‘Can anyone see him?’ demanded Jack, peering over the rail and into the churning waters below.

‘No. He went under the waterfall. He hasn’t come up yet,’ said one of the pilgrims, eyeing Jack suspiciously.

‘He’s probably hit the rocks,’ said another.

Several more people emerged from the Hondo and ran over to look.

‘Hold on, there he is!’ shouted a pilgrim, pointing to the rocky pool.

Yamato briefly surfaced, gasping for air, then was immediately caught in the current and sucked back under.

‘Hey, that boy has our Jade Sword!’ cried one of the monks emerging from the Hondo’s inner sanctum. ‘Seize him!’

Jack glanced over the edge. He judged the butai was at least as high as the yardarm on the Alexandra, but he had seen sailors fall from greater heights into the ocean and survive. Could he make it?

‘Stop him! He has the sword!’ urged the monk.

Without deliberating any further, Jack leapt from the butai.

The air rushed past and, for a brief moment, Jack felt weightless, almost at peace. He caught a glimpse of Kyoto through the mist before plunging into the freezing waters.

The impact knocked the breath clean out of him and he swallowed large mouthfuls of water. Kicking hard against the weight of the sword, he broke the surface and retched several times before regaining his composure.

Jack looked around for Yamato, but he was nowhere to be seen. Taking several lungfuls of air, Jack dived under the swirling waters.

He swam towards the waterfall but still couldn’t see any sign of Yamato. Rocks loomed out of the murky waters and eddies pulled at Jack, threatening to hold him under forever.

His lungs reached bursting point and he was about to head back to the surface when something smooth brushed against his hand. Blindly, he grabbed for it, dragging the object towards him. He got an arm round the dead weight and kicked with both his legs, driving them both upwards.

Jack and Yamato broke the surface as one, only to be carried over the lip of the rock basin and down the gorge with the raging river.

Jack could hear people shouting as he tried to keep himself, Yamato and the sword afloat in the rapids. The water poured through the gorge, relentlessly bearing Jack and Yamato with it, Jack’s energy ebbing away as he desperately swam for the shore.

They were now far beyond the Hondo, the temple disappearing out of sight as they rounded a bend in the river, but fortunately the waters calmed and Jack somehow managed to reach the riverbank. With the last of his strength, he dragged the limp form of Yamato ashore.

Collapsing beside him, Jack lay there for a while, gulping air like a stranded fish in the heat of the sun. As he recovered, he vaguely wondered if he had been too late to save Yamato, but then he heard him splutter loudly, retch and come to.