The Way Of The Sword (28 page)

The thunder roared as Nobu, his chubby face stretched taut with fear, screamed, ‘NINJA!’

They fled in different directions.

Jack, Akiko, Yamato and Saburo sprinted across the mud-slicked square towards a side alley that would lead back to the temple. Kazuki and his Scorpion Gang went the opposite way, heading for the castle. As they ran, Jack glanced up and spotted several shadows flitting across the rooftops towards them.

‘Hurry!’ Jack urged. ‘There’s a whole gang of them.’

They put on another burst of speed and had almost reached the cover of the alley when Saburo lost his footing, flying face first into the mud.

‘Keep going!’ Yamato shouted to the rest of them, running back to help their fallen friend.

Jack and Akiko rushed on, entering the alley just as a ninja dropped from the eaves. Glancing over his shoulder, Jack expected to see the assassin bearing down on them. Instead, the ninja let them run away and turned to bar Yamato and Saburo from making their escape.

‘We’ll meet you at the temple!’ cried Yamato, dragging Saburo towards a different alley.

Akiko drove Jack onwards. ‘Come on! We’ll lose the ninja in the backstreets.’

They switched left, then right, then right again, before entering an enclosed courtyard with only a single unlit passage leading off from it.

‘I think we’re in the clear,’ whispered Akiko, checking over her shoulder for signs of pursuit.

Jack’s eyes hunted the dark recesses of the yard, but there was only a large wooden water butt and a small shrub in a clay pot in one corner. He peered into the black hole of the passage where the rain ran in rivulets off the eaves and disappeared, but no enemy threatened to emerge. They were out of danger and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

‘Do you think it’s Dragon Eye?’ he whispered to Akiko.

Akiko put a finger to her lips, her eyes scanning the courtyard.

All of a sudden, two ninja materialized out of the night sky, cartwheeling in mid-air to land right between them.

‘RUN!’ screamed Akiko, snap-kicking her foot into the closest ninja.

She caught him right between the legs and he crumpled to the floor with a feeble groan. Spinning round at lightning speed, she then sent a hook kick directly at the other ninja’s head.

But this ninja, quicker than his companion, caught Akiko’s foot in mid-air. He raised his other arm to break her leg with a crushing forearm strike.

Akiko didn’t falter. She jumped, cartwheeling backwards, and brought her other foot up to connect with her attacker’s jaw.

The ninja’s head was jerked backwards by the blow and he released her leg. Akiko continued to fly through the air before landing deftly on the eaves above.

Jack stood rooted to the spot, astounded at her agility.

‘I said RUN!’ ordered Akiko above the storm.

Two more ninja suddenly appeared on the rooftops and began to battle with Akiko.

Jack’s first instinct was to clamber up the water butt and help her, but the ninja who’d been kicked first was back on his feet and rushing bow-leggedly in his direction.

Without hesitating, Jack grabbed the clay pot and flung it towards him. The pot smashed into his head and the ninja crumpled to the floor, where he lay unconscious among the shards of pottery.

Jack made for the water butt, but this time found his way blocked by the other assassin. His only option was to escape down the passage.

He plunged into its enveloping darkness, faltering only for a moment to look back at Akiko. She had knocked one ninja off the roof, but now another forced her to leap from building to building in an effort to escape. Jack prayed she would survive.

Then he fled.

Jack held his breath, trying to remain absolutely still.

The ninja raced past, oblivious to his quarry hidden in the darkness of a blind alley, barely noticeable as a narrow gap between two houses. Jack waited a few moments longer. Then, when the ninja did not come back, he allowed himself to relax. He’d managed to escape from his pursuer for the time being, but what should he do now?

He was safe concealed by the darkness, but at the same time he was trapped in a dead end. If a ninja appeared, he would have nowhere to run.

Jack shivered with both cold and fear. Above him, the night sky was just a narrow strip of thundering cloud caught between two rickety buildings. The rain cascaded down the roofs and into the narrow alley, the sound echoing off the walls as if he’d entered a small subterranean cave.

He shivered again, this time with the same uneasy feeling of being watched that he had experienced in the square.

He spun round.

But only the black emptiness of the dead end greeted him.

Still he couldn’t shake the sinister sensation.

He checked the main passageway. It was deserted.

Retreating into the security of his blind alley, Jack convinced himself that he was imagining things, his nerves merely on edge.

He hugged himself for warmth, hoping Akiko had also escaped the ninja. It would be remarkable if both of them managed to survive the night. Although he knew Akiko could handle herself, he also knew the ninja were merciless in their pursuit.

The rain softened and Jack glanced up, hopeful that the storm was abating.

The rain hadn’t slackened at all.

Only the noise it made. As if there was a sound shadow behind him.

His finely tuned senses blared out a warning. His mouth went dry, his breath caught in his throat. Ever so slowly, he turned his head and stared once more into the dead-end darkness.

There was nothing there.

Then the darkness seemed to rise and Jack found himself face-to-face with the featureless hood of a ninja… eye-to-eye with the formidable Dragon Eye.

A silent scream erupted inside his head, ordering his body to move.

RUN! RUN! RUN!
shrieked Jack’s mind.

But it was already too late.

As Jack turned to face his foe, Dragon Eye had struck with the swiftness of a scorpion. His fingers, like barbs, had pinpointed nerve centres on Jack’s body, paralysing him in five quick successive stabs. Jack was rendered defenceless and completely immobile.

‘What… have… you done to me?’ stuttered Jack, hyperventilating as a burning sensation spread through his body and down his arms and legs.

‘Be quiet or I’ll paralyse your mouth too,’ ordered the ninja in a harsh whisper.

Dragon Eye bunched his fingers into the shape of a snakehead and pressed the tips against the skin above Jack’s heart.

‘One final strike to your heart will kill you.’ He dropped the words into Jack’s ear with sadistic pleasure while allowing his fingers to linger over their intended target. ‘The samurai know and fear this as the Death Touch.’

Jack closed his eyes, half mumbling the Lord’s Prayer as Dragon Eye drew back his hand to strike.

‘But it can be a far more subtle technique than mere death,’ continued Dragon Eye who, instead of killing him, sought out a pressure point beneath Jack’s collarbone with his thumb. ‘It can also be used to inflict intolerable pain.’

Jack’s eyes flew open and he shrieked into the night as the ninja applied pressure with the tip of his thumb. The agony was so intense, Jack felt as if a swarm of wasps had been released inside his chest. He almost passed out, but then Dragon Eye stopped and the pain receded until it was no more than a tingling sensation, like stinging nettles under his skin.

Dragon Eye studied him a moment, watching the pain fade from his victim’s eyes. Jack swore that behind that black hood his nemesis was smiling at his suffering.

‘Where’s the
rutter
?’ hissed Dragon Eye.

‘It’s been stolen,’ wheezed Jack, dizzy from the aftershock of the torture.

‘That was a decoy! Don’t dice with your own death.’

The ninja took hold of Jack’s right arm this time and pressed into the middle of his bicep. An unbelievable pressure immediately built up in Jack’s right hand, his fingernails became sharp splinters under his skin and he thought his fingers were about to pop. A wave of nausea hit him. But once again Dragon Eye stopped at the threshold of his consciousness.

‘I’ve tortured people before. I can make you suffer beyond anything imaginable – and yet never kill you.’

He took Jack’s lolling head in one hand and stared at him with his one eye. Jack couldn’t see a single shred of mercy in the ninja’s soul.

‘It’s in Nijo Castle, isn’t it?’ said Dragon Eye dispassionately.

Jack’s eyes flared in alarm. How could he have known that? Had one of his friends betrayed him?

‘No need to answer,
gaijin
. Your eyes tell me all I need to know. But where exactly?’

Gripping Jack’s head tighter, Dragon Eye placed one finger just below Jack’s eye and another on his jawline. The ninja drew closer, his malevolent green eye raking over Jack’s face.

‘You
are
going to tell me,’ he said with ominous finality.

An instant later, Jack thought a molten iron spike had been driven through his eye and out of the back of his skull. The pain was greater than a thousand fires burning, too great for him to even emit a scream. The torture sapped all strength out of him and only a low moan escaped his lips.

Then the pain was gone.

‘That is nothing compared to the days of unthinkable agony you will suffer if I let you live. Can you feel that burning sensation in your body?’

Jack nodded weakly, tortured tears rolling down his cheeks.

‘That’s the pain that I’ve inflicted upon you so far. It will continue to grow like a furnace until you go mad with suffering. Only I can end it. I ask you one last time. Where is the
rutter
?’

The ninja repositioned his fingers on Jack’s face.

‘No, please…’ begged Jack.

Jack felt his resistance break like a tree in a storm. His only remaining hope was that
daimyo
Takatomi’s castle was ninja-proof. Even if he died tonight, there was a chance that his tormentor would be caught in the act and ultimately punished for his crimes.

‘Behind… the wall hanging of the white crane… in Takatomi’s reception room,’ said Jack, gathering what little strength he had left.

‘Good. Now tell me what the
rutter
is?’

Jack blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly.

‘My father’s navigational logbook,’ he replied, too stunned to question why Dragon Eye didn’t know what he was actually stealing.

‘I know that much. My employer insists this
rutter
is more effective than an assassination in gaining power. Tell me why.’

Jack didn’t reply.

Dragon Eye gave a sharp stab with his fingers to remind Jack of the pain he could inflict. Jack winced and felt his resistance crumble once more.

‘It’s the key to the oceans of the known world. The country that possesses this
rutter
can command the trade routes and rule the seas. The fortune of the world is in their hands.’

As Jack explained, he began to understand Dragon Eye’s increasing interest in the power of the
rutter
. The ninja may be a hired hand, but he was no fool. Now aware of the importance of such an object, Dragon Eye was perhaps considering the
rutter’
s value for his own purposes.

‘You’ve been more than helpful,’ said Dragon Eye. ‘But you’re now worthless to me. I keep my promises, though, so will release you from your torment. The Death Touch is excruciating but swift. You may not even feel your heart explode.’

Jack’s pulse thumped through his body, his heart clamouring to escape, as Dragon Eye formed a snakehead out of his hand and aimed it at Jack’s chest.

This was it, Jack realized. This was the face of Death, a featureless black mask with a single green eye. He was staring into it and all he felt was fear. Then, in the last dying moments, a thin smile broke across his bloodless lips.

‘What have you got to smile about,
gaijin
?’ asked the ninja, astounded at his victim’s bravado.

But Jack’s smile only broadened as he realized Dragon Eye’s efforts were ultimately futile. The key information in the
rutter
was protected by the cipher his father had devised. Only Jack could decode it. Without the key to unlock it, the
rutter
was virtually useless. A jigsaw with a vital piece missing.

Like a lifeline for a drowning sailor, Jack realized the
rutter
could save him.

‘Kill me and the
rutter’
s knowledge dies with me,’ stated Jack, emboldened by his belief.

‘Encrypted, is it?’ replied Dragon Eye, unfazed. ‘It’s of no consequence. I know a Chinese cryptologist who can decode anything.’

With that, Dragon Eye struck and Jack’s last hope died in his chest.

Jack’s heart thumped against his ribcage as if it was trying to punch its way out through flesh and bone. His lungs became tight and constricted, as if a snake had coiled its way round his chest and was squeezing the breath from him. He collapsed against the alley wall and slid down into the thick mud, where he lay juddering and gasping.

Dragon Eye crouched down to admire his handiwork.

‘You have as long as a fish out of water before your heart gives out,’ he stated, wiping a strand of Jack’s blond hair out of his eyes in a gesture that was almost affectionate. ‘You would have made a great samurai,
gaijin
, but I can’t risk allowing you to fulfil such a destiny. Maybe in another life, eh?’

Jack was no longer listening. His breath whistled in his ears like wind in a cave and he could feel his blood pulsing through his body, pooling around his dying heart.

Thud… thud…
THUD
.

Dragon Eye spun round. A huge figure, large as a mountain bear, confronted him at the mouth of the dead end.

‘Move on, blind man,’ warned Dragon Eye, spotting the tall white staff in the man’s hand. ‘There’s nothing here for you to see.’ He laughed coldly at his own dark humour.

‘I smell blood,’ said the figure with distaste.