Young Samurai: The Ring of Wind

by Chris Bradford

  60

  The Key

  ‘Are you going to kill the Pirate Queen?’ asked Yori as Miyuki inserted a tiny dart into the pipe.

  Miyuki took careful aim and blew. The dart whisked through the air towards its target.

  ‘Ow!’ cried the Wind Demon, swatting at his neck and dropping the treasure chest he was carrying. ‘Pesky mosquitoes!’

  ‘No, just distract her,’ Miyuki replied with an impish grin, as the chest crashed to the floor and hundreds of silver coins spilled out.

  ‘You clumsy idiot!’ exclaimed the Pirate Queen, rushing to save her precious treasure.

  While Tatsumaki and the oarsman were busy gathering up the silver, Jack seized the opportunity to sneak over to Saru. The monkey caught sight of him and bobbed up and down, chattering excitedly as he approached. Jack put a finger to his lips in a desperate attempt to calm the monkey. Saru seemed to understand and settled as soon as he stroked her head. With great care, Jack removed the key from her collar.

  The Wind Demon continued shovelling handfuls of silver back into the treasure chest, while the Pirate Queen looked on, chastising him for his stupidity with the sharp edge of her tessen. Having pocketed the key, Jack’s eyes fell upon the distinctive black oilskin covering of the rutter. The logbook had been stowed in Saru’s open chest. Reaching in, Jack’s hands clasped round the oilskin, its cool touch reassuringly familiar. Hastily, he slipped the rutter into his pack. All the time Saru was watching him, quietly nibbling on her fruit.

  Jack was about to return to the others, when he noticed an object gleaming beneath where Saru was perched. The black pearl with its twisted gold pin was here too. He couldn’t leave his sole connection to Akiko behind. But, as soon as he picked it up, Saru screeched loudly and snatched the pearl from his hand. She clasped it possessively to her chest and screeched again.

  Tatsumaki spun round. ‘Jack!’ she exclaimed, taken by surprise. ‘Have you changed your mind? Are you joining us?’ But, looking at Saru and then at the chest, she realized what he was up to. ‘You’re welcome to the key you’ve stolen, but if you value your life, put the rutter back now.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘It’s everyone for themselves, Tatsumaki. Remember, you’re a pirate … and I’m a samurai!’

  He ran for the door. Tatsumaki flicked her wrist in his direction. The iron tessen snapped open and spun across the room.

  ‘Watch out!’ cried Miyuki as the razor-sharp fan swooped for Jack’s head.

  At the last second, Jack dodged aside and the tessen embedded itself in the door frame.

  ‘After him!’ cried Tatsumaki furiously. ‘That gaijin’s stealing our future!’

  Four Wind Demons chased after Jack into the corridor. But he and his friends were faster than the hulking oarsmen and had already turned the corner and were out of sight.

  ‘This way!’ said Jack, leading them through the citadel’s many chambers towards the main gate, where he prayed the lift would still be working.

  Jack burst through a large set of double doors on to the main balcony and ran straight into Dragon Eye.

  ‘I’ll have that,’ said the ninja, holding out his hand for the rutter as if having expected its arrival.

  In contrast, Jack was completely unprepared for the appearance of his resurrected enemy. He faltered mid-stride and didn’t know whether to turn and flee or charge right through him.

  ‘He’s still alive?’ gasped Saburo, already backing away.

  Yori could only stare in wide-eyed horror at Dragon Eye, the metal rings on his shakujō trembling in his grasp. Even Miyuki was momentarily frozen to the spot, intimidated by the ninja’s chilling presence.

  Behind them, Jack could hear the pounding of the Wind Demons’ feet getting closer. They were trapped.

  ‘The rutter,’ demanded Dragon Eye. ‘Don’t make me ask you again.’

  Jack caught a glint of steel and the image of Tiger’s head bouncing down the hillside flashed before his eyes. With lightning reactions, Jack unsheathed his katana, the Shizu blade moving like quicksilver through the air. There was a clash of steel upon steel and the blade of Black Cloud was stopped a hair’s breadth from Saburo’s neck. Saburo managed a nervous gulp at the lethal stand-off.

  ‘You don’t get away with that trick twice,’ said Jack, launching a fearsome front kick at Dragon Eye’s chest.

  The ninja staggered backwards under the blow.

  ‘And you’ll never harm any of my friends again,’ he vowed, his katana slicing down for the ninja’s head.

  But Dragon Eye was quick to recover. He deflected Jack’s attack and threw out his hand.

  ‘Watch out!’ cried Yori.

  A cloud of metsubishi powder shot towards Jack’s face. Jack spun away and the blinding dust dispersed harmlessly into the air.

  ‘You’ll have to do better than that,’ goaded Jack.

  ‘There they are!’ shouted a Wind Demon, thundering down the corridor.

  Recovering her wits, Miyuki drew her ninjatō and turned to face the pirates. ‘Jack, this is no time for settling old scores. We have to leave. NOW!’

  But Dragon Eye blocked their escape route.

  ‘You go,’ urged Jack, tossing Yori the key. ‘I’ll hold off Dragon Eye.’

  Pain will nourish your courage when the dragon returns …

  Recalling the Wind Witch’s words, Jack thought of his father, of Yamato and all that he’d lost as a result of this ruthless ninja. Immediately, he felt the flames of courage ignite in his veins.

  ‘I’m no longer scared of you!’ declared Jack and charged at his sworn enemy.

  ‘You should be,’ snarled Dragon Eye, deflecting Jack’s katana and countering with a vicious slice upward with his own sword.

  Black Cloud almost carved Jack in half, but he leapt away, somersaulting to land deftly on the balcony rail.

  ‘It’s you who should be fearing me, now I’ve the skills of a samurai and a ninja.’

  Covertly reaching into his pack, Jack flung a shuriken at Dragon Eye. The throwing star whirled through the air. Dragon Eye twisted away, but was a fraction too slow. The star cut his upper arm and he let out a surprised grunt of pain. Before Dragon Eye could recover, Jack leapt off the rail, unsheathing his wakizashi, and launched a blistering Two Heavens attack. His swords were a whirl of fury as he drove the ninja down the balcony, clearing the way for his friends to escape.

  ‘This time I’ll defeat you for good,’ promised Jack.

  Blocking each and every sword blow, the ninja laughed, ‘Dragon Eye can never die!’

  Below in the lagoon, the Killer Whale let loose another devastating round of cannon fire, turning Pirate Town into a ruin of blazing buildings and crumbling walkways. Crouching Tiger’s distinctive roar resounded off the crater walls and a boulder-sized cannonball obliterated a storehouse and all its surrounding buildings. The damage was so widespread that a whole section of Pirate Town caved in on itself. The citadel’s foundations shook as if in the grip of an earthquake and the idyllic lagoon became awash with flaming wreckage and dead bodies.

  ‘Come on, Jack!’ cried Miyuki, running for the gate with the others. ‘The balcony’s collapsing.’

  But it was too late. Locked in mortal combat, he and Dragon Eye tumbled down the sloping floor. They fought in each other’s grip before crashing heavily into the balcony rail. Jack lost his swords, seeing them spiral on to a roof far below. The balcony now hung loose like a lolling tongue over the carnage and threatened to break away entirely.

  Defenceless against Dragon Eye and on the brink of plunging to his death, Jack scrambled up the bars of the balcony rail towards Miyuki and his friends. But Dragon Eye, scuttling along like a black spider, pounced on to his back and pulled him down to the bottom again. They wrestled with each other against the rail. The ninja was no longer in possession of Black Cloud, but his hands were just as deadly. He drove a spearhand fist into the soft flesh of Jack’s gut. Jack gasped as a shockwave of pain rocketed through his body, the ag
ony too great for him to even scream. Somehow he managed to land a powerful elbow strike to the ninja’s temple and Dragon Eye reeled backwards. Keeping up the attack, he threw a blistering upper-cut. The fist connected with Dragon Eye’s jaw and he collapsed against the slanting balcony rail. Jack leapt on top of him and jammed a thumb into a nerve point between the ninja’s ribs. Dragon Eye screamed.

  ‘You’re not the only one to know such techniques,’ said Jack, driving his Finger Sword Fist in deeper.

  The balcony shuddered, giving warning of its precarious state. But, with Dragon Eye dazed and numb with pain, Jack realized this might be his only chance.

  ‘Did Yamato survive as well as you?’ he demanded.

  ‘Who’s … Yamato?’ groaned Dragon Eye.

  ‘The young samurai you fell off Osaka Castle with.’

  Despite the pain, Dragon Eye managed a pitiless laugh. ‘So that’s who the boy was –’

  ‘You knew he was Masamoto’s son!’ Jack shouted. Angered by the ninja’s contempt, he slammed him against the balcony rail. ‘Just tell me, is Yamato alive or not?’

  61

  Freefall

  Dragon Eye didn’t reply. Instead he raked the centre of Jack’s chest with Extended Knuckle Fist. The searing pain forced Jack to let go. But, before Dragon Eye could follow up his attack, the balcony rail split apart and the two of them dropped like stones.

  Jack tumbled over and over, panic seizing him as the cliff face rushed past. But, cutting through the terror, he heard a voice in his head saying: The feather doesn’t resist. It simply goes where the wind blows … bear this in mind, young samurai, for when an old enemy returns anew.

  Trusting in the Ring of Wind and the wisdom of the warrior spirit, Jack imagined himself as light as a feather. As he plummeted through the air, he didn’t fight it any more. He let the updraught carry him away from the cliff face. Dragon Eye, arms flailing and venting his rage, flipped head over heels the opposite way. Jack realized this was how it must have been for Yamato when he let go from Osaka Castle’s top tower – freefalling out of control towards certain death with his sworn enemy.

  But Jack felt strangely at peace. Like Yamato, he would die with honour, sacrificing himself for his friends. He had the rutter and its secrets would perish with him. And there was no way on earth that Dragon Eye could survive this time.

  The wind whistled past his ears, almost as if heaven was calling to him. Jack felt like a bird soaring through the sky. For one heady moment, he thought he might fly all the way to England.

  Then the rippling surface of the lagoon came rocketing towards him.

  The warrior spirit’s words came to mind once more: Follow the way of the water and do nothing to oppose it …

  Rather than tensing for impact, Jack made himself relax. He recalled how the albatross dived into the sea to hunt for fish, spearing through the waves at tremendous speed.

  Its nature becomes my nature …

  Jack pointed his arms down, making himself straight as an arrow.

  He hit the surface. The sudden chilling shock of the lagoon knocked all breath from his lungs. The rush of wind became the roar of water. His body was pounded and crushed on all sides as he plunged deeper and deeper. The concussion of cannonfire turned to muffled rumbles. The ethereal bars of light that played near the surface faded into oblivion.

  Jack touched bottom, his fingers raking through sand as fine as silk. His lungs were now burning from lack of oxygen and he was on the verge of blacking out. Sparkles of light flickered before his eyes and a serene stillness enveloped him.

  He drifted through this watery hidden world … then he burst to the surface, noise and light rushing back to him. Shouts, screams, cannonfire and waves surrounded him. Wreckage, ropes and broken beams floated past. He gulped in several desperate lungfuls of air. He was alive – battered, bruised and aching, but definitely alive.

  He swam for the crater’s rocky shore.

  Above, Pirate Town was burning but the citadel, like its Pirate Queen, defied the destruction, resolutely clinging to the cliff walls. Those pirates still remaining on the crumbling levels clambered down what ladders, walkways and foundations were still fixed to the crater face.

  As Jack approached the shore, he spotted a black shape spread-eagled upon a rock. He headed towards it. He had to be certain this time: confirm the ninja’s demise with his own eyes.

  62

  Imposter

  Jack clambered on to the rock and stood over the lifeless body of Dragon Eye. A large pool of blood was trickling into the lagoon. His nightmare was over.

  Then a single bloodshot eye flickered open and Jack’s heart froze.

  ‘This isn’t possible. No man can be immortal!’

  The ninja began to laugh. Dropping to his knees, Jack grabbed Dragon Eye by the lapels of his jacket and shook him furiously.

  ‘Why won’t you just die?’ he cried, all his pain and frustration welling up.

  The ninja flopped limp as a rag doll in his grip. He spluttered and choked, unable to breathe, let alone reply to his question. Jack now saw that Dragon Eye was, in truth, a broken and dying man. He lay him back down and stared in utter disbelief.

  His shaking had partly dislodged the ninja’s hood to reveal a second eye.

  Whipping the hood completely off, Jack was met by a stranger’s face. During the Battle of Osaka Castle, he’d discovered Dragon Eye’s real identity to be the exiled samurai lord Hattori Tatsuo. But this ninja definitely wasn’t him. Along with possessing two eyes, there was no facial scarring from the childhood pox. And this man was some ten years younger than the Dragon Eye he knew and feared. Only his build, jawline and green-tinted eyes were similar.

  ‘WHO are you?’ demanded Jack.

  ‘Dokugan … Ryu,’ replied the ninja weakly.

  Jack shook his head. ‘No, you’re not. I’ve seen Hattori Tatsuo’s face with my own eyes. You’re an imposter.’

  The man grunted, accepting defeat. ‘I’m a kagemusha … his Shadow Warrior … that’s why, gaijin … Dragon Eye can never die!’

  ‘But my guardian Masamoto killed Hattori’s double in the Battle of Nakasendo.’

  ‘The perfect deception!’ wheezed the ninja. ‘And now another of our clan will take over the mantle from me …’ The ninja gloated at the shock on Jack’s face. ‘Black Cloud will have a new master … and Dragon Eye’s legend will live on!’

  For the first time Jack understood the warrior spirit’s true meaning of ‘an old enemy returns anew’.

  All of a sudden he was seized by the throat, the ninja’s fingers cutting off his air supply. He writhed in the iron-like grip as the man rose up before him.

  Squeezing the life from Jack, the kagemusha spat into his face, ‘I’ll haunt you … to your grave, gaijin!’

  Then the man slumped back down and fell still, his two eyes staring soulless at the smoking sky.

  Recovering his breath, Jack bowed his head and began to sob.

  ‘Jack!’ called Miyuki, running along the shoreline. ‘Are you all right?’

  Yori and Saburo dropped down beside him, astonished to see Dragon Eye unmasked and their friend in one piece.

  ‘Why are you crying?’ asked Saburo. ‘Dragon Eye’s really dead this time.’

  Jack shook his head. A small flame of hope in his heart had just been extinguished. ‘Because … because it means Yamato is dead too.’ He grieved once more for his loyal friend and brother, the pain of loss as raw as the first time.

  Yori rested a hand upon Jack’s shoulder. ‘Yamato lives on through you, Jack. In everything samurai that you do. His spirit is your spirit. Forever bound to one another.’

  Jack wiped his eyes, comforted by Yori’s wise words.

  Miyuki knelt beside him. ‘I can’t bring your friend back, but I did manage to recover these.’ She handed him his Shizu swords. ‘I realize you can’t be a samurai without them.’

  Smiling gratefully, Jack stood and sheathed the blades into their sayas. He
felt strengthened by their presence, but even more so by the support of his friends at his side.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said, turning in the direction of the gated tunnel. ‘We’ve got a boat to catch.’

  63

  A Favourable Wind

  Leaving the dead ninja behind, Jack and the others headed towards the gate. But, as they approached, they heard a low rumble and felt the ground start to tremble.

  ‘RUN!’ screamed Miyuki, realizing what was happening.

  The four of them charged along the lagoon’s shore. But it didn’t look as if they were going to make it. Pirate Town was collapsing like a deck of cards. Roofs cascaded on to one another, walkways crumbled and buildings toppled. An avalanche of flaming wood, broken beams and loose rocks poured down the crater walls.

  As they sprinted for their lives, Jack caught a glimpse of Li Ling urging the last surviving Wind Demons on-board the Koketsu, before giving the order to cast off. He couldn’t see Tatsumaki among them, though. But, when he glanced up to check the state of the landslide, he spotted a lone figure standing on the lip of the citadel’s broken balcony.

  Like a true captain, thought Jack. She’s going down with her ship.

  The citadel, finally surrendering to the inevitable, began to tumble piece by piece into the lagoon.

  ‘FASTER!’ urged Jack as the first of Pirate Town’s wreckage and rubble splashed into the lagoon. A huge boulder ploughed into the Jade Serpent, taking all on-board with it.

  Saburo stumbled and Jack dragged him to his feet. They threw themselves the last few paces to the iron gate.

  Yori fumbled for the key.

  ‘Come on!’ begged Miyuki as more rocks and debris rained down on them.

  In his haste, Yori dropped the key. Groping on the ground, he snatched it up and rammed it into the lock. He turned the key and pushed.

  ‘It’s stuck!’ he cried.