Free The Tengu's Game of Go by Lian Hearn

can reach them easily. Just a little advice for the future.”
    â€œI’m going to have a castle?” Take said, as he tested the heft of the pole, gripping it in both hands as Mu had shown him.
    â€œWell, why not?” Tadashii replied, eyeing Take’s hands but not making any comment, as he raised his sword. “I’d want a castle if I were you. Castles invoke respect from those above you and fear from those below. They keep your men occupied while building and give them somewhere to live when completed. I’ll show you how to build a proper one out of rocks and stones.”
    A castle! Men! Then Take emptied his mind as they sparred for a while, the tengu setting a fierce pace but pulling his strokes before hitting either Take or the pole.
    â€œThat’ll do for now,” he said finally. “You can go and get your bow. Once that’s done, we’ll make the sword and some arrows.”
    When it was obvious he was not going to say any more, Take asked tentatively, “Are you going to tell me where the bow is?”
    Tadashii jerked his head up. “There.”
    Take raised his eyes to the crags that marched in a jagged line up Kuroyama. The rock was black basalt, the ground old, pitted lava, covered with small, sharp stones. Here and there pools of sulfuric water and mud bubbled viscously, and steam hung around the slopes of the mountain. Beyond the tree he had climbed, broken trunks, like the spars of the wrecked ships that were exposed when Lake Kasumi dried up, showed where the fire and the sulfur had done their lethal work.
    In the closest crag there was a narrow cleft, as if it had been split from top to bottom. Take squinted up to where the steam refracted the sunlight into rainbows, and for a moment thought he could see the shape of a giant bow.
    â€œThat’s it,” Tadashii said. “Ameyumi is its name. The Rain Bow.”
    â€œI am to climb up there for it?” Take moved a little closer, assessing the rocks and the cleft. The smooth basalt offered few footholds, but the cleft reminded him of the space, a yard or so wide, between the monkeys’ shelter and the outer fence of their enclosure. The young males often played in it, inventing different ways to scale it: both feet on one side, rear on the other; one foot on each side, pushing up with the hands. It had to be done quickly, so the momentum itself carried you upward. It would be slippery from the steam and probably hot, too.
    â€œYou don’t think you can do it?” Tadashii said, sounding disappointed.
    â€œI didn’t say I couldn’t,” Take replied, all the more determined. “I’m just working out the best way. But couldn’t you just fly up and get it?”
    â€œNot without attracting its owner’s attention.”
    â€œIt has an owner I have to steal it from?”
    â€œIn a manner of speaking. It’s not really his, though. He won it in a wager from someone else, years ago, and won is a rather relative term, since he almost certainly cheated, so you could say he also stole it.”
    â€œWho from?”
    â€œSome warrior who was fighting in the north and fancied himself an expert at Go.” The tengu gave a smirk as if there was much more he might say but chose not to.
    â€œWhy is it up there?”
    â€œToo many questions!” Tadashii cried. “Are you going to get it or not?”
    â€œAll right.” Take went closer to the crevice, laid a hand on each side, and peered up. It was harder to see the bow now, the steam and the dazzle of light at the top obscured it, but he thought he could make out the arc of its shape. The surface under his palms was warm and slick. He tested it against the soles of his feet. They were rough, hardened from years of running around and climbing barefoot, and would not need covering, but he wanted to give his hands more protection.
    He was still wearing the headband and short red jacket and leggings