Allissa

We flew south in easy stages, and nobody said hurry, because for the first time in longer than I could measure, there was nothing left in the north to run from.

Lyra rode wrapped against my chest with Smoke tucked under her chin. She slept most of that first day the way children sleep after fevers, deep in her trust of us. Every hour or so her fist would tighten in my collar without her waking. Checking. And every hour I put my mouth against her hair and let her feel the answer.

At the ...