The Twilight War by Simon Higgins Page B

opponent elbowed Moonshadow hard in the cheek and tore the blade from his hands. Reversing the weapon with breathtaking speed, the attacker struck with its pommel, hitting Moonshadow between the eyes and driving him into the doorframe. Almost blacking out, he slid to the floor. For an instant, tiny points of light and luminous bubbles popped before his eyes. Fighting off the daze, he looked up.
    Kagero stood over him, blood running down her neck from the hastily tied bandage on her ear. The kunoichi’s face glowed with a mix of hatred and fresh satisfaction.
    â€˜A fair trade, don’t you think? My earlobe for your pretty young head.’ Kagero pressed cold steel to his throat. ‘I even get to kill you with your own sword. I like that!’
    A heartbeat ahead of her lunge, Kagero tensed her forearm, but at the same instant a powerful figure burst through the smoke wall. Hurtling from the north-south corridor, the mighty form rammed Kagero, hip and shoulder, with a loud thunk . The kunoichi flew sideways through the opposite smoke wall and back into the archive. Moonshadow’s sword spun to the floorboards. He blinked up at his rescuer.
    Groundspider loomed over him, a slashed and blood-stained sleeping kimono barely covering his muscular frame. The giant was drenched with sweat, half his bull-neck mottled by dark bruises. A fresh cut on his smooth jawline said he’d survived a very close call. Despite his wrung-out appearance, he grinned and winked flippantly.
    â€˜Thanks!’ Moonshadow smiled. His head was clearing and it was a relief to know that the closest thing he had to a big brother was alive – and had just saved his life.
    â€˜Aw, anytime, kid!’ Groundspider dropped smoothly to one knee, snatching up Moonshadow’s sword. ‘Can I borrow this? Think I left mine sticking in some really slow Fuma back down the corridor. Don’t worry, I’ll return it!’Without awaiting a response, Groundspider rose, extended the blade and plunged through the smoke bank.
    Moonshadow felt a hand touch his shoulder. He flinched and turned.
    Snowhawk! She beamed as she gripped his arms and dragged him to his feet.
    â€˜You’re alive!’ He broke into a wide smile. ‘Watch out – it’s you they’re after.’
    â€˜So I gathered,’ she scowled. A gardener’s jacket had been tied over her badly ripped night kimono. A short, straight shinobi sword – not her own – stuck from her belt. Like Groundspider, she’d obviously fought her way here through serious opposition. ‘The Spider and I were pinned down for ages, fighting near our rooms.’ Snowhawk drew her stolen blade, eyeing the wall of smoke across the archive. ‘Now what? Back up Groundspider? Fetch your sword?’
    He shook his head. ‘Brother Eagle first. He’s hurt, needs protection.’
    Snowhawk huffed with disbelief. ‘Eagle? Hurt? Then take me there!’
    Moonshadow led her into the thick, smelly haze. Snowhawk moved at his side, blade outstretched as they crept through the cloud.
    â€˜I stumbled on the surviving boundary guards and household staff – locked in the food cellar. Had to stop and free them!’
    Moving in step with her, he frowned. ‘Why? You could have done that later.’
    Snowhawk tossed her hair dismissively. ‘Then who’d stop these fires spreading?’
    Unseen blades clashed in the fog on either side of them. Together they scrambled low over the last floorboards of the archive, avoiding debris and staying under every nearby combatant’s likely line of sight, desperate to reach the east-west corridor mouth and Eagle without further delays. A strong air current from the corridor split the wall of smog, and there he was, slumped against a doorframe, face ashen, eyes pinpricks. Despite the cruel-looking claw still hanging from his shoulder, Eagle gave them a warm, weak nod. As Moonshadow and Snowhawk