Young Samurai: The Way of Fire (short story) Read online

  Jack peered into the pitch-black hole. It was like staring down the throat of a massive sea snake. The floor was slick and smooth from the flowing water while the ceiling hung with shark-toothed stalactites.

  ‘My father said these tunnels form when a lava flow cools on the outside first. They start at the top of the mountain and can run for a long way, as much as a ten ri,’ Saburo explained, cupping his hands beneath the cascade and taking a large gulp. ‘I bet this water was once snow on Mount Haku’s peak.’

  ‘Come on! We haven’t the time for this,’ said Yamato impatiently. ‘Emi could be dead by nightfall.’

  They hurried after him into the forest. The trail wound its way up the steep slope and Jack soon found himself panting for breath. Saburo lagged even further behind, limping on his blistered feet, while Yamato forged ahead.

  After an hour they reached a clearing and Akiko called for a short water break to allow Saburo to catch up. Jack had been thinking about Akiko’s surprising knowledge of ninja poisons. Along with her mysterious night-time disappearances at the Niten Ichi Ryū and the astounding climbing agility she’d shown during the maple-leaf viewing party, Akiko had once again demonstrated extraordinary insight into the assassins’ world.

  ‘How did you recognize Emi’s symptoms?’ he asked.

  Akiko didn’t reply immediately. Instead she looked sideways at Yamato who was checking the trail ahead. She anxiously bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable with revealing the truth.

  ‘They were the same symptoms,’ she whispered, ‘that Yamato’s older brother, Tenno, showed when he was killed by Dragon Eye three years ago.’

  Jack now understood. Yamato was still greatly upset by Tenno’s murder and he became angry at any mention of his brother’s name.

  ‘I saw the fight in the garden,’ she explained, shuddering at the memory. ‘Tenno couldn’t stand. He couldn’t see. Dragon Eye thrust a knife through his heart. A small mercy perhaps – better to die quickly rather than slowly by suffocation. Afterwards, when Masamoto carried Tenno into the house, I noticed the same white foam with the black spots trickle from his mouth. Later, when they bore him away for burial, his body had become stiff as a board. The priest explained to me that they were the symptoms of a Sleeper, and that Tenno would have died even without the knife piercing his heart.’

  ‘Let’s get going!’ said Yamato, startling the two of them.

  They glanced guiltily at one another, worried he’d overheard them. But Yamato was already disappearing up the trail.

  Saburo limped past without looking up. He was clearly struggling from the relentless pace Yamato had set, but the resolved look on his face showed he was determined not to let anyone down, especially Emi.

  They climbed for half the morning before the vegetation petered out into the black desolate landscape of old lava flows. If they thought the ascent through the forest had been hard, the dry grainy rock made the next stage seem almost impossible.

  The uneven lava fields were difficult to hike across and the hot autumn sun was harsh upon their backs as they climbed higher and higher. Their pace slowed even further when they met with layers of volcanic ash. They had to trudge ankle-deep through cinders that scratched at their skin and feet. The billowing dust clawed at their throats and they were soon parched, their water supplies almost run dry.

  There was little shade. The few trees that survived on the ridges of valleys carved out by previous eruptions were leafless, their trunks bleached white as bone. Jack now understood why the haku-jo maru cactus was so rare. This was a graveyard for nature.

  Reaching the crest of a ridge, Akiko spied an incongruous clump of green trees. They staggered over, collapsing beneath the welcoming shade.

  ‘I can’t go on,’ said Saburo, gasping for breath in the thin mountain air. He inspected his feet where several of his blisters had burst.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Jack replied, passing the last dregs of water in his gourd to his friend. ‘You’ve done more than enough guiding us to the volcano. You stay here and recover. We’ll carry on.’

  He gazed up at the snowy peak of Mount Haku, wafts of grey smoke steaming from its broken mouth. Their destination appeared distant and hostile, and Jack wondered if any of them would make it, let alone return with the antidote in time to save Emi.

  ‘Over here!’ cried Yamato.

  Jack joined him further along the ridge and discovered the reason for the flourishing trees. A small stream flowed down the side of Mount Haku and disappeared into a large black hole.

  ‘This is probably the start to that old lava tube,’ said Yamato, dropping down to refill his gourd.

  Refreshed by the water, the three of them resumed their climb. The ascent quickly became treacherous, their feet slipping from under them in the loose volcanic ash. Still they struggled on, higher up the steepening incline.

  Jack, pushing ahead, lost his footing and went tumbling down the mountainside. He collided with Yamato and Akiko, scattering them across the slope. As the dust settled, Yamato’s scratched and bloodied face appeared; Akiko, not far behind, shook ash from her hair. Each wordlessly got to their feet, too tired to apologize or complain.

  They reached the snowline, but the change in terrain didn’t speed their progress. Having had no time to prepare properly for the arduous journey, they wore only sandals and the freezing snow quickly turned their feet to blocks of ice. Still they ploughed upwards, spurred on by the thought of Emi slowly suffocating.

  Eventually the ground began to harden as the snowfield gave way to lumps of volcanic rock and scorched earth. The terrain became easier to traverse the nearer they got to the summit, but the thinning air made each step a supreme effort of will.

  Jack began to notice sickly yellow patches mottling the blackened ground.

  A noxious smell wafted through the air.

  Then Yamato vomited, the contents of his stomach spewing out like a mini eruption.

  10

  The Flaming Flower

  Yamato dropped to his knees and threw up again, now retching bile. With each breath in, he gagged.

  ‘It’s the fumes,’ said Akiko, rushing forward to help him. ‘He has to go back down.’

  ‘I’ll be fine!’ spluttered Yamato as he struggled to his feet, tears streaming down his face in the acrid atmosphere.

  ‘You can’t go on,’ insisted Akiko, gagging hard herself. ‘Go back and wait with Saburo.’

  Yamato tried to argue, but couldn’t. Reluctantly he retreated down the slope. Mount Haku had defeated him.

  ‘This is Hell!’ wheezed Jack, his stomach turning over in the vile rotten-egg smell of the air.

  He looked up at the steaming cracked peak of Mount Haku. Yellow and white traces of sulphur scarred the ground like a contagious skin disease. Shattered rocks littered the cracked earth through which the mountain belched poisonous clouds of gas.

  Nothing could possibly grow here.

  Jack realized their quest was futile.

  Akiko pulled a spare cotton obi from her pack. Ripping the belt in half, she passed Jack a length then wrapped her own section round her face. Jack did the same and the gut-wrenching fumes were partially blocked out.

  She pointed up ahead. Through the smoke, Jack thought he could see the outline of a man-made structure. As they approached, he was amazed to discover a wooden shrine.

  ‘Who would build a shrine on top of a live volcano?’ said Jack.

  ‘Mount Haku is one of Japan’s three most sacred mountains,’ explained Akiko. ‘The local monks pray here and make offerings to appease the mountain god.’

  ‘Did we bring an offering?’ asked Jack.

  She shook her head. ‘But it would be worth us praying for a haku-jo maru.’

  Akiko bowed two times before the shrine then clapped twice to awaken the spirits. She made her wish and bowed once in thanks.

  They searched the alien landscape, but could see little through the swirling fumes, let alone anything that resembled a cactus. Akiko shrugged d
espondently and Jack kicked out hard at a nearby rock. They had failed. Emi was going to die. And it would be his fault.

  The mountain rumbled. The ground shuddered and the air cleared briefly.

  ‘I can see one!’ shouted Akiko, pointing to the summit up ahead.

  Jack felt his heart fill with hope as he too spied a small solitary cactus growing on the very lip of the volcano itself.

  Then the mountain fell silent and the smoke closed in around them once more.

  As they picked their way across the treacherous terrain towards the legendary plant, neither of them discussed the brief earth tremor. Akiko was clearly as afraid as Jack of what it might signify. Trying to ignore his growing fear, Jack focused on retrieving the precious cactus flower.

  They reached the edge of the crater, a jagged line of emptiness that fell away as if the world had collapsed in on itself. Jack could see nothing in the abyss below, but the air was hot, stinking and barely breathable. He felt light-headed and sick and could see Akiko struggling to cope too. They skirted the crater towards the cactus until they could go no further.

  Before them lay a stretch of old grey lava, its charred surface rippling like a stormy ocean, the crest of each wave sharp and spiny. On the other side was the cactus.

  ‘It looks solid enough,’ commented Akiko, picking up a loose rock and throwing it on to the lava.

  The stone bounced a couple of times before coming to a rest. Reassured, Akiko then placed a foot on the rough, knife-edged surface.

  ‘Be careful,’ said Jack. Though the ground appeared firm, he was worried she might trip and fall only to be skewered on the hardened spikes of lava.

  Akiko nodded her understanding and took a moment to plan her route. Unexpectedly she swayed and fell backwards. Jack caught her in his arms.

  ‘I thought I was going to black out,’ she gasped.

  Jack offered her some water. ‘It’s the heat – and the air – we can hardly breathe. You should go back.’

  ‘I’ll be all right in a moment,’ she said, pushing his hand away. ‘It’s Emi whose time is running out. I’m afraid it’s down to you now.’

  Exhausted and nauseous, Jack was in no state to attempt such a crossing, but he had no choice. They had come so far he couldn’t give up now.

  Jack left Akiko and took his first tentative step on to the fractured lava surface. The edges threatened to cut his feet and it was hard to maintain his balance. He tried to imagine he was walking over the rocky river bed of the Tama rather than a live volcano.

  Halfway across, he began to feel dizzy. Despite the obi round his mouth, the poisonous sulphur fumes still seeped into his lungs. No doubt his mind playing tricks on him, he began to imagine the old lava beneath his feet growing hot.

  All of a sudden he tripped and tumbled towards a spike of rock just waiting to impale him. On reflex, Jack whipped out his bokken and thrust the wooden sword into the ground. The improvised walking stick gave him just enough support to regain his footing. Then the charred ground cracked and the bokken sank into the rock. A fiery glow came from the hole and a moment later the tip of his wooden sword burst into flame.

  To his alarm, Jack realized he was walking across burning-hot molten lava.

  He hadn’t been imagining the heat after all. The closer he got to the haku-jo maru cactus, the more intense the temperature became. Jack began to panic. He could fall through the brittle crust at any moment, the lava burning his feet to a cinder!

  This was the real Way of Fire.

  Jack fought for control of his terrified mind. ‘Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear,’ Sensei Yamada had said.

  He needed to focus, to clear all thoughts of pain. Feverishly chanting the Heart Sutra mantra, he concentrated on the haku-jo maru and boldly continued across the thinning lava crust.

  The small bulbous cactus grew on a rocky outcrop. It bore a single long trumpet-shaped blossom. The petals, a pale vanilla yellow, glowed faintly in the reflected light of the molten lava.

  How can something so fragile survive in a place like this? thought Jack, focusing all his thoughts on the plant.

  Finally he felt his feet reach the safety of solid ground. With the utmost care, Jack plucked the flower from the cactus.

  At that very moment, the volcano erupted.

  11

  Eruption

  There was a thunderous roar and the ground shook.

  Jack fell to his knees, clinging on to the rocky outcrop for dear life. The lava field began to split apart, blood-red lines spidering out across its surface like veins. Jack fumbled for his gourd. Pulling off the stopper, he dropped the precious flower inside. Akiko was waving frantically for him to join her. Ignoring the danger, he scrambled to his feet and ran across the fractured lava, jumping between the most solid-looking parts before they sank into the magma.

  He made it across just as another tremor rocked the mountain and he stumbled into Akiko’s arms. They ran blindly through the smoke and fumes, heading down slope, past the shrine to the snowline. Both soon caught up with Yamato, who was making his way down as fast as he could, his face now filled with terror.

  ‘Did you get it?’ he cried.

  Jack could only nod. Behind them a great plume of smoke rose into the sky, blocking out the sun. They raced through the snowfield as the volcano awoke from its slumbers. An explosion detonated deep underground and the earth was rent apart. The snow to their right dropped away, a great hiss of scalding steam shooting from the gaping hole as lava poured forth.

  Half running, half falling, the three of them fled down the mountainside. Reaching the old lava fields, they could now bound down in huge leaps, their impact cushioned by the thick layers of volcanic ash.

  Mount Haku shook again, clots of magma bursting forth from its summit. As rocks rained down, fissures opened up around them and fresh streams of lava bled from the volcano’s wounded sides.

  Knocked off their feet, they rolled head over heels down the slope. An avalanche of debris and molten lava now chased them. It surged down the gulley they’d escaped into. Scrambling up its sides, they just managed to reach the crest before the flow engulfed them all.

  But now they were trapped, cut off on either side by rivers of lava.

  The three young samurai, numb with shock, gazed at the hellish landscape of smoke, ash and fire. Jack couldn’t believe they had got this far and found the cactus, only to be stopped by a volcanic eruption. It was as if the mountain god was angry with them for stealing its flower.

  ‘It’s all over,’ cried Akiko, wiping the grimy ash from her tear-stained face.

  ‘There must be some way off this ridge,’ insisted Jack, but, when he looked around, he realized the grim truth. They were stranded on an island in a sea of boiling lava.

  ‘Over here!’ came a faint cry.

  On the opposite side of the gulley, beside a clump of green trees, Saburo stood waving his arms and jumping up and down in desperation.

  ‘We’re cut off!’ shouted Yamato.

  Saburo lowered his arms despondently.

  ‘Can you still escape?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Yes,’ said Saburo, nodding his head. ‘The gulley’s clear on this side.’

  Jack looked at his friends. They knew what had to be done.

  ‘I’ll throw you the gourd,’ he shouted. ‘It has the flower in it. You must get it to Emi.’

  ‘But what about you?’ cried Saburo.

  Jack didn’t reply as he launched the gourd towards his friend. The answer was obvious.

  12

  Lava Run

  ‘No!’ said Saburo, as the gourd sailed through the air and landed safely in his arms. ‘There has to be another way.’

  ‘Go!’ screamed Akiko. ‘Before it’s too late.’

  The ground shook as Mount Haku spewed forth more fire and brimstone. There was a sharp crack and several trees fell into the stream of molten rock. They burst into flame on impact. The tip of one tree, though, landed on the opposite ridge, t
he whole trunk spanning the river of magma.

  ‘Praise Buddha!’ Saburo exclaimed. ‘You can cross!’

  ‘You first, Akiko,’ insisted Jack, pushing her towards the makeshift bridge before she could protest. ‘It’ll be just like running the log during the gasshuku.’

  ‘But without the bamboo traps!’ she replied, flashing him a nervous smile. Weaving nimbly between the branches, Akiko was across in no time.

  ‘Your turn, Yamato,’ said Jack.

  But Yamato didn’t move and Jack could see the terror building in his friend’s eyes. While Yamato hadn’t had a problem with the log in the forest, Jack knew his friend was afraid of heights. Once Yamato had almost plunged to his death using a tree-bridge similar to this to cross a gorge. Now he had the added danger of being boiled alive if he slipped.

  ‘I’ll be right behind you,’ Jack promised, stepping on to the tree with him.

  Yamato shuffled forward. The going was painfully slow and halfway across Jack could smell the sharp aroma of burning pinewood.

  The bridge was on fire.

  ‘Hurry!’ shouted Akiko, frantically beckoning them on.

  The tree began to crack and splinter. Jack urged the petrified Yamato to move faster. The trunk suddenly dropped lower over the molten river. Yamato stumbled, screaming as he landed among the scorched branches. Jack lunged forward and grabbed him round the waist. Hanging above the lava, the heat was so intense that all the hair on the backs of his arms was singed.

  ‘Come on, we don’t want to swim in that!’ exclaimed Jack, dragging Yamato to his feet.

  Just as the tree finally succumbed to the flames, the two of them tumbled on to the safety of solid ground.

  ‘You took your time,’ said Saburo, helping them to their feet and handing Jack the gourd with the flower in it.

  ‘I’m glad that’s over,’ Yamato gasped, his face pale and drawn.