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Back The Last Wilderness Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Also By
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Map
  6. Chapter One: Ujurak
  7. CHAPTER ONE:
  8. Chapter Two: Lusa
  9. CHAPTER TWO:
  10. Chapter Three: Toklo
  11. CHAPTER THREE:
  12. Chapter Four: Kallik
  13. CHAPTER FOUR:
  14. Chapter Five: Lusa
  15. CHAPTER FIVE:
  16. Chapter Six: Toklo
  17. CHAPTER SIX:
  18. Chapter Seven: Toklo
  19. CHAPTER SEVEN:
  20. Chapter Eight: Ujurak
  21. CHAPTER EIGHT:
  22. Chapter Nine: Kallik
  23. CHAPTER NINE:
  24. Chapter Ten: Lusa
  25. CHAPTER TEN:
  26. Chapter Eleven: Toklo
  27. CHAPTER ELEVEN:
  28. Chapter Twelve: Ujurak
  29. CHAPTER TWELVE:
  30. Chapter Thirteen: Kallik
  31. CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
  32. Chapter Fourteen: Ujurak
  33. CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
  34. Chapter Fifteen: Toklo
  35. CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
  36. Chapter Sixteen: Kallik
  37. CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
  38. Chapter Seventeen: Ujurak
  39. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
  40. Chapter Eighteen: Lusa
  41. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
  42. Chapter Nineteen: Ujurak
  43. CHAPTER NINETEEN:
  44. Chapter Twenty: Toklo
  45. CHAPTER TWENTY:
  46. Chapter Twenty-One: Ujurak
  47. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
  48. Chapter Twenty-Two: Kallik
  49. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
  50. Chapter Twenty-Three: Lusa
  51. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
  52. Chapter Twenty-Four: Toklo
  53. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
  54. Chapter Twenty-Five: Lusa
  55. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
  56. Chapter Twenty-Six: Toklo
  57. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:
  58. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Kallik
  59. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
  60. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lusa
  61. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
  62. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ujurak
  63. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
  64. Chapter Thirty: Kallik
  65. CHAPTER THIRTY:
  66. Chapter Thirty-One: Toklo
  67. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:
  68. Chapter Thirty-Two: Ujurak
  69. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
  70. Chapter Thirty-Three: Ujurak
  71. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
  72. Chapter Thirty-Four: Kallik
  73. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher
  76. Cover

‘OK then, well, get some rest.’ Janet picked up the tray and glanced around the room as if she was checking that everything was all right. ‘Goodnight,’ she said with a smile, and went out.

Once he was sure she had gone, Ujurak got out of bed and went back to the window, pulling the pelts aside to reveal the devastated landscape outside. With a struggle he managed to shift the catch on the window and push it open. Cold air flooded in, bringing with it an acrid smell.

Ujurak coughed, his sore throat protesting, as he breathed it in. That’s oil, then. It’s foul! He seemed to see the black, sticky stuff spreading out from his fingers, choking his skin, slicking his hair, filling his nose and mouth . . . There was no escape from it.

The horror of his vision filled him with fury and he let out a roar. The soft flat-face pelts seemed to cling to him and stifle him; he couldn’t bear their touch against his skin. Ripping them off, he felt his body begin to change. Ujurak let out a loud cry of relief as his transformation began.

Chapter Thirty: Kallik

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CHAPTER THIRTY:

Kallik

Kallik padded cautiously between the flat-face dens, Lusa and Toklo flanking her on either side. Her rush of confidence from finding the small white bear was fading away. She couldn’t scent Ujurak any longer, and though she kept scanning the ground, she didn’t see any more signs.

Clinging to the shadows, the bears kept going, but Kallik felt her fear growing with every pawstep. The smell made her feel sick, and the air shuddered with bursts of noise. The lights were harsh and unnatural, and their glare blotted out the bears’ view of the stars.

Silaluk, where are you? Kallik wondered, raising her snout to peer vainly at the sky. Are you still watching us, even here?

The BlackPath they were following divided, and more BlackPaths came to join it. The bears had to cross; Kallik’s pelt prickled as she listened for the roar of approaching firebeasts, but the only ones they saw seemed to be asleep.

The buildings became smaller as they left the metal birds’ nest behind, more like the flat-face dens Kallik had seen before. Lights shone from gaps covered with pelts. Each of the dens had a small territory around it. Kallik started at the sound of a dog barking from behind a fence.

‘Do you think the flat-faces brought Ujurak here?’ Lusa whispered.

Kallik shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’ve lost his scent.’

She let Toklo take the lead down a long BlackPath flanked by dens on either side. Lights on tall, thin trees glared, leaving few shadows where the bears could slip along unnoticed. Kallik’s paws tingled.