The Ring of Earth - Chris Bradford [60]
Jack croaked an unintelligible reply.
The samurai leaned in closer. As the guard’s ear drew level with his mouth, Jack thrust his arms through the bars, seizing the man’s head and inserting Finger Needle Fist deep into the guard’s ear canal. He shuddered with pain and tried to pull away, but Jack drove a Finger Sword Fist hard against the man’s throat, striking a pressure point Miyuki had shown him. The guard crumpled against the bars, groaning with agony.
‘Open the door.’
‘I don’t have the key …’ he moaned. ‘Gemnan has it …’
Jack saw the guard reaching for his tantō. Without hesitating, Jack hit him with Fall Down Fist across the neck. The guard collapsed, unconscious. Jack reached through the bars and took the knife. Using the tip of the blade, he jimmied the lock open, just as his father had once shown him back in England.
Jack tumbled out of the cage. He was so stiff he could hardly stand, let alone run. The samurai was still out cold. Whether Miyuki had betrayed him or not, he definitely had one thing to thank her for – the Sixteen Secret Fists. But he knew the man would soon come round. He took the guard’s katana along with his knife.
Keeping to the wall, Jack darted silently through the darkness, the blood beginning to flow back into his legs. As he reached the gate to the courtyard, Jack spotted the prisoner who’d been staked to the ground. Whatever crime he may have committed, Jack couldn’t leave the poor man like that. Not at the mercy of the vicious Gemnan.
Crouching down beside him, Jack cut loose his bonds. ‘You’re free,’ he whispered.
The man didn’t reply. It was at that point Jack realized the prisoner had died. Not only had he been staked to the ground in the blazing heat but he’d been tied over a bamboo plant, its sharpened stems allowed to grow into him. Jack couldn’t believe the brutality of Gemnan.
He remembered the other prisoners in the pit and considered trying to release them too. But before he could act, Jack heard the sound of the gate being unlocked. Sprinting for the cover of the tree, he used his Ring of Earth skills to blend in with the trunk, ensuring his arms covered his blond hair.
Two samurai guards entered the courtyard, passing so close that Jack could have reached out and touched them.
‘I hate night duty,’ one of them mumbled.
As soon as they had their backs to him, Jack silently climbed the tree. Once he was high enough, he leapt to the top of the nearest wall, landing with cat-like grace.
‘BREAKOUT!’ cried one of the samurai, discovering the unconscious guard and empty cage.
Jack jumped from the wall as several samurai, carrying flaming torches, burst into the courtyard. He landed in an alleyway and ran for his life. As more shouts broke out around the castle, he scaled the bailey wall and dropped down the other side. He zigzagged through the town trying to avoid any samurai. Entering the market square, Jack saw the orange-red glow of torches heading his way. Samurai were converging on him from both directions.
Desperately looking around, Jack spotted a water barrel beside a storehouse. Dashing over, he climbed in. Expelling all the air from his lungs, he took three deep breaths. The barrel was nearly three-quarters full, so by the time he’d submerged himself the water was over his head.
Holding his breath, he waited. By the reflected light of their torches, he knew at least two samurai had stopped next to his barrel. As his breath ebbed away, Jack willed them to move on.
But they didn’t.
His lungs were approaching their limit and Jack screwed his eyes shut, drawing on all his ninja breathing training. An unconsciousness ninja is as good as dead.
He couldn’t hold his breath any longer. Bursting from the barrel, he emerged, sword drawn.
But all the samurai had gone.
Clambering out, Jack gulped down several mouthfuls of water to slake his thirst from his day in the sun, before taking to the backstreets. Keeping to the shadows, he worked his way to the town’s outer wall. More a boundary than a barricade, Jack scaled it with little problem and dropped down