Chapter Six: Grimgnaws
The next morning, two of the tribeswomen clothed Will and Lyra in heavily jerkins and cloaks of animal skins. Jordey entered, wearing something similar, and his daemon, Sator, had taken the form of a brown bear cub. They met Dr. Rosenberg at his hut and had an interesting breakfast as he told them a little about his research. Just when they were finishing up, conveniently enough, a horn sounded. Dr. Rosenberg grew stiff.
"What's wrong?" Jordey asked. "The alarm horn." Rosenberg said. He told them to stay inside and he hastily went out from the hut.
The three children met in a circle. "What do you think is going on?" Will asked. Lyra shrugged. From the look of Jordey's face, he wanted to look out of the flap of the hut, but was restraining himself with great effort. After a few minutes, Lyra gave out a huff of frustration. "I say we go find out anyway."
"But Dr. Rosenberg told us to stay here, Lyra."
"Yeah, I agree with 'im, Lyra. We should stay here."
An argument would've broken out, but it didn't. Because at that exact moment, a wolf the size of a man burst in through the flap of the tent.
Lyra screamed. Will jumped to his feet and motioned to draw the Subtle Knife. But then he remembered that he no longer had it. He looked back at the wolf. Not only was the black furred creature the size of a man, but it stood on two feet like a man. It also wore a suit of solid gray armor. "It's like one of the armored bears," Lyra whispered to Will. Will agreed, but the armor was the only thing this creature had in common with the kin of Iorek Brynison. Evil was the epitome of this creature, and it leaked from behind its eyelids. The creature circled around the small group and their daemons, but did not attack, its eyes turning from one to the other.
Lyra clutched Pan tightly to her chest, Will raised up his arms to block the wolf from Lyra and Jordey. The wolf licked its lips in a way that was most unsettling, and then charged at them. The next thing that Lyra and Will saw was the wolf's teeth in Jordey's left arm. Apparently, he had tried to be a hero. The wolf tightened its jaws around Jordey's arm. But the boy stood unbowed, grabbed the creature by the throat and began to squeeze. Little by little, the creature released its grip, and Jordey's grip around the wolf's throat tightened. The wolf was lacking oxygen, so it released its jaws completely to get a breath. This gave Jordey just enough time to ram it head-first, quite literally. The wolf fell to its knees and, at the last second, slashed Jordey in the ribs. The wolf was dead, and Jordey was badly injured. Dr. Rosenberg burst in, saw the wolf on the ground, and then saw Jordey.
"Dear God," he said. "Maybe I can help," came a voice from behind him. It was the Master of Jordan, clothed in artic gear and a gunshot slung over his shoulder. His raven daemon was on his shoulder. He took some bloodmoss out of his satchel and applied it to his son's wounds. "I don't know if that'll help," Dr. Rosenberg said. "They're very few wounds that bloodmoss can't help." Lyra tried to re-assure him. "No, Jordey's shouldn't have been scratched in the first place." Rosenberg said. "Why do you say that?" The Master asked. "That was a black wolf, or a grimgnaw, as the tribespeople call them. They bite humans and other animals and turn them into their own kind. Once they're bitten, it's too late. Sure, there are medicines that can delay the change, but once they're bitten, they're bitten. If they don't constantly take the medicine, they change. And even when they take the medicine, they still act as the grimgnaws do."
A grim tale, to be sure. The entire group was silent for a long moment, and then they snapped to the present. "We need to escape!" Lyra said, alarmed. "There might be more!" Rosenberg agreed, and then left to send out the order. The children packed their things and left the tent with the Master (who carried Jordey). They met Dr. Rosenberg at the Stables, as directed. Will and Lyra rode one horse, The Master and Jordey rode another and Dr. Rosenberg took the last one. They then joined a caravan headed farther north. "Where are we going?" Will asked, pulling the reins on his horse so they could catch up to Dr. Rosenberg.
"To the Silver Tower."
