‘It’s lucky that Saru likes me,’ said Jack, although he had no idea how he would take it without the Pirate Queen noticing. He’d figure that out once he was reunited with his friends.

‘Good luck!’ cried Li Ling as Jack sprinted up the gangway into Pirate Town.

The main street was crammed with marauding pirates, elbowing one another out of the way as they seized their precious loot. Some were raiding the shops and stores. Others were ransacking the cabins of their recently dead friends, scuffles breaking out each time a highly valuable item was discovered.

Jack rushed past, dodging between the Wind Demons and their fights. He clambered up ladders and along the suspended bamboo walkways. The citadel seemed impossibly high up and he was aware that with every passing second the Sea Samurai were sailing closer and closer.

Finally, with his heart pounding and his lungs burning, Jack reached the top level. As he staggered past the door to Captain Kurogumo’s house, he remembered his Shizu swords were inside. Sliding open the shoji, he hurried into the main room and over to the corner where he’d seen the treasure chest and weapons. He spotted his daishō immediately. His hand was almost upon the red hilt of his katana, when he felt the sharp tip of a knife in his back.

Behind him, silent and still as a statue, stood the white-faced geisha.

‘Just claiming what’s mine,’ explained Jack calmly.

The geisha said nothing. She merely pressed the blade harder into him. Jack hastily moved his hand away from the katana’s hilt and the pressure eased a touch.

‘Stealing from a pirate?’ tutted Captain Kurogumo, stepping out from the balcony.

‘Samurai aren’t thieves,’ replied Jack. ‘You know they belong to me.’

‘Once belonged to you,’ corrected Captain Kurogumo.

‘Tatsumaki said I could have them back, for defeating the Nihon Maru and saving the Wind Demons.’

‘Did you save us?’ challenged Captain Kurogumo, baring his shark-like teeth in a flash of anger. ‘We’re fleeing from the Sea Samurai. Our fleet is decimated. Pirate Island is lost to us forever. Skullface was right about you. You’ve cursed the Wind Demons!’

A great cheer echoed up from below – the Killer Whale had entered the lagoon.

‘Captain Kujira survived after all,’ remarked the pirate captain with a twisted smile. ‘Unlike you, gaijin,’ he added, drawing his sword.

With the geisha’s tantō close at his back, Jack dared not move. Before he could even reach for his katana, Captain Kurogumo’s kissaki would pierce his heart in a split second and he’d drop to the floor, stone-cold dead.

So this is to be my end, thought Jack. Run through by a dishonourable pirate. No chance to free my friends or see Jess ever again.

Then the Killer Whale opened fire, its cannon booming as if the volcano itself was exploding. The cliff walls shuddered under the impact of heavy iron shot.