And charging ahead, his tufty ears flattened by the wind, was the brown bear Toklo – always out in front, always the first. Warmth welled up inside Ujurak. Toklo had trusted him enough to come with him all this way, so far that Ujurak could hardly remember the mountains where he had met Toklo and then Lusa. Suddenly he wanted to be able to remember every pawstep, picture every day they had spent walking, walking, walking, all the way to the edge of the world.

Because finally they had reached their journey’s end. They’d found the Last Wilderness.

Down on the grassy hills, the caribou raised their heads as the bears hurtled towards them.

‘Watch out!’ Ujurak snarled. ‘Here we come!’

Toklo glanced over his shoulder. ‘They’re too big to hunt, feather-brain!’ he called.

Ujurak huffed at him. He wasn’t really going to hunt the giant caribou; strong as he was, he knew he was still small enough to run right under the bellies of the longest-legged creatures. He was just enjoying the feeling of unstoppable running, his paws skimming over the grass with a satisfying hiss, the fur along his flanks slicked down and rippling in the breeze he had created.

They had reached the foothills now, swerving down the gently swollen slopes until they rushed straight into the herd of grazing caribou. Close up, the horned beasts were huge, and they swung their heavy heads to glance lazily at the bears, unafraid of Ujurak and his companions. There were so many of them, Ujurak couldn’t see to the other side of the herd once he was on their level. All he could see was a forest of legs as thin as sticks, topped with pale, hairy bellies. The caribou’s pelts gave off a powerful musky scent that made Ujurak puff and wrinkle his nose.

Toklo darted to one side and led the bears out of the herd, sending the caribou scattering. The valley opened up in front of them again, and Ujurak blinked in the bright sunshine. A vast green plain unrolled at his paws, dotted here and there with clumps of dark spiky grass with still, silvery water just visible between the stalks. Through his wind-watering eyes, Ujurak could see patches of white where flocks of geese had landed to feed in the damp grassland.

This is the wilderness Qopuk promised us. Enough to feed us all, space for every bear, no sign of flat-faces or firebeasts or BlackPaths . . .