Chapter 9

Akira leapt up the stairs and out of the trapdoor of the dungeon. He began to run but suddenly realised he had no idea where Ichiro was. The residence was massive. Akira didn’t have enough time to search every room and Lord Sato needed reinforcements now.
He looked over at the trapdoor and considered going back down into the dungeon. He didn’t like that idea at all. Something strange was happening down there. The dungeon felt like night in the dead of winter.
No, Akira thought to himself. He wasn’t going back down there without the protection of Ichiro. He decided to head for the observation room and prayed that one of the guards there would know where he was.
Akira ran up the first flight of stairs, taking three steps at a time. His legs began to burn. He continued the pace up the second flight but his legs tired and he tripped on the final step. He cursed under his breath and scrambled back to his feet. When he stood he froze.
Akira had come face to face with the Red Ninja.
He tried to run but his feet were nailed to the stairs. How did the assassin get inside? The House on the Volcano was lit up like a forest fire. There were guards patrolling every inch of the house and the gardens, archers were loaded and keeping watch from each sentry tower. There was no way one Ninja should have been able to infiltrate such a fortress. And yet here he was. The sight of the Clan member crushed the breath from Akira’s lungs as he prepared himself for death.
The Red Ninja stepped forward and grabbed Akira by the throat. He lifted the young servant clear off the floor. “You know who I am. You know what I can do,” he said as he studied Akira’s facial features. “Now tell me, where is Okinaga?”
Akira responded with choking noises. He would have gladly told the assassin everything he wanted to know. But at the moment the vice like grip of the Red Ninja was firmly grasped around his throat, preventing him from speaking or breathing.
Akira’s world started to turn black. His vision became narrow. The only thing he could see was the Red Ninja’s dark eyes. As Akira started to lose consciousness he began to accept his own death. He also realised that no one was safe. The House on the Volcano had been breached.
The Red Ninja continued to study Akira’s face. Just before the servant’s world turned to complete darkness Akira saw a flicker of recognition in the assassin eyes.

As Goda was about to tighten his grip around the boy’s fragile neck, he hesitated. He wanted nothing more than to snap the neck of this pathetic little servant. But he didn’t. He felt compelled to let him live. There was a strange voice inside his head telling him to spare the boy’s life; it was like a pinprick in the back of his mind. Goda loosened his grip immediately and threw Akira down the stairs. Tumbling head over heels, the young servant came to an abrupt halt on the stairway landing, gasping for air.
Suddenly the voice inside Goda’s head became clearer. He knew this boy. He had met him before. “What is your name, servant?”

Akira looked up at the Red Ninja and saw confusion in his eyes. What was the assassin doing? Akira couldn’t figure out why he was still alive.
“What’s going on?” a voice shouted.
Akira recognised it as one of Lord Sato’s men. He came running up the stairs with three other samurai. Their swords were drawn, their eyes focused. They were ready for war.
The first samurai leant down next to Akira. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Akira was unable to speak, he simply pointed to the top of the stairs where the assassin stood unmoved and defiant.
For a split second everything became quiet. Akira’s breaths came in long, ragged gasps. His body was numb. The samurai next to Akira clenched his jaw.
Then the war began.
“Ninja!” the samurai shouted as loud as he could. It was loud enough so the entire residence would know there was a trespasser. Akira breathed a sigh of relief. He would be safe now.
The samurai charged at the intruder, yelling as they did. It was a war cry that would instil fear in the most battle-hardened opponents. And yet the Red Ninja stood his ground.
As the samurai ran headlong up the stairs, Akira suddenly realised they were incredibly vulnerable. They had entered a bottleneck, each one running right behind the next and the assassin had the high ground.
It was then the Clan member attacked. Akira had never seen anyone move so fast. The samurai never had a chance.
As they first guard swung his sword the Red Ninja calmly ducked his head and came up on the other side. Using his right arm and hip he pinned the samurai against the wall of the staircase. In one fluid motion, he drew his weapon from behind his back with his left hand. With unimaginable speed and force he sliced off the head of the second samurai and pierced the heart of the guard pinned against the wall.
After seeing this, the other two samurai looked at each other and hesitated. Their hesitation was what killed them.
The Red Ninja launched himself into the air, clearing the first two bodies. In one wicked swoop the assassin lopped of the next two samurai’s heads. They fell to the floor with a thud and a gush of blood at the feet of Akira, their heads rolling down the stairs.
Akira’s eyes widened in horror, the samurai never had a chance.