The Ring of Earth - Chris Bradford [72]
He offered the weapon to Jack, unsheathing the blade to reveal a jagged, saw-like edge. ‘It’s a shikoro-ken,’ he explained. ‘A Sword of Destruction.’
Jack tried not to imagine the damage such a weapon could do.
‘Thank you,’ he replied, handing it back, ‘but I’d prefer my own swords.’
Soke nodded. ‘Better the devil you know.’ He put the shikoro-ken together with the other weapons he was collecting.
Hanzo appeared, a bag in his hand, and began to stuff as many shuriken as he could into it. He glanced up at Jack with fearful yet determined eyes.
‘Are they in the village?’ he asked.
‘Not yet,’ replied Jack, hoping his voice didn’t give away the dread he felt.
He squeezed the boy’s shoulder reassuringly and hurried past into the bedroom. Grabbing his katana and wakizashi, Jack slipped them firmly into the obi of his farming trousers. Even though he wasn’t dressed for combat, with his swords he felt ready to confront the samurai.
His pack was stashed in the corner. All his possessions and, most importantly, the rutter. He couldn’t leave that behind. Snatching up the bag, he ran back into the hearth room. Soke and Hanzo were waiting for him at the doma entrance.
‘Hurry!’ urged the Grandmaster.
As Jack passed the hidden compartment, an idea struck him. However important the contents, his pack would compromise his fighting ability. He dropped it into the hole and slammed the floorboards shut. At least the rutter would be safe until he returned … if he ever did.
Jack joined Soke and Hanzo in the yard. The first line of samurai had reached the village boundary, weaving along the network of pathways, while some struggled through the flooding paddy fields. A vanguard of ninja rushed to meet them, hoping to give the other villagers time to marshal in the square.
Soke handed Jack a bundle of weapons.
‘Let’s go,’ he ordered, moving with astonishing agility.
They sprinted along the path and on to the road. Other ninja joined them in their dash to the relative safety of the square. Ahead, Jack saw the second samurai battalion approaching. Only three men wide, due to the deliberately narrow road, the column was having to fight every step of the way as a small party of ninja battled to hold them back. But it would be touch and go whether Hanzo, Soke and Jack made it to the square’s gate before the samurai did.
Suddenly the column surged forward as the ninja fell beneath the blades of the samurai. It was now an all-out race to reach the wooden gate. Putting on a burst of speed, Jack sprinted up the rise with Soke and Hanzo. Behind them, the pounding of feet and shouts of the samurai pursued them. Risking a glance back, Jack saw a warrior, his sword raised in one hand, about to cut him down.
Then a flash of silver shot past Jack and struck the samurai in the throat. He let out a guttural cry, stumbled and fell, blood gushing from his mouth. Tenzen, standing by the gate, launched another shuriken to take out the next samurai in line. Jack shot through the entrance, one of the last before the gate was slammed shut and barred.
The samurai troops began to hammer against the barrier. For the time being it held, but Jack knew they were on borrowed time.
‘Thanks for saving me back there,’ he gasped as Tenzen helped bolster the gate with wooden staves.
‘You’d have done the same for me,’ Tenzen replied, then in jest added, ‘If you could hit a moving target, that is!’
‘Distribute the weapons, Jack,’ instructed Soke, before going to report to Shonin.
Handing out the few weapons he had, Jack was disheartened to see that barely half the villagers had made it. But he was glad to see Miyuki among the survivors.
‘Here,’ said Jack, offering her the shikoro-ken. ‘It’s the ideal weapon for you.’
Miyuki took it, smiling grimly when she drew the blade. ‘Thanks, but we’ll need more than a Sword of Destruction to get out of this alive.’
‘I’ve been in worse situations,’ said Jack, thinking of the Battle of Osaka and his encounter with the Red Devils.
‘Are you so sure?’ she replied, looking out across