'And where do you think you're going?'
Danvers. Crap.
Lee whirled round, teeth already bared, but it wasn't him and Hester Danvers was addressing. Asriel's hesitation over the rifle had given the Alderman sufficient time to finish whatever strange conversation he was having with the creature and then sneak up on him and Stelmaria.
Hampered as he was with an unconscious woman, unable to reach for a weapon or even throw a punch, Asriel did the only thing he could do. With a sigh, he turned slowly to face Danvers, and waited for the Alderman's next move.
Danvers was glaring at Ariel, triumph writ across his face, unmarred by the nasty burns. At his side, crouched like a leashed hound, was the creature. It looked meek enough, but as Lee regarded it, he saw its orange eye glimmering in the flickering firelight. And it was staring right at him.
Lee held perfectly still. Danvers didn't seem to be aware of his presence, and Lee had a funny feeling that the creature wouldn't attack on its own initiative. It would wait for orders. Like a good little Magisterium flunky, Lee thought, rather bitterly. Beside him, he could sense Hester keeping motionless, waiting.
I think I'd better stay a wolf for now, Hester, he said to her. I stand a better chance against that thing on four legs.
Hester gave an almost imperceptible nod in response.
Lee refocused his attention on Danvers and Asriel. The latter was keeping quiet for once, also waiting to see what the Alderman intended. Lee hoped that Danvers's tendency to pontificate would surface. The more the Alderman prattled on, the more time he and Asriel would have to think of an escape plan.
Luck, for one goddamn time that evening, seemed to be on their side.
'I should have known Marisa was plotting something untoward,' Danvers purred, regarding Asriel and the still-unconscious Mrs Coulter with sumptuous self-satisfaction. 'In fact, I did know, I was simply uncertain what form it would take. This poor wretched soul was a shock…'
Danvers paused, and actually laid a hand on the creature's unlovely head. It didn't stir, not accepting the rather condescending touch but not repulsing it either.
'But finding out she was in cahoots with that heathen hunter, Scoresby, and his accomplices… that was a level of duplicity I hadn't expected of her,' Danvers continued. 'What precisely she wants with him I'm not certain, but with a man like him it is bound to be both sacrilegious and illegal.'
Asriel just stood there, starting to tremble slightly under the dead weight of Mrs Coulter. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his eyes were alight with fury and hurt pride. Beside him Stelmaria stood with her head held high, tail lashing. But neither Danvers nor his lemming-daemon so much as spared her a glance.
'Where is Scoresby, by the way?' Danvers asked at last, abandoning his drawling tones and snapping out the question like an irate dog.
Right here, sir, Lee thought dryly. Hester trembled, suppressing a snicker.
'I haven't the faintest notion,' Asriel said in clipped tones. 'I wouldn't waste your time on him, Alderman. He's a mercenary. He'll hang around so long as there's a decent chance of getting paid and then he'll kick his heels and be off.'
Well, he ain't far out, Lee remarked to Hester, grinning inwardly. Hester bridled with indignation. She didn't make a sound, but Lee could tell she was annoyed from the way the fur along her back stood on end.
Danvers studied Asriel for a long moment. He'd learned of Asriel's true identity back at Farleigh Hall, if he'd ever been truly in ignorance of it. But he seemed disinterested in the other man's presence, as if he'd already forgotten who Asriel was. Lee strongly suspected him of playing dumb in order to goad Asriel's arrogance and trick him into making a crucial error.
'What's your stake in this enterprise, my good man?' Danvers asked. Lee couldn't refrain from heaving a sigh. Danvers sounded horribly patronising, and Lee didn't believe for a moment that this was unintentional. No, he was trying to aggravate Asriel, and he'd was succeeding admirably.
'My aims are far greater than some petty squabble between the Council and some wolves,' Asriel snarled back at Danvers. 'My intention is to strike against all the forces of – yowch!'
Stelmaria had bitten Asriel hard on the leg. She glared up at him as he twisted to look at her, tail lashing, silently daring him to chastise her.
Good going, girl, Lee thought.
Danvers watched the interaction with a dispassionate eye. The creature, still crouched in obedience, growled so softly as to be almost imperceptible. For a long moment, everyone stood unmoving. Lee's ears twitched despite himself, the noise of the fire gobbling up dry grass and leaf litter becoming worryingly loud. And the Magisterium forces were getting closer, though Lee could hear worried murmurs from the nearest. Hopefully the fire would force them to run – though if they were cut from the same cloth as Danvers and the hunters that he'd battled in Badbury Forest, Lee had an awful suspicion that the men would burn before abandoning what they saw as their duty.
We're gonna have to make a move of some sort real soon, Hester, Lee said his daemon.
'Target the creature,' Hester whispered. 'It's Danvers's ace at the moment. Take out the creature, and he'll have nothing to threaten us with.'
The creature grunted, twisting round the peer at where Lee and Hester were poised, though Lee hoped it was the sound of Hester's voice and not the words that had alerted it. Danvers paid them no heed, though Stelmaria's yellow eyes drifted towards Lee and Hester for an instant before she returned to guarding Asriel.
Lee crouched, bending his legs slowly, in preparation for a spring.
It was just as well. Danvers smiled – or tried to. His face twisted in a chilling half-smile. The corner of his mouth on the uninjured side curled upwards. The other half, badly burned, might have been cast in iron.
'Then no matter who you are, you're an enemy of the Magisterium, just like dear Marisa,' he said, a kind of triumph in his voice. Then, to the creature: 'kill them both.'
As the words faded into silence, everyone moved at once, almost in concert.
The creature leapt towards Asriel and Mrs Coulter.
Asriel, burdened by Mrs Coulter, stood no chance of fleeing or fighting. He stood his ground, Stelmaria snarling like a fiend beside him.
Lee sprang. It was an instinctive, unthinking leap, like when Lyra had been shot at during their rescue of the Gyptians. But his wolf-body knew exactly what to do. He launched himself from the ground and into the path of the creature.
Lee and the creature collided in mid-air. The creature was bigger and heavier, but Lee was larger than any natural wolf and had surprise on his side. He knocked the creature off its trajectory and together they went sprawling in the long grass, the creature yelping in shock.
Lee didn't waste breath on howls or snarling. He was first on his feet, lunged and bit. His powerful jaws closed on the creature's left forearm and sank deep enough that the tang of blood filled his mouth instantly.
The creature bellowed in pain, and tore its arm away from Lee's teeth, leaving behind a good-sized chunk of flesh and fur as it did so. Lee spat the bloody meat from his mouth and crouched, baring his teeth in readiness for battle.
The creature, taken aback by Lee's viciousness, retreated to Danvers's side. The Alderman regarded Lee with burning eyes, righteous fury radiating from him.
'Demon!' Danvers snarled. 'Luis, kill it!'
Lee answer was a snarl of such white-toothed, blazing fury that even the Alderman stepped back a few paces. The creature regarded him warily, torn between the wild instincts telling it to flee and Danvers's commands.
'Easy now, Lee,' murmured Hester from a discreet distance, taking advantage of Lee's being able to hear her.
I'm okay, Hester. I'm mad but I ain't raging.
It was true. Lee was angry, but he was in control of himself and putting on a show to frighten their enemies. He knew, from past painful experience, that if you lost your temper in a high-stakes situation, you were done for. He crouched low, watching his opponent. It was standing still. Danvers had stepped forward and was whispering in its ear again.
'Good,' Hester said shortly. 'Now, use your brains. Don't go in all guns blazing Tease it, make it angry and wait for it to tire itself out. Wait for your chance and then kill it. I know it ain't easy, but a clean death is gonna be a mercy for that thing.'
Lee knew she was right. With a hunter's eye, he surveyed the creature. It was already injured, and it was clumsy too. But those claws and teeth would be deadly if they got a hold of him. Which meant lunging in and opening up its stomach with his teeth would be tricky in the extreme. The creature's other soft spot was its throat. If Lee could target its neck, open up an artery the way the wolf pack had on his first night as a wolf in Badbury Forest…
I'm gonna go for its throat, Hester, he advised his daemon.
'Try and get it from behind, Lee,' she told him. 'You're much quicker on your pins than that thing.'
'Your daemon is talking sense,' said a low voice, and Lee jumped despite himself. Asriel had taken advantage of the distraction Lee provided. He'd divested himself of the burden of Mrs Coulter – Lee wondered briefly where she was – and had crept over to within whispering distance of Lee.
'But you'll need help,' Asriel continued. 'Hold that thing off for a few more minutes, and I'll come and fight alongside you.'
'You can get your hands on a gun?' Hester queried.
'I'm going to turn wolf,' Asriel grunted. 'I know a method of doing so that doesn't involve going to sleep – I'll explain later. Just buy me time, let me heal this injury and turn myself.'
Two wolves will be better than one. But tell him to get his skates on, Hester, Lee told her.
'We'll do our best,' Hester relayed. 'But we ain't promising to hold it off for more than a minute or two.'
'Fair enough. Very well, I'll join you as soon as I can,' Asriel murmured, and slunk off into the night, Stelmaria alongside.
Think he's telling the truth, Hester? Lee couldn't resist asking.
'Man can be an asshole, but he's no quitter,' Hester murmured. 'He'll be back. Now, look lively. Danvers is gunnin' for us.'
Lee looked towards the Alderman and was confronted by Danvers's accusing finger, pointing right at him.
'Luis, slay this evil beast!' Danvers shouted.
Lee rolled his eyes and dodged as the creature lunged towards him.
The next couple of minutes resembled some demented game of tag. The creature had strength on its side. Lee knew he'd be dead in moments if the monster got hold of him.
But strength was all it had. It lacked Lee's agility, his tactical ability, and most of all his stamina. Lee could hear it gasping for breath within moments of its first ungainly pounce. So, he teased it, darting around the creature, making it dizzy, making it angry. It swiped and lunged for him, wasting its energy. The wound Lee had inflicted on its arm was bleeding steadily, and sooner or later the creature would feel the effects.
Danvers was shrieking instructions, prayers, encouragement in the background, but honestly, he was more of a distraction than a help. Not like Lee's darling daemon. He tuned out Danvers and focused on Hester. Lee could hear her keeping up a running commentary in the background, too quiet to be heard by Danvers: 'dodge left, Lee… good, keep moving, don't let it rest... ooh, that was close, don't get cocky…'
And then: 'Lee, I think Asriel's on his way back. Pull away a moment.'
Lee, with a last snap at the creature's ankle, did as he was bid. The creature, panting and head hanging, didn't follow. It seemed glad of the respite.
Lee trotted alongside Hester, and a moment later the brown wolf that was Asriel came pelting up. He halted alongside Lee and surveyed the creature dispassionately. There was no sign of Stelmaria.
My daemon is keeping watch over our human forms, Asriel informed Lee, seeing him scanning the darkened field. Hmm, you've done a good job on that beast. It looks ready to collapse.
Don't write it off just yet, Lee cautioned. It's remembered it was a member of the Magisterium, and it's on a holy mission to wipe us out as far as it's concerned. Plus, it's still crazy powerful.
And we have other factors to consider, Asriel murmured, turning his gaze toward away from the creature and towards the direction of Farleigh Hall.
Lee followed his gaze, chagrined to realise that he'd forgotten about the fire and the Magisterium guards. The fire had taken a firm hold by now. The only reason it wasn't spreading quicker was the relative scarcity of material to burn. Nonetheless, it was spreading steadily through the grass, the flames burning bright. Against the fire, Lee could make out the dark shapes of – seven, eight – nine men, jogging to keep ahead of the growing blaze.
Foolish, he muttered. They ain't gonna be able to outrun it for long.
Neither are we, Asriel remarked. We either need to kill this creature – now, at once – or lure it away from here.
Ain't sure it'll go where we want it, Asriel. It's loyal to Danvers now, Lee pointed out. The Alderman had advanced on the weakening creature as the wolfwalkers were conferring and was whispering encouragements to it. The creature's ears twitched as it listened.
'Then you gotta kill it,' said Hester decidedly. 'And make it snappy. One of you does the distracting and the other goes for its throat. Sever an artery if you can.'
Asriel, for perhaps the first time, looked right at Hester. She looked back, unperturbed.
Your daemon is very… forthright, Scoresby, Asriel remarked. He didn't sound approving – but then, he didn't sound disapproving, either.
No reason she shouldn't be, Lee answered. Hester's the best part of me.
Asriel didn't comment upon this, though Lee sensed he had a strong opinion about it.
Then let us do as she suggests, Asriel said. If you act as the distraction, then I will gladly –
A hoarse yell interrupted him, and Lee and Asriel turned to see Danvers waving madly to attract the attention of some the Magisterium guards, who had finally spotted the bizarre confrontation taking place and were making their way towards the Alderman and the creature. Four men so far, all armed.
Damn. The cavalry's arrived, Lee muttered. We'd better beat a retreat. Ain't no way we can take on the Magisterium and Coulter's little science experiment.
We can't run away! Asriel protested with a snarl. Do you honestly believe we'll get another chance to kill that creature? The Magisterium will keep it locked away from the world, except when they need it to perform one of their dirty little missions!
You seriously think the Magisterium's gonna let that thing live? Lee asked dryly. Ten to one they'll condemn it as a monster and kill it, and that's better odds than dice. Let's get out of here.
No! Asriel growled. I'm not taking the risk! It dies tonight!
And without another word he took off, running full pelt towards the creature.
Lee said a word he'd learned from a lean old Texas Ranger when the bar ran out of the ranger's favourite whisky one time, and, with a heavy sigh, ran after Asriel, Hester at his side.
Asriel was intent on the creature, which was still hunched over, trying to get its breath back. But Lee, several metres behind him, saw Danvers gesturing furiously towards the brown wolf, its fur shimmering in the firelight. Behind Danvers were several Magisterium guards, rifles at the ready.
Asriel! Lee cried. Asriel, they have guns!
Asriel either didn't hear him or ignored him. The guards took aim at Lyra's father and fired in unison.
Lee's heart stuttered.
Fortune – and his reflexes – favoured Asriel. He pivoted at the last moment, veering off to the right and away into the grass. The guards didn't have time to re-aim, and the bullets thudded harmlessly into the earth.
'Luis, after it!' Danvers shouted.
Either the shock of the gunfire or its master's cries gave the creature a surge of energy. Nothing loath, it took off after the wolf that was Asriel, loping unevenly – but quickly – on all fours.
Lee made his decision. The guards were reloading their weapons. He had seconds at best. Asriel had decided to go it alone for whatever reason. So, Lee decided to take out the Magisterium.
Come on, Hester, let's deal with these guards, he cried, breaking into a run even as he spoke to her. Hester, no dummy, took off like a fire had been lit under her, and together they went straight for the nearest Magisterium sentry.
Lee, by now accustomed to leaping on prey, sprang for the man. The guard never saw him coming, nor did his terrier daemon. Lee knocked him to the ground, his head cracking against the man's chin. Lee felt a moment's pain in his skull, but the strike floored the man instantly. He dropped like a felled tree, and Lee darted away, looking for the next man.
'Careful Lee! No biting!' Hester cried as they ran.
Lee recalled what Serafina Pekkala had told him about being turned into a wolfwalker, and knew she was right. Although he sincerely doubted any of the Magisterium guards were wild spirits, it wasn't worth taking the risk. He'd have to take them out by knocking them senseless or else just scaring them off.
The remaining three guards – Lee had no idea where the others were – were still reloading. Lee sprang for the nearest, a wiry man with a white goose for a daemon. Lee knocked him flat, and though his daemon hissed and flapped her great wings at him, a vicious snarl from Lee was enough to cow her. Lee repeated the headbutting procedure, and the man went limp.
The remaining two guards had reloaded by this point and were taking aim at the fearsome shadow that was dispatching them with such efficiency. Lee darted away, conscious that the now-raging fire was making it harder for him to conceal himself. Had he but known it, the flames glinting off his coat and illuminating his eyes made him seem spectral, otherworldly and quite deserving of awe.
Those men are terrified, Hester, he told his daemon. He could smell their fear, even above the burning grasses and spilt blood.
'They're gonna break soon, and run for it – hang on, two more are coming,' Hester replied.
Only two?
'Guess the others were too smart to risk the fire. I don't hear any more. Let's get these guys sorted and then go deal with the creature –'
An unmelodious roar of pain rang out like a church bell, and one of the guards nearly dropped his rifle. That was the creature, yowling. Asriel seemed to be holding his own. Lee took advantage of the distraction and went to tackle the two remaining guards, running so swiftly neither even had time to raise their weapons.
Lee collided with the first, and although he didn't manage to knock him out the man hit the ground hard and lay with the breath knocked out of him. His robin daemon wittered angrily, but the man lay unmoving. The guard was still gripping his rifle, the barrel tilted towards the ground. Lee took advantage, mauling at the trigger, wishing briefly for his dextrous fingers rather than his huge paws.
His paws did the trick however, with one of his claws catching and pulling the trigger. The gun fired with an ear-piercing report, the bullet thudding harmlessly into the ground.
'Lee, move!' cried Hester.
Lee didn't waste time in looking. He jumped off the guard, a mere moment before a bullet went screaming towards where he'd been crouched. It thudded into the shin of the man prone on the ground, and he gasped in pain. His daemon trilled her own agony.
'You fool!' shouted Danvers, and the final guard, his nerves shredded, threw down his rifle and bolted for the edge of the field, his bull terrier daemon yipping alongside him.
Lee cast about for the other two guards Hester had mentioned, his ears twitching. He heard one gasping as he came running up, either from fear or exertion, he wasn't sure which. There was no sound or sight of a second man, and Lee hoped he'd done the sensible thing and bolted.
'Where the hell are the rest of you?' Danvers snarled, as the guard halted, bent almost double as he strained to get the air into his lungs. The man's daemon, a dull-coloured grass snake, hissed at Danvers from her vantage point curled around the guard's neck.
'They've gone – to – to get help,' the man wheezed. 'To put – put out this fire…'
'Cowards!' Danvers snarled. 'Right, I need you to –'
'Sorry, sir, but it'll have to wait,' the guard interrupted. 'We need to get away, sir, now. This fire's out of control.'
'Do as I tell you, fool!' Danvers shouted. Despite his smallish stature he was a hellish, intimidating sight, with his burned face and the manic sheen in his eyes.
'I'm sorry, sir,' the man said, recovering a bit of self-possession. 'There's no time. We must go, sir, now. Father MacPhail said to find you and fetch you as quickly as possible.'
'No!' Danvers screeched, as the guard grabbed hold of him and began dragging him forcibly away. He fought like a cornered cat, all spitting and clawing and venom, but the other man was bulky with muscle. He wrapped his arms around the Alderman, lifted him bodily up and began carrying him towards the boundary of the field. Danvers's lemming-daemon chittered in fury, clinging to Danvers's shoulder and hissing at the guard's snake-daemon, which hissed back.
Nicely done, sir, thought Lee. One less beast to worry about.
Even as the words shaped themselves in his mind, he heard a wolfish cry of pain, high and piercing.
Shit! That was Asriel! Lee swore, and took off in the direction of the sound, Hester running alongside him.
A few moments running flat out were sufficient to bring him to Asriel – in fact, Lee nearly tumbled over him. Lyra's father was lying in the grass, gasping for air, four long jagged wounds in his side a gruesome indicator of where the creature's claws had slashed.
Asriel! Lee cried, surveying the damage. You hurt bad?
No, the other wolfwalker answered. Shallow wounds, they look nastier than they are. Bloody thing managed to lunge at me, I'd underestimated it's reach…
So, where is it now? Lee asked practically.
Hiding by the hedgerow again, gathering it's breath. It's strong, but that's it. It has no skill, and no stamina. It's quick enough, but not as fast as us. If it gets hold of you, Scoresby, you won't get out alive, but if we can harry it, trick it –
I gotcha, interrupted Lee. One of us plays decoy, the other takes it out. The throat would be best.
Can you do distraction? You look as if you've more strength to spare than I have, Asriel admitted ruefully.
No worries there, Lee said, grinning – literally. He could feel the smile stretching his muzzle and baring his sharp teeth.
Where's Danvers? Asriel asked, glancing behind Lee as if he expected Lee to have dragged the Alderman along with him.
Getting carted off by some Magisterium guard cause the fire's burning outta control, Lee answered shortly, irked that he'd been left to deal with Danvers and the guards all on his lonesome.
Then let's not waste time, said Asriel, hauling himself to his feet. We'll kill this thing and leave.
Lee bit back a pointed retort – what the hell did Asriel think he'd been trying to do, for crying out loud? But he followed the other wolfwalker's lead towards the hedgerow. He could hear the creature's harsh breathing well before it came into view. It sounded winded, but not as though it were in pain. Probably it was too wound-up to feel its injuries much.
Asriel, on the other hand, was clearly weakening. His movements were purposeful, but slow, and Lee wondered how much blood he'd lost. The air was becoming thick with smoke and flitting fragments of ash, and it was getting harder to suck in a decent lungful of air. That fire was minutes away – if they were lucky. If they weren't, they'd be turned to cinders in seconds.
I'll distract it for you, Lee said to Asriel. You get in there and open up its throat. No fancy stuff, now. We've dallied long enough. And for the love of mud, don't go off on your own. We need to work together on this.
Asriel looked mutinous as Lee delivered his little lecture but didn't protest. Lee chose to take silence as consent and trotted forward to find the creature.
It was hunched over, breathing heavily, unlovely mouth flecked with foam. Lee studied it, half-hoping the creature was losing the will to fight. But when the beast raised its mismatched eyes, one human, one animal, they both gleamed with fanaticism. Lee sighed.
Let's dance, he thought, and sprang.
The creature was warier this time, less easy to lure into lunges and swipes. But Lee sensed it's impatience, it's frustration with these wolves that kept hounding it, making it look weak and clumsy. If he could just tease it a little more, work it into the rage it had been in earlier…
The idea arrived, unsummoned and complete, in his intent mind. Lee paused in his deranged dance to look at Hester and knew from the glint in her eye that the exact same idea had just occurred to her.
You up for this, Hester?
'Give the word, Lee.'
Okay, let's sneak in a little closer and you do your thing. Let's hope Asriel is ready to make a move.
Lee snuck a quick glance around the field, now exposed under the glare of the vermilion and orange flames but didn't spot Asriel. He wasn't deterred. He didn't much like Asriel, but he knew the man wouldn't turn tail. So to speak.
Slowly, they crept forward in tandem. Lee halted just before he got within in range of the creature's claws, and Hester reared up on her hind legs, making herself as tall and noticeable as possible.
You know what to say, Hester?
'Leave it to me, Lee.'
Hester turned her lovely, gilded eyes upon the monstrous creature. At first, it took no notice of her, tracking Lee's movements instead. But then, its little beetle daemon, carapace iridescent in the flamelight, fluttered from the ground to hover by its ear. Lee could hear it murmuring, though he couldn't make out the words.
The creature blinked, and an eerily human expression of shock played across the wolfish face. Hester saw it, guessed what the beetle-daemon had been whispering, and took advantage.
'Yep, that's right!' she cried. 'I'm a daemon, a wolf's daemon. Ain't nothing in the Magisterium has mentioned that has it?'
The creature, stupefied, didn't react for a lengthy moment. Then, what little humanity it still possessed drained away from its beastly face. Its eyes shone with bloodlust, its lips pulled back from its teeth and a low rumble of fury sounded deep in its chest.
Perversely, Lee was glad it looked so inhuman. It would make it easier for him to kill the poor brute. Perhaps realising this, Hester continued with her taunts.
'I'm the soul of this wolf, just as humans have them,' Hester jibed. 'Funny, ain't it? A wolf with a hare for a daemon…Guess that makes us the same now. Me and my wolf, and all these men with daemons –'
The creature sprang.
Lee and Hester dodged – Lee went left, Hester went right.
The creature landed and spun round to swipe at Lee. But he'd anticipated the move and leapt out of reach, the spring carrying him to land close to Hester.
'Guess the Authority didn't make all of us in His image, then!' Hester sang out.
The creature actually roared. It had been about to attack again, but Hester's taunts had so enraged it that it simply had to howl. Unlike Lee and the wolfpack, there was no music in the creature's voice. It was a strident, harsh yowl that still had a little too much human in it to be truly wild. Lee flinched and Hester cringed.
And out from the few remaining scraps of shadow leapt Asriel. He sprang on the creature's back and sank his powerful jaws into its neck, seeking out an artery, it's very life's blood.
The creature yelped and began to reach for Asriel, to claw him off its neck. Lee realised at once that Asriel's bite hadn't been fatal – the creature was in pain, but it wasn't weakening. Asriel was hanging on like a limpet, trying to adjust his grip. The creature, if it got hold of Asriel, would tear him off and either eviscerate him or hurl him away like a javelin and probably injure him badly enough to kill him.
Lee didn't waste time on thinking. He jumped forward and sank his teeth into the creature's forearm with all his might. It was a crushing bite: he felt his teeth scrape bone.
The creature shrieked in agony, but Lee wasn't finished. Before the beast had a chance to swing at him with its free paw, he braced himself against the ground and pulled with all his strength, dragging it off balance. It was forced to right itself with its other limb, with Asriel hanging onto its sinewy neck for grim death.
'Hang on, Lee!' Hester cried, voice shot through with the excitement and terror of the fight. 'It's weakening, I can tell!'
Hester was right, Lee realised with the merest smidgen of relief. Although its fanatical belief had sustained it thus far, pain and exhaustion and blood loss were finally taking their toll. Now, if only Asriel would stop shaping wooden, as his Ma used to say, and actually killed the creature –
'Lee!' shouted Hester, and Lee felt terror – Hester's terror – surge up in him like a floodtide.
'It's Mrs Coulter!' his daemon yelled. 'Move now!'
Lee didn't let go of the creature's forepaw – a mistake, though he had no way of knowing it at that exact moment. Instead, he twisted himself round so his body was parallel with the creature's long foreleg, his teeth wrenching agonisingly in the creature's flesh. Even as he did so, he heard the report of a rifle: a loud bang that blotted out all other noise, even the creature's yelps.
A horrible burning sensation lashed across his side a heartbeat later. It pulsed and seared and sank grasping tendrils of pain deep into his innards. Lee nearly lost his grip on the creature's foreleg, only sheer force of will keeping his jaws locked.
He'd been shot. Lee knew what it felt like. He also knew what broken ribs felt like, and the bullet had definitely cracked at least one. His side was blazing.
He heard the sound of a rifle breech being opened, realised that the shooter – Mrs Coulter – was about to reload. For a terrible, unmoving moment, Lee was paralysed, body and mind.
But Hester, his darling Hester, was another matter.
'Take her out, Lee!' she cried.
Lee didn't waste time on thought. He let go of the creature and spun in the direction the shot had been fired from.
He spotted Mrs Coulter at once. She had shot him with the gun thrown down by one of the Magisterium guards. She was crouched only a few metres away, struggling to reload, her right arm pressed awkwardly against her body. The creature must have done her some damage when it struck her.
Lee decided to do more damage.
He was faltering. He could feel his legs weakening, struggling to carry him. But he was still a wolf, with a wolf's strength and a wolf's jaws. He lunged at Mrs Coulter, just as she managed to reload and lift the gun to aim at the wolf that was Lord Asriel, still locked in maddened combat with the creature.
The monkey-daemon, crouched at Mrs Coulter's side, screeched a warning. Mrs Coulter looked round and saw Lee coming. Then she spotted Hester at his side, and the sheer shock of it left her paralysed. Lee glimpsed her gaping mouth, her eyes like lumps of coal in her salt-white face, and then he was upon her.
He snarled and sank his jaws into her right arm.
Lee did not hold back, not exactly. A part of him wanted to slash open an artery, let her lifeblood dribble out onto the uncaring earth, but another part was whispering that this woman, no matter what she had done, was Lyra's mother. He would not aim to kill, not this night. But he no compunctions about anything else. Lee bit down with all his might. He felt the crack of breaking bones and knew Mrs Coulter had fired her last bullet until her arm healed.
Somewhere, the monkey-daemon whimpered. Mrs Coulter herself made no sound. Lee doubted she could. She merely went limp, flopping back into the grass like a ragdoll, and Lee released his grip. She stayed motionless, and Lee risked a glimpse over his shoulder. Asriel and the creature were still duking it out, Asriel clinging like a leech to the creature, the creature clawing with its good forepaw at the wolfwalker, its movements increasingly feeble.
Lee knew he should re-join the fight. Help finish the foul thing off at long last. But pain and sheer exhaustion were taking their toll. His legs were jellied, his side was pounding, and it hurt to breathe, and he wasn't sure how long he could last against the creature.
But Lee had never been one to back away from a fight.
Hester? Your call, he said to his daemon, his better self. Hester understood him perfectly, and despite their dire straits, Lee couldn't supress a thrill of delight at their mutual sympathy and understanding.
'Get stuck in, Lee,' she said. 'It's risky and I ain't so fond of risky, but you'll never forgive yourself if you don't.'
Lee didn't hesitate further. He ran as hard as he could and leapt at the creature.
It saw him coming and swung.
Lee twisted mid-jump, so that the creature's massive paw caught at his legs rather than his body. It was enough to fling him off-course and send him sprawling to the ground. His vision blurred and all conscious thought fled as white-hot agony surged through his brain and every bone he possessed. Somewhere nearby, Hester yelped in pain.
Lee couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't speak. If the creature or Mrs Coulter were to finish him off now, he couldn't stop them. He was drowning, in exhaustion and pain and bewilderment… wait, no, not quite drowning. The pain was receding a little, and he found he could heave a few painful breaths of smoky air. His ears twitched. The fire was burning, burning close by. Mrs Coulter was breathing, but nothing more. She was lying still and quiet as far as Lee could tell. Then, mercifully, he heard Hester, snaking through the grass to sit alongside him.
Then something whimpered.
Lee managed to raise his head just a little to spy out what it was.
It was the creature, silhouetted against the blazing rust and egg-yolk-coloured flames that were within metres of it by now. It lay prone on the ground, limbs twitching feebly. Blood gleamed red as rubies at its neck. Asriel stood over it, watching intently. There was no triumph in his stance, only weariness.
Lee realised what had happened. His final attack had distracted the creature sufficiently for Asriel to alter his grip and deliver a fatal bite to the beast's artery. It was dying. At last, they had defeated it.
As Lee watched, he saw the beetle-daemon, motionless, perched on the creature's malformed head. Then it dissolved into nothingness, disappearing as all daemons did when their people died.
Lee let his head fall heavily to the grass, and he lay there. They'd done it. He'd done it. The creature was dead. Soon, its body would be devoured by the fire. There would be nothing left for the Magisterium to exploit, nothing for its experimental theologians to pick over and discuss and deform. The secret of the wolfwalkers would remain hidden. Lyra would be safe.
'Lee? Lee, I know you're hurting, but you gotta move,' Hester whispered. Lee realised she'd crept alongside and was nuzzling his head.
Ain't sure I can, Hester, Lee managed.
'You gotta, Lee!' she urged him. 'The fire's still burning, it'll reach you in a minute or two – and the Magisterium will probably be back –'
Lee thought wearily of hauling himself to his feet, trudging back to his human form. He thought of dealing with his downed balloon, fighting off Magisterium stragglers, and knew he simply didn't have the strength. Yet he also knew he must. His nature wouldn't allow him to lie back and passively accept his fate…
Just a few moments more, Hester, he groaned. Then I'll make a move…
'Better make it quick, Asriel's coming over and I don't reckon he'll want to hang about now he's – aw, hell!'
Lee heard a snarl, and then a yelp. He managed to raise his head and saw a horrible sight, one that chilled him even after a night filled with awful happenings.
It was Danvers. He held a rifle in his hands like a club. At his feet lay Asriel, motionless. He must have attacked the Alderman and, in his injured state, been too slow to dodge the blow. Even as Lee watched, he saw Danvers raise the rifle for another strike.
No! Lee cried, hauling himself to his feet through sheer resolve. He didn't much like Asriel, but the guy was Lyra's only family. Lee wasn't about to let Danvers kill or main him. He broke into an unsteady run.
Danvers's lemming-daemon, in her habitual perch on the Alderman's shoulder, saw him lurching towards them and chittered a warning.
Danvers spun round swiftly, makeshift weapon at the ready. With terrifying skill, he waited till his target was within range, and then swung at Lee.
The Alderman didn't have a long reach, but the rifle was a sizeable weapon and Danvers was moving with superhuman speed. The butt of the gun struck Lee violently on his injured side.
Lee collapsed. He didn't even stagger. His legs gave way as if they had been cut from under him, and he landed, hard, upon the ground. Agony pulsed across his body and brain in waves, blotting out all thought, all instinct. For an instant, he couldn't even recall his purpose, or who he was, or even if he was a man or a wolf or a bear or a cat or a bee. The only thing he could remember was a name.
Hester…
'I'm here, Lee,' she ground out. 'I ain't leaving you.'
Clarity returned to Lee like a wave breaking upon the shore. He was lying on his uninjured side, Hester pressed against his back. He managed to twist his head round to spy the Alderman – bloodied, burned, maniacal – looming over him. The expression on his face was one of violent triumph. He looked even more inhuman than the miserable creature had done.
Danvers smiled down at him, a reptile's smile without a hint of warmth. The rifle that he had clubbed Asriel with he raised above his head.
Lee knew he was about to be beaten to death. And he knew he couldn't resist any longer. He'd drained himself to the dregs and further, and he had no strength left to fight. His remaining life could be counted in moments, and afterwards came only the great unknowability of death.
Lee would not think of it. He would think of something, anything else. His balloon, flying against a sky painted in pastel shades of blue and blush and rich vivid orange. The northern lights glowing like stained glass in green and lilac, flickering like sun on water. The silence of nights suspended above the earth. The whispering of the grasses on the Texan prairies. Trading stories with Iorek and barbs with Hester. His sweethearts… all his sweethearts…
The Alderman glared down at him.
'Unnatural thing, by the Authority's glory and grace he vanquishes thee,' he intoned, rifle poised for a killing strike.
Lee thought of being a wolfwalker, of nights racing through the woods, hunting the deer, the wolfpack, the danger, the excitement, the magic. He thought of Lyra, her cheeky grin, her smart mouth, her courage and determination…
And for a moment he seemed to see her. Lyra. She was standing quietly, gazing at the wolves, who were lolling beneath a great oak tree, resting. Iorek Byrnison stood a little way off, watching meditatively. Serafina Pekkala was perched, almost literally, high up in the oak, scanning the horizon for danger.
Then, all of a sudden, a young female wolf, sitting at the edge of the furry sprawl that was the pack, yipped in astonishment, eyes glimmering with the golden magic of the wolfwalkers.
Lyra spun round, and her gaze met Lee's.
She didn't hesitate. She strode forward, wolfwalker magic twining its way around her in gilded strands, and then she stepped from where the pack was resting into the blazing field where Lee was awaiting his fate, Pantalaimon leaping from her pocket, turning from a mouse to a wildcat as he went.
Although Danvers had his back to her, Lyra took in the whole horrible situation with one searing glance.
'No!' she screamed and lunged for the rifle, Pantalaimon snarling ferociously. 'Leave him alone!'
Danvers, his entire being focused on the wolf he was about to murder, was shocked rigid by Lyra's attack. She got hold of the gunstock and tried to rip it from his hands. Danvers twisted round awkwardly, hanging on to the barrel, face twisting into a snarl as he wrestled with Lyra.
They were – almost – equally matched. Lyra was a young girl, but she had a wolfwalker's strength and her determination to defend Lee was tremendous. Danvers was badly wounded but sustained by his fanaticism, made a formidable foe. For several awful moments they struggled, a life-or-death combat.
'Lee? Lee?' Hester whispered. 'Don't let him hurt her, Lee.'
Even as his daemon spoke, Lee saw Danvers relinquish his grip on the rifle. Lyra, unbalanced, staggered backwards and Danvers shoved her, hard. She fell backwards, landing heavily beside Lee, and Danvers pounced, his hands scrabbling for her throat.
A few seconds earlier, Lee had been as weak and helpless as a new-born baby. But now Lyra was in peril, and all Lee's being, human and wolf, rose up, clamouring with the desire, the need to defend her.
From somewhere deep inside, he found his strength. Lee, scarcely aware that he was moving, only knowing that he had to, jumped to his feet and charged into the Alderman.
Danvers was taken completely by surprise. He didn't even have time to cry out as he was knocked sideways, into the flames that had crept up on him unheeded. His clothes caught fire, and then a moment later his entire body was ablaze, an outline of a man sketched in flame. Mercifully, he didn't scream. His arms waved wildly once, twice, and then he fell into the wildfire, and was swallowed.
Lee fell.
His feet went from under him, and he collapsed, and he knew that his time he wouldn't rise. He was done. He had used all his power and more, and he could do nothing else, except wait for his fate. He wouldn't even be able to run from the fire.
Then he felt Lyra's embrace, her arms curling round his shoulders as she pressed her face against him.
'Lee! Lee!' she was crying. 'Don't give in, not now! I'll heal you!'
Lyra… he murmured, although he knew she couldn't hear him. He'd done it. Lyra was safe.
'Good job Lee,' he heard Hester saying.
Thanks, Hester, he replied.
Then he felt something pulling at him. Tugging him away from Lyra and the fire and Asriel and the Magisterium and Mrs Coulter. It was like being swept out to sea by the tide, the currents catching hold of him and dragging him, helpless in their clutches.
Vaguely, he was aware of Lyra's cries, of the fire burning, of the sound of people running towards them with shouts of shock and warning, of the pain of his injuries. And then he felt something cool and hard and wet land on his fur, soaking through to his skin. It was the change in the weather he'd predicted to Lyra, ever so long ago. A cleansing, freeing rain come to wash away the fire and the fight and the conspiracies and the lies.
It was the last thing Lee felt before he was swept away somewhere where he wasn't a wolf and he wasn't a man, somewhere that was dark and peaceful, and his sight and hearing and feeling faded away, and he knew nothing more.
Author's Notes: So, Lee and the wolfwalkers have won... for now. There's going to be one more chapter to finish off a few loose ends, but this story is very nearly at an end. And what a ride it's been! I've thoroughly enjoyed myself and I hope you all have too.
Not sure when I'll get the next chapter up, but hopefully it won't be long. Till next time, dear readers...