‘Several hours, I should think,’ said Elowen. ‘Nammu has boosted my powers but they are still not at full strength. Besides that, I have to make a proper connection with the tree. Then we can sing together and knit Embla and Nammu as one. It is a slow process at the best of times. It can be done quickly but the danger of things going wrong is great if we rush.’

‘I think we’ll have enough time.’ If Thresher ran all night, she would be upon them by the dawn at the earliest. Liska prayed that the hunter would be suffering from the cold just as they had. ‘Come on, Fishbone,’ she said. ‘We need to check on Lug. And then we have to prepare.’

‘Prepare what?’ Fishbone asked, eyes wide and hopeful. ‘Supper?’

‘For battle,’ said Liska, feeling the fox within her begin to growl.

Chapter 13

Liska sat by the fire listening to the snapping of the flames and holding on to one of Lug’s mittened hands, gently rubbing his fingers. Her mind was playing through all the possible ways the coming battle might go. Unfortunately most of them ended with Thresher killing them all.

Unlike her, Fishbone had no worries. He was stretched out on his back basking in the heat. He opened one eye and looked at her hopefully. ‘Belly rub?’

‘You must be joking.’

Behind them they could hear Elowen crafting the magic that would bind Embla to her tree. Remake her in a new form: a thing of flesh and living wood combined. Just words at the moment, in a language that was dimly familiar to Liska. She had heard snatches of it used by stormsingers when they conjured the mountain mists back home.

The sound of it made her think of the Noon Fort. Of her family, her room, the view over Arborven. Was the battle still raging? Were her parents alive? And would they be worrying about her? She hadn’t even left a note, she realised. Would they notice her things were missing and assume she had run off on her half-brained quest? Or did they think a seeper had snatched her on the night of the attack? Would they be mourning her right now? She wished there was some way to know. To have just a glimpse of them; to see that they were safe.

‘I is going hunting,’ Fishbone announced, breaking her dismal thoughts. ‘Coming?’

Liska shook her head. As much as she would like the warmth of her griffyx fur, she wanted to watch over Lug. If he came round, he would need fresh water, maybe some bandages for his hands. Did frostbite make your fingers suddenly snap off, or did they shrivel up first? Either way, she thought someone should be here when he woke. She had many things to say to him and all of them began with ‘sorry’.