‘Come on, Lug,’ Liska said. ‘One last push and then we’ll be there.’

He didn’t move.

Elowen went over to him and knelt down, peering beneath the blankets. Her worried face made Liska rush over as well. Inside his snug cocoon, Lug’s skin was pale blue, his lips and nose bruise-purple. He was struggling to open his eyes and his whole body was violently shivering. His mittens had been discarded and his cuddly worm toy was clutched in his arms.

‘Oh, poor Lug!’ Elowen pulled one of his hands out from the blankets. His fingers had also turned purple. ‘What shall we do with him? His body is so cold!’

‘Why did he take his mittens off?’ Liska shouted. ‘Of all the stupid things to do . . .’

‘He must have been trying to cuddle Mister Wriggles,’ said Elowen. She carefully prised the toy worm from his grip and eased the mittens back over his frozen hands.

‘Rot take it!’ Part of her felt like shaking Lug awake and yelling at him. But she was also angry at herself. He was her friend after all, and he wasn’t made for adventuring outdoors. He wasn’t made for anywhere except a marshy library, to be honest.

Liska racked her brains. If they built a huge fire that might warm him. But there was only dry grass and scraps of gorse to burn. By the time they’d made a fire hot enough they’d be sitting there like flightless chickens when Thresher and her hounds arrived.

‘We need to get to Nammu,’ she said. ‘Maybe we can use some of its wood to build a bonfire. That would warm him up.’

‘But how are we going to get him there?’ Elowen asked. ‘I can’t carry him on my own.’

‘I’ll change,’ said Liska. ‘Between us we can manage him. And the walk might get his blood flowing again.’

Gritting her teeth, she shifted back from griffyx to human. When the arctic air hit her bare skin, it was like being slapped. Hard. So cold it hurt like a burn.

‘Root and branch! No wonder he’s frozen!’ Liska wrapped her cloak around her, and then took Lug under one arm. With Elowen on his other side, they managed to get him upright and began the slow, stumbling walk towards the tree. Lug, half awake, muttered and moaned in between them, dragging his feet through the grass.

*

They made painfully slow progress, and for a long time the tree in the distance didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

Patches of snow started appearing amongst the gorse. Their feet stomped through them, breaking the icy crust on top and sinking through white crystals with the satisfying scrrrunch Liska used to love hearing when it snowed back home. Now it just meant that the temperature was dropping even further, filling her guts with fear for Lug.