Choices. All Shinobi will have to come to terms with death and for Duncan, his time to figure it all out comes entirely too early in his young life. Shinobi turn against each other, friends turn against friends, and death has a new meaning.

Excerpt
Akira and I recoiled, pressing our backs against the wall. Fear gripped our hearts; we tried our best to keep our breath under control. The troll sniffed the air and lowered his head. A massive hand swiped at the darkness as it tried to find the strange odor that annoyed it so much. Finally, unable to take the frustration, the troll released a mighty roar, raised a spiked club high above his head and brought it down where we were hiding.
We sprang into action; unfortunately we went in opposite directions. The cuff chain pulled taut, jerked us to a halt and our feet flew out from under us. We landed on our backs and rolled to our sides. Akira and I were lucky the spiked club landed just in front of us. The troll must’ve seen our movement as we scrambled to our feet and backed up. It swiped a hand through the air again and grabbed the chain that connected us. He roared as he lifted us above his head and with all his might he threw us back to the floor. I landed on my side and felt a sharp pain in my ribs. Akira did a face plant on the floorboards, but quickly got up and looked at me. He had a bloody nose.
The troll bellowed again and reached for us. Answering bellows echoed along the walls as other trolls joined the hunt.
“We need to move as one,” I shouted over the noise. “This way!”
With my weapon I slashed at the creature’s lower leg and it rose up in pain. The other two trolls lumbered closer to see what the matter was and noticed our movements. They also became agitated and drew their clubs over their heads.
Akira and I stayed low to the ground. As our training took over, we moved together, avoiding the clubs that simultaneously smashed to the floor. We ran around the steps, weaving in and out of the troll’s legs, and summarized that the troll’s eyesight was bad, but their sense of smell was excellent. The creatures would pin-point us soon if we didn’t do something.
We approached one of the subordinate trolls. Akira crouched low, on the balls of his feet, and gathered Ki to his legs. As soon as the creature turned to face him, Akira sprang up, slashed first at the creature’s side, and then close to where the kidneys would be on the back. The troll shrieked as she slashed at him with long, dirty claws yet my movements on the ground distracted the creature enough for Akira to latch onto her long hair and swing to the ground.
The leader turned swiftly, swinging his club with so much force he took out the entire stair. Splintered wood flew in every direction and the troll roared in anger that he had missed us. Now on the ground, Akira tucked his kama into his sash, grabbed onto the cuff on his wrist and started to spin in a circle. I ran around him, faster and faster we went until I was air-born. My feet hit one section of the wall and I ran with my sword at the ready. I slashed at the leader five times before I flipped to land on the floor. The troll let out a blood-curdling howl.
The third troll decided to come to the rescue, but Akira had other ideas. He pulled out a few throwing stars and whipped them at the troll’s lower legs. The creature screamed as they struck, one, two, three, up the side of his leg. Akira sprang into a dive roll and I moved with him. Side-by-side and completely in sync, we zigzagged back and forth until we were directly below the troll. I landed on one knee, the other positioned like a step, as Akira vaulted off my leg and slashed the troll across his neck with his kama.
Terrified of the tiny, horrible, biting things that hurt them, the trolls roared and turned to run. They slammed into the side of the building, smashed down a portion of the wall, and fell over each other. In their haste, they slipped on the wet rocks near the falls and fell in.
Akira and I stepped out into the fresh morning air and watched them.
I favored my side and watched the creatures thrash in the churning water. “I didn’t think trolls liked the water.”
“They don’t,” Akira said stifling a chuckle and wiped his bloody nose on his arm.