Chapter 5

DO NOT KILL ME UNTIL YOU READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM. REPEAT AFTER ME- I WILL NOT FLAME MORPHERKIDVB, I WILL NOT FLAME MORPHERKIDVB…

Iorek Byrnison was suffering.

The heat beat down upon his overly covered skin, frying his brain cells and him into a state of mental disorder.

It was 70° Fahrenheit.

But the bear was made for cold, biting, frosting cold with ice and snow and sky, nothing more, nothing less, cold that penetrated the flesh of humans as the heat was now doing to him. The cold was the bears' lifeblood. They sought no warmer weather or bluer skies. Their habitat was not only the place where they lived; it was the place where they lived, where they felt utterly at home and content. Panserborjne were not only cold weather animals, they were a living extension of the north itself. They were prepared for the ice and snow, and greeted it like an old friend.

But no ice bear could be prepared for this.

It was not a new thing for humans, but the ice melting in the North, even in the upper reaches of the mountains, was something that was a vague phenomenon for men. But they, unlike the bears, were able to go about their daily life, doing their usual strange deeds and hypocritical actions, unknowing or uncaring, Iorek could never tell which.

The bears were not able to continue a thing, and as the Rashihan (Panserborjne for polar ice caps) melted, so did traditional was, slipping away as the lords of Svarsbard were forced to flee from their home, seeking someplace, any place, that would support them and their culture.

Originally they had moved north, trying to find a suitable place to start the rebirth of their fading civilization. But when none was to be found, Iorek himself, without allies or hope, went south in a desperate search for a Kingdom come.

To no avail.

Bravely he had marched into the fire, and bravely he would burn, if need be. For he was a fierce protector of his people, with a loyalty unmatched but of his to Lyra Silvertongue, the strange human.

But as he still stood by Lyra, his people scorned her and humans in general. They, the bears said, were the cause of this new heat, and their meddling with worlds had made it worse. People should stay in their own place, they said, and it was these who had most resisted the hopeless fight for survival.

Why leave our homelands? They had boomed, and the sound shot through Iorek's ears like fire. We are Panserborjne, Lords of Svarsbard! We will die bravely as in battle rather than leave as cowards!

So that was the real reason he had left, Iorek admitted to himself. For in a desperate fury to save his honor, he had sacrificed himself for his kingdom, trying to regain power.

And the bear wept now, for he had been corrupted as the hearts of men had, and had defied his nation, his people, himself.

And now he was lost. He searched for death, but at the same time fought it with a stubborn passion. He was alone, no way back, but I must go on, they were right, die in honor, was this honor?

He was beginning to lose himself.

His fevered mind rested, yet his stubborn atoms refused to spread, and his spirit defied his body, for he was a Panserborjne, and he was determined to find a way.

A.N- this chapter was to show the effects of the inter-world travel and to capture Iorek's spirit. It was not to torture any character in any way. No actual fictional characters were harmed in the writing of this chapter.

Is Iorek dead? Well, you'll just have to find out!

By the way, the 4th chapter is revised and has actual material now. It doesn't matter if you read this first, but you have to read it to understand the scheme of things. As with every chapter while I'm introducing setting and plot.