Young Samurai: The Way of Fire (short story) by Chris Bradford Read Free Book Online Page A

fire.
    ‘Hurry!’ shouted Akiko, frantically beckoning them on.
    The tree began to crack and splinter. Jack urged the petrified Yamato to move faster. The trunk suddenly dropped lower over the molten river. Yamato stumbled, screaming as he landed among the scorched branches. Jack lunged forward and grabbed him round the waist. Hanging above the lava, the heat was so intense that all the hair on the backs of his arms was singed.
    ‘Come on, we don’t want to swim in that!’ exclaimed Jack, dragging Yamato to his feet.
    Just as the tree finally succumbed to the flames, the two of them tumbled on to the safety of solid ground.
    ‘You took your time,’ said Saburo, helping them to their feet and handing Jack the gourd with the flower in it.
    ‘I’m glad that’s over,’ Yamato gasped, his face pale and drawn.
    But it wasn’t.
    The last explosion had diverted the lava round Saburo’s ridge too and it was now racing towards them. Soon the land upon which they stood would be swallowed up by molten rock.
    ‘What now?’ said Akiko, a note of desperation in her voice.
    ‘Looks like there’s only one way off this mountain,’ said Saburo.
    He pointed to the entrance of the old lava tube. Miraculously, the meltwater stream was still running into it, though the flow was rapidly ebbing away.
    ‘You
are
joking!’ said Akiko, vigorously shaking her head.
    ‘It’s that or cremation,’ replied Saburo. And, without a moment’s hesitation, he launched himself into the hole, sliding away in the darkness.
    ‘He’s either crazy, or the bravest samurai I’ve ever met,’ exclaimed Yamato. ‘But what other choice do we have?’
    Taking a brief glance around, he then jumped down the tube after Saburo.
    Akiko looked at Jack, who was securing the gourd into his
obi
. The lava was about to engulf them. Time was running out.
    ‘If … if we don’t make it … I want you to know I-I …’ stammered Akiko, her eyes brimming with tears.
    There was the sound of an almighty explosion from within the belly of the volcano.
    ‘Go!’ urged Jack.
    Akiko pushed off down the tunnel, Jack following close behind.
    He found himself quickly picking up speed as the incline steepened. The tunnel twisted and turned through terrifying blackness. All he could hear was the rush of wind and the gush of running water.
    Something hard and brittle whipped into his face, shattering on impact. He felt the warm wetness of blood run down his cheek. Then he remembered the shark-toothed stalactites he’d seen at the lake and lay flat in the hope he would be lucky enough to avoid the razor-sharp shards of rock.
    He could hear the cries of his friends ahead of him. The tunnel was becoming lighter. They must be nearing the end of this insane deathslide. Then he realized the orange glow was coming from
behind
. He glanced back to see a wall of red-hot lava coursing down the tube after him, the meltwater bursting into steam on contact.
    Jack could do little but pray he’d outrun it.

13
     

Antidote
     
    Jack shot out of the end of the tunnel like a cannonball and plunged down into the depths of the lake.
    Despite the shock, he swam away underwater, kicking as hard as he could. Surfacing, he turned to see the fiery lava burst out the hole and pour into the lake. Huge clouds of steam billowed into the sky. The lava solidified, slowing and blocking the flow of magma from the lava tube.
    A shock wave rolled across the lake, washing Jack and the others towards the shore. Bobbing in the water, they stared at each other utterly astonished to have survived.
    ‘You’re crazy, Saburo!’ exclaimed Akiko, dunking Saburo’s head beneath the lake’s surface.
    ‘Maybe,’ he spluttered. ‘But it did save us a long hike down.’
    They all laughed with relief.
    ‘But where’s the flower?’ asked Yamato urgently.
    Jack smiled, holding up the precious gourd in his hand.
    Yamato looked at the sun, hazy in the ash-cloaked sky. ‘It’s gone midday,’ he said.