No one ever entered his bedroom during the night. Ever so quietly, Jack reached for his bokken, lying by the edge of his futon. He held his breath, listening intently.

There was the unmistakable creak of the wooden veranda and the slightest pad of a foot coming to rest on the tatami as someone stepped into his room.

Jack spun off his futon, rolling to one knee, simultaneously bringing the bokken up to defend himself. A flash of silver flew past his face and a shuriken thwacked into a wooden beam behind him.

Jack froze.

Crouched in front of him was the shadow warrior, his single green eye fixed upon Jack.

‘Dokugan Ryu!’ uttered Jack in disbelief.

20: AKIKO

20

AKIKO

Dragon Eye momentarily faltered at the mention of his name.

Jack seized the initiative. There was no way he could defeat the ninja, but there was still a chance he could escape.

Jack flung himself with all his might at the outside wall of his bedroom. The thin wooden crossbeams splintered and the fragile paper tiles disintegrated as his body ripped through the wall.

Semi-stunned by the collision, Jack staggered to his feet, snatched up his bokken and, without a backward glance in Dragon Eye’s direction, sprinted away down the veranda.

Jack caught a glimpse of two shadows flitting through the garden and another one entering a room further ahead.

Akiko! He had to warn her.

The noise of the breaking shoji had roused the household and the cook stepped out on to the veranda to see what was happening. Bleary-eyed and bemused at the young gaijin running straight towards him, they almost collided but Jack jumped aside at the last second.

As he did so, a second shuriken flew over his shoulder and plunged itself into the neck of the cook. The cook registered a look of mild surprise, shock blocking out the pain of the weapon now embedded in his throat. He gurgled something indecipherable at Jack, then flopped to floor.

Jack kept running, Dragon Eye in deadly pursuit.

Jack switched direction and dived through an open shoji just as Taka-san emerged brandishing both his swords.

Dragon Eye was caught off-guard by Taka-san’s sudden appearance. Taka-san, battle-hardened and courageous, gauged the situation in a single glance. With calculated precision he cut at the ninja’s head. Dragon Eye evaded the strike, bending effortlessly like a blade of grass in a breeze, and Taka-san’s katana sliced through thin air, passing just above the ninja’s upturned face.

Then Dragon Eye twisted and let loose a lightning kick into Taka-san’s midriff which sent the samurai careering into a nearby pillar.

Dragon Eye drew his own sword from the saya strapped to his back and advanced on Taka-san.

The ninjatō with its distinctive square tsuba, hand guard, had a straighter, shorter blade than the katana of the samurai, but was no less deadly. Dragon Eye attacked without remorse.