Samurai (11 page)

Or so he thought. It broke loose from its tail like a lizard, and dived into the sewer hole, leaving Simon holding what looked like a long snake. The tail wiggled and shook and looped around his neck, strangling him, but Aldric batted at it until it stopped. It fell to the ground and instantly burned into black ash and blew away in the wind.

The Samurai had just caught up, gathering around the truck, but the Serpent had blown a fire up from the manhole. Quickly, Taro pulled at Kyoshi’s collar, like a cat, getting further back, and everyone fell in behind them, even Simon and Aldric, fearing
the spread of the fire.

“Where does that hole lead?” cried Aldric, staring back at the fiery opening.

“It leads to pain,” said Taro.

The surreal, black-and-white fire swept upward, and everyone fell further back.

The truck exploded, split down the middle in ebony fire and snowy flames that immediately turned to ice, crystals stabbing out and lifting the truck’s pieces, glassy spikes rolling forward down the street, ice that mimicked flames.

“W
E’VE LOST HIM,” GROWLED
Taro, and he stared at Aldric as if it were somehow his fault.

The ice-fire fascinated Simon, but the others seemed more concerned about its results.

“I am very disappointed in the St. George abilities,” Taro mumbled to the men.

They spent a good deal of time circling the area, but there was no trace of the Ice Serpent, neither in ripples in nature, nor in the moods of the ordinary Japanese people, who didn’t like being stared at by strangers.

Giving up the chase, they went for safety to Kyoshi’s mansion home, where Aldric and Simon had seen him leave for school that morning. It was indeed different from the secret training base Simon had seen
before—not a place for battle preparation, but rather, a welcoming residence decorated with Japanese art and comfortably furnished. Aldric seemed to know the way to the parlor, and he kept muttering to himself, looking at everything as if it were familiar from some cloudy memory, until Fenwick bumped his leg, snapping him out of it.

None too pleased to see a fox prowling in his house, Taro slumped in a wide leather chair, in an elegant club-like living room adorned with Asian artifacts and paintings of warriors.

“Our fortress is destroyed,” he said. “The tree went up in flames…. We could not even manage to save that…”

“Of all things to worry about…” Aldric looked at him. “What’s another old tree?”

Taro stared at his teacup, clearly trying to hide his anger. “It was where the Order was founded. Ages ago. It had great significance. The underground fortress had to be built around it, and the tree grew without light. It was all that was left of an original Samurai fortress where great Magicians once lived. Have you never had a connection to a tree before?”

Simon thought his father might laugh. “A tree,” Aldric repeated. “No. Can’t say that I have.”

Simon noted the Samurai seemed to have a deep connection to nature; every room was ornamented
with plants and flowers, painstakingly arranged and presented. He leaned on a wooden tree planter, watching his father try to get comfortable on an Oriental settee, and then he stared at the floor, thinking, as Fenwick nuzzled up to him.

“Why did he wait until that moment?” said Simon. “The Ice Dragon could have attacked at any time, but he wanted to see what we were up to. Don’t you think? He wanted to eavesdrop.”

Taro looked at Simon, and again Simon felt small, like a little kid. Maybe the Samurai was just offended that a boy was allowed to speak at all.

“We, of course, are a fascinating group,” said Taro. “I’m sure he couldn’t take his eyes off us. We’re a collection of the greatest Warriors on Earth, who couldn’t capture a sniveling, elderly Serpent, himself incapable of creating more than a single blast of fire, which melted into ice.”

“I’m serious,” Simon insisted. “Look at the attack he made on us, it was everything he had—and he didn’t have a chance. So why did he bother?”

“This one,” said Taro, referring to Simon, “does not understand such arrogance.”

“Oh, I think he’s seen arrogance before.” One of the older Samurai chuckled, throwing a glance to Aldric. They’d picked up on Aldric’s blustery manner right away.

The largest Samurai, the heavyset man, said something in Japanese, and quiet laughter followed. Simon looked at Kyoshi, who buried a grin.

“What’s that?” asked Aldric, distrustful.

Taro translated with a smile. “He said next time you might not run directly
into
traffic. In Japan, at high speeds, cars are known to…smash people.”

The huge, smiling man ran a fist into his other hand, dangling two of his fingers in imitation of a running man, giving the impression of a car hitting a person, as if he were explaining this simple fact to a three-year-old.

The Samurai snickered again. It didn’t seem all that funny to Simon.

Nor to Aldric. “Must’ve lost something in translation,” he said. “And I wouldn’t mind if we finished the history lesson about you blokes, top to bottom. If I’m going to be made a fool of, I’d like to know by whom.”

“Was he in danger?” said a voice.

Aldric turned, and Simon saw his reaction. Aldric looked as if he might recognize the woman who had quietly appeared behind them. Simon was struck by her beauty. A Japanese woman in a sharply tailored black blazer and skirt, her long dark hair tied up behind her head, she had an expression of tired sadness.

“My mother,” said Kyoshi. “Sachiko.”

The woman bowed slightly, and turned to Taro. “Tell me now, was he in danger?” She repeated her question.

Taro’s eyes went to Kyoshi, who looked nervous, and sidestepped the issue. “He never left our sight,” he answered. It put the woman only slightly at ease.

“This is Aldric St. George, and his son, Simon,” said Kyoshi.

Sachiko nodded. “I know who they are,” she said. “Please be welcomed, gentlemen. Were there proper introductions? Have we…told them about ourselves?”

Taro looked embarrassed. “We were tracking one of the Things, there was no time to—”

“Leave it to men to forget such simple manners,” said Sachiko, with just the slightest touch of fire in her voice. “Let’s set that straight, shall we? This…is Akira.” The fiercest looking warrior, his head shaven, his face stony and cold, stood and bowed. “This is Mamoru.” The hefty one lifted his bulky frame and bowed with a jolly smile. “Kisho, and Toyo,” said the woman, and the other two warriors bowed; one small and lean, the other fit and capable, but older, with graying hair.

“And my husband, Taro.”

Simon looked to Taro, who bowed again, as if he’d never met him before.
Such formality in this place
, Simon thought.

“Would it be impolite for me to say that I did not expect to see you again?” the woman asked, with a smile that made the question seem like a delicate joke.

“You have the better of me, I’m afraid,” answered Aldric. “I’m not altogether sure that I know you…”

“My face is not familiar?”

Aldric paused. “I wouldn’t say that…but I can’t quite place it. I’m sorry. I ought to have remembered someone so beautiful.”

Taro cleared his throat, as if Aldric’s attempt at gallantry had caused him to choke.

“I feared you might forget…” said Sachiko, and her snowy face looked nervous. “And Ormand as well, I should think.”

“My brother Ormand has passed away. He was killed just over a year ago. In battle.”

Sachiko looked at him blankly.

“But I don’t remember him speaking of you,” Aldric added. Simon wanted to wince at his bluntness.

“I suppose,” said Sachiko, swallowing hard, “it’s pointless to chat before getting to such intimate matters, and as I recall, niceties are not your forte anyway. Ormand is the father of my son Kyoshi. That much you have learned?”

“I hadn’t known before…I’m still not sure I can believe…” Aldric’s voice trailed off. Simon and Aldric both looked at Kyoshi.

Aldric said quietly, “It’s hard to get your mind round it, isn’t it? I must say I don’t see much of his father in him…”

“
I’m
his father,” Taro retorted.

Simon could see Aldric looking apologetic, but Sachiko said quietly, “Taro has been here with us since Kyoshi was five years old. He is the only father he’s ever known.”

“Forgive me,” said Aldric. “But it’s hard for me to believe that Ormand St. George would leave behind his own son. That’s not my brother’s way.”

“He never knew he had a son,” answered Sachiko, in such a low tone Simon had to lean forward to listen. “When you came here, the first time, so many years ago, you and your brother stayed not for one night, but for three months.” Aldric looked quizzical as she went on. “You were recovering from serious wounds, and the Dragon you pursued was cunning and hard to find. It took time for you to track him. In that time, Ormand and I became very close.” Simon saw Taro look distastefully at Aldric as she said this. “To your surprise, as I recall, I was able to help you in locating this Serpent. I have certain strengths as well. You see, I have a…I don’t know what to call it, a divine gift, I suppose. All my life I have had dreams that foretold the future, and at emotional times, I found I could even move objects across a room, using
only my will…a strange power…something my mother called ‘elemental wishes.’ You and your brother gave me a different name: Magician.”

Simon was a bit startled. The hearty and eccentric Alaythia was the only Magician he had ever known, and this delicate Asian woman somehow did not look the part to him.

“I found the Serpent for you by looking into a still-water pond. Through the use of meditation, over many weeks, I saw reflected in the waters the den of the Dragon beneath the Earth, but that is not where you found him. He came for us. As Ormand and I drifted in a boat in a pond not far from here, I sat staring into the water, searching for something that would lead us to him. And out of the sky, the Thing attacked. He nearly killed us all. A terrible fire burned blue on the pond’s surface, in broad daylight…bright, vicious…We swam beneath it for a long time, until we found our way out. You and Ormand decided to pursue him, and I made a fateful decision: to erase your memory of this place. I wanted this so badly, as painful as it was, and so the mist I called to your mind swept away the images in your head. Your emotions, though, are strong, and I think they kept a little piece of my world in your memory.”

“I could swear,” said Aldric, “that I had spent only a night here.”

Sachiko smiled, with some pride, Simon thought.

“But why do it?” Simon asked her.

Sachiko’s eyes moved away from them. “I learned much from your brother, Aldric,” she answered. “And one of the things I learned was that when a Magician falls in love with a Knight, they cause a stirring, so to speak, in the waters of life…. They cannot disguise their emotions, and these feelings are like lifting a shield from your arm. The Dragons begin to feel your presence. They want to find you, they need to…”

The pictures in Simon’s mind’s eye floated immediately to Alaythia, and his fear for her grew as he listened.

“I could accept my own death,” said Sachiko in a steely voice. “But not your brother’s.”

“So you wiped our memories clean, and sent us on our way,” Aldric said, his brow furrowed, as Simon figured he was trying to retrieve a trace of this history that had vanished from him. Her power must be considerable to have worked so strongly.

“Then my son was born, and he began to show signs of knowing,” Sachiko went on. “He was a St. George, and there was no denying it…though I tried. I did not want him in jeopardy. Time passed, and jeopardy came to us, despite my efforts. The Things perhaps sensed my love for my child. So…then…that was when Taro found us. He brought some
warmth to us, he gave us a new life…” She smiled at Taro and he looked away. “And a sense of safety, if you can have it in this world. But to call Ormand back would’ve been out of the question. I could not face him. He would not remember me. And my life had changed.”

Her voice had hardened with resolve.

“Your situation with Ormand,” said Aldric carefully, “that kind of difficulty is what started us on this journey. There is a woman out there who works with us. She has a power such as you have, and she believes she puts us in danger from the Serpents. I’ve started to think maybe you and Taro, and the others…might help us with this problem.”

She nodded. “Hiding such emotion is a difficult magic, but possible. I didn’t know that then.”

“She’s lost,” said Simon. “She’s out there somewhere in Asia, looking for the Black Dragon. She thinks he can help us. She’s out there alone; we have to get her back.”

Taro cut him off. “We have our own work to do. This entire business has interrupted one of our most important operations.”

“What?” snapped Simon. “What’s so important?”

“We are to destroy once and for all the worst Serpent I have ever known.”

“H
E IS THE
S
ERPENT
of Japan. Najikko Mok Voko. Death-Doctor. Demon-Snake,” Taro explained. “He has moved throughout the island of Japan for many, many years, taunting us right here in our own land, and we have never been able to bring him down. Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Sickness. Accidents. It is mass death that he is after. He always slips free of us; eight times we have met, and eight times he has slithered out of our hands. The last time we fought, he left Akira with a severe memento…”

The seething, sharp-faced Samurai presented his arm, to reveal terrible scarring. Simon tried not to wince.

Taro continued, barely able to contain his anger. “In many burned buildings, in cities across Japan, the
Dragon leaves behind Samurai armor, a sword or a helmet—badly scorched, as a warning to us. He humiliates us. We’ve missed him too many times to let him go now. We believe we’ve found him, settled in Tokyo. You see, Toyo here has been having trouble with his heart…”

“Don’t tell them that,” complained the eldest Samurai.

“And he needed a hospital,” Taro continued. “Kyoshi went there, and saw in one of the hallways the Serpent, walking among the sick. He disguises himself as a surgeon.”

“I understand,” said Aldric. “But if you can help me find Alaythia, she could be of great assistance. There is already the Ice Serpent moving among the people here, and we now have the possibility of facing two Serpents at once. I think it may have been the Ice Serpent’s plan all along—to force us to confront both of them at once. They could then wipe out all the Dragonhunters in one fell swoop. We need to find Alaythia. We need all the help we can get.”

“We never needed help before,” said Akira, angrily.

“Haven’t you?” said Aldric.

“I’ve seen nothing to suggest you will actually
be
of any help,” Taro said, looking down at the floor. “You are reckless and unthoughtful in your every move.”

Aldric shook his head, saying, “The boy is still learning, but he has great skill.”

“I was speaking of the older St. George,” said Taro. “But the boy is equally careless.”

Aldric’s hands tightened. “I’ll thank you to watch your words about my son,” he said. “And you might look at me when you’re talking to me.”

Taro met Aldric’s gaze. “You and your son have given away our secret sanctuary. The Ice Dragon knows of us, and may spread word everywhere. Your Saint George heritage is well-known to us from our scrolls, but you seem to have no greater abilities than our own—you did not manage to save the underground fortress of our ancestors.”

“No one could’ve saved that—” Simon protested.

“And your younger does not know his place,” said Taro, refusing to look at Simon. “I’m sure he’s a very fine boy, but this is a business for men.”

“My boy keeps his own mind.”

“Then let him keep it to himself,” said Taro, and Simon blushed. “We have trained good and hard, and long studied our chances, and we have decided to move on the Tokyo Dragon immediately. That is our plan and we will follow it.”

“Change the plan,” said Aldric.

“We follow the plan.” Taro’s voice grew louder. “Always.”

“If we leave Alaythia out there any longer…” said Aldric. “I fear the worst. She’s gone to find the Black Dragon herself. He is old. We don’t know his mind. If we lose her, then
you
lose an ally. You could use her—she’s powerful.”

“If we leave the Dragon of Tokyo alive any longer,” said old Toyo, breaking in, “then more people suffer and are tormented by his twisted magic. He keeps hundreds of people in his grip at all times. He uses his hospital as an immense torture chamber.”

“And if you die in the attack,” said Aldric, “then I have no one to assist me in finding Alaythia. To attack two Dragons—which is what we will probably face—is bloody foolish.”

“We have no time for searching her out,” said Akira, sounding fierce. “You may need us. But we, I think, do not need
you
.”

“Well…now…perhaps we do,” said Mamoru, smiling. “I think perhaps we have need of each other, if we could see eye to eye. What’s your thinking on this, Kisho?”

“There are two ways to see it. We might succeed only together, or we might just get in each other’s way,” said Kisho.

“He is very wise,” Mamoru whispered to Simon.

“He didn’t say
anything
,” muttered Simon in disbelief.

Aldric grumbled. “Who am I supposed to be talking to? Who makes the bloody decisions around here, anyway?”

“We all make them,” said Taro. “Together.”

“Well, that’s your problem right there,” said Aldric sharply.

“It has worked for us for ages,” answered Taro.

Sachiko moved in between them. “Kyoshi, why don’t you show Simon your room?”

Kyoshi nodded, and quickly took Simon’s hand. Simon shrugged it off, a bit annoyed, but started to follow him nonetheless. Fenwick trailed behind them, his bushy tail nearly knocking over a potted plant.

“Your plan won’t work anyway,” Aldric said, almost pleading. “It relies on one Dragon, doesn’t it? What if there are two? Indeed, what if we are walking into a trap with
many
? I’ve been through that—what happens to your plan then?”

“We have watched this one many days,” said Taro, “and there is no sign of an unlikely partnership with the Ice Dragon. We will attack each, one by one.”

“What are you saying here, you’ve ‘watched him’? You mean you let this Creature go when you knew he was there?”

“We had to be sure. We had to form careful plans, and wait for the right time.”

“Then wait a little longer. And do it right.”

Simon waited at the end of the room, though he could see Kyoshi wanted to move on before they got into trouble.

“Your feelings for this woman cloud your judgment,” said Akira.

Aldric glared at him. “You don’t know my feelings. And you don’t want to.”

Sachiko smiled and indicated a door. “Let us take a walk in the garden, Aldric, and let them speak privately. They understand, I’m sure,” she said, eyeing Taro, “that the woman is very important to you, and therefore to all of us. We will work to find a compromise.”

Aldric let her lead him outside, while Simon was pulled down the hall to Kyoshi’s room.

It was just like Simon’s room at home.

Simon entered in amazement. Small Samurai figures lined the shelf just like the little knights Simon had kept since childhood. The same comic books he collected were stacked on the bedstand, exactly as they were in his room. Games that Simon liked to play were laid alongside his favorite music, and the bookshelves had Japanese versions of Simon’s best-loved stories, right down to the Ray Bradbury collections and Tolkien rip-offs that were his guilty pleasure.

Fenwick skittered to a corner, as something large and white thumped down from above the door and
landed on the bed. It was some kind of monster cat, thought Simon.

“It’s a bobcat,” said Kyoshi, and helped the creature down from the bed. “His name is Katana. It’s the name for a Samurai sword. My mother brought him back from a trip to America.”

Simon stared at Kyoshi. Fenwick stared at the bobcat.

This is getting too weird
, thought Simon.

“Does he…do anything?” Simon indicated the bobcat.

Kyoshi considered. “Not anything you would really notice.”

Simon smirked. The kid was keeping secrets.

“I keep a stash of food in here,” said Kyoshi, “for when I get sent to my room. Do you like Smoochers?”

Simon looked at him. It was his favorite candy.

He took the pack Kyoshi was offering, and watched as Kyoshi sat on the bed with his pet. Simon’s eyes took in the huge stash of candy in Kyoshi’s desk.

“Do you get sent to your room a lot?” Simon asked him.

“No,” said Kyoshi, “I get sent to my room as a reward for finishing my work, so I can come in here and play. The candy I get when I receive good grades in school.”

“A lot of candy,” Simon noted.

Kyoshi shrugged.

“So, do people call you Key for short?”

“No.”

“Well, can I call you Key for short?”

The boy shrugged again.

“So, um, Key, how old are you…like, eleven?” Simon asked him.

“Twelve,” the boy answered, obviously hurt. He crossed his small arms across his chest.

“This looks a lot like my room,” said Simon, changing the subject. “Except you don’t have any swords on the wall.”

“I can’t have swords,” Key answered.

“No swords?”

“They’re sharp.”

“That’s why they’re good.”

“I can’t have daggers or darts. Or arrows, either.”

“Why? Arrows are the best.”

“They can kill people.”

“That’s the coolest part!”

“My father doesn’t like me to have sharp things, or dangerous things, or fast things, or things that are too intense, or things that encourage me to play rough.”

“What
do
you get to do?”

“He will let me play with girls,” he answered simply.

Simon smiled, and Key added, “Mother doesn’t like the girls so much.”

“Key, you’re twelve years old,” Simon said. “Why am I totally sure she has nothing to worry about?”

Key looked at him with a serious face. “Oh, she should.”

He gave a half-smile and Simon started laughing.

Meanwhile, in the study, the Samurai were getting no further in their talks. The discussion went on for an hour. Aldric, sitting on a bench outside, could see them through a window.

“What are they doing in there? How much longer can they go on?” Aldric complained.

“Try to be calm,” Sachiko said with amusement. “Enjoy the garden—it’s meant for tranquility—or else my grandfather got rich on silk for nothing.”

Aldric looked at the Japanese garden, and felt nothing but emptiness and worry.

“Taro will consider your feelings strongly.” She reassured him. “There is an idea we have, it is called
ameru
. Do you know it? It’s hard to explain, but it’s a very strong sense of…helpfulness, you could say. The word, to be literal, means the fierce love a mother has for her child, but it stands for more…it runs through the whole society, it signifies the notion that taking care of others brings the highest joy to yourself.
Do you see? What I mean to say is, the others will weigh very heavily the risk of leaving your friend Alaythia out there alone.”

“You said she was important to me. It’s more than that. I don’t think I can handle the boy without her. Or much of anything else…” Aldric’s voice drifted off. “She makes things understandable to me.”

They sat in silence. Tranquility never came, but Aldric enjoyed the pretense of it.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” asked Simon.

Key nodded, always with that serious face. “I have a few.”

“A few?”

“We go to gaming places. We go bicycle riding sometimes…if my father is satisfied we’re not riding near cliffs or mountains or traffic or…”

“How do you end up getting more than one girlfriend?”

“Around here, smartness counts for a lot,” said Key, moving his chesspieces around idly.

“Oh.”

“And it’s not as if I’m a dog.”

It took a moment for Simon to realize he was joking.

“We go in groups,” Key said. “I get along better with girls.”

“What about you?” said Key. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“That’s kind of personal, isn’t it?” said Simon. Key still didn’t laugh, but he seemed amused, and Simon added, “Yes, I have a girlfriend. I think.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, okay, I don’t exactly have her
yet
. Give me some time.”

They laughed, and Key used an umbrella tip to throw open a small wooden trunk at the end of the bed.

“What’s that?” asked Simon.

“My…
yoroi
. My armor,” said Key. “I never get to wear it.”

Simon could hear the longing in his voice. The armor was shiny and black, with a gold emblem on the helmet.

“I have also two
katana
. Sharp and beautiful. My father keeps them locked away, but Mamoru has shown them to me. I have also the throwing knives for boys,
kozuka
, but I never get to touch them. Do you know what this is?” He held up a little carving of a coiled Dragon. “You know it? Netsuke art?”

“I’ve heard of that.”

“You have?”

“Comic books.”

Key nodded. “It’s ivory. Do you want to see? Feel it. It represents the good force within Dragons, it’s sort of…the promise that they’ll bring good luck if they can turn against their natures. Hard to imagine, really.”

“No,” Simon said, taking it in hand. “Not in the right situation. I knew one once. Doesn’t make any sense, but he saved my life. The Black Dragon.”

“The Peking?” said Key, to Simon’s surprise. “He is named in our works. The scrolls tell of a time when the Dragons here helped the harvest. Food grew in abundance wherever Serpents lived. I have never known if that was an accident of their powers, or if they kept people well-fed just so they could draw on human misery.”

“Yeah, well, understanding them is kind of a waste of time, isn’t it?”

Key took his time to answer, as he had with every question. “I read a lot,” Key finally said. “From the ancient libraries. The lore is not clear. There are many old stories of the helpfulness of the Serpent. Probably the legends come from some truth about them….”

“My favorite legends are about the dead ones.”

Key stayed silent again, and Simon began to feel like everything
anyone
said would be analyzed by the boy. “I would hope to find a Dragon like this one that
helped you, but there is good reason for the Samurai order,” Key said, his voice filled with bleak understanding. “I lead them where they need to go,” he went on. “I find the Serpent, and I have the armor to fight…but I cannot.”

“I’ve done that,” said Simon. “And I’m not sure you really want to.”

“Yes. I do,” Key answered, his eyes still on the armor.

“Well, if you ask me, it doesn’t make sense to keep a support fighter out of this when we’re so shortchanged on people as it is.” Simon’s words rang true to Key, he could tell. “It seems a shame not to get some use out of that armor.