Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [122]
Moving away from the balcony, Yamato grabbed his bō with both hands and prepared to fight back. Dragon Eye flipped over the rail to land beside him. Targeting Yamato’s wounded side, Dragon Eye roundhouse-kicked him in the midriff. But Yamato whipped his bō across, blocking the attack. Undeterred, the ninja retaliated with a spinning-hook kick to the head. Once again, Yamato drove his staff at Dragon Eye’s leg and stopped it.
He then lashed out with the end of his bō, aiming for the ninja’s head. But Dragon Eye ducked beneath it, flipping away as Yamato followed through with a rising strike.
Jack could only watch as Yamato fought bravely on, his staff twirling through the air in a series of devastating attacks. But Dragon Eye constantly ducked and dived, waiting for Yamato to tire and make a fatal mistake.
Yamato drove the tip of his bō at Dragon Eye’s chest. The ninja, evading it, grabbed the end and at the same time side-kicked Yamato in the ribs. Yamato crumpled under the blow, blood soaking through his bandages as his wound reopened.
But Yamato would not surrender.
He rolled the staff over, trapping Dragon Eye’s wrist in a lock. Bellowing a war cry, he drove the ninja backwards on to the balcony. Dragon Eye crashed against the now weakened rail and it gave way.
Yamato began to pummel Dragon Eye with his staff, striking him both in the head and sides. The ninja tried to block the barrage of blows, but they rained down on him from every direction.
‘You killed my brother!’ yelled Yamato, his fury and pain fuelling his attack.
As Dragon Eye was driven off the balcony, he made a final lunge for Yamato, catching hold of the boy’s ankle. Yamato was dragged over the edge with him. There was a sharp crack as the bō caught between the two broken rail posts. A split appeared in the shaft, fracturing like ice along the grain.
‘JACK!’ cried Yamato, desperately clinging on.
But Jack was faced with an impossible choice.
He could rescue Akiko. Or save Yamato.
But he couldn’t do both.
56
LIFE OF A SAMURAI
‘Pull yourself up, Yamato!’ urged Jack, frantically hauling in Akiko’s rope.
‘I can’t,’ he gasped, the staff splintering. ‘Dragon Eye’s climbing my leg!’
‘Hold on, I’m coming,’ said Jack, realizing if the ninja reached the balcony, no one would survive.
‘No, save Akiko!’ insisted Yamato, as a gloved hand clasped on to his obi.
‘But you’ll die –’
Yamato, his pale face suddenly resolute, nodded.
‘But I’ll die with honour.’
The staff cracked loudly on the verge of snapping.
‘Tell my father I know what it means to be a Masamoto. It means sacrifice. For your lord, family and friends.’
Dragon Eye’s malevolent green eye rose up behind Yamato’s shoulder.
‘You’ve been a loyal friend, Jack. Sayonara, my brother.’
With that Yamato let go, taking Dragon Eye with him into the darkness.
* * *
Jack pulled the sobbing Akiko into his arms.
She’d witnessed it all. Dragon Eye hanging off Yamato’s leg, crawling up him like a black widow spider, then the two of them tumbling into the night.
‘He died for us,’ she croaked, her skin bruised and raw where the kaginawa had bitten in.
Jack could only hold her, his grief too great to speak, sorrow silencing his joy at her survival.
Masamoto had said the Way of the Warrior is found in death.
Jack now understood. Yamato was the very essence of bushido. His unwavering loyalty had saved both their lives. His decision to let go had taken great courage. And by fighting to the bitter end against the ninja who’d killed his brother, Yamato had died with honour.
He’d lived the life of a true samurai.
Among the ruins of the chamber, Jack spotted the torn hood of Dragon Eye’s shinobi shizoku fluttering in the breeze.
He was surprised to feel nothing at the ninja’s fate. No pleasure. No satisfaction. Not even a sense of relief. Just a numbness and the ever-aching emptiness in his heart at the loss of his father.