The Twilight War

by Simon Higgins

  Groundspider’s hand glided to his back-mounted sword. ‘No choice, then.’

  Grit crunched under the feet of the approaching six. Each one appeared strong.

  Moonshadow’s eyes lit up. ‘There is a choice,’ he whispered. ‘The rock cloak.’

  Groundspider gave a single, subtle nod and together they deployed their cloaks, just as they had in the garden before Badger and the Order’s animal warriors.

  As Moonshadow drew the camouflaging fabric over himself, he heard the Fuma trainees reach the chamber door and exchange pleasantries with its guards. In just moments they would come striding past, perfectly in line with him.

  What if the two odd rocks here in the shadows caught someone’s eye?

  ‘Hope these things really work,’ he heard Groundspider murmur.

  Exactly, Moonshadow thought. He almost gasped. What about Rikichi? He had no cloak! Would his purple-blue night suit hide him in this shadow at such close range? There was still time to warn the freelancer to get behind a big rock or quickly go back.

  Turning smoothly, Moonshadow peeked out from under the hem of his cloak.

  The breath froze in his mouth. Rikichi was gone. He rotated back, keeping low, twitching his cloak into shape. Sweat ran down his spine. Had his movement been noticed? The crunch of sandals on grit grew louder. They were just paces away now.

  ‘Look,’ one of the passing trainees called out. ‘Those two rocks … there …’

  Groundspider heard it too. ‘Not yet,’ he whispered. ‘Wait for my order.’

  Folded up inside his cloak, motionless and barely breathing, Moonshadow listened with desperate concentration.

  ‘What now?’ One of the Fuma apprentices demanded. ‘I’m worn out, let’s go get washed up. I don’t care about your rocks.’

  ‘These are rocks we should all care about.’ The youth who had first spoken sounded suspicious and very sure of himself. ‘Just yesterday, these two were not here.’

  The detractor grumbled under his breath, then said, ‘Let’s say I agree. So what?’

  Moonshadow steadied his breathing. Any moment, battle would commence –

  ‘So there’s been another rock fall in a so-called stable area,’ the observant Fuma said. ‘And I’m going to report it to the watch officer. Don’t you care about safety?’

  ‘No,’ one of his colleagues put in, ‘and neither do you. You’re trying to impress!’

  Bickering half-heartedly, the group turned and drifted away down the gallery.

  Moonshadow and Groundspider flipped their cloaks and refolded and stowed them, helping one another to reset the back pouches.

  Groundspider leaned in close. ‘Rikichi?’ Moonshadow shrugged and watched the big shinobi scowl with dark suspicion. ‘Let’s hope,’ Groundspider murmured, ‘it’s just cowardice and he’s hiding back in that tunnel shaking like a bamboo leaf in a storm. We’ll look for him on our way back. No time now for more delays.’

  Together they shuffled on, staying low and in shadow, closing with their target.

  All at once they were directly opposite the guarded door.

  ‘Get ready,’ Groundspider said. ‘We need to rush them before any more traffic appears. It looks like the day’s training just finished, so more apprentices are bound –’

  Moonshadow pointed. ‘Bound to come along? Like them …?’ He cursed the small crowd that had just entered the gallery from the west. ‘This time, there’s over twenty.’

  Groundspider hung his head for a moment, then turned to Moonshadow with a frustrated expression. ‘We stowed our cloaks too soon. Re-deploy, quick.’

  They did, and in nervous silence Moonshadow listened as the group drifted by. This time, nobody noticed the two freshly fallen rocks. A handful of the Fuma apprentices were too busy complaining about their instructor’s harsh attitude. Wisely, they kept their voices low.

  Once the group had passed, the duo stowed their cloaks again, and Moonshadow glanced back the way they had come.

  ‘Still no sign of Rikichi. What if he’s been captured or killed?’ he whispered.

  Groundspider eyed him coolly. ‘Maybe he has. Or maybe he’s just busy, rounding up a squad of his real friends the Fuma, before they come looking for us.’

  ‘If he is Fuma,’ Moonshadow murmured thoughtfully, ‘he must have killed our real freelance supporter before replacing him.’ He gave his head a tiny shake. ‘But the rice code … and knowing so much about Brother Eagle …’

  ‘That code was old, and could have been cracked. And just because he knew things about Eagle’s hair or personality doesn’t mean his entire story was true. Remember what Badger taught us? The most convincing lies are the ones with a dash of truth in them.’ Groundspider glanced in all directions. ‘And Rikichi sure is convincing.’

  ‘But if he’s truly of Fuma, then why lead us down here? We come to snatch a prisoner from his people, so he guides us right to her? That makes no sense.’

  Groundspider nodded bleakly. ‘It does if he was acting under orders from the Fuma. Orders to get us here so we could be captured too. If that’s the case, you may actually be right about Snowhawk. If she is in fact on our side, then their crafty goal is probably to wind up with three Grey Light agents to interrogate, instead of just one.’

  Moonshadow sighed. ‘But what if he’s loyal and just lost his nerve, like you said earlier? Surely, if Rikichi was Fuma, he’d be leading a hunt for us by now.’ He showed the palm of a gauntleted hand. ‘Well, where is it?’

  The sounds of fast, sharp footfall made them turn towards the very tunnel they had used to enter the gallery. A figure flashed from it, then another, and another.

  Moonshadow groaned. ‘Don’t say anything. I take it all back.’

  A single line of Fuma ninja poured from the entry tunnel, dressed in training clothes but carrying steel swords. One man led them, sword brandished, face purposeful.

  Rikichi.

  Startled by the abrupt commotion, the guards flanking the wooden door bristled, glanced in all directions and raised their spears. One of them realised where Rikichi’s group was heading and started forward, hunching as he peered across the gallery floor and into the shadows at the base of the rock wall opposite his post.

  He shuddered, then pointed straight at Groundspider. ‘Intruder!’ he bellowed.

  ‘Which way?’ Moonshadow’s eyes darted left and right. ‘The wind tunnel?’

  ‘Not if we want to try for Snowhawk again.’ Groundspider seized his arm. ‘Make for the other wooden door – there, to the east, near the wind tunnel. Pick its lock –’

  Rikichi, a line of Fuma at his back, came charging at them. Groundspider vaulted over a boulder, turning in the air. Catching Rikichi by surprise, he struck him hard in the chest with a flying sidekick, sending the double agent reeling backwards to the gallery floor. ‘Go!’ he yelled to Moonshadow, ‘I’ll delay them!’

  Moonshadow shoulder-rolled through the darkened field of boulders at the foot of the wall. Rising to his feet, he saw the last Fuma in line notice him and turn to attack. He skipped forward, deftly elbowed the man between the eyes and saw him drop like a rice sack. Moonshadow dashed around the outside of the horde converging on Groundspider.

  A group of seven swordsmen, including Rikichi, plus two guards armed with spears! Moonshadow scowled as he ran. The big lout could hold them without getting cut, but not for long. His plan to try this man-made tunnel was a smart one: beyond the wooden door, it only had to fork once, anywhere, to give them a chance at doubling back.

  They could vanish down a side-tunnel, consult the map, work their way around.

  Moonshadow skidded onto his knees and slid up to the door in a small cloud of dust. Behind him he heard the clangs of Groundspider taking on the Fuma, dull thunks from the giant blocking attacks with his leg armour and gauntlets.

  Moonshadow quickly retrieved his lock-picking kit from a pouch in his leggings and attacked the lock. A gaggle of cries behind him made him turn even as he probed the
mechanism with a thin iron hook. It seemed the foreign-formula Toledo armour had given Groundspider a surprising advantage. Still uncut and dominating the fight, the big shinobi had just snatched up a lightweight Fuma trainee. As Moonshadow watched, the giant hurled his victim like a log into a cluster of attackers, felling them. Idiot Fuma, Moonshadow grinned, they hadn’t learned yet not to bunch up when fighting together!

  With a click, the lock gave way and Moonshadow pressed on the door with his palm. It creaked loudly and opened a fraction. He stood up, turning on the spot as fresh cries echoed through the gallery.

  Groundspider had just evaded his bedraggled foes and rolled away. He was heading for Moonshadow, scattering tetsubishi in his wake.

  The impulsive trainees chasing Groundspider soon started to shriek and fall to the floor, clutching at their punctured, bleeding feet. Rikichi, who had only just recovered from Groundspider’s kick, leapt the tetsubishi and his prone comrades with ease. His face was contorted with rage.

  Behind the hapless trainees, the two chamber guards acted with more restraint. Exchanging nods, they fell back together to block the way east and at the same time watch their allocated post.

  Groundspider, drenched with sweat and sporting dents in his thigh armour, reached Moonshadow at the door. Three men, one of them Rikichi, still pursued him.

  ‘Go!’ The giant grunted and together they pushed the door open wide.

  The sound of its creaking hinges, along with every other noise in the gallery, was instantly drowned out by a long, furious roar that blasted from the man-made tunnel. The cry was incredibly loud, stomach-knotting, and it died away with a sorrowful throb.

  Moonshadow recalled what he had somehow forgotten in the wild, distracting melee of the chase: this was that tunnel.

  He cursed. There was no going back. They were committed now to flee to where something huge and nasty was waiting for them.

  After trading a glance, the pair ran into the dark tunnel, the enemy close behind.

  The man-made tunnel ran ahead in a straight line, its side walls reinforced with oiled timbers and its ceiling braced with joists of hewn cedar.

  In near-darkness, Moonshadow and Groundspider dashed through it until suddenly the sides and ceiling flared and they found themselves entering a vast, separate gallery that had apparently been blasted out of the rock.

  This gallery was almost as enormous as The Sifter. Dome-shaped, with a high ceiling, the upper half of its walls was streaked with shadowy rocky ledges.

  Small tunnels fed off the gallery in all directions. In the centre of the gallery’s floor yawned the mouth of a massive pit. Cage-style lavers on iron tripods surrounded it, perched on a wide lip of level rock that ran around the big hole.

  Moonshadow stopped at the edge. Groundspider slid to a halt, almost crashing into him from behind. Together they glanced down into the huge opening.

  It was around one hundred paces in diameter and perhaps half as deep. Its level floor was rock covered with a thick layer of dust. In one dim corner of the pit was a wide, high, tunnel mouth. Closing footfall echoed from behind them.

  ‘My turn to hold the Fuma!’ Moonshadow gestured at the many small tunnels. ‘Pick one, use the map, double round and get her out of the interrogation chamber! I’ll evade. Meet you back there!’

  Groundspider quickly weighed the idea, grunted, then turned and ran off.

  Instantly Rikichi was on Moonshadow, hacking at him with strong vertical cuts.

  Moonshadow danced backwards, avoiding each slice with fast left and right bobs, then ducking as Rikichi launched horizontal cuts. Suddenly Rikichi stopped his attack and scuttled backwards. He lowered his weapon and leaned on the rock wall, panting and eyeing his target.

  Fuma agents poured into the gallery, bunching up behind Rikichi. Moonshadow scanned them with alarm. He and Groundspider had been chased in here by three, but now, obviously thanks to the commotion in the gallery, he counted nine backing Rikichi, with a few older faces among them. This was a whole new problem!

  ‘Traitor!’ He sneered at Rikichi.

  Rikichi shrugged, unconcerned. ‘Not at all. A most loyal son of Fuma. Goodbye, dead man. It is a pity to waste your skills, but I doubt that you could be turned …’

  With that, his hand rose and gestured a circle. ‘Prepare!’ Rikichi ordered his men. Five of them immediately tore off around the lip of the pit, leaving the remaining four and Rikichi himself to advance slowly on Moonshadow.

  Moonshadow backed away, glancing in all directions. Rushing around the pit, the five ninja quickly cut off his potential escape route. He was encircled now, and could neither run for one of the small tunnels leading off the gallery, nor go back the way he had come – unless he could instantly defeat five enemies, including Rikichi, before the other five dashed in to hack at him from behind.

  Rikichi and his men strode forward. Moonshadow froze, trapped on the pit’s rocky lip, a wall to his back, five armed and eager foes on either side, a drop before him.

  ‘Now … deliver!’ Rikichi leered. His eyes flicked at the five ninja behind Moonshadow and they advanced, swords extended, close to the gallery wall. Looking down into the pit, Moonshadow flinched. It was clear what deliver meant: the Fuma aimed to close in, levering him off the lip and down into that. He anxiously gulped in dusty air. If he slowed himself by digging his gauntlets into the sides on the way down, he could survive the fall. But who or what were they delivering him to?

  His eyes flicked to Rikichi. Moonshadow silently vowed that if he was going into that pit, it wouldn’t be alone. Their so-called guide was coming too!

  Before the ninja at his back could close in, Moonshadow launched himself at Rikichi. There was a loud whump as they collided chest-to-chest. Rikichi snarled and clubbed with his sword’s pommel, knocking Moonshadow over the edge.

  To a wave of startled grunts from the surrounding Fuma, Moonshadow snatched a grip on Rikichi’s ankle, cutting short his plunge.

  Moonshadow dangled over the pit, feet cycling desperately against its smooth wall.

  Groundspider pounded the rocky ledge with his fist. The tunnel he had chosen had gone nowhere useful: it had just climbed sharply, turned back, then ended on this high ledge.

  Now he had a great view of the pit and its surrounds, but he was trapped. If he went back, the small crowd of enemies he could see in the gallery below would slay him, just as they were about to slay Moonshadow, and there would be nobody left to fulfil the mission’s prime objective.

  He fought an impulse to rush back down and fight anyway. No! It was his duty to try and carry out Eagle’s last orders. In the meantime, he would just have to huddle up here and watch Moonshadow die. He swore bitterly and shook his head at the horror below.

  Rikichi was leaning backwards, bracing himself on the edge of the pit. The kid had a hold on the trickster’s ankle. Feet scrambling against the smooth pit walls, Moonshadow was vainly trying to pull himself up. Some of the Fuma were laughing.

  ‘This pit connects to the last tunnel ever blasted out,’ Rikichi shouted, his voice echoing. ‘A deep cave system running north-east under the mountain.’ He threw back his head with a hard, determined laugh. ‘The writing at the back door had it all wrong! This place is not “hell’s lips”, it’s something far worse.’

  Groundspider heard a low pounding come from the pit beneath Moonshadow.

  ‘It’s a kimon!’ Rikichi sniggered. ‘A demon gate!’

  Groundspider quickly crawled along the high, shadowy ledge, seeking a better vantage point. The pounding continued, mixing now with crunching sounds, the rhythm slow as if …

  Groundspider flinched. It was! Footsteps! Something very heavy was striding from the dark tunnel mouth down inside the pit. On the rocky lip where Moonshadow dangled, Fuma heads turned to watch it approach.

  It? Groundspider swallowed. What was it? Then he caught a glimpse of a massive horned head, long wild hair and muscular blue shoulders. His eyes went wide, his mouth fell open. So the
y were neither a fable nor extinct!

  Approaching the dangling Moonshadow across the centre of the pit was an Oni, an ogre long said to live in mountain country. The enormous creature was man-like in shape, but easily three times the height of a man. Its flesh was mottled blue and a pair of slightly curved horns rose from its lank, matted hair. The creature’s only clothing was a crude loin cloth fashioned from animal skins. The Oni’s sullen eyes glowed red and its angry mouth was jammed with crooked yellow fangs. Groundspider looked down at its clawed hands: Oni were said to carry iron clubs, but this one wielded a tree trunk as its weapon.

  Rikichi pointed at the ogre as he addressed Moonshadow. ‘Good as you are, I can’t wait to see how you do against … this!’ He leaned forward and stamped down hard on Moonshadow’s arm. Moonshadow let out a yelp of pain but somehow hung on.

  Groundspider could take it no longer: he rummaged in his leggings for a shuriken.

  Before he could draw one, Moonshadow let out an angry growl, and, swinging his legs hard, he rose up and snatched at Rikichi’s other ankle with his free hand. Grabbing it tight, Moonshadow threw his legs back, bent his knees, and let himself just drop. Rikichi bellowed, trying to twist himself free, but it was too late. Clipping the edge of the pit with his back, he plunged after Moonshadow, struggling as he fell.

  Groundspider lurched forward on his ledge, eyes locked on the two small figures careening down the wall of the Oni’s pit. As they struck the floor and sent up a puff of dust, the ogre let out a delighted roar. Groundspider covered his mouth with one hand.

  Rikichi was right. Ten Moonshadows could not defeat that.

  Moonshadow drew his sword and held it out before him, trying to cover both Rikichi and the massive creature glaring down at him from the centre of what was now a rocky arena. So Oni were real! His eyes flicked about, searching for an exit. Behind the huge beast, its access tunnel led down from the pit at a sharp angle. No, not that way, he decided. That tunnel might go anywhere, and if it proved a dead-end, the Oni could easily just retrace its steps and corner him down there.