The Ring of Water - Chris Bradford [85]
Jack felt his arms being wrenched from their sockets as the wave clawed at him. He had endured storms, breakers, tempests and typhoons in his time on-board the Alexandria, but the force of this flood seemed worse than all of them combined. The dam had evidently burst and the lake emptied in a single massive rush into the valley, wreaking untold destruction along the way.
The Ring of Water had come to his rescue.
But if he couldn’t hold on it would be his death too.
He spluttered for breath as his grip began to slip from round the pillar. His left arm was simply too weak and the tumultuous wave seemed to have no end.
Then, all of a sudden, it passed. The river subsided. Jack gasped in air and desperately looked around for Ronin and Hana. The bridge was decimated. Some sections were missing entirely; other parts of the walkway swayed dangerously on the few remaining pillars. The supporting stilts that had survived stood like a forest of dead trees in the ferocious current of the river.
The wave had washed away all but a few survivors.
And one of them was Kazuki.
Coughing up water, he spotted Jack and immediately struggled to his feet. Staggering across the skewed walkway, he swung his katana for Jack’s head. Jack rolled out of the way and scrambled along the edge of the twisted remains of the bridge.
As Kazuki pursued him, Jack jumped to the next section.
‘You won’t escape!’ snarled Kazuki, leaping the gap too.
Jack turned on him, katana at the ready. ‘Nor will you!’ he shot back.
Their swords met and the duel continued. As they fought, a supporting pillar snapped loose and toppled into the river, snatched away in an instant by the current. The whole walkway listed to one side and Jack sprang to another smaller section. Kazuki dived for an adjacent part just as the walkway collapsed and disappeared beneath the waters.
Yet still they battled.
Jack evaded Kazuki’s thrust to the stomach and attempted an Autumn Leaf strike to disarm him. But Kazuki, recognizing the technique, immediately countered, rolling his blade out of danger.
‘Pathetic!’ snorted Kazuki. ‘I was always better than you at the Two Heavens.’
His blade slashed across Jack’s torso and Jack was forced to leap backwards. His tiny section of walkway wobbled precariously under the sudden shift in weight and an ominous splintering was heard.
Kazuki laughed cruelly as the whole structure keeled over.
In desperation, Jack jumped for one of the supporting stilts. He landed on top of the pole, barely enough room for two feet. Cartwheeling his arms, he recovered his balance – Ronin’s plum flower pole training yet again a lifesaver.
‘Follow me if you dare!’ challenged Jack.
Kazuki couldn’t reach Jack from where he stood and his determination to kill his enemy outweighed any concerns for his own safety. Grimacing, he leapt for the opposing bridge stilt. He landed well, but the poles were unstable and swayed sickeningly above the waters.
The two of them now battled to stay upright, fighting each other at the same time.
Jumping between stilts, they slashed and reeled, two warriors at the very edge of their abilities. The rain still came down in stinging sheets. The swords still sliced through the air. Jack knew it was only a matter of time before one of them made a fatal error.
As he went to attack Kazuki, he lost his balance and lurched forward. For that one moment, he was completely defenceless.
Seizing the opportunity, Kazuki jumped to a nearer stilt and brought his sword round to cut off Jack’s head.
Jack, however, was in total control. Having drawn his rival in with his apparent vulnerability, he struck. Ducking the blade, he retaliated with a lightning cut at Kazuki’s legs. Kazuki was forced to leap into the air. But when he tried to land back upon his stilt, he missed and tumbled into the turbulent waters of the Kizu River.
Jack watched him disappear beneath the surface, then pop back up, gasping for air. Snatching out for anything he could, Kazuki seized