Lyra's POV
The deeper into the forest we went, branches would claw onto my arms, roots threatening to wrap themselves around my ankles with each desperate step.
The howls behind us were growing louder and closer.
The full moon, seated in the sky, resembled a gigantic silvery eye, staring down and waiting.
"Kira, wait!" I gasped, finally tripping on a rock. "We cannot keep on running like this!"
"A little farther!" she shouted, blood shining on her sleeve where she had been scratched. "There is a place up ahead, we can hide!"
As we disappeared through a wall of trees, we stopped at a rocky ledge.
Moonlight flickered across the wide pool beneath, watered by a waterfall; rushing waters dampened our auditory senses, mute against the distant howls.
She seized my arm and dragged me t
