‘Not as long as it will take them to clean every brick of this courtyard,’ said Saburo with equal glee. ‘And then they have to rake the gravel in the Southern Zen garden, but they can only use their hashi! It will take them weeks!’

That would keep Kazuki out of his way, thought Jack with relief. He didn’t need Kazuki harassing him with everything else going on.

They reached the top of the stairs and entered the Buddha Hall. Sensei Yamada was already perched upon his cushioned dais, incense burning, surrounded by candles.

‘Come. Come. Seiza!’ welcomed Yamada, his voice resonating in the vast expanse of the hall.

Jack, Akiko and Saburo sat on the three cushions laid out at Sensei Yamada’s feet.

‘So you are the three mighty warriors?’ said Yamada rhetorically, his eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘And it is my honour to prepare your minds for the great battle?’

Sensei Yamada lit another incense stick, a mix of cedar and a red resin he called ‘Dragon’s Blood’. Extracted from rattan palm trees, it had a heavy, woody aroma and Jack felt quite light-headed with its potency.

Sensei Yamada then half-closed his eyes and hummed lightly to himself, drifting off on another one of his trances. They were all familiar with these by now and Jack, Akiko and Saburo each settled into their own meditations.

‘What are you afraid of, Jack-kun?’ asked Sensei Yamada after several minutes, without breaking his trance.

‘Umm,’ said Jack, the unexpected question interrupting his own meditation as he slipped into the fifth ‘View’ – natural wisdom – the stage when things can be seen in their true light.

‘Come. Come. Tell me exactly what you see. What are you afraid of?’

Sensei Yamada’s voice thrummed in Jack’s head, the incense amplifying his senses, and out of the swirling murkiness of his mind, images materialized, faces floated and nightmares appeared.

‘Drowning… I was always… afraid of drowning… being dragged… to the bottom of the ocean,’ said Jack, faltering as if he was expelling his words like a bad dream.

‘Good. Good. What else do you see?’

‘My mother… I’m scared… She’s leaving me… dying… alone.’ Jack moaned, then twitched a little in his trance. ‘Ginsel… I see Ginsel… there’s a knife in his back…’

Then in the darkness of Jack’s mind, a green mist condensed into a single eye.

‘A green eye… Now I see a green eye… like a dragon’s. Dokugan Ryu’s eye… floating over my father… I can’t help him… he’s dying,’ stammered Jack, his eyes bursting open to escape the haunting image. ‘Death… I’m afraid of… death!’

‘Jack-kun, there’s no need to be afraid of death,’ said Yamada calmly, opening his own eyes and drawing Jack so deeply into them, he thought he would drown.