Young Samurai 06 - The Ring of Fire (31 page)

Yuudai was the first to reach his post. But he was already too late.

The boulder hurtling along the last stretch of path smashed into the centre of the barricade. It tore a massive hole in the spiked wall of beams and branches, before rolling to a stop in the moat. As the bandits galloped for the gap unopposed, Yuudai frantically heaved back the wooden gangway to prevent them crossing. But Sayomi, from her position on the ridge, launched an arrow at him. The barbed point struck Yuudai in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Now nothing stood between the bandits and the terrified farmers.

Meanwhile, Hayato desperately attempted to muster his unit along the eastern entrance. Akuma was halfway up the track and his bandits would soon cross the thorn ditch. Pulling an arrow from his quiver, Hayato rose up from behind the protection of the haybales and took aim with his bow. The bandit leader rode boldly towards him, as if daring him to shoot. Hayato had Akuma in his sights when another snowdrift burst apart. Kurochi the Snake appeared, musket in hand, and fired before Hayato did.

Taken completely by surprise, Hayato had no chance of avoiding the deadly bullet. He was blown backwards by the blast to land in a bloody heap in the snow.

Jack witnessed all of this in the first few chaotic moments of Akuma’s attack.

‘Yori!’ he cried to his friend in the square below. ‘Hayato needs your help.’

As Yori ran off, Jack turned to Miyuki who was crouched behind the protective screen.

‘Come on!’ Jack urged. ‘Yuudai’s also hit.’

‘You go,’ replied Miyuki, urgently striking a flint and steel over a small black tube. She cursed and struck again. ‘I hoped we wouldn’t have to use this.’

‘What are you talking about?’

More sparks flew until a bright light flared in Miyuki’s hands.

‘The Ring of Fire!’ cried Miyuki, standing up with the tube’s fuse burning fiercely. ‘Our
last
line of defence.’

With a snap of her arm, she hurled the container of gunpowder into the air. It flew over the rice store and towards the southern moat. Jack and Miyuki watched it tumble towards its target … and land short.

‘I’ll get it,’ said Jack, scrambling for the ladder.

But Miyuki grabbed him. ‘There isn’t time,’ she explained, furious with her failed throw. ‘It’ll detonate before you get there.’

Jack’s eyes flicked to the still-burning charge and knew she was right.

‘NO!’ he cried, suddenly spotting Neko dart from the square towards it.

But Neko couldn’t hear him. She ran like the wind, snatched up the tube and flung it into the ditch. By now the bandits were storming the moat from all directions. A second later, the detonator exploded and a wall of fire rocketed into the sky.

Neko was blown off her feet and engulfed in flames. Explosions shook the ground as each gunpowder charge Miyuki had laid was triggered. The fire raced along the moat, following the trails of lamp oil she’d carefully poured over the thorn bushes the night before the black moon.

Farmers and bandits alike stared in abject terror as a blazing ring of fire encircled the village. The unfortunate bandits caught up in the inferno screamed as they were incinerated in a matter of seconds.

Jack gazed upon the scene in shock and awe. ‘I never imagined the Five Rings could be
so
powerful,’ he breathed.

‘Too powerful … sometimes,’ replied Miyuki, a tear running down her cheek. ‘Neko’s gone.’

Jack looked down at the spot where Neko had stood. There wasn’t a trace of her left. He felt his heart crack with grief. They may have dealt a devastating blow to Akuma, but the price had been high. Neko had been the reason Jack had agreed to save the village in the first place … and now she was dead.

Miyuki started to sob. ‘It’s … my … fault.’

‘No, the blame lies with Akuma – and always will,’ said Jack firmly. ‘Neko may have been silent as a mouse, but she had the courage of a lion. Without her sacrifice, Akuma’s men would be slaughtering everyone in the village by now.’

Jack’s thoughts turned to Hayato and Yuudai, praying they’d somehow survived. He couldn’t see Hayato from the watchtower, but Yuudai was propped up against a hay bale, a small group of farmers gathered by his side.

Then a man next to Yuudai suddenly collapsed, an arrow protruding from his back. Jack’s eyes darted to a figure standing on the massive boulder dislodged from the ridge. Through the gap in the flames, Sayomi began to pick off Yuudai’s men one by one with her bow. The farmers dived behind the hay bales as she shot another villager through the neck.

From the eastern entrance, Jack heard cries of panic and the noise of battle. Clearly, not every bandit had been killed by the Ring of Fire.

55

OVERRUN

Jack and Miyuki dropped down the ladder as fast as they could.

‘You stop Sayomi; I’ll help Hayato and Yori,’ said Jack, drawing his swords.

But no sooner had Miyuki disappeared up the track to the barricade than Hayato’s unit, along with many women and children, came screaming into the square. They ran in all directions, desperate to escape the horror that pursued them. A musket shot rang out, creating even more panic.

Not far behind the villagers, Yori struggled to help a bleeding Hayato, the farmboy Kunio carrying his bow and quiver. Using Yori’s
shakujō
as a crutch, the three of them staggered into the square.

‘
Akuma!
’ was all that Yori could gasp.

Rushing over, Jack helped them to the cover of Kunio’s parents’ house beside the pond.

‘Akuma’s armour … protected him … from the flames …’ Hayato wheezed, clasping his stomach as he collapsed against the wall.

A second later, the thunder of horses’ hooves signalled the entrance of Black Moon. He charged through the square upon his armoured steed, his face a savage mask of murder. Chasing down a villager, he drove his trident into her back, the barbs bursting through her ribcage. He wrenched the lethal weapon out and the poor woman dropped lifeless to the ground.

Another four bandits on horseback charged into the square, unleashing more death and destruction. Akuma seemed intent on killing any and everyone in the village.

Without Hayato to command them, his unit of farmers fell into disarray and forgot all their training. They tried to fend off the attackers in small vulnerable groups, but the bandits simply cut a swathe through their feeble defences.

Jack ran into the midst of the chaos.

‘TO ME!’ he cried, attempting to rally the farmers.

But they were lost in their panic.

‘Kill the
gaijin
!’ roared Akuma, as he hunted down a group of screaming villagers.

A horse galloped towards Jack. Upon it a fearsome bandit wielded a bloodstained
katana
. Crossing his swords above his head, Jack barely managed to deflect the attack and the force of the blow almost took his right arm off.

The bandit wheeled round to charge again. Jack realized he had little chance against a mounted opponent. The speed and power of the horse, along with the advantage of height, meant Jack would be beheaded before he could land a counterblow.

Sheathing his swords, Jack ran for his life as the bandit rode him down. The horse’s hot breath was almost on his neck, when he snatched up the bamboo spear he’d been heading for and spun on his attacker. The bandit, unable to halt his charge, was struck in the chest by its pointed tip. The bamboo shaft split on impact against his armour, but the blow was enough to knock him out of his saddle.

Jack dived aside as the horse continued on its charge. Winded but otherwise unhurt, the bandit scrambled after his
katana
, determined to fulfil Akuma’s wishes and kill Jack. Finally gathering their wits, a group of farmers led by Yuto rushed to Jack’s defence. Stabbing furiously with their spears, they brought the bandit’s life to a swift end.

Jack, amazed to have survived the encounter, hurried over to Yuto.

‘Stay together. Remember what Hayato said:
in a storm a single tree falls, but a forest still stands
.’

Yuto nodded mutely, traumatized by having killed a man, even a sworn enemy.

‘Set up a defensive wall of spears to protect those women and children,’ ordered Jack, pointing to a group of villagers cowering next to the rice store.

Glad to have instruction, Yuto and the other farmers immediately fell into line and surrounded the defenceless group.

On the other side of the square, Jack spotted Sora being knocked to the ground by the charging riderless horse. The old farmer lay at the mercy of the bandits. One outlaw wielding a heavy club bore down on Sora as he struggled to find his feet.

Running with all his might, Jack fought to reach his friend before the bandit did. Dodging and weaving between the panicked villagers and mounted bandits, Jack dived in front of the horse’s flying hooves, grabbed Sora by the arm and bundled him out of its path.

Thwarted from killing his intended victim, the bandit lashed out at Jack with his club as he shot by. The studded end caught Jack on the back of the head. It was a glancing blow, but enough to send him reeling to the ground.

With his head ringing, and the taste of blood in his mouth, Jack felt sick and disorientated as if caught in the worst of sea storms. Dimly aware he was an easy target for the enemy, he forced himself to his knees. But the pain in his head intensified. On the verge of blacking out, the village spun around him, glimpses of the battle flashing before his eyes …

The farmers scattering as Akuma rampaged through the village …

Yori in mortal danger, confronted by a bandit seemingly immune to his
kiaijutsu
 …

Nakamura Scarface in the square, swinging his deadly axe with wild abandon …

In the distance, Miyuki using her
manriki
chain to disarm Sayomi of her bow. Then Sayomi wielding her double-edged
naginata
. Miyuki fighting a losing battle, only her swift reactions and acrobatic skills keeping her from being sliced in half …

Jack rubbed his temples, trying to relieve the throbbing in his head and recover enough to fight.

At that moment, Akuma spotted him alive yet helpless in the middle of the square and turned his horse to charge at him. With a triumphant expression, he raised his trident, aiming its cruel barbs at Jack’s chest.

Unable to stand, let alone run, Jack could only watch as Akuma closed in for the kill.

56

SHAKUJŌ

All was lost. He had failed. The village was to be conquered by the devil, Akuma.

Jack had been foolish to think that he and his friends could make a stand against such bandits and win. After all, he was just a
young
samurai … and soon to be a dead samurai.

As Jack knelt powerless to avoid his fate, he stared into the unforgiving eyes of his enemy. Black as a moonless night, they harboured only hate for him along with a cold callous pleasure at exacting revenge.

‘I’ll rip your heart out!’ Akuma roared as he thundered ever closer, trident thrust forward.

Jack made a final attempt to rise, but his legs gave beneath him.

And then he was encircled by a protective ring of spears. They formed an impenetrable barrier, forcing Akuma’s horse to rear up and break from its charge. The unit of farmers held their ground as Akuma, along with two other bandits, attempted to penetrate the ranks. But with their charges blocked by the steel-tipped samurai spears, Akuma snarled, ‘I’ll leave you till last,
gaijin
!’

Angrily whipping his horse, he then rode off with his bandits to find easier prey.

‘I said you’d need me to save your miserable life yet again!’ jested Saburo, pulling Jack to his feet. ‘For the time being, at least.’

Jack clamped his hand on Saburo’s shoulder as much to thank him as to steady his own legs. The sickness eased and although his head still hurt, his world was no longer spinning like a top.

‘What took you so long?’ said Jack, smiling despite the pain.

‘Not all the bandits from the paddy field were fried by Miyuki’s bonfire,’ replied Saburo.