TW: swearing and violence.

The owls are restless,

People have died here,

Good men for bad reasons,

Better forgotten.

R. S. Thomas, 'Welsh Border'

'Hands in the air, gentleman,' said Mrs Coulter. 'If either of you moves one inch, I'll shoot you like a dog.'

'Oh, give over, Marisa,' Asriel answered, almost wearily. 'It's two on one. You're not going to be able to take both of us down.'

'I'm a quick shot,' Marisa retorted, eyes blazing. 'And don't think I won't pull the trigger out of some lingering sentiment, Asriel. You've served your purpose, and now you're nothing but an inconvenience.'

Asriel kept his hands in the air as instructed, but Lee could see his face from where he was standing, and the man's expression of mild boredom never altered. Talk about a stone-cold bastard.

'I doubt that, Marisa,' Asriel drawled. 'You're still aeons away from achieving the knowledge you desire. I have infinitely more value to you alive than dead.'

'Don't be so sure,' Mrs Coulter said, a note of triumph in her voice. 'I had extracted all the information I could from you when you were locked up as my pet in Jordan. I have what I need. It's simply a matter of refining it.'

Asriel's expression remained unchanged, but Lee saw his shoulders tense.

'You're playing about with this power as if it were a toy, to be subject to your whims,' he answered, voice cold and absolute as a sword. 'You're a fool if you think you can control it, Marisa. It will kill you if you tamper with it. And if you're very, very lucky, that's all it will do to you.'

Lee couldn't repress a shudder at those harsh words. Perhaps Asriel was exaggerating to scare Mrs Coulter… but then Lee remembered the stench emanating from the hidden room, the growled speech, and he decided that, if anything, Asriel was understating things.

Lee must have made some small movement, for Mrs Coulter abruptly swung the gun away from Asriel and pointed it towards him.

'Scoresby,' she said, voice flat. 'You're like the proverbial bad penny.'

'More like a dandelion, ma'am,' Lee answered politely. 'Try to kill me, rip me up, stomp on me, and I just bounce right back. So, you might as well stop trying to finish me off, because it ain't gonna work.'

Mrs Coulter ignored his jesting tone, studying him with newfound interest.

'And what's your stake in this… enterprise?' she asked, voice as sweet as dark honey.

'Lord Asriel here has promised me an impressive amount of danger money if we both make it out of here alive,' Lee lied glibly. Mrs Coulter smirked.

'A mercenary. How dull,' she mocked. 'And how untrue. If money was all that you wanted, you would have signed up for the wolf hunt, the first time I saw you. Our offer was stupidly generous.'

'Wasn't quite generous enough, ma'am,' Lee shrugged. He kept his gaze on Mrs Coulter and her gun, but at the edges of his vision he saw Asriel's daemon lowering herself to the floor, eyes trained on the golden monkey like a gunsight. She was readying herself to pounce.

Mrs Coulter studied Lee, her eyes meeting his, unabashed and unafraid. For a crazy moment Lee wondered if the light Iorek had seen in his eyes was visible to Mrs Coulter also.

'There's something about you, Scoresby,' Mrs Coulter said, apropos of nothing, her voice soft, almost caressing. 'You're more than you pretend to be. Twice now you've thwarted the Magisterium's efforts to contain the threat of the wolves in Badbury Forest. Creatures you have no knowledge of, that you have no connection to or –'

She broke off, a slight frown tugging her eyebrows down. Lee didn't like where this was going, and so it was almost a relief when that unnatural voice sounded from inside the hidden room again.

'Coulterrr…' it rasped. There was a clink of metal as something moved. The clink of chains, Lee caught himself thinking.

'Marisa, what the hell is in there?' Asriel demanded. His voice lashed like a whip, and Mrs Coulter tore her eyes away from Lee to refocus on Asriel.

'My latest experiment,' she informed him. 'That's all you need to know. That, and it has offered me some amazing insights into your nature, how your abilities work. Perhaps it's not a true wolfwalker, but it's remarkably similar.'

Her lips twitched upwards. On anyone else's face, the expression would have been termed a smile.

'You see, Asriel, how unwise it was to deny me what I asked of you – the only thing I asked of you,' Mrs Coulter continued. Her voice was cold enough to freeze the fire in the grate.

'I denied you nothing, Marisa,' Asriel said, his voice strangely gentle. 'I tried – you know I tried to give you what you desired. To this day, I don't know why it didn't work for you.'

Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter stared at once another, their gazes fierce, searching, unyielding, admiring.

Lee, realising that he'd been forgotten for the moment, began moving his right hand, very slowly, to where his revolver was holstered. Hester, knowing that Stelmaria was watching the golden monkey daemon, hopped soundlessly towards the mysterious room and its occupant.

'So, here we are,' Mrs Coulter murmured.

'Here we are,' Asriel agreed. 'So, what happens now? Do you shoot me and have done with me? Chain me up as your bloody pet again? Hand me over to the Magisterium?'

Hester had reached the threshold of the hidden room. Lee could see her little nose scrunched up as the reek intensified. His right hand continued its slow journey towards his hip.

Mrs Coulter's aim never wavered, but as he watched her, Lee thought he could perceive a slight softening of her features.

His fingers brushed the handle of his revolver.

'Come with me,' Mrs Coulter said to Asriel.

Asriel chuffed a short, disbelieving laugh.

'I mean it,' Mrs Coulter purred, eyes gleaming. 'We've been at odds for years now, Asriel. Ever since our child…'

Her voice faded away and Lee held his breath, absurdly terrified that any motion, any slight alteration of expression may betray the truth, that Mrs Coulter's daughter was alive and well. But Asriel's face might have been carved from marble for all it revealed.

'But we can change that, Asirel,' Mrs Coulter resumed, mastering herself. 'The Magisterium doesn't know your identity – not yet. I kept that from them. I can keep you hidden, Asriel. Ensure the Magisterium never finds you. Then we can resume our work together… find out the true nature of the wolfwalkers. Their purpose in this world. Their power…'

Asriel was silent. But Lee sensed rather than saw his weakening. His stoniness was crumbling away, and he was gazing at Mrs Coulter like a man in a trace, perceiving only the beauty before him. His expression was reminiscent of a painting Lee had once seen of a cadre of saints gazing up at the gates of heaven. It gave Lee a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach. Beside Asriel, he saw the leopard daemon untensing, rising from her crouch as the golden monkey crept closer.

Lee studied the situation. Asriel was in front of him but to his right. Lee had a clear line of sight to the doorway and Mrs Coulter. If he could get a shot off while she was distracted by Asriel, he stood a good chance of hitting her – she stood fifteen, sixteen feet away, a decent but not insurmountable distance. There was a possibility of her returning fire or firing in shock if Lee's shot didn't drop her. This was a risk while she was aiming at Asriel. Then it was conceivable she might decide to fight it out, but the woman wasn't dumb. If she was injured, she was likely to retreat and live to scheme another day. Lee wasn't in the habit of shooting at women, but he'd gladly make an exception for Mrs Coulter… especially if it meant Lyra's safety.

He risked a glance towards Hester, who had paused halfway in, halfway out of the hidden room. He saw her beautiful eyes glinting in the firelight. She nodded her head at him.

Go for it, Lee, he knew she was saying. So, he did.

He drew his revolver in one swift movement and fired from the hip. Lee's aim was true – the bullet struck Mrs Coulter's right arm, the one holding her gun. As he'd feared, the gun went off in her hand, but she was thrown backwards by the force of the hit, and the barrel of the gun was pointed at the ceiling. The shot lodged harmlessly in the plaster, sending a shower of dust down to coat the carpet.

Mrs Coulter cried out in pain, and the golden monkey shrieked in outrage. The gunshot and the woman's scream jolted Asriel out of the trance he'd fallen into, and he sprang forward to snatch the gun from Mrs Coulter's lax fingers. He paused to study Mrs Coulter, who was glaring up at him, her teeth gritted. She was already using her uninjured arm to tear strips from her shirt, in preparation for binding the bleeding wound.

'That was cold,' Asriel said to Lee. Lee couldn't make out if he was angry or admiring.

'Yeah, it was,' Lee agreed. 'But we ain't got any time to waste. You want to coat yourself in breadcrumbs and jump back into the frying pan, that's your lookout. But there's people depending on us –' this was as close to mentioning Lyra as Lee dared get – 'so whatever business you've got with her will have to wait.'

Asriel looked grimly impressed. He tucked Mrs Coulter's gun into a pocket after making sure the safety was on and levelled his own revolver at her.

'I'm afraid he's right, Marisa,' he said, voice cool and uninflected. 'We've got more pressing matters to deal with.'

'You bastard,' Mrs Coulter hissed up at him. She looked like nothing so much as a wounded animal caught in a trap, crouched, bloodied and enraged.

Lee was just contemplating finding something to tie her up with, or just cutting and running – that gunshot was bound to have been heard by someone – when the terror crashed into him.

Lee had never been so afraid in his life. All his muscle seemed to have melted, he was nearly sick with fright. He staggered where he stood, and Asriel whirled round, sensing his sudden weakness.

'Scoresby?' Asriel whispered. 'What is it?'

'Lee! Oh, Lee!' Hester cried. She shot out from the hidden room and huddled against Lee's legs, and he realised the terror he was feeling was Hester's, so powerful it was communicating itself to him.

'Hester, what is it?' he whispered to her. 'What's in there?'

'I don't know exactly,' she whispered back. He could feel her trembling against his leg and bent to scoop her up with his free arm and hold her close.

'It's a monster, Lee,' she murmured in his ear.

'A monster?' he whispered back.

'It's no monster,' Mrs Coulter snarled from where she was curled up against the wall, Asriel looming over her. Lee jumped – he hadn't realised how sharp her hearing was.

'It's my creation,' Mrs Coulter continued. Although she was gasping with pain, her beautiful face was strangely smug. 'A link between humans and wolfwalkers, a vital step in finding out what connects us and what separates us. Take a look, Asriel. I think you'll be… impressed.'

Asriel stared at Mrs Coulter for a long moment. For the very first time since Lee had met him, Lee could sense apprehension emanating from the other man. Then Asriel squared his shoulders. He quickly frisked Mrs Coulter, checking her pockets for concealed weapons. He uncovered a knife strapped to her left wrist, which he divested her of and chucked into a corner. Then he backed away from her, watching her closely, until he spun round to confront the half-open door. Stelmaria stayed where she was, unblinking eyes honing on Mrs Coulter and the golden monkey.

'Cover me, Scoresby,' Asriel said. Lee nodded and raised his revolver. Asriel did not hesitate. He reached out and flung open the door.

There was a grunt of pain as the light, gentle though it was, flooded the dark room. The smell was indescribable. But after a moment Lee forgot his offended nose. The door swung open to reveal a tiny room, with mouldering straw scattered across the floor.

Something was squatting on the straw. It hunkered down on two legs, but it wasn't human. Not anymore. Absurdly, Lee was reminded of a story he'd once been told in school, about a man with a bull's head who feasted on human flesh. But this creature didn't have the head of a bull, oh no.

Its jaw and nose were grotesquely distended, forming a snout rather than a mouth. Its teeth were huge, yellow and jagged, so large it couldn't close its misshapen mouth. Strands of drool hung from its lower lip. Its eyes were mismatched, one small and brown, one larger and violently orange, both bloodshot and bleary. Its ears were entirely wolfish, two pointed tufts sticking upwards. It was dressed in filthy, ripped shirt and trousers, but Lee could see that dark fur covered its entire head and upper body, coating two sinewy arms and hands. Each elongated finger was topped with a wicked-looking yellow claw, and Lee could see the gouges in the walls where the beast had tried to escape. As it saw Lee and Asriel staring at it, it growled and lunged forward.

Both men jumped back in alarm. But the creature only sprang a couple of feet before it was checked by a thick chain, attached to the metal collar around its neck. It choked and spat, straining forward with all its might, but the chain held.

Misshapen and outrageous though the beast was, it was not the worst thing to reveal itself to Lee's appalled gaze. As he watched it, slavering and raging and struggling, he spied something moving by its clawed but human feet.

It was an iridescent green beetle, its wings fluttering feebly as it wandered unseeing around the monster's feet. Lee realised as he gazed upon it that it was a daemon – the creature's daemon.

'Holy hell,' he murmured, his eyes stretched open wide as they would go, his stomach roiling, every muscle rigid with revulsion. It was as if hooks had been inserted under his eyelids, for he couldn't bring himself to look away or even close his eyes. The Magisterium might regard wolfwalkers as abominations, but Lee knew in his heart it was untrue. Lyra might have turned him into something weird, something mysterious, but he was no atrocity. In fact, for the first time in his life, Lee had become something beautiful.

But that… thing, wasn't. It wasn't even ugly – that was far too weak a word. It was an offence, to every instinct and shred of decency Lee possessed.

Beside him, Asriel was struck dumb. Stelmaria crouched low, teeth bared in a silent reproach. Lee felt Hester snuggling against his heart, could feel her tremble with sheer horror and outrage.

Then he heard Mrs Coulter's sniggering over by the doorway, and the sound jolted him from his stupor.

He turned to face her. Lee felt the blaze in his eyes, and Mrs Coulter must have sensed the peril she was suddenly in, for she fell silent, and stared up at him, lovely face expressionless.

'What in the blue fuck have you done, Coulter?' he asked, voice very quiet.

'I created a link between the world of man and the world of the animals,' Mrs Coulter answered. 'He was a man, and now he's… something else.'

'Something else?' Asriel exclaimed. 'Marisa, you've created a monster! You call this a bloody success? It's a travesty!'

'It's a hybrid, both a wolf and a man, the same as you, Asriel,' Mrs Coulter argued back, eyes lighting up with fervour. 'A creature that combines the two, more powerful than both –'

'That is nothing like me,' Asriel growled. 'You've violated every law of nature, Marisa! How can you possibly compare a wolfwalker to that – thing?'

'Since when do you give a damn about the laws of nature, Asriel?' Mrs Coulter hissed. 'Every law is there for the breaking, it's always been your way! You want to tear down the world and remake it, yet when someone else takes steps to, you can't stand it! Are you afraid my visions won't match your own – or that I'll do a better job than you ever could?'

Asriel surveyed Mrs Coulter for a long, painful moment.

'I want to upend this world, Marisa,' he said at last. 'I want to tear down the Magisterium, I want to unseat governments and shatter the old ways of thinking that have people shackled and complicit in their own servitude. But I have no interest in blind destruction. I want to build something better and fairer than the world we live in now. That atrocity you've created is nothing to do with a better world. It's a freak, and a monster, and an affront. It's the very worst of all humanity has ever done to itself, and I want no part of it.'

Asriel turned away from Mrs Coulter and looked Lee in the eye.

'Scoresby, I suggest we put that poor brute out of its misery and make good our escape,' he said.

'No!' yelled Mrs Coulter. Both men ignored her.

'I agree,' Lee nodded, and together they faced the creature and pointed their revolvers at it. It stared at them, not growling or struggling, only regarding them with dull eyes, a feeble curiosity playing over what was left of the human face.

'On three,' said Asriel. 'One, two –'

'Hold it right there, gentlemen. And note that I use the word gentlemen in its very loosest sense.'

'Bugger,' muttered Asriel. Lee groaned aloud.

Alderman Danvers stood in the doorway, loaded shotgun pointed at them, and manic triumph writ across his face.

Author's Notes: The odds are certainly stacked against Lee and Asriel tonight! Will their wit and daring prevail? You'll have to wait and see. Also, extra Brownie points to whoever works out who the poor, misshapen creature used to be!

Till next time, dear readers...