In the square, there were cries of disbelief and alarm from the farmers.

Yuudai shouted above the panic, ‘BARRICADE UNIT!’

To Jack’s horror, he discovered his instincts had been right all along. When he glanced back at the paddy fields, snowdrifts started to rise up and fall apart before his eyes. Two bandits hidden beneath ran at the moat. Between them, they carried a wide wooden plank scavenged from the destroyed bridge. As they went to throw it across the thorn-filled ditch, more snowdrifts burst apart. Nakamura and three other fully armed bandits rushed for the makeshift crossing.

‘Bandits to the south!’ warned Jack.

Saburo rallied his men to head for the moat.

‘Bandits to the east!’ cried Miyuki and Jack saw another pair explode from the snow to lay a wooden board across the eastern side of the moat. Having used the cover of the riverbank to reach the bridge undetected, Akuma now led a charge on horseback up the road and towards the gangway.

Hayato called for his unit. As the farmers rushed in all directions to retrieve their weapons and follow their young commanders, mayhem reigned in the village square.

Stunned by Akuma’s all-out assault, Jack turned to Miyuki in horrified disbelief. ‘They’re going to overrun us!’

54 The Ring of Fire

54

THE RING OF FIRE

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.’