‘No, I’m not!’ He began pointing at each of them in turn. ‘You can turn into a flying fox beast and fight and sniff things out. The cat has got claws and catches all our food. Embla is a giant treekeeper, for root’s sake, and Elowen . . . Well, it turns out she’s one of the most powerful mages that has ever lived! How can I compete with all that?’

Liska was lost for words. It was kind of true, she supposed. Being able to talk to worms wasn’t all that useful on an epic quest it turned out.

‘You saved Myrtle from those parasites,’ Elowen said, coming to the rescue.

‘You spied on the giant,’ said Fishbone. ‘And is kittimew, by the way. Not cat.’

Liska nuzzled him with her nose. ‘Do you know what?’ she said. ‘It doesn’t matter if you haven’t done anything amazing yet. We know you’ve been scared and uncomfortable and cold. But that doesn’t stop you trying. Every time there’s been danger, you’ve done your best with what powers you have. Just like when you stood up for me in the playground that day. You’re as brave as any of us. Braver, even.’

‘Yes,’ said Fishbone. ‘I is admiring the way you keep trying, even when you is always failing so badly.’

‘But . . . I can’t just keep on throwing worms at people.’ Lug sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. ‘It’s pathetic.’

‘I can show you how to channel magic properly, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ said Elowen. ‘I know lots of techniques the mages have long forgotten.’

Lug’s eyes lit up. ‘Will I be able to summon Nematus?’

‘Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,’ she said. ‘We’ll see how things progress, shall we?’

Lug nodded and even gave Embla a graceful bow when she handed him the heart. He wrapped his injured hands around it and clutched it tight, the wispy hair on his head standing on end as the power coursed through him.

‘Now,’ said Embla. ‘Let us leave this place.’

She reached down and lifted all three of them into her arms, holding them in a cage of wooden limbs, much like the giant had done.

As they arranged themselves comfortably in her grasp, she started to stride south, powering across the tundra as fast as the icy north wind. Liska poked her muzzle over the treekeeper’s shoulder as they moved and watched the empty shell of Nammu growing smaller and smaller in the distance until it blended in with the white of the walking ice behind it.

*

They reached the forest edge by sunset and Embla showed no signs of tiring.

‘I can travel through the trees by night,’ she said. ‘I can see their life glowing in the darkness. The whole place is alight with it.’