03 White Ninja by Eric van Lustbader

Author:Eric van Lustbader
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction, Action & Adventure, General Fiction
ISBN: 0449904946
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1989-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

KANSATSU SAID, "I have been sought, I have been defeated, I am now forgotten." He was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the great room of the stone structure he had created in the shadow of the Black Gendarme. "You asked, Nicholas, why I am here in the Hodaka, and this is my answer. Now tell me why you are here."

"Tell me first if I am dead," Nicholas said. "I have no idea if this is some afterlife."

Kansatsu cocked his head. "Do you believe in an afterlife, Nicholas?"

"Yes. I suppose I do."

"Then this is an afterlife." Kansatsu waited a moment. "This is what you make of it, Nicholas. After a time, you will give it your own definition."

"But am I dead? Did I freeze to death on the Black Gendarme?"

"That question has no relevance here," Kansatsu said sternly. "As I said, it is you who must make the determination. Is this life or death?" The ageless sensei shrugged. "I no longer seek to differentiate between the two states."

"But surely you can tell me if I still live? Is this a dream?"

"When you understand how useless these questions are, Nicholas, you will have the answers you seek."

Nicholas quieted his racing heart. He no longer felt chilled or numb, but his body still ached and, touching the side of his head, the scar of the incision was as evident as ever. I must be alive, he reasoned. But reason seemed a stranger in this land.

"You did not seem surprised to see me," Nicholas said.

"Why should I be?" Kansatsu said. "You have come here to me many times."

"What? I haven't seen you since the winter of 1963, and I'm certain that I've never been here in this house before."

Kansatsu looked pointedly at the plate in front of Nicholas. "You haven't finished your meal," he said. "I suggest you do so. You will need all your strength soon."

"I know," Nicholas said. "If I remember correctly, the descent of the Hodaka is every bit as exhausting as the ascent."

"I was hot speaking of the physical," Kansatsu said.

Nicholas looked from his enigmatic face to the bits of food on his plate. He ate. He slept. And dreamt again of the dominance of the Black Gendarme...

... This recurring image so disturbed him that when he awoke he described it to Kansatsu. The sensei was silent for some time. At last he stirred himself. But his voice was slow, surreal, as if he had been roused from a dream. "Why does this image disturb you so?"

"I don't quite know," Nicholas admitted. "Perhaps it has to do with the emeralds, my grandfather's legacy."

"Is that so?" Kansatsu's eyebrows lifted. "Explain."

Nicholas did, telling him about the box with the fifteen emeralds, about how his mother, Cheong, explained to him that he could use the gems in whatever way he saw fit, with only one caveat: he must never allow the number of stones to drop below nine.

"Did your mother tell you what would happen if this occurred?"

"No," Nicholas said. "Do you know what these emeralds are?"

"Perhaps I have heard something of their existence," Kansatsu said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.