Chapter 12 Summary

Lirael rocks the boat until they both fall out. Lirael gets away from Nick. She continues through the marsh for hours until she finally reunites with Dog. As Lirael and Dog reach Sam, it looks as if he is aiming an arrow at Lirael's head.

Chapter 12 Analysis

Lirael is having an inner struggle with how to handle Nick. While he is Nick on the outside, some evil power is controlling Nick from the inside. At one point in the struggle, Lirael considers killing Nick. The problem is she doesn't think killing Nick will resolve the problem of the Free Magic that is inside of Nick. Lirael thinks the magic will live on and might even take over her body as a host, so she decides to just get away from Nick.