Dice with Death Chapter 6 The Samurai Last to go and no dice rolled. The Thief had taken his gambit and won. Now five sets of dice rolled across his mind. Each one a gamble made and a debt paid. Now only The Samurai was left to play. The last stoke to made in this dicey game. The hardwood floor creaked under his mailed boots. Groaning and protesting as his armoured form stalked the hall. Flickering lamps lit his way, cowering their flames under his intense gaze. A glint from his katana as he drew his loyal friend. An extension of his warriors soul. Floorboards announced his arrival and flickering lights his intent. Stood before two solid doors with brazen handles he drew his blade. No honour in hidden blades and secret plans. Japanese steel ate its way through the paper thin wood. Hanging in shock they still stood, a razor thin line slivered along the surface. A swift kick and doors collapsed inward. 'I was wondering when someone would come.' The mans voice came from the armchair facing the door. Suede a deep crimson backed his drawn out figure. Sleep starved eyes looked at him impassively. Cradled in his tired arms hung a shotgun double barrelled and loaded. 'I suppose this is the part I die.' he chuckled an unhinged sound. Lead sprayed across the room striking The Samurai in the chest. Lead worked against steel and punctured flesh. Gasping for breath he managed to stand. Staggering forth with his blade he lunged. Dice rattled in his ear and filled his vision. The incessant sound grating his nerves. Another shot and he was on the floor. His foe underneath him struggling for breath. Splinters rained down from the gaping wound above. Blackened stars in the wooden sky. The Samurai's steel sunk deeper and deeper. Slicing through bone and severing tissue it went. Floorboards ended its journey from flesh to panels. 'And so it ends.' the dead man said in his dying throws. As the pool spread with the mans honourable blood The Samurai stood. Clutching a ruined breastplate and ravaged chest he retreated from this battlefield. The dice had been rolled this night. His sword and the mans gun the die. Limping off to see his gamble through the The Samurai went to collect his prize. Blood money owed and his soul stained. A roll of the dice and his fate was drawn. ©Samurai2012