It was a distressingly slow, pain-racked journey back to the safety of the den.

Iorek was unable to put his injured leg to the ground and grunted in pain every time he hopped forward on his one good leg. He didn't waste any breath on complaining, but Lee, who knew him well, was unnerved by how readily Iorek accepted his suggestion that they pause for a rest when they were half-way there. That, more than anything, told him how much Iorek must be hurting.

Serafina Pekkala brought up the rear, murmuring words in a language that Lee did not understand and running her hands over the trunks of certain trees – all elder trees, he realised. She caught him looking and explained that she was casting a spell to conceal their route through the woods. The elder trees had long been friends to the witches. She said no more, but Lee made a mental note to ask about this connection when he was less preoccupied.

At long last, the bluffs concealing the wolves' den loomed into view, a denser darkness against the backdrop of the night. Lee heaved a secret sigh of relief – which turned to consternation as Iorek collapsed, his endurance at an end.

'Hang on, old fellow,' he said, placing a hand on Iorek's uninjured shoulder. A moment later, something – someone – came bolting out of the tunnel. It was Lyra, human, Pantalaimon as a fox beside her.

'Mr Scoresby!' she called. 'And Iorek – oh!' she cried, skidding to a halt as she saw his wounded leg. His paw was grotesquely swollen and there were ugly black streaks showing through his white fur. The wound from where the stinger had inserted the poison was red, raw and weeping some foul yellow pus.

'Ma'am? Can you do anything?' Lee asked Serafina Pekkala.

'I can prepare a poultice to draw out the poison, but it will take time to prepare. Time, I suspect Iorek Byrnison does not have,' she answered. As she spoke, her daemon came flying down to land beside her.

'Lyra, you told us wolfwalkers have healing magic,' Kasia said. 'It is Iorek's only chance now. He is in serious danger of losing that limb.'

Lee flinched inwardly. A missing leg was a death sentence for a panserbjørn. Iorek would be unable to hunt, unable to fight… his only option would be a wretched life hanging around towns in the Arctic, doing odd jobs for whatever scraps humans deigned to throw him. A quick death would be preferable.

'Lyra?' he said gently, seeing her hesitate. 'If you can help Iorek, you must.'

'I – I've never healed anything this bad before,' she confessed, her fingers playing with the buttons on her coat. 'I'm not sure if I'm strong enough.'

'Help her, Lee!' said Hester.

Both Lee and Lyra turned to stare at his daemon.

'You're a wolfwalker, same as Lyra,' she continued. 'Stands to reason you've got the same magic. Give her a hand.'

'She's right!' gasped Lyra.

'Yeah, but I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do!' Lee exclaimed, uncertain in his turn.

'I'll tell you what to do,' said Lyra. 'I'd struggle by myself, but together…'

Iorek lifted his head to peer blearily at Lee.

'Please, Lee,' he murmured. That made Lee's mind up for him.

'Okay,' he said. 'Lyra, you take the lead. Tell me what I'm doing here.'

She nodded and grabbed hold of his hand, drawing him to kneel by Iorek's injured leg.

'Iorek,' she murmured. 'Iorek, my dear, we're going to have to touch your leg. Brace yourself.'

She waited a moment, and then placed her and Lee's hands atop the already festering wound. Iorek shuddered and groaned, but then lay still. Lee, not by nature a squeamish man, squirmed at the vile-smelling pus squelching beneath his fingers, but didn't pull away.

'Mr Scoresby,' Lyra continued, mercifully diverting his attention. 'You got to listen carefully. This isn't the same as when we ask the wolves to do something – just by thinking about it. First, we've got to summon our magic, whatever it is inside that makes us wolfwalkers. Close your eyes.'

Lee did as she said.

'Now, we need to think about what it's like to be a wolf. When we're wolves in the forest. Remember how it made you feel, everything you can do – how strong you are, how fast, how all your senses are sharper…'

For a moment Lee wrestled with his awareness of everything surrounding him. He was a man who couldn't afford to suffer a lapse in concentration. Flying, fighting, negotiating – his very survival depended on his keenness, his alertness. And his friend was in pain, lying prone before him…

But Lyra's words conjured feelings, memories. The ground beneath his paws: cool stone, crumbled rich-scented earth, crackling leaves. Running, faster than any man ever could, the landscape flowing away in a blur, the air swirling over and around him. The thrill, the ferocious joy of the hunt, the salty blood and meat he'd consumed on that first unforgettable night…the pack, their affection and protection…the adventures he'd had when he went forth as a wolf, the ones he was going to have…keeping one eye on Lyra, mischievous scrap that she was…the other eye for Hester and her guidance…

'I feel it,' he murmured.

'Feels good doesn't it? It feels right.'

'It sure does.'

'We're doing a balancing act, my father says. Half human and half wolf. Half wild and half civilized. Remember what it's like to be wolf but remember you're a human too. All the things that make you a man, think of them, too. At the same time. Find your balance.'

'I remember,' said Hester softly. 'You're an aeronaut. Remember flying across the North? The cold winds, the sky – so much sky. When we flew over Nova Zembla two years ago we saw the aurora making shapes in the sky, like a city or a great mountain. And when the sun was coming up, we couldn't tell where the earth ended, and the sky began. You like a shot of whisky at the end of a hard day. We thought I was a jackrabbit till you were twenty-four and we learned I was an Arctic hare. You hate fighting and you're damn good at it. You've never been able to walk away from someone who needs help and you've never learned to keep your mouth shut…'

'Thanks, Hester.'

'Anytime.'

Lyra giggled softly.

'Think of them both,' she carried on valiantly. 'You're both of them. Neither one nor the other and both at the same time.'

'Okay...'

'And now we have to think of that balance, that rightness, and we have to pass it into Iorek. Hold it in your thoughts and your heart, and then let it pass down your arm and into his wound and heal it. I'll do it first…'

Lee still had his eyes closed where he was kneeling beside Iorek, but he could feel Lyra's magic – that rising warmth, an ember glowing hotter and hotter, shimmering golden – passing into the wound Iorek had suffered…

And then he felt something rising in himself. What made him a man, what made him a wolf, what they shared, what was different, its beauty and rightness, and it flowed up from his core and along his arm and into Iorek…

He heard Hester gasp, a soft exclamation from Kasia, Pantalaimon shuffling. Had he but known it, the golden tendrils of light that Lyra had evoked when she healed his arm were furling and twining about their joined hands, rising higher, swaying as if to music, and then they coalesced into the shape of two wolves, who prowled the air and paced in a circle before they curled against each other and then leapt upwards and down in a graceful dive towards Lee and Lyra's hands, where they dissolved in a fountain of gilded sparks.

Lee felt cold settle on his skin, felt his arms quiver with tension. Underneath his hand, Iorek stirred.

He opened his eyes at last, looked at Iorek's leg. It was no longer swollen, and the black streaks were gone. Lyra pulled their hands away. The wound was scabbed over, still red and sore but healing. Iorek grunted and managed to sit up, testing the leg carefully before resting his weight upon it.

'Thank you, Lyra,' he said. 'And thank you, Lee.'

Weariness washed over Lee in a wave, and he fell backwards and lay on the ground, laughing a little at the sheer strangeness and wonder of it all. Hester came to him and pressed herself against his arm, and he managed to raise it and tickle her under her chin with his clean hand.

Lyra loomed over him a moment later.

'You'll be fine in a few minutes,' she said, stumbling slightly over the words. 'Healing takes it out of you when you're not used to it.'

'I shall go and heat up your supper,' said Serafina, and Lee turned his head to see her approaching the tunnel entrance, Kasia at her heels. She paused before she entered and glanced back at him and Lyra with an odd smile on her face.

'That was a privilege to witness, Lyra, Mr Scoresby,' she said, and vanished into the den.

'What did she mean?' Lyra asked, baffled.

'I'll tell you all about it later,' said Pantalaimon, turning into a magpie and hopping round her in a near-frenzy. 'But before that, we've got great news! I tried to tell you earlier, but you wouldn't listen.'

'I had other things to think about, Pan,' Lyra muttered.

'Such as running off and getting yourself caught by hunters?' Iorek grumbled, standing up and fixing her with a dark glare. 'You are a cub, Lyra, and all cubs make mistakes, but you were unforgivably foolish tonight.'

Lyra winced and stared at the ground. Lee, hearing this, managed to prop himself up on his elbows and regard her. She was a picture of dejection: head hanging, eyes red and swollen from crying. But the stubborn set of her mouth suggested she wasn't entirely beaten.

'I'm sorry, Iorek,' she muttered. Her voice was sullen but there was no insincerity in it. 'I know it was stupid, and it got you hurt. I just – I'm sorry, all right?'

Iorek harrumphed. Lee said nothing. The bear had a right to be angry with Lyra, considering what her rescue had almost cost him. Yet Lee had a feeling Iorek wasn't so much angry as trying to get her to acknowledge her mistakes.

'What about you?' Lyra asked. It took Lee a moment to realise that Lyra was speaking to him. He looked at her and quirked a questioning eyebrow. Lyra was abashed, face flushed pink, but she met his eyes squarely.

'You should be yelling at me,' she murmured.

'I know I should,' Lee sighed. 'But I haven't got the energy.'

He shoved himself into a sitting position, grabbed some dry leaves to wipe the pus from his hand, and regarded her.

'Lyra, honey, if you want to do dumb things and risk your life, there ain't a great deal I can do to stop you,' he said gently, though the admission cost him dearly. 'But when other people get hurt because of it, then I gotta tell you, that ain't fair on them. Doesn't matter whether you meant it to happen or not.'

'You didn't have to come for me,' Lyra began. She didn't speak defiantly, but the words cut Lee deep.

'You're an ungrateful brat, you know that?' he asked with sudden harshness. 'Iorek pledged his support to you. He's honour-bound to help you, and lemme tell you, the panserbjørne take promises seriously. He had no choice. Neither did I. You're under my care. So, if you're gonna get us killed, make sure it's for something worthwhile, will you?'

Lyra's face was drained of blood by the time Lee finished speaking. She stared at the ground, hugging herself. Pantalaimon's form had shifted into that of a puppy, a timid little creature with tail tucked between his legs.

'Ah, hell,' muttered Lee as he saw how shaken she was. 'Lyra, honey, I know that was a tough thing to hear. But…seeing you in that cage just about drove me mad. I don't know how I hung onto my temper. There's enough risk in this enterprise without you adding to it. You may be a wolfwalker, but that ain't reason enough to lose control every time you get upset. You aren't a beast.'

'That man said we were beasts,' Lyra murmured. Beside Lee, Hester winced, and Lee knew she was remembering her unthinking words from a couple of nights ago. He leaned over, scooped her up with gentle hands and held her close to show all was forgiven.

'That man's a deluded moron,' Lee said firmly, as Hester burrowed against him, her little heart thumping against his larger one. 'He thinks he's doing God's work, but what he's doing is causing death and destruction while dressing it up in pretty words like duty and crusade. He doesn't know anything about wolfwalkers really are. Ignore him.'

Lyra didn't respond at once, playing with the buttons on her coat again.

'But is that why you want to give it up?' she asked after a few moment's thought. 'Why your daemon doesn't like it?'

Pantalaimon heaved a sigh.

'Ah, yeah,' Lee realised. 'Look, Lyra, about that –'

'Lee's staying a wolfwalker,' Hester interrupted, turning to look Lyra in the eye. 'We came to an understanding, me and him. It was nothing to do with him being a beast, Lyra. I was wrong to ever call him that. It was me struggling with it, but no more. I guess I've found my own balance.'

'That's what I've tried to tell you five times now,' grumbled Pantalaimon. Hester jumped down from Lee's arms and nuzzled him sympathetically.

Lyra's jaw dropped.

'Truly?' she breathed. 'Really and truly?'

'Yeah, I'm staying as I am,' said Lee. 'Hester and me had a long overdue talk. I owe you an apology, Lyra. If we'd done the talking bit earlier, we probably could've avoided everything that happened tonight –'

Lee got cut off as Lyra flung her arms around his neck. He smiled and hugged her back. Pantalaimon turned into a cat and twined his way around Hester, who tutted but pawed at him affectionately.

'So, you see,' he said, pulling back so he could look Lyra in the face. 'We're staying pack, Lyra, and if something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. You hearing me?'

'I do,' she nodded. 'I feel the same way. The pack has to stay together.'

'Quite right,' said Iorek, making them both jump. The bear huffed a laugh, and sat back down, making himself comfortable.

'Let me rest, and I shall be good as new coming morning,' he murmured. 'I suggest you both do the same.'

'After dinner – though it's probably closer to breakfast now,' remarked Lee as he let go of Lyra and hauled himself to his feet. 'Come on, Lyra, let's get some stew. My belly thinks my throat's been cut.'

Lyra grinned and scampered off towards the tunnel, Pantalaimon lolloping behind her.

'You've acquired a cub, Lee,' pronounced Iorek as she vanished into the entrance.

'Only till we rescue her father, Iorek,' Lee answered as he followed Lyra. He didn't see Hester rolling her eyes at the armoured bear, nor the oddly human grin on Iorek's bearish face.

#

It wasn't as late as Lee had thought, but it was late enough that both he and Lyra were ravenous. The stew, despite being a tad overcooked, vanished in minutes, as did the biscuits Lyra had been saving for a special occasion.

The wolves all returned to the den over the course of the evening, having successfully hidden from the hunters and returned when it was safe to do so. Lyra had a word with Nose-scar and Rattail and learned the Magisterium forces had all left the woods.

'We'll have to assume they'll be back,' said Lee. 'We need to talk to the Gyptians and rescue Asriel as soon as possible. It's going to be too dangerous to stay in the woods with Danvers and his troops after us.'

He regarded the wolves, who were resting in various attitudes around the den.

'Lyra, does your father have a back-up plan for the pack? Somewhere for them to go if it gets too risky in Badbury Forest?' he asked.

Lyra nodded an affirmation, as Lee had hoped she would.

'He told me about it not long after I came to live with him,' she said. 'There's a route out of the forest and through the countryside, up to the Lake Country. Lots of woodland, plenty of prey. That will be our new home if we need it.'

'Good,' said Lee. 'I have a feeling they'll be needing it. After tonight, the Magisterium's going to be crawling all over the forest like cliff-ghasts.'

'What do you intend to do?' queried Serafina.

'Get Lyra's father out of Jordan,' Lee answered. 'Make sure the pack has somewhere to go. And once Asriel's free and the wolves are safe, we run. As far from here as possible.'

'To the North?' Lyra asked, a hopeful note in her voice.

'Probably,' Lee said, smiling a little. 'I have my balloon – assuming it's still safely hidden. There's plenty of room for three people and old Iorek out there. Well, not plenty, but enough.'

'I am glad to hear it,' rumbled Iorek from outside the den.

Everyone smiled at that.

'I will stay and assist in rescuing Lyra's father,' Serafina Pekkala said. 'And help you with your return to the North, should it be needed.'

Lee didn't quibble. Serafina Pekkala had seen the risks involved and would not offer her help if she wasn't willing to see it through to the end.

'I'd appreciate that, ma'am,' he answered. 'We need all the allies we can get. Speaking of which, first thing tomorrow, I'm going to speak to Iorek's Gyptians. See if they'll agree to lend us a boat and someone to steer it. My plan is to get into Jordan via the underground river. Iorek can bust through any walls down there, and then we can get into the lab and get Asriel, thanks to Van Buskirk.'

'It's gonna be dangerous,' murmured Hester.

'So, what else is new?' drawled Lee. Hester shook her ears at him.

'I approve,' said Serafina Pekkala. 'But for now, I suggest we sleep. I shall fly above the forest before I do so, and make sure all is quiet. If you go forth as wolves, you needn't fear any attack.'

'Thank you, ma'am,' said Lee. Serafina Pekkala stood and swept up her cloud-pine in one graceful motion, and then jumped into the air and was gone.

'She's wonderful,' said Lyra, gazing after her, eyes wide and aglow.

'That she is,' agreed Lee, scattering dirt over the fire and then turning to unroll his sleeping pack. 'Come on, kid, let's get some shut-eye. Gonna be a long day tomorrow.'

Lyra nodded.

'Mr Scoresby?' she said, sounding so atypically uncertain that Lee paused to stare at her. 'Thank you. For everything. Not just rescuing me tonight, but – everything. You're one of the best friends I've ever had. As good as Roger. I'm glad I found you.'

Lee's answering smile felt as if it would crack his face, it was so wide.

'Thanks, kid,' he said, with only a touch of gruffness. 'I'm damned glad I found you too. A man doesn't get many friends in his life, and I reckon you're a good one to have. Now, sleep well.'

Lyra ducked behind the curtain to her bedchamber without another word. Pantalaimon followed her in the form of an ermine. Lee, feeling wrung-out and dull-witted, climbed into his sleeping pack and closed his eyes. He felt Hester leap onto his chest and her familiar reassuring weight above his heart, and placed his hand atop her rangy form, joyous beyond words that they were reconciled.

'Iorek was right,' whispered Hester. 'You've got a cub.'

'Don't you start.'

'Fine, I'll stay mum. But it doesn't make it any less true.'

'Lyra's got a father, Hester, and our job is to get him back for her. I'm the interloper here. I can't be a father to her, too.'

'Seems to me you already are.'

'Don't be daffy, Hester. I'm a stand-in. Besides, even if the job fell to me, I'd be a lousy father. I'm a jack-of-all-trades aeronaut who never stops in one place too long and who gets himself thrown out of two bars in three. That's no life for a kid.'

'A man can change his life. Besides, you love her.'

'Her father loves her, too.'

'I ain't too sure about that,' said Hester, so softly than even Lee's newly acute ears strained to make out the words.

'Course he does, Hester. How could he not?'

'You know better than that, Lee.'

A hush descended, and they lay still.

'I ain't stepping into those shoes, Hester, no matter what everyone thinks,' Lee whispered at last. 'I don't know how to do that job. Never had much of an example in that regard.'

'Well, you know what not to do. 'Sides, this ain't just up to you. Lyra's hungry for love, I can tell. And she thinks you hung the moon and the stars. She ain't gonna just let you go when all this is over.'

Lee, his thoughts set a-whirling by Hester's words, tried to articulate what it was he thinking, what he was feeling, but as he lay there, he felt sleep creeping up on him. He tried to resist it, to remain awake, but it was like standing on the beach while the tide was coming in. There was no stopping it. He'd been a man all day and now the wolfish part of him was trying to wake, to break out and run and hunt.

Lee felt himself drawn into slumber. And moments later, he pulled himself free of his sleeping form as smoothly and easily as if he were surfacing from a long dive and was a wolf.

Hester hopped off the man curled up in the sleeping pack and came to stand beside Lee-as-wolf.

'We going out tonight?' she asked.

Yeah, but we'd better not go far, Lee answered her. We'll just go for a run through the woods. Let's see if Lyra –

Even as he spoke, the small golden wolf emerged from Lyra's sleeping cave, Pantalaimon just behind her, also in the form of a wolf.

Speak of the Devil, remarked Lee. Evening, Lyra. Hester and me, were just discussing what we're going to do tonight. Serafina Pekkala has checked the woods for danger, and we were thinking we'd go out into them. As a pack, Lyra – no more solo expeditions.

Sounds good, said Lyra. The pack had better hunt while they have the chance.

Hunting? Do you never do anything just for fun while you're a wolf?

What like?

By way of answer, Lee darted forward, nipped her on the ear and raced for the tunnel entrance, Hester darting ahead of him.

Hey! Not fair! Come back, Mr Scoresby!

Not a chance, kid! You'll have to catch me!

'After them, Lyra!' cried Pan.

The wolves, the black and the golden and the reddish one that was Pantalaimon, went racing past Iorek Bynison, who was roused just in time to see them vanish amongst the trees – followed by a procession of eight wild wolves, who came charging past him only to disappear like smoke drifting on the wind as they fled into the night.

Lee led Lyra a merry chase through the trees. He was bigger and long-legged and therefore faster, but Lyra was agile and besides, was an expert wolfwalker compared to Lee. So, they darted in-between ash and oak, leapt over fallen logs, hid behind clumps of brambles. Until finally Lee took a wrong turning and found his progress checked by a high bank of earth too steep to climb and Lyra jumped on him, nipping at his ears without mercy.

Hey! Go easy on an old man!

You started it!

'She's got a point, Lee. Can't we have one adventure where you get to keep your ears?'

We've had plenty and my ears came through intact!

'More than I can say for your dignity.'

Oh yeah? What about that time we had to hide in that warehouse in Upernavik, and you jumped in the barrel of molasses?

'I thought we agreed never to talk about that!'

Lyra had to leave off trying to bite Lee's ears because she was laughing too hard. Pantalaimon was in fits of giggles too. The pack had caught up with them by this point and were standing around, tails wagging as they shared in the merriment. Towser did a few tumbles in the undergrowth, distracting the young wolves, who began their own game of tag after he leaped up and pinched Acorn's shoulder with his teeth.

They'll play all night, now, said Lyra, laughter subsiding. They might break off to hunt rabbits when they get hungry, but tonight's for having fun.

Good idea, said Lee. There's going to be danger ahead. They should enjoy themselves while they can.

They watched the wolves cavorting for a few minutes, chuckling when White-paw cornered Towser, only to be confounded when the omega leapt clear over the bigger wolf and ran to hide amongst the trees.

There's somewhere I want to take a look at, Lyra said, apropos of nothing. Will you come with me?

Sure, kid. Lead on.

They broke away from the pack and Lyra led the way through the woods, into a part of them Lee hadn't seen before. The trees were older, more gnarled and twisty than the ones round the den, and there were no dirt paths bisecting through the undergrowth. But Lyra moved confidently through the forest, until the rising murmurings of the wind alerted Lee to a gap in the trees up head.

Lyra walked onwards until, abruptly, the woods came to an end and the view opened up onto a cliff-edge. The two wolfwalkers stood at its peak, the cliffs sloping down on either side. It was not a particularly high escarpment – Lee guessed its height to be around eighty feet – but the view was something special. Below them, the forest rustled and swayed and sheltered, its greens and browns dyed to their darkest shades so even their wolfish sight could perceive the colours. Its edges blurred by shadows while above them, an arch of stars rose glittering against the dark blue of the sky. In the distance, the city of Oxford glowed golden, almost the same shade as Lyra's fur.

'Quite a view,' whistled Hester, with typical understatement.

It's stunning, kid, said Lee. Lyra's ears and tail drooped a little.

This is my favourite view of Oxford, she told Lee. I found it not long after Father brought me to live in the forest. When he was busy, I'd come up here with Pan and we'd try and guess what everyone we knew was doing. The Master will be in his study, working on his latest research or doing boring stuff like organising receptions for visiting scholars. Mrs Lonsdale will be going over accounts, unless she's having dinner at the Trout Inn. Roger will be climbing out of his window to go and play with the kids from Somerville. Bernie will be having a beer in the Turf Tavern – only the one, he has to get up early in the mornings. Dr Van Buskirk will be working, waiting for us to rescue my father so's he can be free of the Council…

Lyra's voice faded away. Lee stood beside her, regarding her rather than the beautiful view.

I'm never going to be able to go back, am I? Lyra asked him wistfully.

Not for a long time, Lyra, Lee said. They'd been through too much together, owed each other too much for him to patronise her with platitudes. Danvers and the Council will be after me and Iorek now. And they'll never stop hunting for wolfwalkers. We'll have to run. Perhaps not forever – perhaps someday you'll be able to come back and visit. But the life you had at Jordan… no, that ain't coming back.

Another silence descended. Hester crept over to where Pantalaimon was standing and pressed herself against his foreleg as she often did with Lee, offering what little comfort she could.

What will we do, then? After we've rescued my father? Lyra asked. Where will we go?

We'll head North, kid, like I said. It's a wild place, but the authorities aren't as strong as down here. The Magisterium doesn't have as much presence because of the armoured bears and the witches. We'll head up there and hide out. There's always plenty of work for an aeronaut. And your pa sounds like a smart guy. He'll be able to find something to do.

Lyra's ears perked up and her eyes glittered.

We'll go on adventures in the North, all three of us, she suggested, and Lee could sense her excitement rising. We can visit the bears and witches and make discoveries – go to places no-one has ever been before! I bet we'd be amazing explorers – we can be human explorers during the day and wolves at night. And we'll fight off bandits and cannibals and search for gold in Beringland…

You can fend off the bandits and cannibals, thanks very much, chuckled Lee. I plan to stay safe in my balloon.

'Prospecting for gold's not a bad idea,' murmured Hester. 'We've not tried that before. We can head up to the mines in Beringland and lay low for a few months.'

But before we do any of that, we'll head to Bolvangar with Iorek and help the armoured bears, Lee interrupted. We'll be safe among the bears – safe enough anyways – and I owe Iorek my help as his friend.

It'll be brilliant, said Lyra, nuzzling against Lee. He smiled inwardly.

It'll be tough, kid, I won't lie to you. But you strike me as even tougher. We'll be fine. Hopefully, we can get your father tomorrow night or the night after, and then we'll take off for the North. We could be in the air in forty-eight hours.

I've never flown before. Not even in a zeppelin.

No? We'll soon remedy that. Make a proper pilot out of you. Have you got a head for heights?

Yes, I used to climb all over the roofs at Jordan.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

Lyra left off nuzzling him and settled herself on the escarpment, gazing out over Oxford.

How did you become an aeronaut? She asked him. Lee lay down, head on his paws, and stared out over the city in his turn, remembering.

Simple. I won the balloon in a poker game when I was twenty-four. Guy I won it off threw in a book on how to fly it – well, half of one. The other half was missing. Been flying ever since.

Oh.

Guess you were hoping for something more exciting? Well, six months later I met Iorek for the first time. You want to hear about that?

Oh, yes! Tell me!

Say 'please' and I'll think about it.

Please!

Okay, kid. Six months later I flew into a place called Novy Odense –

'And nearly got us killed landing. I got dumped on my head and I still don't know how you managed to avoid those gas tanks.'

Hush up Hester, I'm telling this story. We flew into a place called Novy Odense, looking for work, and I met this economist –

'No, Lee, we met that loony poet first, remember?'

Right, right, the poet. So, we flew into Novy Odense, looking for work, and I was in this bar…

Author's Notes: The imagery from the healing sequence is taken from the film Wolfwalkers (2020). Take a look if you can, it's absolutely gorgeous.

All the details about Lee's winning his balloon and meeting Iorek are taken from Philip Pullman's wonderful short story 'Once Upon a Time in the North.'

Think of this as the calm before the storm, we're shifting into high gear from the next chapter onwards! Till next time, dear readers...