As I run, I feel something tickle my ear. I turn and see a bright green flash. The dragonfly!

‘Get away from me!’ I scream at the jinn, batting the air with my hands.

‘You are smart to go home,’ he says in my ear.

‘I’m a coward,’ I say. ‘Leave me alone!’

I trip and fall to the ground and it is then, lying there, that an image of the white antelope comes to me. I look down, almost expecting to see four strong legs. I feel antlers spring from my head. I touch my hair. The antlers are in my imagination.

But the imagination is a real place, Jaddi told me.

A warm glow spreads through my body like a river delta filling after a long drought. I touch the necklace Jaddi made. Rima, my animal spirit, is giving me strength and showing me what to do.

Standing on my four strong legs, I shake my antlers at the hovering dragonfly. ‘I am not going home. I’m going to save Kalila!’ I shout as I race back to the river.

Through the trees I run. The roar of the river fills my ears. When I reach the bank, I see Mystic watching over Kalila, who is trembling and crying in the middle of the river.

‘Good boy!’ I call out to him. Then to the silver fox I cry, ‘Hold on, Kalila, I’m coming!’

I take one step and there’s a terrifying sound. The ground around me trembles. The Hollow Tree shakes. Then, as if in slow motion, the tree begins to fall, its roots tearing from the earth with an agonising groan.

‘Mystic!’ I scream.

The top of the tree crashes onto the other bank, sending mud, branches and leaves flying through the air. I cover my head with my hands.

After everything settles, I see the devastation. The Hollow Tree’s trunk is like a bridge spanning the river. Its roots look like tortured fingers reaching out to grab passers-by. My beautiful ancient tree, the one thing I thought would live forever, has been destroyed by the jinn. It’s as if my own heart has been ripped out.

Dazed, I look around for Mystic. I can’t see him anywhere. What if he’s lying under the fallen tree? I hold back the wail that pushes up my throat.

Then I hear Kalila’s pitiful cries. The silver fox is still crouched on the small log, struggling to keep her balance. I clamber over the enormous trunk of the Hollow Tree and run upstream along the bank towards her.

But she loses her balance and falls into the river. The current carries her downstream, past me and straight towards the Hollow Tree. Only there’s no space for her to pass underneath. She’s going to be crushed against it.

I hold my breath. But another violent eddy forms a whirlpool and sends her swirling in between some boulders. She tries desperately to scramble up onto one of them. Each time she does, her paws slip and she falls back into the water.

She goes under. Comes up. Tries again.

There’s only one thing for me to do.

The shock of the freezing water makes me gasp. For a moment I can’t breathe. Then I swim out to the middle and let the current take me. Soon I’m at Kalila’s side. She paws me in a panic, her claws tearing my shoulder. Before I know it she’s pushing me under. I try and reach the surface but my legs are tangled in some kind of weed. I kick them free. A searing pain rips up my left leg. I feel the sandpaper scrape of jagged rocks. Red bubbles fizz around me. This is my nightmare, I realise weakly.

You are mine now, I hear the river sing.

Then I see Kalila sinking. I grab a handful of silver fur and pull her up to the surface. My lungs are on fire as I gasp for air. With the last bit of strength I have left, I keep her head above the water.

I don’t know how long I can keep this up. The boulders are too slippery to climb. I feel my strength draining away, water filling my lungs. The sky, the woods are fading.

Let her go and I will cradle you, the river sings. Let me take you down . . .