The Way Of The Dragon (38 page)

‘What other choice do we have?’

Jack didn’t have an answer. Then he realized something was missing.

‘The
rutter
!’ he exclaimed. ‘My pack! It came off with the armour.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll get it. It should be a lot easier to find than a pearl.’

Taking a deep breath, Akiko dived beneath the surface.

Jack was left alone in the darkness, only the sound of the water lapping against the walls and the echoing shouts of the samurai above to keep him company. It seemed an age before Akiko popped up again, the bag and
rutter
in her grasp.

‘Got it!’ she said, grinning. ‘But surely it’s ruined by the water?’

‘No, the oilskin wrapping will protect it,’ replied Jack, taking the bag from her.

Suddenly a large rock splashed down between them.

‘There they are!’

Another stone bounced off the walls, nearly hitting Jack in the head.

Jack didn’t need any further incentive. ‘The tunnel it is,’ he said, bracing himself for the long swim.

‘Take lots of deep breaths and try to stay calm,’ instructed Akiko.

More rocks crashed into the water as they dived beneath the surface, Akiko leading the way. The tunnel was pitch black and Jack couldn’t see a thing as he felt his way along. It was a truly terrifying experience. He had no idea which way was up. And no indication of how far they still had to swim.

Jack kicked as hard as he could, struggling to keep up with Akiko. He lost contact with her and panic seized him. The fear of drowning wrapped its cold, clammy fingers round his throat. His heart beat harder in his ears and the pressure built up and up in his lungs. He already had a desperate urge to breathe out and suck down the icy water.

A light-headed calm began to wash over him. Realizing he wasn’t going to reach the end of the tunnel, he stopped swimming. He let his breath bubble out. A heavy sleepiness seeped into his bones and he lost all care. Strangely, he almost welcomed the idea of drowning. At least he’d die with the
rutter
. He’d be able to return it to his father. He’d see his mother again.

Jack was peacefully resigned to his fate.

All of a sudden, he felt two warm lips press themselves against his. Air was forcibly blown into his mouth and his lungs welcomed the oxygen like a heady elixir. Jack felt his stupor lift and realized he’d been on the verge of blacking out, the reason why he’d so willingly given in to death. But he
wanted
to live.

The lips drew away and a hand clasped his wrist, pulling him along the tunnel.

Moments later, Jack and Akiko burst to the surface of the moat.

Jack gulped down air in heaving gasps.

‘I thought I’d lost you,’ said Akiko in a distraught whisper.

‘You’ll have to try… harder… than that,’ replied Jack, hacking up water.

‘Shh!’ warned Akiko. ‘The enemy are all around.’

Looking to the opposite bank, Jack saw hundreds of troops running through the darkness and became aware of countless dead bodies floating beside him and Akiko. They bobbed in the water like rotting logs. Stifling a cry as a headless corpse bumped into him, Jack followed Akiko who was swimming silently to the other side of the moat.

Slipping out of the water, they bolted for the cover of a nearby building. When the way was clear, they headed in the direction of the outer wall. Keeping to the shadows, they weaved their way carefully through the many courtyards and pathways of the outer bailey. Their going was painfully slow as they tried to avoid the enemy.

Suddenly a patrol of Red Devils came marching up the road towards them. Akiko pulled Jack into a nearby stable, startling its occupant. She gently stroked its mane, calming the horse as the samurai passed by.

‘That was close,’ Jack sighed with relief.

‘It’s getting too dangerous,’ whispered Akiko. ‘They’re all on the lookout.’

She peered into the darkness of the street.

‘I have an idea,’ she said, slipping out of the stable and leaving Jack on his own.

Akiko returned, dragging the body of an enemy
ashigaru
killed during the attack on the castle.

‘
Bakemono-jutsu
,’ she said, in response to the shocked look on Jack’s face. ‘It’s a ninja ghost technique.’

The quiet of dawn was more a deathy silence than a peaceful awakening. Osaka Castle had settled into an uneasy sleep during the night as the last few pockets of resistance were crushed and the fires brought under control. By the time the first rays of the morning sun broke through the smoke-laden sky, Kamakura’s troops had fallen into a weary stupor. With the enemy now vanquished, many had dropped their guard and were dozing amid the ruined battlements while awaiting further orders. At the outer gateway, though, there was still a heavy presence of Red Devils.

‘We’ll never get past them,’ hissed Jack, leading Akiko on the horse down the main road.

‘It worked for Sensei Kyuzo,’ Akiko whispered in reply. ‘Just
don’t
stop.’

Jack adjusted his helmet and
menpō
. ‘It’s too small. It keeps slipping off,’ he complained.

He was dressed in the blue-and-yellow crested armour of the dead
ashigaru
. He also had the man’s swords. Akiko had managed to find a bow and a quiver of arrows along with the armour of a high-ranking samurai loyal to
daimyo
Kamakura. Her helmet, adorned with a half-moon emblem to show her status, fitted perfectly. But the foot soldier Akiko had found him evidently possessed a tiny head.

Despite his concerns their disguise wouldn’t work, the dozing samurai barely raised their heads as they passed. Since there were other Kamakura troops entering and exiting the castle, the two of them didn’t appear out of place. Besides, who would suspect such a bold and blatant escape as to walk straight out of the main gateway?

As they got closer, one of the Red Devils observed their approach. Akiko bowed her head in acknowledgement, low enough to show respect but curt enough to indicate her superior authority. The Red Devil dropped his eyes and humbly bowed back. He turned his gaze upon Jack instead. Jack bowed too, lower. The Red Devil returned the bow, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did.

Beyond the samurai, Jack could glimpse the Tenno-ji Plain. Freedom was but a gate, a portcullis and a drawbridge away. He was almost counting the steps they needed to make it across.

The Red Devil stared harder at Jack as they passed him.

‘Blue eyes?’ muttered the samurai to himself, as if he didn’t quite believe what he’d seen.

Increasing his pace, Jack felt his helmet slip. A lock of blond hair became exposed. The Red Devil’s eyes widened in disbelief. He seized Jack’s helmet, pulling it off along with the
menpō
.

‘
GAIJIN!
‘ he shouted, stunned at his discovery.

Without hesitation, Jack front-kicked the Red Devil in the chest.

Akiko helped Jack on to the back of her horse and spurred their steed on.

‘Stop!’ cried the Red Devil, recovering from the blow.

Samurai groggily got to their feet, bewildered by the sudden appearance of a blond samurai, but Jack and Akiko were already passing through the gateway.

‘After them!’ ordered the irate Red Devil.

Akiko glanced round at Jack. ‘Take the reins!’

Grabbing her bow, she nocked an arrow, then turned and took aim at the roped locking mechanism of the portcullis. Calling upon all her
Yabusame
skill, she released the arrow.

It sliced into the rope. Under such tension, the line snapped and the portcullis came crashing down.

The pursuing samurai were stopped in their tracks and could only watch through the grille as their quarry galloped over the drawbridge to freedom.

Jack and Akiko rode out on to the plain, determined to get as much distance between themselves and the enemy. But they were halted by the horrifying sight before them.

As far as the eye could see lay thousands upon thousands of fallen samurai. Tenno-ji was literally carpeted with corpses. Behind them, the moat was so heaped with dead bodies that it could be crossed without getting wet. Crows picked at their remains and the moans of the few unfortunate souls who had yet to die filled the air.

Jack thought of poor little Yori, his body resting somewhere in this graveyard of Hell. How could so many lives be wasted for the will of one man,
daimyo
Kamakura?

‘We should head east to my mother’s in Toba,’ Akiko suggested, taking off her helmet and strapping her bow to the saddle pack. ‘Kyoto won’t be safe for us.’

Jack nodded, choking back the grief that threatened to overwhelm him. At least he and Akiko had escaped the carnage. There was some small joy in that thought. The future wasn’t entirely bleak.

Akiko pulled on the reins, then jolted in her saddle before collapsing to the ground, an arrow in her side.

‘AKIKO!’ cried Jack, jumping down beside her.

The arrow had gone through her armour and blood was pouring from the wound. Jack ripped a flag from a dead samurai’s
sashimono
and desperately tried to stem the bleeding. Akiko cried out as he applied the pressure.

NO! This can’t be happening
, he thought.
Not now. Not when we’d escaped.

‘That arrow was meant for
you
,
gaijin
!’

A chill ran through Jack’s veins at hearing the samurai’s voice.

Jack turned to see Kazuki striding towards them through the maze of dead samurai.

His old rival wore the armour of a Red Devil.

‘
Kyujutsu
was never my strongest skill, but it’s poetic justice for killing Moriko,’ he said, discarding the bow in his hand. ‘Now you will suffer, just as I promised you would.’

‘It was
your
fire that killed Moriko!’ shot back Jack.

‘No.
You
are responsible,’ said Kazuki. ‘Japan was a pure land before your kind arrived uninvited. Now
gaijin
have rightly been banished.’ He grinned sadistically. ‘Or else they face punishment.’

Kazuki drew both his swords, a fresh smear of blood clearly visible upon the blade of the
katana
.

‘As a loyal subject of
daimyo
Kamakura and the founder of the Scorpion Gang, it is my duty – and my pleasure – to sentence you to a dishonourable death,
gaijin
.’

Jack, leaving Akiko to hold her dressing, rose to unsheathe his swords as Kazuki bore down on him.

He’d barely got out his
wakizashi
, when Kazuki’s
katana
cut across his chest. Jack deflected the blade and brought his own long sword round on Kazuki. But his rival blocked it with his
wakizashi
and drove Jack backwards. He kicked Jack in the gut, sending him tumbling over a dead body.

Scrambling to his feet, Jack hurriedly raised his guard as Kazuki charged again. Their swords clashed and Kazuki drove his
katana
along Jack’s blade, pushing it aside and striking for his heart.

A perfect Flint-and-Spark strike.

A samurai not trained in the Two Heavens would have met his end. But Jack recognized the attack as it was happening and slipped to one side. Kazuki’s
kissaki
glanced off his breastplate.

Cursing Jack’s skill, Kazuki retaliated with a blistering double sword strike. Jack countered with equal force using both his swords. Their opposing blades locked against one another.

For a moment they glared into each other’s eyes, the battle now being fought in their minds. Jack saw the pitiless fury that was driving his rival. It reminded him of Dragon Eye’s hateful vengeance. Kazuki would never quit until Jack was dead.

Then Kazuki surged forward, hitting Jack’s
katana
and
wakizashi
simultaneously. Twice upon the back of the blades. Jack was disarmed of both swords in the blink of an eye.

A
double
Autumn Leaf strike.

Jack was left astounded by Kazuki’s masterful sword skill.

‘I said I’d always defeat you with the Two Heavens,’ gloated Kazuki.

He kicked the defenceless Jack to the ground. Then, sheathing his
wakizashi
, he prepared to finish off Jack where he lay.

‘You don’t deserve a samurai’s death,’ said Kazuki. ‘But you don’t deserve to keep your head either.’

Jack glanced desperately in Akiko’s direction. She was struggling to her feet.

‘Wait! Answer me this one question,’ demanded Jack, playing for time. ‘Why do you hate me so much?’

‘You’re
gaijin
,’ he spat. ‘That’s
more
than enough.’

‘What wrong did I ever do to you?’

‘My mother
died
because of a
gaijin
like you!’ he replied, his sword trembling with rage in his hands.

‘But what’s that got to do with me?’ asked Jack.

Kazuki snarled at Jack. ‘Out of the goodness of her heart, she took in one of your foreign priests. All he gave her in return was his illness. Your kind are a pestilence in Japan. A disease that
must
be wiped out.’

‘I’m sorry,’ pleaded Jack. ‘I’ve lost my mother to an illness too. I understand how you feel. Angry. Betrayed. Hurting.’

‘That doesn’t change a thing,’ said Kazuki, his face a mask of hate. ‘Now kneel!’

In her weakened state, Akiko had only just reached up to the horse and was still struggling to string an arrow. As Jack got to his knees, his hand came across the broken pole of a
sashimono
flag. Grabbing its shaft, he swung it, moments before Kazuki cut down with his sword. Jack struck his rival hard across the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

Jumping to his feet, Jack kicked Kazuki’s sword away. Raising the standard above his head, he aimed its pointed steel tip at the dazed Kazuki’s chest.

‘Mountain to sea,’ said Jack, recalling the essence of the Two Heavens –
to obtain victory by any means and with any weapon.

Kazuki’s eyes widened in alarm as Jack drove the
sashimono
down into him. There was an almighty scream as the shaft went through his armour and buried itself deep into the earth below.