Читать книгу Ninjutsu. Facts, Legends, and Techniques онлайн

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This feeling is completely new to you. You are puzzled. Your eyes strain to see into the night—there is only blackness—for the thin slice of the crescent-shaped moon gives little comfort by way of light for your lonely patrol.

Your ears are tuned to catch the slightest sound of danger—but you hear none—only natural sounds in the spring night. A gentle breeze riffles the surface of the murky waters that fill the moat below you. Reflected on the water's broken surface pattern is the dim light of the moon.

As you peer over the edge of the rampart, the huge stone wall seems to disappear beneath your feet into blackness some sixty feet to the water below. You know that wall very well— it is said to be unclimbable—so surely no threat can come from below.

You continue to stare down at the moat, trying to pierce the gloom, for the feeling of tension and uneasiness seems to be produced by your awareness of something—or somebody—lurking down there.

Your warrior-trained nerves are as tight as a drawn bowstring, and you try desperately to catch the slightest suggestion of unusual movement or sound. There is nothing to be seen or heard, yet the feeling of very tense uneasiness continues, and begins to grow.