An hour later, Lee and Asriel were flying above the Oxford countryside, guided by the stars and Lee's spare compass.

Lyra and Iorek had set off for Chimney Meadows soon after the Gyptians had left, neither of them being inclined to linger. Ma Costa had wanted to accompany them, as she'd planned to, but Lord Faa wanted her to take charge of a group of Gyptians who had volunteered as back-up-squad-cum-rescue-party in case things went awry at Farleigh Hall. After consideration, Ma Costa had reluctantly concluded there wasn't much help she could offer Lyra and the wolves and had begun preparing to lead her troops. They were to hide in a ditch Van Buskirk had marked on a map and wait for a distress signal – four short blasts on a whistle from either Lord Faa or Bram Garrod.

So, when it was time for them leave, Iorek had left his armour on the Costa narrowboat, to allow Lyra to hang onto his fur. Lee had lifted her onto the bear's back, Pantalaimon a mouse peeping out of one of her pockets. Ma Costa, Serafina Pekkala and Asriel watched as he made sure she was secure atop her peculiar mount.

'You know where you're going, Lyra?' Lee asked. Lyra nodded.

'Once I'm there, I'll gather the wolves and wait for Serafina Pekkala,' she told the few remaining members of their crew.

'I won't be long, Lyra,' Serafina reassured her. 'Conjuring the wind for Mr Scoresby will be a straightforward task.'

'I will look after her, Lee,' Iorek rumbled.

'Thanks, old fellow,' Lee murmured.

'Yes, thank you,' said Ma Costa, stepping forward to reach up and hug Lyra tightly. Lyra submitted easily enough to the embrace, and when Ma Costa released her, leaned over and grabbed Lee round the neck in a rough hug.

'Erk! Not so tight, honey!'

Lyra shifted her grip but clung on even tighter if possible. Lee hugged her back, not caring if Asriel were watching or if Ma Costa was grinning at them.

'Be careful, Lee,' Lyra murmured in his ear. 'You've got to come and fetch me afterwards. You said so.'

'That I did,' he acknowledged. 'Don't you worry about me and Hester, kid. We're survivors. You are too.'

Lyra hung onto him for a few more moments, then slowly let go of him. Lee stepped back a pace and tipped his hat to Iorek. She glanced at Asriel and nodded to him.

'Father,' she said. 'I'll see you afterwards.'

'Take care, Lyra,' was all Asriel said.

Then Iorek, with no ceremony whatsoever, launched himself forward, over the fence separating the river from the fields next to it and went charging off through the Oxford countryside, Lyra clinging to his fur. Despite his size, he was out of sight in moments… and so was Lyra.

Lee stood silent for a moment, staring at the horizon the great bear and his wolf-girl had vanished over, before he turned away and went to ready his balloon for flight. Lyra and the wolves were on their own now, aside from whatever help Iorek and Serafina could give them. Knowing what he did of Iorek Byrnison, Lee felt damned glad the great bear was with Lyra.

But he was still worried.

A short while later, everything was ready. Lee and Asriel undid the mooring ropes and climbed into the basket with them while Serafina stood a short distance away, eyes closed, her long graceful hands sketching some strange design in the air. Even on the ground, Lee could feel the wind picking up, ghosting over his face and ruffling his hair.

'The wind will carry you as far as Farleigh Hall but no further,' Serafina shouted to Lee above the whispering of the grass and flapping of fabric and rippling of water. 'You will have to trust to your skills for escape. If it is safe to leave Lyra and the wolves, I will come and assist you.'

'Stick with Lyra and the wolves if you can, ma'am,' Lee shouted back. 'I'd feel better knowing you're with her.'

Serafina had nodded agreement, and so without further ado Lee pulled on the lever to heat the gas in his balloon and send him and Asriel skywards. The balloon rose with the lumbering grace of some heavy bird, an albatross perhaps, and was airborne. Ma Costa, Wilf and a dozen Gyptians, come to watch the spectacle, all waved to him. Lee waved back, though Asriel turned away to face in the direction of Farleigh Hall. And then the winds caught hold of the balloon and they were soaring towards their target as swift as any bird on the wing.

'Hang on,' Lee shouted to Asriel, as he checked the instruments. 'Travelling at this speed is liable to get rough!'

Asriel grasped a rope and his daemon dug her claws into the basket. Hester, used to flying, leapt up onto one of the seats beside Lee and together they faced towards Farleigh Hall. Already, Lee could make out its lights, an isolated island of illumination in a dark sea.

'Lyra seems very fond of you,' Asriel shouted to him, apropos of nothing. Lee startled at the sound, turned to face Asriel, and found the other man gazing at him appraisingly.

'I'm fond of her, too,' he answered frankly. 'She's one hell of a kid.'

Lord Asriel studied the aeronaut, eyes like chips of flint in his face, expressionless.

'She's bright enough,' he conceded. 'Not an intellectual, though. I've had all sorts of trouble with her since she came to live with me. She's impulsive –'

'Can't deny that,' muttered Lee.

'– greedy, dishonest, and aside from being a wolfwalker, perfectly ordinary.'

'Ain't sure we're discussing the same girl here, Asriel,' Lee remarked with a mildness that Asriel guessed, and Hester knew meant 'danger.'

'You've known her for less than a week,' Asriel responded almost off-handedly. 'Not much time in which to form an assessment of someone's character.'

'That's true, it ain't long. But it's long enough for me. Asriel, your girl ain't ordinary. And she has her faults, plenty of 'em. But she's brave and generous and loving, and she'll fight for her friends till she drops. And if you can't see that… well, I feel sorry for you.'

Lee did not speak angrily or nastily, but the colour rose in Asriel's face, nonetheless.

'I don't want your pity, Scoresby,' he spat.

'But you've got it,' Lee remarked cheerfully. 'Ain't that a kick in the head?'

'If I didn't need you to fly this balloon, I'd shoot you.'

'I'm sure you would. As it is, you need me to fly this balloon and once we land, we'll have better things to do than shoot at one another.'

'True. How long till we reach Farleigh Hall?'

'Not long. We're making good progress, thanks to Serafina Pekkala.'

The men fell silent for a few minutes as the balloon soared onwards. Other than the wind blowing and the rustling of tarpaulin and the clattering of an occasional object inside the basket, all was quiet, suspenseful. It was as though the entire countryside and the skies above it was all waiting, hushed, for what was to happen. For the raid on Farleigh Hall, for the wolfwalkers to triumph or perish.

'How do you find being a wolfwalker?' Asriel asked him. Lee glanced at him, wondering if there was another, more important question hidden inside the one being asked. But Asriel's face betrayed nothing.

'I love it,' Lee answered honestly. 'I'm a simple aeronaut, Lord Asriel, I don't know much of anything save flying. But I know I love being a wolf at night. I know I love going out into the forest with the pack, hunting or just running. I love the adventure, seeing the world through different eyes…'

He trailed off, sensing Asriel's disinterest. For a minute no-one spoke.

'Being a wolfwalker is about more than shape-shifting, Scoresby,' Asriel commented abruptly. 'We have a power that the Magisterium cannot control, cannot understand. It is our greatest asset in our fight against them –'

'Seems to me you don't fully understand it either,' Lee interrupted. 'Or you'd be walking between worlds right about now, instead of just between being a man and being a wolf.'

Asriel regarded him with exasperation. His expression was so vividly etched upon his features that Lee could make it out even in the uncertain light of the night and the naptha illuminations of the countryside below them.

'I will master it, someday,' Asriel told him, such conviction in his voice it was as if he were making a vow, not just a statement. 'We have a higher purpose, Scoresby. One that is greater than merely running through the woods as a beast.'

'Ain't sure the pack would agree with him,' murmured Hester.

'I ain't sure I agree with you either, Asriel,' Lee said. Part of him thought he should shut up and not bother arguing, as Asriel clearly wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon. But another, stronger part of him was determined to have his say, to make his purpose clear.

'You have a purpose in life, a quest you mean to complete at all costs, and I respect that,' Lee continued. 'But it was a purpose you had before you became a wolfwalker, I'm guessing. It wasn't something that occurred to you after Khadne bit you. So, that means your purpose is something you've forced being a wolfwalker to serve, and ain't something it granted you. Which means you can't expect me to share it, Lord Asriel. Follow it, fulfil it, sacrifice all you are to it. But don't expect me to take it for my own.'

Lee felt Hester pressing herself against his leg then, her familiar reassuring warmth, and knew without words that she was proud of him.

'So, why are you here tonight?' queried Asriel, and all frustration had leeched away from his voice. He sounded genuinely curious. 'Why are you participating in this strike against the Magisterium? Why not just head for the North?'

'I'm doing it for that little girl you think is so ordinary,' Lee answered with no hesitation. 'I want her safe. Destroying everything the Council and Magisterium have collected on the wolfwalkers is the best way of doing that. It won't stop them hunting her but losing all their knowledge will be a big setback. They'll have to start over, and they can't do that if they can't get their hands on us.'

'You're running a tremendous risk, then,' Asriel remarked. 'Considering she's not even yours.'

'That don't keep me from caring,' Lee observed.

Asriel made no response to this.

Lee turned his attention to flying to balloon. They were coming up on their target quickly, the winds carrying them directly to the hall. He grasped at the handle to release gas from the balloon, and let it glide into a descent.

'Get that lantern ready,' he said to Asriel. 'Three blinks to give the go-ahead, remember. Don't give the signal till I say so. We'll be coming in fast, but we don't want to do it too early.'

Lee kept his eyes on the target as they flew towards it. His improved night-vision was a boon, for he could see the hall clearly when they were still a few miles out and could even pick out the barbed wire surrounding it. He waited until they were a half-mile out.

'Okay, Asriel, signal them!' he shouted.

Asriel grabbed hold of the lantern, lit it quickly and then steadied himself and opened and closed the shutter three times in fast succession. Both men held their breath, waiting to see if the signal had been spotted.

It must have been, for a few seconds later the first of Loveday's rockets went screaming up into the air and culminated in an explosion of light. It was followed by another, a third, a fourth in quick succession – and then, an explosion of fire and smoke and debris, large and bright enough to turn night into day for a mile around. The sound reached the men in the balloon a moment later – a deafening rumble as if thunder had erupted all around them.

'It's time, Lee!' cried Hester.

'Hang on, Asriel!' Lee shouted and started their descent.

He let out more gas than was advisable, sending them careering towards the hall, pushing the very limits of safety. Lee gauged the distance with an expert eye, and just as it seemed they would swoop too low and land in the grounds of Farleigh Hall, pulled on the burner to keep them airborne. The balloon slowed just a touch, its flight levelling out as Lee aimed for the roof of the hall.

The roof was mostly flat, but there were various obstacles atop it: dormer windows poking out around the edges, a water tank, potted plants. Lee guided his craft to the largest flat segment of roof he could see and set her down. The basket bumped – once, twice. Everything was jostled around, and he could see Asriel and his daemon hanging on for grim death. Lee bent his knees and rode out the rough landing as he had done fifty times prior.

The balloon skated a few final metres, and then halted, coming to rest on the roof. Lee took one moment to catch his breath and then leaped out to secure the mooring rope, revolver at the ready in case they'd been spotted.

Asriel and Stelmaria jumped out of the basket seconds later, borrowed revolver also at the ready, their eyes scanning the darkened rooftop. Another rocket lit up the night and cast a pallid glare over their surroundings for a brief moment, but they were alone. Either the guards were taking their time getting to the roof, or, remarkably, their arrival had gone unnoticed.

'I don't see anyone,' Lee hissed to Asriel. 'Come on, let's get moving. You lead the way. You know what we're looking for.'

Asriel at once jogged over to a door set in a stone construction poking out of the roof like a mushroom on the forest floor. He set his shoulder against the door, and shoved it open with one strong push. He sprang back, revolver pointed at whatever might be waiting inside. After one tense moment, he relaxed and beckoned Lee and Hester over.

'It's clear,' he whispered, gesturing at the narrow staircase leading down into the depths of Farleigh Hall. 'Come on, let's be quick about it.'

He started down the stairs, Stelmaria going in front of him to spy out trouble with her night-seeing eyes. Lee checked his revolver, grabbed his Winchester out of the basket, double-checked his ammunition, and then followed them.

He ducked under the doorway and into darkness. Asriel hadn't switched on a torch, and Lee followed his lead, realising his newly wolfish eyes could see well enough to proceed. The skinny staircase and low ceiling gave Lee a nasty feeling that he'd been swallowed by some massive beast and was descending its gullet. He shook himself mentally to rid himself of the idea, and followed Asriel down several flights of stairs, until they came to another doorway.

Asriel, revolver at the ready, tested the door. It was unlocked. He opened it slowly, peering through in one direction while Stelmaria craned her head round the door and checked the other way.

'All clear,' Asriel whispered to Lee. 'Come on.'

They made their way silently into a long hall. High windows were set into one wall, letting in occasional flares of light as the Gyptians continued with the distraction. The other was papered over in a complicated design, lots of swirls and waves and stylised flowers interspersed with an occasional portrait of a man in old-fashioned military uniform. Naptha lights cast a gentle illumination. A thick red carpet muffled the sound of their boots.

'Which way?' whispered Lee.

'Down,' Asriel answered at once. 'They won't locate a lab on the top floor or in the attic – too many stairs, and it will be difficult to install the anbarics and water required. Ground floor or cellar is the most likely location. Be careful. The further we go, the more likely we are to encounter someone.'

Asriel led the way, revolver at the ready, and Lee followed suit. There was another staircase at the end of the hall, and they descended it to the second level. Their luck held: they encountered no-one and scurried unseen across a wide landing to the next set of stairs.

They made their way down, a high wall with more dingy paintings on one side and the great receiving hall of the house to their left, all cold grey stone and heavy stolid furniture. They were halfway there when the sound of shouts and running feet made themselves known.

Both men halted and ducked down behind the banister. Lee peered through the ornately carved spindles and saw two men in white coats pelting across the hall, their daemons – a beetle and a grass snake – clinging to their shoulders. They were making for the sizeable wooden doors that comprised the main entrance. The bigger of the two wrenched one of the doors open and they both ran into the night.

Lee and Asriel waited for another minute, to make sure the men didn't return. Then Asriel stood and began to creep downstairs. Lee followed.

'Those were scientists – I recognise one of them,' Asriel whispered as they moved. 'Head in the direction they came from – the lab will probably be there.'

Lee followed Asriel down the stairs and into the hall. Asriel and Stelmaria paused for a moment at the foot of the stairs, checked to see if anyone was watching and then ran across the stone floor, Lee and Hester at their heels. There were several doors set into the wall, all unmarked. Asriel paused and sniffed at the air.

'This one,' he murmured, turning to a door on the right. He opened it cautiously. The smell Asriel had scented reached Lee a moment later: blood, ammonia, chemicals.

'No sign of anyone,' Asriel whispered. 'But stay wary.'

He slipped through the door like an eel. Lee paused to scan the hall one last time, but there was no sign or sound of their adversaries. No guards, scientists or servants. No way was this run of luck going to last them. With a sigh, Lee stepped through the door, revolver still firmly in his grasp.

He found himself in a high-ceilinged corridor – white-painted walls, burgundy carpet, more gold-framed pictures of brownish landscapes and severe-looking men in dark clothing. The mingled scents were even stronger now, and Lee followed his nose – and Asriel – to a heavy wooden door. It boasted a bronze keyhole, but also a new bolt secured with a padlock.

Both men paused and considered the locks. If the need for stealth hadn't been so pressing, Lee would either have shot the fastenings off or just kicked the door in. As it was, any noise was bound to raise an alarm or bring security guards running to investigate.

'We'll have to pick the locks,' Lee murmured, holstering his revolver and digging in his pockets for a length of wire. Asriel surveyed the door with supreme irritation, then tucked his gun in an outside pocket and reached inside his jacket to extract a small leather wallet. He unrolled it to reveal a truly impressive array of lock picks: some long, some short, some ornately decorated, others old and tarnished. Lee whistled softly.

'Not bad,' he murmured.

'Here,' Asriel said, handing him a couple. 'You work on the door lock, I'll deal with the padlock. Keep watch, Stelmaria.'

He went to work at once on the padlock. Lee ducked down to work on the door lock, shouldering Asriel aside as he did so. The other man grunted in annoyance but said nothing. Hester rose onto her hind legs to watch his progress.

'Not so hard, now,' she whispered. 'Okay, a bit more pressure – jimmy the one in your left hand up a bit – right, now twist it –'

The lock gave way with a satisfying click. Lee stood, twisting out of Asriel's way as he waited for the other man to finish his task. A moment later Asriel grunted, giving the padlock a sharp tug. It gave way easily, and Asriel unhooked it and dropped it on the floor. Then, he placed his hand on the door handle, twisting the nob and pushing the door open carefully.

It opened onto darkness, lit only by the occasional flashes of light entering through an un-curtained window at the far end of a long room. The wolfwalkers perceived a large room that once must have been an elaborate sitting room. Bookcases, still stuffed with handsome leather-bound volumes, lined all the walls, while an unlit chandelier dangled from the high ceiling. But the carpet had been rolled back, revealing unpolished boards. Long wooden tables ran the length of the room, loaded with yet more books, papers, files, scholarly equipment such as racks of test tubes, microscopes, glass beakers and Bunsen burners.

And nestled in the middle of the room, was a metal table, long enough to accommodate a grown man, leather straps and buckles attached to it dangling listlessly. The reek of blood, old and new, was palpable. Lee shuddered.

Asriel, unperturbed, felt along the wall and flicked on the anbaric lights. Lee blinked to clear his dazzled eyes, and then cast about the room for signs of guards, scientists, any kind of human presence. But all appeared deserted.

'Start burning all the files and papers,' Asriel ordered him. He gestured at a disused fireplace set into one wall. Lee didn't waste time arguing, gathering up an armful of paper before chucking it into the cold hearth and groping in his pocket for his matches. He soon had a smoky fire going and turned back to grab more files and papers. And to see what Asriel was doing.

Asriel was rummaging through the items on the tables. Whatever he was searching for, he didn't find it, and turned his attention to a locked cabinet set in a recess. He wrenched it open and grunted in satisfaction.

'Here we are,' he almost purred. 'Coulter's private files detailing her experiments. This will contain everything of value that she's discovered.'

'Won't she have copies?' Lee enquired as he chucked a new file on the fire and stomped on it to make sure the flames would take hold.

'Ordinarily, yes,' Asriel acknowledged. 'But she's doing this in utmost secrecy, hiding it from the Council and the Magisterium. She hasn't got anywhere else that's sufficiently secure to hide the information – save in her own apartments, and she's too cautious to take that risk. She's powerful, not infallible.'

He pulled out handful of papers, flicked through them and then tossed them towards Lee. Lee obligingly threw them on the by-now quite substantial fire. A moment later, Asriel strode over, arms full of files and leather-backed notebooks. He handed some of the files to Lee, and dumped the rest on the floor, snatching up the first notebook and ripping out the leaves to burn.

Lee continued with his work, throwing the paper on the fire and making sure it was incinerated. Asriel flicked through a few of the notebooks before destroying their contents, muttering to Stelmaria if he found something of interest.

'Anything about this success Wilf mentioned?' Lee asked softly as they worked. Asriel shook his head.

'Nothing yet,' he murmured, before heading back over to the cupboard for another load of notebooks and papers. He returned with another armful of files and some metal phonographic cylinders – recording devices. Asriel threw the paper on the roaring fire and set the cylinders on the floor before stamping on them with great satisfaction.

'Coulter hasn't uncovered as much as I'd feared,' he informed Lee. 'She's only progressed this far because she's had Van Buskirk's research to draw on and myself as research subject. Now we're both free of her, she'll struggle to advance her research – especially if we destroy everything gathered here. Not much left now.'

Asriel went to the tables, gathering up every scrap of paper he could find. Lee watched the fire to make sure it didn't get out of hand. Hester had hopped a little way off, first listening at the door, but then going deeper into the room as something caught her attention.

'Lee?' she whispered. Her voice was laced with urgency, and Lee turned round at once. 'Lee, I hear something. Over here.'

Hester was crouched a little to the right on the fireplace, listening intently at what seemed to be a section of wall. Lee stepped towards her, perceiving nothing untoward in the fire's flickering light. But then he smelt something – just a hint of something vile. It was a disturbing mix of blood and sweat and piss and fear. He recoiled instinctively.

Asriel was beside him in half a second.

'What?' he whispered harshly. Lee gestured at the wall.

'Can't you smell it?' he whispered back. Asriel sniffed the air, then winced.

'There's something behind the wall – a secret room, perhaps,' he muttered. 'Scoresby, have a look for anything that might act as an unlocking mechanism. A button set into the wall, a pulley, a hidden switch…'

Asriel was already running his hands all over the wall, searching for the way into whatever was concealed behind it. Stelmaria came and stood beside him, studying the façade intently. Lee stepped back a moment, eyes scanning the dingy wallpaper and the bronze brackets that had once held candles. A shiny spot on one of the dull brackets caught his attention.

'Asriel,' he said, gesturing at the ornate holder. Asriel looked up and spotted the shiny patch at once. He reached up and gave the bracket a sharp tug.

It clicked into a lower position with ease, and a cunningly concealed panel in the wall swung open, just an inch or two, with a gentle creak of unused hinges. The men could perceive nothing through the opening, save utter darkness. But the stench that was emanating from whatever lay behind the door was clue enough. It was indescribable, a living thing that leapt and clawed at them and forced them back. Lee retreated several paces, pulling his coat across his face for protection, and even Asriel fell back, blood leeching from his face.

'What the hell?' Lee gasped.

As if in answer, a low growl emanated from inside the hidden room. It was savage, brutal, a noise made by some rabid animal. But then, horribly, the same rough growl began forming human speech. Words.

'Who is therrrre?' it snarled, volume rising as it spoke, dragging out the R in an almost-roar.

Neither Lee nor Asriel answered. Hester crept close to Lee, pressing herself against his leg for reassurance. Stelmaria moved to stand beside Asriel, yellow eyes wide, unable to conceal her anxiety. For a long moment, the wolfwalkers stood, frozen, knowing they must confront whatever awaited them in the hidden room, yet every nerve, every instinct thrilling with the need to run. Run fast and far!

So, they stood there. Another dull boom sounded from somewhere not far away. The anbaric lights flickered.

'I wouldn't go any further, gentlemen,' said Mrs Coulter.

Lee looked towards the doorway. Mrs Coulter stood there, face expressionless, a revolver trained at Asriel's head. Her monkey daemon crouched next to her; his face twisted with anger.

'Marisa,' said Asriel.

'Hello again, Asriel,' she replied.

Author's Notes: Asriel's less-than-flattering commentary on Lyra is taken from 'The Amber Spyglass.'

So, Lee's finally managed to get under Asriel's skin. In this fic, Asriel doesn't particularly care about Lyra's affections - but he's not thrilled at the possibility of being supplanted in them. However, I think that ship has sailed...

But before Lee can make good on his latest promise, will he and Hester manage to escape Mrs Coulter and the horror lurking in the hidden room? Till next time, dear readers...