The Ring of Water - Chris Bradford [51]
But Jack had underestimated his opponent. Araki still proved strong in the water. Swords clashed and they edged closer and closer to the waterfall. The current grew in strength and it became harder to keep one’s feet. Hana and Ronin watched with increasing concern.
‘Plum flower!’ cried Hana, pointing to behind Jack.
He glanced round and spotted the stepping stones. Immediately he mounted the nearest. Araki, not wanting Jack to have the advantage of height, clambered on to another. He almost slipped on its slimy surface, but quickly recovered.
Jack jumped to the next one and Araki followed. They fought, tottering upon the uneven stones, the river rushing over the lip of the waterfall next to them. Parrying a thrust from Jack, Araki countered with a surprising diagonal cut. The only way Jack could avoid it was to arch his body away and over the cliff edge. For a moment, he appeared to hang in the balance, the slightest breeze able to send him over the cascade.
Find your centre.
Araki moved in to seal his victory as the crowd began chanting, ‘Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!’
‘Time to end this duel,’ Araki declared breathlessly and raised his sword. ‘This is Heaven Crowns Earth.’
‘But we agreed first blood!’ gasped Jack, still teetering on the edge.
‘That was before I knew you were the gaijin samurai,’ replied Araki, grinning maliciously. ‘I’ll go down in history for taking your head!’
31
ON A KNIFE’S EDGE
The blade cut down like a guillotine for Jack’s neck. In that instant, Jack righted himself and leapt to the next stone. The sword missed and, in his fervour to behead Jack, Araki over-swung and toppled forward. Jack drove his sword through Araki’s obi, stopping him just before he lost all balance.
Araki now teetered on the brink, his eyes wide with fear as he stared into the watery abyss.
‘And that was Drunken Fist,’ said Jack. ‘Strike when you appear most vulnerable.’
A small red patch, where Jack had caught Araki in the side, seeped through the samurai’s kimono.
‘I believe that’s first blood,’ noted Jack.
‘Never!’ snarled Araki, in spite of his precarious position.
Suddenly there was a sharp ripping sound as Araki’s attempts to right himself pulled the fabric of his obi against the back of Jack’s katana. He lurched forward, his fate now resting on a knife’s edge.
‘Looks like first blood to me,’ said Jack calmly, letting the petrified Araki hang over the waterfall. ‘But if you’re not sure perhaps I should pull the blade out and have a look.’
‘No! Yes! I mean … Agreed, agreed! First blood! You win!’ cried Araki as the obi tore again.
Jack grabbed Araki’s collar and pulled him to safety. Fuming and trembling with outrage, Araki looked intent on continuing the fight. But, bound by the samurai code of bushido, he sheathed his weapon and stepped away on to another stone, his head bowed in shame.
‘My swords?’ reminded Jack.
Araki wordlessly pulled them from his tattered obi and surrendered them. As soon as they were in his hands, Jack felt a new strength within him. Not only did he have Akiko’s pearl, he now possessed his Shizu swords. He was almost complete. Apart from daimyo Takatomi’s inro case, which was more of sentimental value than anything else, just the rutter remained essential to his journey.
Hana came skipping over the stepping stones as Araki trudged back to the riverbank. Ronin was not far behind. Returning him his daishō, Jack then hurriedly secured his own upon his hip, fastening the sayas with the sageo cord round his obi.
‘That was unbelievable!’ cried Hana, the thrill of Jack’s victory making her forget their perilous predicament for a moment.
‘It isn’t over yet,’ replied Jack, glancing over her shoulder.
The crowd of Yagyu Ryū students had turned into an angry mob at seeing their hero defeated. Kazuki and his Scorpion Gang were at the head of it. They stood upon the bank, swords drawn.
‘Seize the gaijin and kill the two traitors!’ ordered Kazuki.
Raiden stepped on to the first stone, Goro, Hiroto and his brother, Toru, right behind. Taking one look at the baying mob and the