Free The Twilight War by Simon Higgins Page B

to blame. I brought her in, trusted her, vouched for her.’
    â€˜True, I guess.’ Groundspider nodded. ‘But we all know girls make boys crazy –’
    Heron’s eyebrows fell. She gave a short, sharp cough. Groundspider flinched.
    â€˜Moon-kun, Spider-kun, that’s all goldfish dung,’ Eagle murmured, flashing pin-prick eyes. ‘We, your seniors, let her in. And trusted her. I’m in charge here, so any failure in judgment is mine .’ He wheezed then sank back into his wrapping of blankets.
    â€˜Her treachery is still unproven,’ Heron said quietly. ‘Though, what I saw …’
    â€˜And what I felt , sparring with her last night –’ Groundspider put in quickly. Everyone stared at him. ‘Heron? Didn’t she tell you about it? She promised she would!’ Groundspider recounted the strange training incident, describing Snowhawk’s angry glare, then the shortness of breath and dizziness that had briefly struck him. ‘Moonshadow saw it too! Obviously, she’s been holding out onus, but in the middle of training, her Fuma mask just slipped! Why else conveniently forget to tell Heron?’
    â€˜Conveniently?’ Moonshadow gave a mocking laugh. ‘Yes, how suspicious! She let herself get sidetracked by little things like explosions, fires and invading enemies!’ He appealed directly to Mantis. ‘Had we not been attacked, I’m sure she would have raised it with Heron.’ He held up his hands. ‘Even she didn’t know what it actually was!’
    â€˜Though undoubtedly important, this is all inconclusive.’ Mantis folded his arms. ‘Let’s hear Heron’s account. Having asked each of you individually, my understanding is that only Heron enjoyed a continuous, unbroken view of Snowhawk’s last movements.’
    Moonshadow narrowed his eyes. He had lain much closer to Snowhawk than Heron had stood, but what he had seen remained confusing. She might have been hypnotised, yet he couldn’t say that for sure. When questioned by Mantis he had chosen to keep those final observations to himself, simply out of fear.
    Fear that if he appeared biased towards Snowhawk, Mantis would question his own loyalty or at least his judgement. Fear also that bringing up hypnotic powers might actually cast his friend in an even worse light. Groundspiderwould be straight in there with the obvious, ugly question: since Snowy , he’d say, can hypnotise others, wouldn’t she herself be immune to such skills? Then surely, he would argue, she left by choice . Groundspider often jumped to somewhat rash conclusions. Snowhawk was no infiltrator! Moonshadow’s every instinct shouted that, and he would prove it somehow .
    He furtively glanced around the solemn group. No, he couldn’t risk telling them what he had seen, not until he knew what it meant. His stomach churned as he relived that bizarre moment: her face twitching with something like confusion, then the odd recognition in her eyes. What exactly had that ninja said?
    Heron spoke thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know what to make of it. The Fuma are notorious for dark sciences that baffle the brain, but this didn’t look like any hypnosis or mind-snare I’ve ever seen. A kunoichi went up to Snowhawk, spoke to her at length, then Snowhawk, with her eyes open, simply dropped her sword and followed the woman. They joined a huddle of Fuma who leapt, one by one, up into a hole blown in a corner of the archive’s ceiling. While this was going on, Brother Eagle was on the floor, Moon-kun knocked out also, Brother Badger in hiding. I think you two ,’ she gestured from Mantis to Groundspider, ‘were each taking down your last opponent.’
    Mantis tugged at his short beard. ‘Well, there it is. Any comments?’
    Badger stared dejectedly at the sunlit dust whirling above the tatami. ‘It’s never bothered me that I am the only one