Dragon Eye momentarily faltered at the mention of his name.
Jack seized the initiative. There was no way he could defeat the ninja, but
there was still a chance he could escape.
Jack flung himself with all his might at the outside wall of his bedroom.
The thin wooden crossbeams splintered and the fragile paper tiles
disintegrated as his body ripped through the wall.
Semi-stunned by the collision, Jack staggered to his feet, snatched up his
bokken and, without a backward glance in Dragon Eye's direction, sprinted
away down the veranda.
Jack caught a glimpse of two shadows flitting through the garden and
another one entering a room further ahead.
Akiko! He had to warn her.
The noise of the breaking shoji had roused the household and the cook
stepped out on to the veranda to see what was happening. Bleary-eyed and
bemused at the young gaijin running straight towards him, they almost
collided but Jack jumped aside at the last second.
As he did so, a second shuriken flew over his shoulder and plunged itself
into the neck of the cook. The cook registered a look of mild surprise, shock
blocking out the pain of the weapon now embedded in his throat. He
gurgled something indecipherable at Jack, then flopped to floor.
Jack kept running, Dragon Eye in deadly pursuit.
Jack switched direction and dived through an open shoji just as Taka-san
emerged brandishing both his swords.
Dragon Eye was caught off-guard by Taka-san's sudden appearance.
Taka-san, battle-hardened and courageous, gauged the situation in a single
glance. With calculated precision he cut at the ninja's head. Dragon Eye
evaded the strike, bending effortlessly like a blade of grass in a breeze, and
Taka-san's katana sliced through thin air, passing just above the ninja's
upturned face.
Then Dragon Eye twisted and let loose a lightning kick into Taka-san's
midriff which sent the samurai careering into a nearby pillar.
Dragon Eye drew his own sword from the saya strapped to his back and
advanced on Taka-san.
The ninjatō with its distinctive square tsuba, hand guard, had a straighter,
shorter blade than the katana of the samurai, but was no less deadly. Dragon
Eye attacked without remorse.
Taka-san blitzed Dragon Eye with his own barrage of lethal blows and
drove the ninja back along the veranda.
Meanwhile, Jack escaped into another room, only to be confronted by a
second ninja. Fortunately for Jack, this ninja had his back turned, focused
on fighting someone else who was frantically fending him off. But the
ninja's victim suddenly lost their footing and dropped to the floor. Jack
glimpsed Yamato's face, drained white with fear, staring up at his assailant.
The ninja raised his ninjatō to deliver the killing strike on Yamato.
'Nooooo!' screamed Jack.
All the confusion, fear, pain and anger he had suffered since his father
had been murdered welled up like a volcano.
The ninja were responsible for the death of his father, his friends, his
crew, and now were attacking the only other family he knew. Jack's muscles
exploded with burning aggression and, without thinking, he charged the
ninja.
Startled, the ninja spun round, his ninjatō at the ready, but Jack drove his
bokken down with every ounce of strength he possessed on to the ninja's
sword arm. Jack heard a sickening crack as the ninja's wrist snapped and
the man let loose a howl of pain.
Jack brought his weapon round for a second attack, trying to recall
everything Yamato had taught him. He aimed for the ninja's head.
The ninja miraculously ducked, then flung himself out of the way,
picking up the dropped sword with his undamaged left hand as he rolled.
The ninja snarled at Jack, his broken wrist hanging useless by his side.
Jack backed away, suddenly aware of the danger he was now in. He was
trying to fight a ninja!
The ninja shifted his grip on the sword and Jack noted his opponent was
not so comfortable using his left arm. Realizing he would only get one shot
at this, Jack prayed that this small advantage would give him the opening he
needed. But where should he strike? Every time he moved, the ninja
instantly made to counter.
Then Masamoto's duel flashed before his eyes – the bluff that had made
Godai over-confident and permitted Masamoto to win.
Jack let his kissaki drop, feigning defeat exactly as Masamoto had done.
The ninja, sensing an easy kill, hissed and slid forward. He drew his
weapon back to cut at Jack's head with a backhanded slice. At the last
second, Jack side-slipped the sword and brought his own bokken straight
across the man's gut. The ninja buckled to the floor, heaving like a felled
boar. Jack spun round on his heels and brought his bokken down hard on to
the back of the man's head. With a thunk, the ninja dropped unconscious to
the tatami.
Jack stood over the prone body, astounded at his own strength, his
bokken trembling uncontrollably in his hands, the adrenaline pumping
through his veins.
'Where did you learn that move?' asked Yamato, hurriedly getting to his
feet.
'From your father,' said Jack, his mouth thick and dry with shock.
'Arigatō, gaij–… Jack,' said Yamato, deliberately correcting himself and
giving a brief but respectful bow. Their eyes locked and, for a second, an
unspoken bond of comradeship passed between them.
'We need to find Akiko,' said Jack urgently, breaking the moment.
'Hai!' agreed Yamato, running out on to the veranda and along to
Akiko's room, Jack following close behind.
Taka-san could be heard still battling with Dragon Eye, and Jack glanced
over his shoulder to see Taka-san driving the ninja back towards the little
bridge.
'Listen,' breathed Yamato, but from the outside Akiko's room was
ominously silent.
Yamato pulled back the shoji to reveal the inert body of a girl, her blood
spreading in a large red pool on the tatami.
'NO! Akiko!' shouted Jack.
She lay face down on the floor, her arms outspread as if still vainly trying
to escape death. Jack knelt beside the body, his eyes welling up with hot
angry tears. He reached over and pulled back the hair from her face, to
reveal the porcelain features of Chiro, her maid.
Jack anxiously glanced up at Yamato. Where was Akiko?
Then they heard the sound of movement in the adjoining room. They
flung open the inner shoji to discover Akiko facing not one but two armed
ninja. She held a short staff in one hand and her unwrapped obi in the other.
One of the ninja wielded a short tantō, the other a ninjatō. They attacked
simultaneously.
Akiko did not hesitate. She flicked the long band of her obi into the eyes
of the ninja with the sword. Like a whip, it cracked across his face,
momentarily blinding him. The ninja with the tantō, surged forward and
slashed at her face. In one flowing motion, Akiko blocked it with her short
staff, stepped between the two ninja, and chopped her obi hand down on to
the neck of her assailant. The ninja, stunned by the blow, dropped his tantō
and staggered backwards against the far wall.
The other ninja let out a venomous hiss and ran at her with his sword.
Akiko spun on her attacker and, rapidly twirling her obi, wound it round the
ninja's outstretched sword arm. She tugged hard on her obi, but in so doing
drew the weapon straight towards her.
Jack shouted a warning. But she deftly evaded the blade and purposefully
guided it in the direction of the other ninja. The ninja was now so off
balance that he couldn't stop his forward momentum and his sword sunk
deep into his comrade's chest.
Akiko had been so quick that Jack and Yamato had barely stepped into
the room before it was all over. The ninja swiftly withdrew his sword, but
was too late. His comrade, choking with blood, slumped dead on the tatami.
Turning, he faced the three children – a girl, a boy and a gaijin! They
stood their ground, raising their weapons as one. Unnerved by their daring,
he shot one glance at his fallen comrade and fled.
'How… did you do that?' stammered Jack, astounded at Akiko's
lightning skills.
'Japanese women don't just wear kimonos, Jack,' she replied, indignant
at his incredulity.
Outside, they heard Taka-san shouting.
'Quick! Taka-san needs our help,' she said, hurrying to the door ahead of
the two boys.
They raced out into the garden just in time to see Dragon Eye run Takasan through with his sword. All three of them screamed at the top of their
lungs and charged Dragon Eye as one.
Dragon Eye stepped away from Taka-san's body, pulling his sword out,
and turned to confront them. Taka-san crumpled to the ground, clutching his
bleeding stomach and hacking up blood. Jack, Akiko and Yamato formed a
protective ring round their wounded friend.
'Young samurai! How novel!' laughed Dragon Eye, amused at the absurd
sight of three children wielding weapons.
'Not too young to die, though,' he added with sinister malevolence.
The two other ninja emerged out of the darkness, weapons at the ready.
Jack noted that one of them cradled a broken wrist to his chest. Clearly
didn't hit him hard enough, thought Jack bitterly.
'Rutter,' hissed Dragon Eye, his solitary green eye flaring at Jack.
'Where is it?'