‘No,’ the smaller cub hissed. ‘Once it starts, nowhere is safe. The caribou flat-faces have been protecting this place until now, but they cannot protect it any longer. Nowhere is safe,’ he repeated. ‘Oil will destroy everything you know. Flat-faces will break the ice and tear down the trees to find it. Now do you understand why we have to do something?’

Suddenly Lusa started forward; she had listened in silence until now, her gaze fixed on Ujurak. Toklo stepped back with a huff of irritation as she brushed past him and buried her snout in Ujurak’s shoulder.

‘We have to save the wild,’ she whispered.

Briefly Toklo wondered what would happen if he refused to go one step further with Ujurak. Would any of the others follow him if he turned round and walked away? Remembering the days he had spent alone in the woods, he didn’t want to put it to the test.

The sound of the firebeast with the wailing call, growing louder still, made up Toklo’s mind for him.

‘We can’t stand around here,’ he growled. ‘Does anyone know how to get out of here?’

‘I’m really confused,’ Lusa complained. ‘This way, maybe?’

Before they could move, two flat-faces appeared around the corner. One of them carried a firestick, and he let out a yell of amazement as he spotted the bears.

‘Go!’ Ujurak growled.

As the bears emerged into the open, more shouts broke out from further down the BlackPath, and another firestick made a cracking sound.

‘There are more of them!’ Lusa gasped. ‘Run!’

The barking of dogs echoed behind them as they fled. Another wailing firebeast was bearing down on them, its eyes glaring; Toklo skidded round a corner into a narrow alley to avoid it, his friends hard on his paws.

‘Why are the flat-faces chasing us like this?’ Ujurak panted, trying to keep pace with the bigger cub. ‘Do they hate us?’

‘Not all of them do,’ Lusa responded. ‘Hey, Kallik and Toklo, remember the little cub who looked out of her den and waved at us? She looked as if she liked bears.’ Lusa began to slow down. ‘I wonder . . .’

‘Absolutely not,’ Toklo snapped. ‘If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, we can’t trust any flat-faces, not even cubs.’

‘What choice do we have?’ Lusa asked. ‘The forest is far away and we’re lost. We don’t know how to get out of here. We have Ujurak, who can talk to flat-faces, who can turn into a flat-face. What else are we going to do?’

‘Asking flat-faces for help?’ Kallik yelped. ‘Lusa, that’s cloud-brained!’

‘I don’t know,’ Ujurak argued, his eyes bright. ‘It might be worth a try. Do any of you know where to find her?’ he asked.