Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [123]
Jack realized it probably never would be.
Akiko, wiping her tears away, looked sadly up at Jack.
Jack knew she must be grieving, not only for Yamato, but for her brother too, her hope of discovering his whereabouts gone with Dragon Eye.
‘Forever bound to one another,’ she whispered, taking Jack’s hand.
He was about to respond, when the keep was rocked by another cannonball blast to its walls. The chamber began to collapse around them burying his wakizashi and threatening to do the same to them.
‘We have to go,’ said Jack, pulling Akiko to her feet and putting the rutter back in his bag.
Jack may have found the logbook, but he’d lost almost everything else.
Masamoto’s swords. His loyal friend, Yori. A samurai brother.
But he had no intention of losing Akiko.
His only thoughts were of escape.
57
SENSEI KYUZO
Jack and Akiko dashed down the stairs, past the corpses of Satoshi and his retainers. He snatched up two of the attendants’ used wakizashi and gave one to Akiko, who’d lost her bow in the fall over the balcony.
On the sixth floor, they discovered daimyo Kamakura’s ninja had breached the donjon itself. Four samurai lay dead at the foot of the stairs and further down the corridor ninja were slipping in and out of the shadows, silently assassinating the personal guard of the Council.
‘Daimyo Takatomi!’ said Akiko in alarm. ‘He went to his room to check on Emi.’
She rushed off down a side corridor, Jack hot on her heels. Approaching the shoji, their worst fears were confirmed. His bodyguards were already dead, their throats slit.
Peeking through the open shoji, Jack glimpsed daimyo Takatomi preparing tea. It was a bizarre sight among such carnage. Beside him sat Emi, her bandaged leg outstretched, a cup in her hand. Surrounding them were four ninja. But they hadn’t attacked. In fact, they appeared to be holding the two of them captive. It seemed daimyo Kamakura had alternative plans for his old friend.
Jack caught Emi’s eye. But she seemed untroubled by their predicament. In fact, she gently shook her head when Jack made signs to rescue them. Smiling and raising her teacup, as if to her father, she mouthed ‘Sayonara, Jack.’
A samurai guard burst into their corridor pursued by two ninja. Hurrying the opposite way, Jack led Akiko back up to the sixth floor and down Father Bobadillo’s private staircase.
They emerged from his study into chaos.
The Red Devils had broken through the last gate of the keep and Satoshi’s forces were now fighting tooth and claw in a last-ditch attempt to hold the enemy back. A mean-looking Red Devil spotted Jack and Akiko and ran at them. Blood was splattered across his armour and, though smaller than most, he appeared as ferocious as a tiger.
They were about to flee, when the Red Devil ripped off his menpō.
It was Sensei Kyuzo.
Akiko breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her sword. But as their teacher got nearer, his expression hardened and he drew a tantō from his obi. Seeing the murderous intent in the man’s eyes, Jack pulled Akiko away. Sensei Kyuzo was a traitor like Kazuki. He was on daimyo Kamakura’s side and clearly determined to kill them.
‘Jack-kun!’ bellowed Sensei Kyuzo, throwing the blade at him.
Trapped between ninja, Red Devils and a crazed sensei, Jack had nowhere to run.
The knife shot past Jack’s shoulder – making a fleshy thud as it struck a ninja creeping up behind him. The assassin collapsed to the floor.
‘Kamakura’s ninja are everywhere,’ scowled Sensei Kyuzo, pulling the tantō out and wiping its blade on the dead assassin. ‘Now, where’s Yamato-kun?’
Jack was too shocked to reply. He was also ashamed to have thought Sensei Kyuzo had betrayed them.
‘He died,’ said Akiko, her voice hoarse with emotion. Sensei Kyuzo gave them a hard look before replacing his menpō. ‘Masamoto-sama’s waiting.’
He grabbed their swords and threw them away. Their taijutsu master didn’t wait to explain. Seizing them both by the arms, he manhandled them down the corridor