemed untroubled by their predicament. In fact, she gently shook her head when Jack made signs to rescue them. Smiling and raising her teacup, as if to her father, she mouthed ‘Sayonara, Jack.’
A samurai guard burst into their corridor pursued by two ninja. Hurrying the opposite way, Jack led Akiko back up to the sixth floor and down Father Bobadillo’s private staircase.
They emerged from his study into chaos.
The Red Devils had broken through the last gate of the keep and Satoshi’s forces were now fighting tooth and claw in a last-ditch attempt to hold the enemy back. A mean-looking Red Devil spotted Jack and Akiko and ran at them. Blood was splattered across his armour and, though smaller than most, he appeared as ferocious as a tiger.