She spins and attacks, spins and attacks. This is not what I imagined my next fight to be like. Not with my sister!

I summon water in two rivers that move like whips at the tips of my fingers. I control the water whips with the palms of my hands, lashing them through the air. Elecktra advances, pointing her flaming sword at me. I aim the water whips at her sword and la.s.so the burning blade. Elecktra holds on to the sword despite the current of the water. I yank my hands to pull on the water whips, but the sword will not leave her hand and keeps burning. Fire burning in water? This sword is phenomenal!

I push my hands out into a double knife-hand block with a cat stance. I turn off the water whips and summon a fireball. My hands don't burn, only tingle. When Lecky swings her sword at me, I send the fireball crashing into her blade. It absorbs the fireball. Water and fire won't break the spell of her sword. What am I going to do?

The wind keeps me in the air and moves me out of the way of her attacks, but I can't keep wind riding forever. Elecktra lands on the ground and I thankfully follow her down. She is furious and spins to strike out. I summon earth to trip her. She falls on her back, but quickly rises into the air again. I summon wind to lift me to her level. I fly my ninja stars towards her, but they splinter off her sword. She continues to chase me, slicing the smoke between us with her blazing weapon. I flash invisible, but Lecky senses my body heat and meets my every move with angry thrashing.

Lecky always wanted a magic wand and now she's found one with more power than she can handle. It's like she's been hypnotised and nothing I can do will wake her from the trance. I summon fire and ignite the tips of my ninja stars. I throw the flaming blades towards her, but as soon as they clash against Lecky's sword, they extinguish and fall like coins to the ground. They are no match for her heat. As long as I'm here, she'll keep trying to kill me. If I fight harder, someone will get hurt - and it could be me. I can't keep fighting my sister, my own blood. I have to go.

I quickly retrieve my ninja stars, squeeze my eyes closed and summon the cool blue. I feel the sapphire mist drench my muscles. My mind washes blank and I transport to the front yard of our apartment. I fly on the wind into my room through the open window. I'm too tired and devastated to change out of my muddy uniform. I climb into bed and tuck the blankets up under my chin, shivering. I am the protector. I should have saved Lecky.

Only ninjas inherit ninja powers and samurai inherit samurai powers. Why did the samurai sword sing to Elecktra? I sit straight up in bed. As long as Elecktra has the samurai sword, she is my enemy.

TWELVE.

'Are you okay?' Mum asks. I slowly sit up in bed. My hair has dried in clumps from crying myself to sleep. I'm still in my tattered muddy uniform and my sheets are smeared with dirt. My head hurts and the mattress on the roof seems to be spinning.

'What time is it?' I ask, but the words are paper-thin and slippery in my mouth. I blink as sharp light tunnels into my room and flashes onto the ninja stars abandoned on my desk. The tips are black from when I lit them on fire. I close my eyes and Elecktra's bloodshot eyes stare back at me. I gasp and flick my eyes open. It wasn't a dream.

Mum brushes my hair off my face, then runs it through her fingers. 'It's seven-thirty,' she says. 'And you have to get ready for school.'

I look down at my uniform. How do I begin to explain?

'Lecky was summoned and she fought against a samurai and he had this sword and there were these zombie things and she took ...' My voice trails off into the linen, which I scrunch in my fists and put in my mouth. The words can't be real. Elecktra must be asleep in her blue satin sheets in the next room, safe as always. The night in the bog was a nasty nightmare.

I curl up on my side and pull the sheet over my head. I can't deal with school today. Tears surge past the lump in my throat. I try so hard to be strong, like the White Warrior should be. But when Mum rubs my shoulder, I can't hold on to the tears any longer. They fall, a broken dam upon my pillow. I sob uncontrollably, thinking about Lecky. I should have summoned the earth earlier to break free of the mud, regardless of the threat of more warriors. I could have stopped her from stealing the sword. It's all my fault that she's been possessed. The veins crackling in her beautiful skin, her manicured nails crimson like they'd been smashed with a hammer, her orange eyes preying on my every move. I didn't want to fight her. Not my sister. I'm meant to protect her. I sob into my muddy sheet as Mum tries to console me.

'Why aren't you asking questions?' I manage to get out.

Mum peels back the sheet so she can see my face. Her eyes are the colour of logs that have been sitting in a fire and her blonde hair shimmers in the morning light against her ivory skin. She is wearing a black satin kimono peppered with silver birds. 'I've been waiting for this moment,' she says gently.

I roll over to face her and wipe my hair out of my eyes, then clean my cheeks with the sleeve of my uniform. 'I don't get it,' I say, my throat still thick with tears.

'When you consumed the ancient ninja's Tiger Scrolls, you summoned every samurai,' she says. I remember swallowing the final Tiger Scroll and the terror in Mum's eyes. She sucks in a deep breath. 'Including your sister.'

'My sister?' I croak. 'Elecktra is a samurai?'

Mum nods slowly, then sweeps her hair behind her ears. 'Well ... unlike you with your birthmark, I had no idea she was powerful enough to inherit the Serpent Sword.'

'The Serpent Sword?' I suddenly recall Jackson's samurai legend. The sword of ancient warrior blood slashes through my thoughts. The Serpent Sword couldn't be the sword he was talking about, could it?

'I was there at the Cemetery of Warriors. Jackson ran over here to tell me that Lecky had been summoned and that you followed her. I arrived as you transported home. I saw Lecky standing in the darkness with the red sword,' she says.

'I thought only the White Warrior could come and go from the cemetery as they please?' My thoughts are all tangled up.

'Yes. I used to be the guardian of the cemetery a long time ago,' Mum says. 'My job was to stop as many samurai as I could from inheriting power. But I lost the job when I fell pregnant with you.' She smiles. 'I learned how to come and go, there's a trick to it. But it takes years of practice.'

So Mum was sort of nine to five at the Cemetery of Warriors. Imagine working with those drooling colleagues. What a terrible job. No wonder she's so lethal. Mum pa.s.ses me a gla.s.s of water and I take an athletic sip, gulping loudly.

'The sword,' I say between sips, 'it seemed alive,' more sips, 'controlling her somehow.'

Mum smooths her hands through her hair three times. She does this whenever she is nervous. I swirl the water around while the smoke of silence whirlpools around us. I watch my mother through the gla.s.s. I can't tell if it's the gla.s.s distorting her face, or sadness. I lower the gla.s.s and her face still shows a gentle form of agony, the kind you've lived with for years. She leans in and her voice lowers. 'The Serpent Sword infects whoever holds it with bad blood and turns them evil. They transform into the Red Samurai.'

'So Elecktra is the Red Samurai?'

Mum nods. 'Maybe the sword chose her because Elecktra is a young untrained samurai.'

'Her powers were so strong,' I say. 'There was levitation, she was telekinetic, the sword was on fire.' I look out the window and clouds have buried the sky. Lanternwood can have four seasons in one day. Rain slathers against the window. 'And it was as if ...'

Mum finishes my sentence. 'As if the Red Samurai was an equal match for the White Warrior?'

I nod. I feel tears drown my tonsils again and swallow quickly.

Mum whispers, 'We shouldn't even be talking about this. Too dangerous.' She drops her chin and folds her gaze into the palms of her hands.

'But Mum, I have to know. I have to help Lecky,' I say. I'll do whatever it takes to have my sister back to normal, whatever normal means these days.

Mum slowly looks up and brushes her hair behind her ears again. 'The only way you can help is to get the sword out of her hand.' She pinches me gently. 'And only the White Warrior is powerful enough to take on the sword and release its trance.'

'So if I get the sword off Lecky, she'll be a normal ninja?' I ask, crossing my stiff legs on the bed. Mum turns away from me. I look at her lovely familiar face - the beauty spot on her chin, the elegant arch of her eyebrows, the freckles on the peaks of her cheekbones - and wonder what secrets she is guarding. I wish she would tell me everything. She's always been so hard to read, so closed off, an unopened locket. I know little about her past. Mum looks down at her hands and her kimono slides off one shoulder. Something's wrong. I stare at her shoulder: the soft grooves of muscle from years of training, a battle scar the size of a flower bud, no freckles. She has never told me about her scar or much about her training, even when she knew I was in ninja training myself. She has not been involved at all. It's as if she's scared to admit that I'm a ninja now. I'm sure she would be an even better instructor than old Sabomin.

'Lecky will always be a samurai,' she finally chokes. 'No matter what we do.' She turns her face towards me. Tears coil in her eyes. 'Because her father is samurai,' she whispers.

'My dad was a samurai?' I squeak.

Mum shakes her head. 'Your father was a ninja. Someone I wish to forget.'

My thoughts explode like firecrackers. 'What, we have different dads?' I ask, begging her with my eyes for more information. I know I'm only young, but she's got to give me something. All my life my father has been a mystery.

Mum drags in a deep breath. 'Okay, Roxy, you deserve to know,' she says, then swallows hard, but a long silence follows. I put my hand on her bare shoulder and she turns to me. 'I had a, well,' she stumbles. 'I had a misguided romance.'

My mouth drops open and Mum gently pushes up my chin. As if she can read my mind, she answers my question. 'Yes, with a samurai.'

'But it's against the Warrior Peace Code to mix blood,' I blurt out.

'I know,' she says. 'But we were in love. When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't bear to give up the child. I knew the consequences. There was a fifty per cent chance he or she would be a ninja.'

'And a fifty per cent chance he or she would be a samurai,' I say.

'With mixed clan blood, there's no telling until the child begins training which clan the child will belong to. But I always had a feeling about Elecktra ...' The rain against the gla.s.s streaks shadow across her cheeks.

There's a jackhammer drilling on my brain. My forehead is hot. Lecky has always been different, but I never imagined it was because we were half-sisters.

'Mum, are there more of us with amazing powers? What if they want to kill me too? Does Art know? Where are my grandparents? How do a ninja and samurai live under one roof without killing each other?' The questions fly like arrows out of my mouth and I feel them pierce Mum's heart. My breathing quickens and I begin to feel carsick, like I did when my ninja powers were first coming in. My head sways and Mum helps me to lie back down. She rests her hands on my chest and places her chin on top.

'Art knows everything,' she says calmly. 'But I don't know the answers to your other questions.' I can't tell if she's speaking the truth or trying to calm me down.

'Mum, you have to tell me why Lecky and I have powers,' I plead.

'I really can't tell you,' she answers quickly.

'Well, do our fathers know why?'

Mum is quiet, then eventually says, 'Look, everything I've told you is for your ears only. If the Emishi ninja clan finds out, they'll kill us.'

'But it wasn't your f-fault,' I stutter. The word 'kill' echoes into the cave of silence between us. I can't believe this stuff actually happens. I promise Mum that I won't tell anyone about Lecky's father, but I know it's only a matter of time before someone finds out. Elecktra isn't exactly modest when it comes to her samurai powers.

Mum sits up and hangs her head again. She is enveloped in something that I've never seen on her before - shame. I worry about the Emishi ninja clan. I know that Mum used to work for them as an a.s.sa.s.sin.

'Who's my father?' I ask.

She lifts her head. There are pearly tears poised like divers on the rims of her eyes. 'Cat, I promise I will tell you. But right now, you have to figure out how to steal the Serpent Sword from your sister.' She reaches over and kisses me on the forehead.

'But how?'

'Ask Jackson. He'll know where all the young samurai are hanging out these days. He'll be more help to you than I am. Get the sword out of her hand, then we'll deal with how we're going to hide a samurai on ninja turf.'

I can't move. After being hit by all this information, I feel beaten. It's too much to take in.

Mum squeezes my hand. 'But first, how about some Hulk juice?'

'Today I'll definitely need it,' I say.

Chantell runs towards me. It must be important because she would never approach a Gate Two unless it was an emergency. Her hair is static with hysteria.

'Where's Lecky? Is she coming? She's been off Facebook for hours! Is she having a hair crisis?' she babbles. 'I have no one to walk through Gate One with. I've never walked in on my own. This is cray-cray!'

'Do you mean crazy?' I ask, puzzled.

'It's Lecky lingo, girl. Get with the program,' she snipes.

I spot Jackson striding in my direction. The knots in my stomach loosen. His blazer sleeves are rolled up and his tie is loose around his neck. He wears sneakers with his school uniform, but he won't get in trouble for it. There's something so gentle and polite about him that the teachers can never bring themselves to tell him off. But today I sense urgency.

'Hey, Rox. Good to see you home,' he says. 'We need to go.'

'Go where?' Chantell asks. 'Actually, I don't care what wave you're surfing. Lecky is MIA and I have no one to walk through Gate One with.' Her voice is so high-pitched it makes blood sing in my ears.

Jackson slides his eyes towards Chantell. 'Cool story,' he says. 'Needs more dragons.'

Chantell blushes. 'Don't you even care that she's missing?' she asks, her voice cracking.

Care? It's all I care about, but I have to act cool, otherwise the samurai at school will get suspicious and the last thing I need is more samurai interference.

'Rox, we need to leave. Now.' Jackson takes my hand, which tingles at his touch.

'Where do you think you're going?' Chantell purses her lips and a.s.sumes the teapot position - hand on hip, shoulders back, chin up.

'To get Lecky,' he says.

'You know where she is?' I ask, the bright sun shooting into my eyes in fierce-coloured shards.

Jackson nods, then leans close and whispers, 'They're everywhere. We have to get moving. Now.' I follow his gaze towards Gate One where a clan of kids walks through. They have the tall, muscular build and stony eyes of the samurai. Jackson makes the peace sign with both hands, then holds two fingers around each eye, imitating the ninja hood.

'What's that mean?' Chantell asks.

It means it's ninja time, but I don't tell her that. Chantell gives up and wanders back to her Gate One sanctuary.

As I turn away with Jackson, I see Cinnamon crossing the road to school. Her kitten, Rescue, walks beside her on a blue leash. I wave at her and she waves back, confused to see us heading in the opposite direction to Gate Two. I make a phone sign with my hand and hold it up to my ear. 'I'll call you later!' I yell across at her and she waves again.

Jackson leads me through the wide boulevards of Lanternwood. I know it's wrong to skip school, but finding Lecky is essential and worth any punishment Sergeant Major can dish out.

Thoughts pound the pavement as I run. I think of Mum falling in love with the enemy and having a baby. She sacrificed her clan, her family and her dojo, all for love. I've never seen her so vulnerable as when she was sitting in her black kimono on my bed. She must really believe in me to allow me to go with Jackson to find Elecktra on my own. The mystery of our fathers is overwhelming. I touch my cold cheek and remember the smudge of Elecktra's tears as she hugged me, so confused about her powers. We'll be sisters forever. But now we'll also be enemies forever. It's too painful to think about and I try to concentrate on keeping up with Jackson.

These are the streets on which I've followed Lecky to school, day after day; the streets we've bickered on, laughed through and defended ourselves against Mum's surprise self-defence lessons. The streets map Elecktra's and my relationship; our growing up together. I swallow a spike in my throat as I think about Lecky. Her stupid costumes and outfits, her silly boy-crushes I can't keep up with, ridiculous situations she's put me in like her acting audition with the tyre salesman. Then a thought reins me to a stop. What if Lecky never returns? What if the sword has stolen my sister? I'll be lonely forever and nothing, not a single step, street or corner, will ever be the same again. I try to talk to Jackson, but he hushes me. He is focused on reaching the cover of the bush before anyone sees us.

We arrive at the bush through a short cut out of town. The trees are ghostly white, licked in shadow and streaks of silver. The lanterns hang high in the trees like fairy lights. They switch on at night to illuminate the boundary of Lanternwood. Anything beyond the limits of the lanterns is outside the protection of the Warrior Peace Code. I tremble at the thought. We are moving into samurai territory where we will no longer be guaranteed safety.

'Are we going to Samurai Falls? Is that where Elecktra is?' I ask.

'Yes,' Jackson answers. 'The samurai claimed the Falls as their turf years ago. But we're not just going to - we're going in.'

My veins turn to ice. 'We're walking into our enemy's lair to demand the return of my sister? What if she doesn't want to come?' My mind flashes to Lecky, her red hair slicing the wind, her flaming sword thrashing the night. I have to remind myself that's not my sister.

'Dunno. She will.' Something in the simple conviction of his answer comforts me.

We duck behind the trees to change into our ninja suits, then hide our backpacks. We arm ourselves with nunchucks, stars and swords, then click on our utility belts holding water, food, rope, compa.s.ses and darts. We are well prepared, thanks to Jackson.

'Stay close,' he says, stepping outside of Lanternwood's boundary.

I walk close enough to smell his scent - fresh laundry and pasta sauce. He stops abruptly and I crash into him.

He looks down at me, our faces almost touching. 'Not that close.' He smiles, then his eyes cloud and lose their light. He is tense and alert.

'Are we there yet?' I joke.

He smiles again, visibly relaxing. 'Could take all day.'

'Is that all,' I say, but hope I can keep up. I take a slow sip of water, then swallow my fear. Be strong, I tell myself. I definitely don't want to show weakness in front of Jackson.

We hike up rocks, our feet nimble in our ninja shoes. Jackson grips the rocks effortlessly with tarantula limbs. I climb easily too and we move up the hill swiftly like two eagles swooping along a cliff face. The bush has an eerie stillness like the school yard on Sundays. Under any other circ.u.mstance, it would be so beautiful to be running through the bush with Jackson. I would pack a picnic and we could spend the day chasing our ninja stars through the trees, practising our balance on branches and chopping wood with our hands. Ninjas make the best lumberjacks.