Jack hesitantly held out his arm. The Wind Witch took hold and with the tip of her dagger blade pricked his thumb. Jack grimaced as she squeezed out three drops of blood. Next she grabbed one of the wooden cages, opened it and shook out a large black spider. Before the creature scuttled away, she dropped it into the flames where it writhed and died. Jack covered his mouth and nose as his nostrils filled with the stench of burning flesh. Finally, the witch added a few strands of his hair and the flames turned bright green.

Leaning over her burning concoction, the Wind Witch breathed in a lungful of the fumes, then settled back. When she spoke next, her voice was deep, hoarse and seemingly disembodied.

‘To gain freedom, one must wake from death and return to life …’ Her body shuddered within its trance. ‘Pain will nourish your courage when the dragon returns …’ Curls of smoke spiralled out from her hooded face. ‘Your journey’s end has only just begun. The greatest sacrifice is yet to come –’

Suddenly the Wind Witch gave a piercing shriek and knocked the bowl to the floor, extinguishing the flames.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jack, alarmed at her erratic behaviour.

The Wind Witch shook her head, as if petrified out of her wits. ‘Some things are not meant to be seen.’

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. ‘Leave. Now!’

‘What did you see?’ Jack insisted.

But the Wind Witch collapsed senseless among her heap of rags.

Jack jumped up, his heart racing. What had she meant by her fortune-telling? And what could have been so terrifying to scare a witch?

Hurriedly emerging from the den, he blinked against the bright sunshine. Shaken as he was by the experience, in the cold light of day, his encounter now seemed little more than a bad dream. He tried to persuade himself that the woman had been playing a trick on him, perhaps for not having the money to pay. Still, it was a frightfully convincing performance …

Jack looked for Li Ling amid the throng of pirates, but couldn’t see her. Out of nowhere, Skullface stepped into his path.

‘Li Ling’s been summoned by Captain Kurogumo,’ he explained. ‘I’ll escort you from here on.’

There was something in the pirate’s manner that put Jack on his guard. He cautiously backed away.

‘Where do you think you’re going, gaijin?’ asked Skullface, his grin a little too wide.

‘To the citadel,’ replied Jack.

‘Then follow me,’ invited the pirate, gesturing innocently towards a rickety side ladder.

‘But that’s not the way,’ said Jack, turning to run.