Flax was not the only one with a Dark and Terrible Secret.

On the far side of the Floating Forest, the Spellhound pup should have been in a warm, snoring huddle, draped over his mother and father in the sleeping den.

Instead, he was right up at the back of the den, near the tree roots.

By himself.

His parents had lain awake all night, worrying about him. Their quiet voices still drifted along the tunnel to his ears.

‘I’m sure there’s something wrong with him,’ his mother said, for the tenth or eleventh time.

She’s right, the pup thought miserably (for the tenth or eleventh time). There is something wrong with me.

‘Maybe it’s just growing pains,’ said his father.

‘He had growing pains when the moon was full,’ growled his mother. ‘I know what growing pains smell like. This is something else.’

The pup wriggled uncomfortably. And for the hundred and tenth, or hundred and eleventh time, he wondered if he should just crawl down the tunnel and tell his parents the truth.

Should he have told them?

Of course he should.

Would they still have loved him?

Of course they would.

But despite his great size, he was just a pup, and did not yet understand how love works.

So he stayed where he was.

His parents’ voices trailed away into sleep. The pup slept too, dreaming of storm clouds …

And then, suddenly, he was awake.

Something was wrong. A smell had drifted into the den.

A new smell.

A scorching, dangerous smell!

The pup scrambled to his feet. A whimper escaped him, and he felt his mother and father jolt awake.

Outside the den, something GROOOWLED!

It was not the sort of growl that belonged in the Floating Forest. It sounded bigger than the pup’s father. (And nothing was bigger than him!)

It sounded more ferocious than the pup’s mother. (And no one was more ferocious than her!)

The pup froze in terror.

Something was digging at the entrance to the den. Something huge—

‘Run, my child!’ howled the pup’s mother. ‘RUN!’

‘RUUUUUUUUUUN!’ howled his mother and father together.

The pup squeezed between the tree roots. He dug frantically at the thin wall of earth that hid the escape tunnel.

He burst out into the dim light.

He ran.