John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Will slid down from the rock and walked among the Kikori troops, slapping them on the shoulder and offering words of congratulation to them as he went. Then he and Selethen dismissed them and rejoined the others.

'We've got three months,' he said to Halt. 'We plan to train and equip two hundred men in these techniques.'

Halt nodded. 'With two centuries of trained men, you could give Arisaka a very nasty surprise indeed. Well done, Will. And you too, Selethen.'

The Arridi bowed and made his traditional greeting gesture. 'As I said, it was Will's idea,' he replied. 'But like you, I think it will be very effective.'

Horace dropped an arm over Will's shoulder and shook his head. His slightly built friend never ceased to amaze him.

'You seem to have a habit of creating armies out of nowhere,' he said. 'Pity there aren't a hundred Araluan slaves here you could train as archers.' He was referring to the potent force of archers Will had formed to fight the Temujai army. 'One thing,' he added with a slight frown. 'You're going to need a lot of iron for helmets and shields and stabbing swords. Where are you going to find it?'

'We have it already.' Will grinned. 'The Kikori metal workers are busy melting down the cache of old weapons you discovered. We don't need finely tempered steel and they should do the job nicely.'

'I wonder,' said Horace, 'if I'll ever ask a question you can't answer.'

Will considered the idea for a second or two, then shook his head.

'I shouldn't think so.'

Evanlyn spun slowly on the end of the rope as the team of Kikori above her gradually paid out line, allowing her to descend.

She was hanging in space, several metres clear of the cliff face. But a few metres below her, a large outcrop of rock bulged out, barring the way. As she turned back to face the cliff once more, the waiting Kikori let out a few more metres of rope until her feet touched the rock. Bracing her feet against it, she walked herself backwards down the cliff, using her legs and feet to keep her clear as the men above continued to lower her. Then she was past the outcrop and slowly spinning in space again as she descended.

'You're nearly here,' Alyss called from below. Evanlyn looked over her shoulder and could see the Courier waiting at the foot of the cliff, barely fifteen metres below her. She looked back up to where the rope now slid over the rock outcrop. Too much of that and the rope would fray and eventually break, she thought. But the rock was smooth and there wasn't far to go. She felt her feet touch solid ground, and Alyss's hand on her elbow to steady her. The rope went slack and she let out a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath. Her legs were a little unsteady, a reaction to the fact that she had been dangling in space over an enormous drop, like a spider on a strand of web. Alyss hurried to help free her from the harness of rope that the Kikori had created to hold her safely while they lowered her down the cliff face.

'I'm glad that's over,' Evanlyn said.

Alyss nodded in heartfelt agreement. 'If there's one thing that terrifies me, it's heights.'

Evanlyn looked at her in surprise. 'But you volunteered to go first.'

'Only because I thought if I watched you go, I'd never have the nerve to follow. I spent most of the time with my eyes shut tight.'

They cast loose the last of the rope that had been tied around Evanlyn, and Alyss tugged hard on it four times – a prearranged signal to tell the Kikori above that Evanlyn was safely at the bottom of the cliff. The rope suddenly began a rapid ascent while the two girls took stock of their situation.

The cliffs were over two hundred and fifty metres high and they had made the descent in three stages, with the Kikori climbers choosing suitable staging points along the way. At each point, a climber had waited with Alyss and Evanlyn while the rest of the team descended, then the girls were lowered down the next stage. The kayak, tied in a narrow bundle, lay on the rocks beside them. One of the Kikori had made the final stage of the descent with it, guiding it past the obstruction of the rock outcrop and untying it at the bottom. He had then climbed swiftly back up, aided by his companions hauling in on the rope, to report that all was well.

A few metres away, the waters of Mizu-Umi Bakudai lapped gently against the shore. Evanlyn was relieved to see that the water was calm. The day had been sufficiently hair-raising, she thought, without the added complication of rough water for her initiation into the art of kayaking.

'I guess we'd better start getting the boat assembled,' she said. But before Alyss could reply, a small shower of pebbles rattled off the rock outcrop above them. They both covered their heads against any stray pebbles that might come down, then looked up as a pair of boots appeared over the edge of the rock. The Kikori who had made the descent called for his companions to stop lowering. He braced himself out from the rock and slipped a pad of sheepskin between the rope and the rock face. Obviously, he shared Evanlyn's earlier thought about the rope fraying. Then he signalled and the lowering recommenced. He dropped quickly to the rocks beside them, then looked up, grinning.

'You came down faster than we did, Eiko,' Evanlyn said.

He shrugged. 'Do this many times,' he told them.

The girls noticed that he had disdained to use the harness arrangement that had been devised for them. He had simply tied a loop at the end of the rope and placed one foot in it as the others lowered him. Alyss shuddered at the thought.

Eiko had their travel packs over his shoulder and he unslung them and set them on the ground beside the bundle of timber and oilskin. He gestured to it.

'You need help?'

Alyss shook her head. 'We should get used to assembling it ourselves.'

He nodded and stood back, watching as they quickly unrolled the bundle, arranged the frames and ribs, then fastened and braced the timbers so that the skeleton of the boat took shape.

As they began to stretch the oilskin cover over the frame, straining against the lacing to bring it tight, he made a clicking noise with his tongue and stopped them.

'Better this way!' he said. Removing the retaining pins, he slid one of the main frames sideways, relaxing the tension so that the ribs of the boat collapsed slightly.

'Tie now,' he said, accompanying the word with gestures. 'Then tighten ribs again.'

The girls quickly grasped the idea. They stretched the oilskin tight over the partially collapsed boat, lacing it firmly in place, then straightened the frame, levering it into its original position, so that any remaining slack in the skin of the boat was now tensioned out.

'Good thinking,' Alyss said appreciatively. 'That makes it much easier.'

'Yes. I was afraid I was going to break a fingernail,' Evanlyn added.

Alyss looked up at her sharply, about to make a disparaging remark, when she realised the princess was joking. Feeling a little foolish, she bent her head to the task of fastening the last of the laces. When the last knot was tied, they stepped back and surveyed their handiwork.

'Excellent,' said Alyss.

Evanlyn nodded. 'You'd almost swear it was a boat.'

This time, Alyss didn't react. She had a feeling that Evanlyn's jokes were intended to conceal her nervousness about venturing across the lake in this seemingly frail craft. Alyss could understand that. But she also knew that the kayak was far more robust and seaworthy than it looked.

The two double-ended paddles had been tied in the original bundle and she picked them up and carried them the few metres to the water's edge. When she returned, she saw that Eiko had been busy, blowing up the two pigskin air-bladders that served as buoyancy chambers in case the boat was swamped in heavy weather. They pushed them into the bow and stern of the kayak, wedging them in place between the stringers, then stowed their travel packs into the space between the two seats, fastening an oilskin cover over them to keep them dry.