'You've jinxed us,' Hester pronounced several hours of fruitless searching later.

After getting a key to the laboratory cut, Lee and Lyra had commenced hunting for Iorek as discreetly as possible. Lee had nursed a beer in a couple of different taverns while wheedling information out of drunk patrons, while Lyra had gone to pick the brains of the local rapscallions. But while everyone and everyone's daemon had an outlandish story about the bear or an opinion on him and his motives for being there, none had a clue as to his whereabouts.

'Something's not right,' Lee muttered to Lyra and Hester both as they sat on a bench in the Botanical Gardens next to a gravel path. 'Iorek's not exactly inconspicuous. He's either run into some trouble or he's hiding for a reason – which begs the question how he's managed to do it.'

'I bet it's the Gyptians again,' Lyra said, scratching patterns in the path with a stick. 'They're the only ones who could be hiding him. They got hiding places all over. They smuggle all sorts.'

Lee reflected that it was the most likely possibility.

'If that's true, they're not likely to give him up to the first person who comes calling,' he muttered. 'We'll have to try, though. He's good to have on your side in a fight, and I was hoping he'd help bust your father out.'

'We need to talk to the Gyptians anyway,' said Hester. 'I see the way your mind's working, Lee. You want to get into that lab by sneaking in through the underground river. We'll need a boat and someone to steer it.'

Lyra shoved herself off the bench and stood in front of them.

'I can find the Gyptians for us,' she said. 'I used to play with them all the time. I know where they'll be moored.'

She kicked at the loose gravel, Pantalaimon in stoat form, scampering around her and dodging the flecks flung at him.

'I wish we could find him,' she said with just a touch of wistfulness. 'I've never seen an armoured bear. I want to see what he looks like.'

'I know where he is,' said someone.

The comment came from a lanky youth with a ptarmigan daemon who had just happened to be walking past when Lyra was speaking. As Lee and Lyra both paused to stare at him, he blanched and began to scurry off.

'Hang on, pal,' Lee said, rising hastily. 'Didn't mean to scare you. We're just looking for this bear. The young lady here has never seen one, and we'd be mighty obliged if you'd tell us where he is.'

The youth hesitated for a moment, but some innate politeness prompted him to answer.

'I was cycling to Oxford through Badbury Forest,' he mumbled. 'I've got a job interview. I swear, I saw the bear in the forest. He was huge – white fur, armour… like out of a fairy tale. He saw me and disappeared… no idea how he did it, being so big. But he was there.'

Lee and Lyra exchanged glances.

'Thanks,' Lee said to the youth. 'By the way, young fella, seeing an armoured bear is considered lucky in the north. You'll do great at that interview, now you've seen him.'

The young man beamed before hurrying off, his daemon flapping alongside him. Lee watched him go before turning to Lyra.

'Well, that was a bit of luck,' he remarked. 'Only problem is, Badbury Forest is a sizeable place. We'll struggle to find Iorek in there, no matter how big he is.'

'No, we won't,' Lyra proclaimed, eyes glowing. 'We've got the pack to help us, remember?'

'She's right, Lee,' said Hester. 'Let's head back to the den and get searching. We need Iorek's strength – and besides, he might be able to tell you why you've turned into one of these wolfwalkers.'

'Come on!' Lyra said eagerly, pulling at his sleeve. Lee chuckled and together they left the park, ready to return to the den.

#

The wolves all hurried to greet them as they re-entered the den. Lyra spent a couple of minutes talking to them and stroking them (except for Rattail, who was busy cuddling an indignant Hester) and then rallied them to hunt for Iorek.

'We'll need your help with this, Mr Scoresby – you know what Iorek Byrnison looks like,' said Lyra. 'You'll have to tell them what to look for.'

'How do I do that, exactly?'

'It's the same as when you're a wolf. You think at them, like you did with me and your daemon. Only you'll have to keep it simple, they don't understand if it's too complicated.'

'Like with reflections, huh?'

'Yeah, like that. I'm going to tell them that Iorek's your packmate and we need to find him but keep hidden. They'll have no problem with that. You think about what Iorek looks like.'

'Don't strain yourself, Lee, with all this thinking,' snarked Hester.

'Less comment from the peanut gallery, thank you,' Lee snarked back, smiling a little. It felt damn good to be exchanging quips and insults with Hester again. 'Right, okay, here goes…'

He felt a fool, but shut his eyes gamely, and tried to picture Iorek in his mind. His white fur, those impenetrable eyes, his slow but incomprehensibly strong movements, his keen senses his gargantuan size, how he would not attack provided they kept their distance…

Lee waited until he had a good clear mental picture of Iorek, and then willed it to appear to the wolves.

There was a chorus of surprised-sounding yips and barks, and he guessed he'd been successful. He opened his eyes to discover Lyra had closed hers and was probably instructing the wolves in their search. The wolves were milling around, excited, and as soon as Lyra opened her eyes they began trotting towards the tunnel, Nose-scar and Rattail in the lead.

'Let's follow them,' said Lyra. 'It's better than waiting here.'

They followed the wolves out of the den and watched as they merged into the dappled green and russet of the woodland, so quick and quiet that in half-a-moment it was as if they had never been there at all.

Lyra and Lee followed at a more sedate pace, almost sauntering through the woods. They spoke little, neither feeling the need for conversation, but content in one another's company. Hester scampered along at Lee's side, while Pantalaimon turned into a red squirrel and leapt from tree to tree.

They had almost reached the river they had crossed as wolves a couple of nights before when the young male wolf came pelting through the undergrowth, barking excitedly.

'They've found Iorek Byrnison!' Lyra exclaimed. 'Good work, Tracker!'

'That was quick,' remarked Lee, impressed. 'And since when is he called Tracker?'

'A couple of nights ago,' grinned Lyra. 'You named him, remember?'

Lee laughed at Tracker, who was leaping about like a frisky lamb.

'I guess I did,' he smiled. 'Come on, Tracker, show us where old Iorek is.'

#

Iorek wasn't far away, as it turned out.

Tracker led them to a glade fifteen minutes' walk away (at their human pace, not wolfish). Iorek was standing in the middle, head moving from side to side like a snake as he followed the movements of the wolves circling the clearing.

Lee thought of telling Lyra to hang back a moment but discarded the idea. The great bear was an honourable warrior. He would never harm a child.

'Afternoon, Iorek,' he said as they strolled up to the glade. 'Fancy meeting you here.' Lyra giggled at this, and Iorek turned to meet them.

'Lee Scoresby,' he growled. 'I am glad you are well. I have been seeking a wolfwalker in these woods –'

The bear went so still, and so silent Lee thought for an absurd moment that he'd suffered some great wound. Then he thought that the bear was shocked by Lyra's presence, but Iorek had scarcely glanced at her. He came to a halt on the edge of the clearing and waited.

After a moment, Iorek strode up to Lee, head tilted so he could examine him more closely. He surveyed the aeronaut, from his boots to his hat, and his gaze lingered when he met Lee's eyes.

'Something's happened to you, Lee,' he pronounced.

'Plenty has happened to me over the last couple of days,' Lee answered cheerily, though he couldn't suppress a shiver at Iorek's words.

'No, not your usual escapades,' Iorek said, ignoring Lee's jesting. 'Something's happened to you. Something on the inside. Your eyes… there's a light in them. A light that wasn't there the last time I saw you.'

The bear looked down at Lyra. She faced him without a hint of fear.

Iorek looked from Lyra to Lee, and back again.

'Lee…' he said at long last, voice soft with shock, as rattled as the aeronaut had ever seen him. 'You're a wolfwalker.'

'That I am,' Lee acknowledged. 'Came on sudden-like.'

'But… how?'

'We were hoping you could tell us,' Lee sighed, and Hester's ears drooped slightly. 'But before we discuss it, Lyra, meet Iorek Byrnison. Iorek, this is Lyra.'

'I'm glad to meet you, Iorek Byrnison,' said Lyra. 'I've been wanting to ever since Mr Scoresby told me about you.'

'And I have been wanting to meet you ever since Lee told me about you,' Iorek answered courteously. 'I came to this land in search of a wolfwalker, Lyra. I am glad to have found you.'

The pack had gathered on the fringes of the glade during this conversation, watching the newcomer with mingled curiosity and caution. Lyra beckoned Nose-scar and Rattail close.

The leading wolves came forward a couple of paces, then stopped. Lyra frowned and motioned again, but the wolves didn't move.

'Come and meet Iorek!' she said, but Rattail shook herself, shivers running through her fur in a way that expressed an emphatic no.

'Do not compel them,' said Iorek. 'I will not hurt them, but I could, and the wolves will know it.'

Lyra looked disappointed, but nodded agreement. Pantalaimon jumped down from the tree he was clinging to, and nestled against her face, regarding Iorek with bright eyes. Iorek studied him in return for a moment and then spoke to Lee again.

'As I mentioned, I have been searching for you since yesterday, Lee. I was approached by some Gyptians with an interesting proposition. Two of their number had gone missing, and they believed they were abducted. In exchange for my assistance in freeing them, we agreed they would smuggle me out to the forest, though I did not tell them my reasons for wishing to escape Oxford.'

Iorek paused and looked at Lee with just a hint of wryness.

'However, early this morning the missing Gyptians returned with an outlandish story. They had indeed been abducted but had been freed by two wolves. One small one with golden fur, another massive one with black fur. Lee, am I correct in thinking this was you and Lyra?'

'You're right,' Lyra piped up. 'Mr Scoresby's been helping me try and rescue my father. We had to get the Gyptians out because they were being used to blackmail the other Gyptians into transporting my father somewhere. He's been taken prisoner and kept in Jordan College by the City Council but the woman who wanted to move him isn't part of –'

'Let's move this discussion somewhere more comfortable,' Lee interrupted before Lyra could befuddle them all. 'Will the wolves be all right with us taking Iorek back to the den?'

Lyra held a moment's silent conversation with Nose-scar and Rattail and reported that the wolves were content with Iorek knowing the den's location but wished him to remain outside. As there wasn't the remotest possibility of Iorek actually fitting inside, he readily agreed to this and they set off back to shelter.

The walk was comparatively silent, with Iorek deep in thought, the wolves keeping a respectful distance, Lee wondering how on earth to explain everything in coherent fashion and Lyra absorbed in gazing at Iorek. Soon enough, they reached the wolves' den. The pack flitted through the tunnel, while Lee and Lyra arranged themselves on a fallen tree trunk and Iorek lent against the bluffs, and explanations and accounts of the past few days commenced.

The sun had sunk considerably lower in the sky by the time everyone was finished. Lyra's situation took a great deal of clarification, as did everything that she and Lee had done and learned over the past few days. Iorek's account of his doings was much shorter. The bear was never loquacious, but his story was simple: he had been approached by the Gyptians, smuggled onto a boat, waited there while they tried to locate the missing men and given a lift to the forest as thanks after the kidnapped Gyptians returned and their story told. He was far more interested in Lee's becoming a wolfwalker.

Lee and Lyra told him everything they knew: Lyra and Lee's first encounter, being bitten, sleeping in the wolves' den, Lee's first night as a wolf, his sharpened senses, with Iorek occasionally interrupting to ask a question. But when the great bear's curiosity was finally satisfied, he was forced to admit he had no idea why or how Lee had been turned into a wolfwalker.

'I had no idea berserkers – or wolfwalkers, for that matter – could be made, rather than born,' he informed them. 'I have never heard of such a thing.'

'Shoot,' muttered Hester. Lee glanced at her worriedly. She was still less than happy with Lee's being a wolfwalker, though she hadn't been openly antagonistic about it after yesterday.

'That thing you mentioned, about the light in Mr Scoresby's eyes… will people be able to see it too?' queried Lyra, mercifully distracting everyone.

'No. It is something only a bear can see,' Iorek rumbled. 'Speaking of seeing, Lee, as your friend, I must ask you to return to Bolvangar with me. I have found what I was hunting for, and I would appreciate it if you would lend your assistance to the problems plaguing the panserbjørne.'

'Assuming this wolfwalker thing is permanent, I'd be glad to,' Lee answered, aware of Lyra and Pantalaimon turning sharply towards him. 'But I've promised Lyra my help in rescuing her father, and I can't go anywhere until that's done.'

The apprehension drained out of Lyra like water. Iorek nodded his great head.

'I understand. Then, I also pledge my support to rescuing your father, Lyra. A wolfwalker must be free. One caged is an affront to all that is right and good.'

Lyra smiled, delighted. Lee grinned at Iorek.

'We're mighty glad to have you on board, old friend. We'll be needing your strength. And we'll also be needing to talk to these Gyptians of yours,' he said. 'I'm forming a plan to rescue Asriel, but we'll need a boat and someone to steer it.'

'I will take you both to the Gyptians tomorrow,' Iorek promised. 'May I spend the night here? I have lingered too long among men. The reek of fuel and human waste has all but driven me mad.'

'Of course, you can,' Lyra beamed. 'You'll see Mr Scoresby as a wolf, then.'

'I look forward to – wait,' the bear said, turning his muzzle up to the sky. 'Lee, something is coming. Be ready.'

'Lyra, into the tunnel.'

'But I can –'

'Now, dammit!'

Lyra retreated. Lee drew his revolver.

A dark blur glided through the trees so skilfully that not a leaf stirred, although it was moving as fast as a sound through the woods. It landed in the clearing in front of the bluffs and resolved itself into a beautiful woman. Her daemon, a grey goose, landed beside her a moment later. She carried a branch of frost-pine and was dressed in rags of black silk draped about her slender form.

'Lee Scoresby,' she greeted him.

'Serafina Pekkala,' Lee breathed.

Author's Notes: I couldn't do a His Dark Materials fic without featuring Serafina Pekkala! I've decided that Kasia is a grey goose rather than a gyrfalcon as in the TV series, as I'm already taking quite enough liberties with the source material.

Till next time, dear readers...