Once we got into the valley, I resolved to use the time we spent waiting for the wolves to gather some fodder for Gahltha and to amass another small supply of wood. It would not last long and it would make riding on Gahltha’s back awkward, but on expeditions I had always made a point of taking what the trail offered, no matter how meagre. I would also bathe and wash my hair if the lake was clean, and light a fire to cook a proper meal. I might even manage to get my coat and boots completely dry, whereupon I could apply some more of the waterproofing oil.

I was beginning to feel sleepy, so I stretched out, glad it was not freezing cold. Maruman curled up on my belly without waking, sinking in his claws a little. The slight discomfort made me feel tender towards him. Overhead, the sky was now clear save for a few unravelling grey skeins of cloud, and I marvelled at the incongruity of thinking about clouds and the prick of Maruman’s claws when I was engaged in a quest to find an ancient Beforetime machine that had the capacity to end all life in the world. But how could anyone think about such a task constantly without being crushed by the weight of it?

Maruman heaved a sigh and I lifted my head for a moment to look at him. He ought not to have been very tired since he had ridden the whole day on my shoulders, but ever since telling me the truth about Atthis, he had been calm and amenable. Instead of being relieved, I found his serenity unnerving and even unnatural. Almost, I could wish that he would wake up and snarl at me to stop gnawing. Laughing at my own contrariness, I stroked his head tenderly and a brief dim image floated from his mind into mine of my windowsill at Obernewtyn, bathed in sunlight.

I was struck by how little he weighed and how many scars he bore, for all the new shine to his coat and the youthful spring in his step. For no matter what the Agyllians had done to him, age was not a thing that could be healed. I thought of the terror that had burned through me when Rheagor had been about to attack him, and of the way I had used the spirit sword to strengthen the part of my mind and Talent that I needed to hurl boiling water into the wolf’s face. I had never used that power in such a way before.