The Ring of Earth

by Chris Bradford

  Miyuki put a hand over his mouth, silencing him. She pointed to the open shutter to their right and Jack nodded, realizing his carelessness. Creeping along the roof, they approached the window and peered in.

  The darkened room was full of samurai.

  At a glance, Jack counted about thirty asleep on the floor. Miyuki indicated for the two of them to sneak through.

  Bad idea, mouthed Jack.

  Miyuki nodded, but crawled through the window anyway. Slowly and silently, she began to cross the room. Against his better judgement, Jack followed. He stepped lightly on to the wooden floor. Tiptoeing between the sleeping samurai, he prayed all his stealth training would pay off.

  He was halfway when a loose floorboard squeaked under his weight. He stopped. So did Miyuki.

  But all the samurai slept on, their snoring drowning out his mistake.

  Carefully retracting his foot, Jack skirted the offending floorboard and joined Miyuki near the shoji. Her eyes were wide with alarm as she pointed to the floor.

  Jack saw that a samurai had rolled over in his sleep and on to her foot. There was nothing she could do – unless they woke him. Miyuki signed for Jack to go on without her, but he shook his head, unwilling to leave her behind.

  All of a sudden the man snored loudly like a pig.

  This was enough for him to stir in his sleep, and he rolled off Miyuki’s trapped foot. She hastily stepped away and over to the door. Keen to get out of the perilous situation, Jack reached for the shoji. But Miyuki stopped him.

  Pulling a vial of oil from her pouch, she greased the runners first. The door slid silently open. Poking her head through, she checked the way was clear before stepping into the corridor with Jack and closing the door behind them.

  Jack now took the lead, their way lit by candle lanterns set into the wall. Padding down the corridor, they bore right to a set of stairs. Jack recognized these as the ones he’d been dragged down from daimyo Akechi’s floor. Having got his bearings, he was now able to guide Miyuki to Gemnan’s room. Turning left, Jack found the corridor they’d been looking for.

  He took one step then froze as a bird warbled.

  It was a Nightingale Floor.

  52

  GEMNAN

  ‘Gemnan must have a lot of enemies,’ whispered Miyuki, studying the corridor before them.

  Jack slid his foot off the Nightingale Floor and shook his head with dismay. Only now did it come back to him. Singing birds. He’d been so preoccupied with his fate at the time of his capture, Jack had thought all the sounds were coming from outside.

  ‘It’s impossible,’ he said.

  ‘For a samurai, yes. But not for a ninja.’

  Miyuki placed her toes lightly upon the first floorboard.

  Silence.

  She moved on to the next, her feet seeming to float above the surface.

  ‘Follow in my footsteps.’

  ‘But Soke said only one man has ever done this.’

  ‘I’m not a man,’ stated Miyuki.

  Chastened, Jack did as he was told. Even though he’d perfected floating feet technique on rice paper, he’d never been taught the secret skills necessary to cross a Nightingale Floor. Jack realized he’d have to match Miyuki’s movements exactly. A single mistake – a tear – would bring their downfall.

  Sweat beaded on his upper lip as he walked the invisible tightrope down the corridor. Progress was slow. And the longer they took, the more concerned Jack was that a guard would discover them. Distracted by this thought, he overcompensated mid-step and lost his balance. Teetering on one foot, his arms flailing, he fought to put his foot down in the right place.

  Miyuki, concentrating on what lay ahead, was oblivious to his plight. Keeling sideways, Jack’s hand found the wall and he managed to regain his balance. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, he continued to follow in Miyuki’s footsteps, taking extra care now.

  The corridor seemed to stretch on forever. Then Miyuki stopped.

  Gemnan’s door stood before them, the final barrier to their goal. Miyuki pointed to the floorboard bordering the shoji. ‘This one will be fixed,’ she whispered.

  They both stepped on it; no sound of a nightingale.

  As Miyuki took a moment to oil the shoji’s runners, Jack put his ear to the washi paper door. He heard a rhythmic wheezing from within.

  Ever so gently, Miyuki slid open the shoji. A single guttering candle lit the room. The floor was matted with finely woven tatami. In the centre, Gemnan lay upon a futon, a crumpled blanket covering his skeletal body. Protruding from beneath his pillow was the hilt of a knife. Next to it was a set of keys.

  Jack just hoped one of them unlocked the pit cage.

  Just like stealing a pillow, he reminded himself.

  Stepping inside the room, Jack stealth-walked over to Gemnan. Miyuki, keeping one eye on the corridor, covered his back in case of trouble.

  As silent as a ghost, he approached the sleeping torturer.

  His skin crawled at seeing the man up close again. In the flickering gloom, the sallow-faced Gemnan looked like a corpse, only the sound of his laboured breathing indicating he was alive.

  Reaching out, Jack’s fingers closed round the keys. Very carefully, he picked them up, but still they made a slight jingling noise. Gemnan snorted and Jack froze as the torturer’s head turned towards him. But the man was just settling in his sleep and his wheezing soon resumed.

  Jack didn’t want to linger any more than he had to. Pocketing the keys silently in his pouch, he turned to leave. Suddenly a tantō appeared, its blade catching the dying light of the candle. Jack seized the attacker’s hand, trying to wrestle the knife away.

  But Miyuki wouldn’t let go. She was determined to kill Gemnan. Her dark eyes blazed with hatred. The tip of the blade hovered over Gemnan’s heart as a mute battle was fought between Jack and Miyuki.

  She’s gone crazy! thought Jack. An unplanned assassination could jeopardize the entire mission. Releasing Hanzo and the others had to be the priority.

  Miyuki made a final bid to thrust the tantō into the samurai’s chest, but at the last moment Jack prised the knife from Miyuki’s grasp. She glared at him, then at Gemnan. Miyuki looked ready to leap for the man’s throat and Jack grabbed her, pulling her out of the room. He closed the shoji behind them, leaving Gemnan to sleep in blissful ignorance of his near death.

  Miyuki fumed, but said nothing. Jack’s heart was thumping in his chest, bewildered at what had just happened in there. Unable to ask for fear of waking the torturer, he merely signed for Miyuki to lead the way back over the Nightingale Floor.

  A tense walk ensued. Jack was concerned that Miyuki might no longer be focused on the task in hand. He was right. She misjudged the last floorboard and it chirped loudly. Miyuki immediately corrected her step, but the damage had been done.

  Reaching the stairs, Jack glanced back. Neither Genman nor a guard had appeared. But a tear is a tear, he thought.

  Not wanting to risk the samurai’s sleeping quarters again, Jack opened a shutter in the outer wall. They clambered out of the window and on to the roof. With the shutter closed, Jack could no longer hold back.

  ‘What were you thinking?’ he hissed. ‘Zenjubo said leave no trace!’

  Miyuki, seething, trembled all over. In a tense whisper, each word delivered with venom, she replied, ‘That man killed my family!’

  Jack stared in shock. ‘You’re certain?’

  She nodded once. ‘That horrible, gloating face haunts my every dream.’

  From his own experience, Jack knew that being so close to her family’s murderer must have been insufferable.

  ‘I understand your torment –’

  ‘Then why did you stop me?’ Miyuki whispered with icy malice.

  ‘His screams would have woken the whole castle,’ said Jack, trying to get her to see sense.

  ‘I’d have slit his throat –’

  ‘Assassination is not the mission,’ Jack reminded her. ‘Saving the clan is
!’

  ‘I want my revenge!’ she said, tears welling in her eyes.

  Jack took Miyuki’s head gently between his hands, fixing her with his gaze.

  ‘The greatest revenge you could have is for us all to escape.’

  53

  TRAITOR

  ‘What took you so long?’ demanded Momochi.

  ‘A Nightingale Floor,’ Jack replied, leaving out Miyuki’s assassination attempt and their misjudged steps.

  Tenzen found the correct key and had the grille open in seconds. ‘Give me your kaginawa, Jack.’

  Lowering the rope into the pit, Tenzen braced himself to take the strain as the prisoners climbed up. Shonin was first out, quickly followed by the others. The wounded Soke needed help, so Zenjubo jumped down and carried him up on his back. When Hanzo emerged, Akiko pulled him into her arms, much to his surprise. But there was no time for an explanation or prolonged reunion.

  ‘Get the uniforms off those two guards,’ ordered Shonin, then turned to address Takamori, one of the family heads renowned for his strength and combat skills. ‘You and I will disguise ourselves as samurai. Together with this girl Akiko, we’ll escort everyone out of the castle’s main gate.’

  ‘What about the sentries?’ asked Tenzen.

  ‘Zenjubo will scout ahead from the roof. The clan will stay back, while the three of us walk straight up to the gate. You, Jack and Miyuki can hide behind us. At my signal, we’ll silence the sentries, then escape through the town and into the forest.’

  Changing into the samurai’s clothes, Shonin nodded towards the gagged third guard. ‘What’s he doing still alive?’

  ‘Akiko made me promise not to kill anyone needlessly,’ explained Tenzen.

  Shonin gave his son a disbelieving look. ‘You’ve a far more merciful heart than I have.’ Then turning sternly upon Akiko, he said, ‘Your loyalty to your fellow samurai is admirable, but our clan’s survival is at stake. You need to decide now – are you with us or against us?’

  Akiko looked down at Hanzo, then back at Shonin. ‘With you.’

  ‘Good,’ he said, slipping the guard’s katana into his obi. ‘Are we ready?’

  The clan nodded as one.

  ‘Leaving so soon,’ said a sneering voice.

  Daimyo Akechi stepped into the courtyard, Gemnan at his side, a malicious grin spread across his sickly face. A troop of heavily armed samurai surrounded the ninja in an instant.

  ‘I’m so glad you could all join us,’ announced daimyo Akechi. ‘Just as planned.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ snarled Shonin.

  The samurai lord paused, relishing his moment of conquest. ‘A little bird warned us of your coming.’

  Miyuki bowed her head in shame, the guilt of her mistake crushing her.

  ‘Why do you think Gemnan kept the key to the pit by his pillow? The Nightingale Floor thankfully proved its worth. Even though your ninja got in, they couldn’t get out undetected. But none of you will be able to do either, once your feet are nailed to the cross!’ He smirked, stroking the tips of his moustache. ‘Admittedly, the rescue party arrived earlier than expected. Still, you can’t trust everything a spy tells you.’ Daimyo Akechi paused again, letting this piece of information sink into the ninjas’ minds.

  ‘A spy?’ exclaimed Momochi.

  ‘Yes, ironic, isn’t it? A spy within spies. Gave us the location of your village. Told us the best time to attack. Even sabotaged your rescue mission.’

  For a moment, no one spoke, all of them too shocked by the implications of Akechi’s disclosure. Then Momochi, consumed with rage, launched himself at Jack.

  ‘You traitor!’ he cried, seizing him by the throat.

  ‘But aren’t you … the traitor?’ Jack gasped, his fingers clawing at the man’s iron grip as stars burst before his eyes.

  ‘I’m going to kill you!’ Momochi bawled. Tenzen, leaping to Jack’s defence, fought to pull him away.

  ‘NO, she’s the spy!’ screamed Miyuki, pointing at Akiko.

  Akiko, holding Hanzo close, vigorously shook her head in denial.

  A cruel high-pitched cackle broke the round of vicious accusations.

  ‘The gaijin didn’t betray you,’ crowed Gemnan. ‘Nor did that disloyal samurai.’ Gemnan’s eyes narrowed with pleasure as he delivered the painful truth. ‘A ninja did!’

  His callous laughter was joined by howls of mockery from the samurai troops.

  The surviving group of ninja stared at one another, aghast that one of their own was a spy for the samurai. Momochi released Jack from his deathly grip. Despite their desperate situation, Jack was glad he hadn’t been responsible for the village being found. But who had? Momochi? Miyuki?

  ‘You brought your downfall upon yourselves,’ scoffed daimyo Akechi.

  A black-clad figure stepped out from behind the samurai lord. Jack was as shocked as the rest of the ninja.

  ‘I thought you were my friend,’ spat Miyuki.

  Shiro stared at them, trembling but defiant.

  ‘I’m sick to death of running and hiding all the time, standing knee-deep in mud for my food. That’s not a life. I never asked to be a ninja. But I choose to be a samurai.’

  Shonin glared at the boy, his fists clenched in white-hot anger. ‘You sacrificed your village, your home and everyone, so you could become one of them! YOU TRAITOR!’

  ‘That wasn’t my intention, Shonin. I just wanted the gaijin captured, so I could claim the reward and be made a samurai. Yes, I was the one who told the guard about Jack while on our previous mission here. But he escaped. He forced me to reveal more,’ Shiro cried.

  ‘When did your heart turn rotten?’ said Soke, sorrowfully shaking his head at his former student. ‘Have I not taught you the value of ninniku? No one forced you to do anything. You alone are responsible for your actions. Mark my words, you will not escape the consequences of your treason.’

  ‘You’re a fine one to talk, considering you’re to blame for Dragon Eye and all he became,’ Shiro shot back. ‘Soke, you hardly ever acknowledged my abilities. None of you did. But I’ve proved to be a far greater spy than any ninja. I deceived you all.’

  ‘You did well,’ praised daimyo Akechi, a devilish smile upon his lips.

  Shiro bowed in acknowledgement.

  Gemnan grabbed the boy by the hair … and slit his throat.

  He watched the life drain from Shiro’s eyes. ‘No more running, no more hiding … just as I promised.’

  Shiro slumped to the ground, dead.

  ‘You can never trust a ninja,’ declared daimyo Akechi. ‘Gemnan, crucify them now. Crucify all of them!’

  54

  FIRE SHURIKEN

  Kreee-eee-ar …

  The shrill cry of a hawk pierced the night like a death knell. The samurai closed in to seize the ninja. A second screech, close by Jack’s ear, was answered by a thunderous blast as the southern corner of the castle compounds exploded.

  Zenjubo’s signal had been heard and the ninja burst into action, rushing the troops and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. A smoke bomb landed in the centre of the courtyard, adding to the chaos of the situation.

  Stunned by the surprise assault, the samurai lost their advantage and fought for their lives. Five fell in quick succession, a glimmering star protruding from each of their throats. Zenjubo whipped his chain and sickle through the air, ensnaring a fleeing samurai and dragging him to ground where he was swiftly finished off.

  Shonin and Takamori clashed swords with their enemies, slaying them before seizing their katana and wakizashi for other ninja to wield.

  In the confusion, daimyo Akechi had slipped unseen out of the courtyard, but Gemnan hadn’t been so quick. Miyuki spotted him sneaking towards the gate, raised her blowpipe and fired a deadly dart. Catching the attack out of the corner of his eye, Gemnan grabbed the nearest samurai, shoving the unfortunate warrior into its path, then bolted for the gate. Miyuki, determined to reap justice on her family’s murderer and without Jack to stop her
, drew the deadly shikoro-ken from her back and raced to cut off his escape.

  As the samurai forces became desperate, Hanzo was snatched by one of them as a human shield. But the warrior soon realized that was a mistake. Not only did his ‘shield’ fight back, but his action had also invoked the wrath of the samurai girl. Akiko drove him back, an Autumn Leaf strike disarming the warrior, at the same time as Hanzo put him in a crippling thumb lock. The samurai let go of the boy, but Hanzo didn’t let go of him. Bringing the man to his knees, Hanzo cupped both hands and hit him with Eight Leaves Fist round the head. The samurai, his eyes rolling, reeled and collapsed face first to the ground.

  Hanzo snatched up the samurai’s sword.

  ‘Let him live,’ said Akiko.

  ‘But he’s samurai.’

  ‘So am I,’ she replied. ‘Learn the value of life, before you take it so readily.’

  Jack stood side by side with Tenzen, Akiko and Hanzo, protecting the injured Grandmaster. The few samurai who managed to evade Tenzen’s lethal shuriken attacks were repelled by Jack and Akiko’s superior swordsmanship. The one warrior who did get through was crippled by the unexpected power of Hanzo ramming straight into him with Demon Horn Fist.

  Above, Jack glimpsed a flaming star as it shot through the night sky, rapidly followed by three more. Fire shuriken.

  As they struck their target, small charges detonated, consuming the castle’s watchtower in flames. Kajiya and his tiny team gave the impression of a mass assault on Maruyama’s southern defences.

  In the hellish orange glow of the blazing watchtower, Jack saw Miyuki cornered by Gemnan and another samurai. Gemnan now wielded a spear and Miyuki was battling to avoid its barbed tip as she simultaneously fought the two samurai. Jack shot a troubled glance at Tenzen, who’d just run out of throwing stars.

  ‘Go! I’ll be fine on my own,’ said Tenzen, snatching up a discarded samurai katana. ‘More than fine!’

  Jack rushed to save Miyuki.

  ‘Slice her up for my pot!’ sneered Gemnan, driving Miyuki towards the samurai’s blade.