Young Samurai: The Ring of Sky (12 page)

But a sudden thrust from Goro’s sword
forced Jack on the retreat and he had to resort to front-kicking Hiroto in the face
instead. The boy crashed on to the lava field, clasping his broken nose and howling.
Jack fled from the encircling
Scorpions. As he sprinted away, a blade
swiped past his ear, missing his neck by a fraction.

‘After him!’ yelled Kazuki in
frustration.

Jack had no idea which direction he was
heading. He just ran, the sulphurous steam swirling around him like ghosts.

Then his heart leapt into his throat as the
chasm lurched into view. Jack skidded to a halt, his feet almost slipping into the
abyss. Through a break in the steam he spotted the rope bridge. Benkei was still there,
uncertain whether to flee or await his return.

‘Run, Benkei!’ cried Jack.

As he dashed along the chasm edge towards
the bridge, he heard a clatter of rocks and a scream.

‘Help!’ came a cry.

Jack glanced back to see Nobu clinging to
the lip of the gorge. But Kazuki ran past, blatantly ignoring his friend’s
peril.

‘Leave him,’ he snarled to
Raiden and Goro. ‘Get the
gaijin
first.’

Jack reached the foot of the bridge at the
same time as Kazuki caught up with him. Their swords clashed and they became locked in
combat. As the other Scorpions caught up, Jack shoved Kazuki away and leapt on to the
bridge. He heard the
whoosh
of a blade and ducked. Kazuki’s sword sliced
through thin air, then straight through one of the supporting ropes.

The bridge shuddered as the tension in the
rope pinged loose.

Benkei dived for the safety of the other
side, while Jack struggled to keep his footing on the warped planks.

Unfazed, Kazuki forced Jack further on to the
swaying bridge. Consumed with bloodlust, he was relentless in his attack. Jack could
barely deflect the barrage of strikes as they rained down on him one after the other.
With every impact, a spasm of pain rocketed through his arm. He felt his grip weaken on
the
katana
and his defences rapidly crumbling.

As he retreated from Kazuki’s
onslaught, a plank cracked beneath his foot. Feeling himself drop into the chasm, he
threw his weight backwards and managed to land on the plank behind. But he’d now
left himself exposed to a killing strike.

Kazuki brought his sword high up to spear
Jack through the heart.

‘Now I
will
have my revenge,
gaijin
.’

20
 
 

In moments of death, a warrior’s
perception is heightened and Jack saw everything with crystal-clear clarity. The
gleaming point of Kazuki’s blade. The triumphant grin on his rival’s face.
The wisp of steam that rose like a spirit from the depths of the chasm. He felt the
coarse grain of the plank beneath his back. The smooth silk of his
katana
’s handle. The latent heat of the volcano. He heard the protesting
creak of the bridge. The cry of alarm from Benkei. Even the beat of his own heart.

Jack knew he had no chance of avoiding
Kazuki’s death blow. But if he was to die he decided his rival must too. He
couldn’t allow Kazuki to survive and go on to harm Akiko.

As the sword came down, Jack didn’t
attempt to block it. Instead he slashed at the bridge with his
katana
, his
blade scything through another supporting rope. Already on the brink of collapse, the
bridge now tore itself apart. Like a writhing serpent, it buckled and twisted. More
ropes snapped and planks twirled away into the abyss.

Kazuki’s expression turned from
triumph to horror as the bridge disintegrated beneath them. In the chaos his sword
missed its target and, screaming, he plummeted into the chasm
alongside Jack.

The bridge having ripped in two, Jack
wrapped his arm round a plank and clung on for dear life as it swung across the abyss.
He smashed into the chasm wall. His whole body jarred on impact, his arm almost wrenched
out of its socket as he was slammed repeatedly against the rock face.

Eventually the battering subsided and Jack
hung there, limp as a rag doll. Blood dripped from multiple cuts and grazes on his arms,
legs and face.

‘
Nanban!
’

Jack groaned and looked up. Benkei’s
shock of black hair peered over the lip of the chasm.

‘You’re alive!’ he cried
in disbelief.

Not for much longer
, thought Jack,
as he swung precariously above the jagged rocks that were waiting to break his fall –
and his body.

‘Climb up!’ urged Benkei.

Jack didn’t know whether he had the
strength to … or the will. His body was so tired of the continual running and
fighting that it was tempting just to wait until the bridge collapsed entirely and they
both tumbled into the chasm depths.

He blinked away the blood dripping off his
brow and his sister’s face flashed before his eyes: smiling and expectant of his
return. For a moment, he imagined he heard her infectious giggle on the breeze and in
that instant his resolve to reunite with his family burned brighter than ever.

The body can keep going as long as the
mind is strong
.

Jack had learnt that during the ritual
challenges of the Circle of Three. Deep in his heart, he felt the fire that had
driven him on all these years. The motivation that had helped him
overcome every trial and obstacle in his path. He
had
to survive and return
home, if only for his sister’s sake.

Clamping his
katana
between his
teeth, he began to haul himself up the tattered remains of the rope bridge. His weakened
hand flared each time he gripped the wood. Light-headed and trembling, he ignored the
pain and fought his way up, plank by plank.

‘Nearly there!’ encouraged
Benkei.

Wheezing from the acrid air, Jack focused on
Benkei’s face as he reached up to grasp the last plank. But it failed to take his
weight.

‘Got you!’ cried Benkei,
grabbing Jack’s outstretched wrist before he plunged into the abyss.

With a grunt of superhuman effort, he
dragged Jack over the lip and to safety. They collapsed side by side on the ash-covered
ground.

‘You’re truly mad,
nanban
,’ said Benkei. ‘You must have a death wish!’

Jack shook his head. ‘I just
don’t fear death any more.’

Benkei shot him a dubious look.

But that was the truth, Jack realized.
Having stared death in the face so many times, he was no longer frightened by the
prospect. Although that didn’t mean he wanted to die. As Yori might have said,
a deer runs from the lion, not through fear but for love of life
.

‘
GAIJIN!
’

Jack sat bolt upright. On the opposite side
of the chasm, an equally battered Kazuki clung to the other half of the bridge. Raiden
was slowly pulling him up on a rope.

As he swung above the chasm, Kazuki vented his
fury at Jack.

‘I’ll block every road, every
crossing, every pass. I’ll turn all
ronin
against you. There’ll be
no place you can run or hide. I’ll hunt you down and destroy you,
gaijin
,
if it’s the very last thing I do!’

21
 
 

‘We must have lost
them … by now,’ panted Benkei, collapsing against a tree.

Jack sat down next to him, trying to recover
his breath too. After surviving the chasm, they’d climbed Naka-dake’s summit
and descended its far slopes, leaving Kazuki and his Scorpion Gang to backtrack and find
another route. Determined to maintain their lead, Jack and Benkei hadn’t stopped
for a day and a night as they raced across the plateau. They’d passed between the
peaks of Kishima and Eboshi and were now heading for a wide gorge in the caldera’s
western wall.

Even though there was no sign of pursuit,
Jack disagreed with Benkei’s statement and reluctantly shook his head.

‘Why ever not?’ said Benkei.
‘They’ve no idea which direction we’ve gone in.’

Jack gave his companion an awkward look.
‘Kazuki
knows
I’m heading to Nagasaki.’

Benkei rolled his eyes in exasperation.
‘So why are we even bothering to run?’

‘We have to get there first. If I can
board an English or Dutch ship, I’ll be safe.’

‘Well, let’s hope there’s one
waiting for you,’ replied Benkei, opening their supply bag and taking out two rice
cakes. ‘I’ve heard it’s mostly the Portuguese trading out of
Nagasaki.’

Jack felt as if he’d been slapped in
the face. He’d imagined Nagasaki as a thriving port, like London, with numerous
trading vessels from around the world – not just ships manned by England’s dreaded
enemy. But thinking about it now, out of the hundreds of expeditions that set sail each
year from England, only a handful were ever destined for the Far East. Of those, perhaps
one or two would strike out for the fabled Japans – his own ship, the
Alexandria
, being one such vessel. The realization dawned on him that now
Japan had closed its doors to foreigners the chances of a friendly ship awaiting his
arrival were even more remote.

Jack bit morosely into his rice cake as he
realized he could be chasing a ghost ship.

Benkei took a swig from their water gourd,
then handed it to Jack. ‘So what does this Kazuki have against you in the first
place? He isn’t just following the Shogun’s orders. He’s out for
revenge.’

Jack sighed heavily, thinking of the
long-running feud between him and Kazuki. From their first confrontation in the
Niten Ichi Ryū
courtyard, through their bitter class rivalry and escalating
fights, to their battle at Osaka Castle and duel upon Kizu Bridge, Kazuki had harboured
nothing but pure hatred towards him.

‘He lost his mother to an illness
caught from a foreign priest,’ Jack explained. ‘Kazuki blames all
gaijin
for her death … especially me.’

‘But you had nothing to do with
it,’ snorted Benkei in disbelief.

‘I’m not just any
gaijin
; I’m the first foreign samurai. In his eyes, that’s even
more reason to despise me. Just like the Shogun and Sensei Kyuzo, he thinks I’m a
disease that needs to be wiped out.’

‘Samurai! They’re so arrogant. I
never even knew my mother … but I don’t go round blaming other samurai
for that.’

Jack was puzzled. ‘I don’t
understand. You’re always talking about your mother.’

Benkei contemplated the remains of his rice
cake and his expression darkened. ‘That’s the good mother … the
one I wish I’d had,’ he admitted. ‘The
real
one abandoned me
when I was a baby.
Mabiki
, the farmers call it, weeding out the weaker rice
seedlings. My mother was a samurai, my father a lowly farmworker. Their love was
forbidden. And I was the unwanted fruit.’

‘So you’re actually a
samurai!’ said Jack, both amazed and saddened at this news.

‘No!’ replied Benkei firmly.
‘And I’m not a farmer either. I don’t fit anywhere in Japanese
society.’

He swallowed the last of his rice cake, then
held up his hands to show they were empty. He forced a grin on to his face. ‘But I
survived to become a fine conjuror!’

With a flick of his wrist, he produced a
mikan
out of thin air and presented the small orange fruit to Jack. He then
took another out of their supply bag and began to peel it. For a while, they both sat in
silence.

Jack regarded his friend in a new light.
Despite his outward
exuberance and carefree attitude, Benkei was a
lonely soul inside. Perhaps that explained why he was so willing to help Jack. He
recognized a fellow outcast and survivor. But at least Jack was fortunate enough to have
family left that loved him. He vowed to himself that if there was the
slightest
chance of a hospitable ship bound for a foreign port he would board it and strive to
find his way home to his sister. He’d come too far, fought too hard and lost too
much to turn back now.