The Twilight War Read Free Page A

it would undoubtedly disrupt the work of the shogun’s secret service, neatly serving the rebel daimyo’s purposes!
    The black message arrow that had landed in the garden one dawn had warned that a traditional, shinobi-style feud was about to begin.
    Twilight War, as it was known. Secret but total war. No mercy, no terms of surrender to be accepted. Winner takes all.
    Had he finally arrived at the real source of his doubt?
    The Grey Light Order was now Clan Fuma’s target, so Snowhawk’s loyalties were about to be tested as never before. Perhaps, he frowned, their first true test. He licked his lips and found them dry. Fuma were coming. Nobody knew when, where or how, but they would attack. They had raised Snowhawk, and when they finally struck, she would have to take a stand. True, she had sworn herself to the Grey Light Order for life, willingly divulged secret Clan Fuma information, and helped save the White Nun.
    Yet Snowhawk might now be forced to cross swords with an enemy she had known intimately . Could she really fight – and if necessary slay – ninja who had once fed, clothed and trained her? She definitely had the courage, and battle-rage flared in those large, bold eyes whenever the Fuma were even mentioned.
    But how would she react when forced to battle a familiar face? Moonshadow wasn’t sure.
    He felt that he knew her better than anyone else, yet even he often found her unpredictable, hard to read, strangely moody at times. Girls , he groaned. They thought so differentlyabout almost everything. Or was that just Snowhawk?
    Snowhawk and he trained together, often read side by side in the archives or out in the gardens together. Every day they talked, joked and ate together, and at least once a week it seemed, talked non-stop for hours. Still, her way of looking at the world often baffled him. For a start, she seemed to base most decisions on mere feelings , convinced that should facts arrive later, they would simply support her choice.
    Heron, the closest thing Moonshadow had known to a mother, would see his bewilderment over Snowhawk and simply turn away with a dignified smile. Did that mean that even she, despite being a lady herself, thought understanding girls was impossible? Brother Badger had once declared that ‘not even Lord Buddha could fathom a woman’.
    Moonshadow blinked wearily at the silent animals. ‘Can you understand girls?’
    Abruptly the beasts raised their heads, instantly alert. Both stared at the door. A moment later, knuckles rapped its frame. Moonshadow rose and slid the door open.
    Brother Eagle stood in the corridor scratching his short, greying beard, his long, single plait of hair draped over one shoulder. Eagle smiled secretively and tilted his balding headtowards the kitchen door at the end of the corridor.
    â€˜Unscheduled briefing,’ the master said. ‘Urgent news, so we’ll talk over breakfast. Be quick.’ Eagle studied Moonshadow. ‘Is anything wrong?’
    â€˜No,’ Moonshadow said awkwardly. ‘A nightmare, that’s all. Everything’s fine.’
    Eagle heaved a deep sigh as he turned away. ‘How I wish that were true.’
    Motto and Banken scrambled out into the corridor and immediately made for the archives, no doubt keen to start the day by play-hunting their monkey friend Saru.
    Rubbing his eyes, Moonshadow turned the opposite way and paced down the corridor, quietly steeling himself as he followed Eagle.
    His master’s words were a clear warning: get ready for disturbing news.

 
    Eagle knelt down at the head of the long, low table, where Snowhawk and Brother Mantis already waited.
    Moonshadow took his place, dropping into the seiza position, legs folded beneath him. Sitting on his heels like the others, he stretched and looked around.
    Heron was on cooking duty this morning, and she knelt in a corner by the fire pit, ladling thick rice porridge from a suspended iron pot into