It  after Lyra aken, just after ill aintop, just after tc ttle tin lantern aken from c , and crouco open Lyras rucksack.

    inside -er. It glittered in tern lig out to tood beside hemselves angels.

    quot;Can you read t; he said.

    quot;No,quot; said a voice. quot;Come  come. Come noo Lord Asriel.quot;

    quot; kno;old me to expect you. .  you?quot;

    quot;No one sent us. Ourselves only,quot; came t;e  to serve Lord Asriel. And t did  you to do ;

    ill o ate.

    quot;ake it to Lord Asriel,quot; he said.

    quot;t;

    quot;No. Not till Ive found Lyra.quot;

    over ter and put it into ,  teadily at two shadows.

    quot;Do you tell trut; he said.

    quot;Yes.quot;

    quot;tronger t;

    quot;eaker. You rue fles. Still, you must come ;

    quot;No. If Im stronger, you o obey me. Besides, I  care  takes, Ill find  and to Lord Asriel.quot;

    t for several seconds. ted aogethough

    ill could  they said.

    Finally they came close again, and he heard:

    quot;Very ake, t;

    ill tried to pierce t the rain filled his eyes.

    quot;Come closer so I can see you,quot; he said.

    t seemed to become even more obscure.

    quot;Ster in daylig;

    quot;No,  of a ;

    quot;ell, if I cant see you, no one else ay  be far aook ell me ;

    to tormy air and vanis a great sullen tle over tle strengt before t ed to do was close h weeping.

    ugged tco , and fell asleep in a moment.

    quot;Now; said a voice.

    ill  in truggled to ually (and it took most of a minute, because o open o t morning in front of him.

    quot;; he said.

    quot;Beside you,quot; said t;t;

    t in t, but nowhere could he see a figure.

    quot;I said  on. quot;You  at , at dusk or da best in darkness; least of all in tain, and found neit ter er.quot;

    quot;A dead man?  does ;

    quot;e middle age. Flesraces of a  around ;

    quot;Sir C; said ill. quot;ts er must s somet least.quot;

    quot;S traces. My companion urn ;

    ill got to  and looked around. torm ressing; for nearby lay tced oing al-beaked carrion croearing at t feast.

    ill looked at eacurn, but none of tcicular friend. t s suddenly on anot long before the evening?

    So s still be alive. t c found not tion he looked.

    quot;; o the angel.

    quot;Beside you,quot; came t;as al;

    ill looked to , hing.

    quot;So no one can see you. Could anyone else ;

    quot;Not if I artly.

    quot; is your name? Do you ;

    quot;Yes, ;

    ill considered o do.  of many, all t take are snuffed out like candles, as if ted. At t all ills ced at once. But to keep tence meant doing noto cer all.

    quot;ell go back doain,quot; ;ell go to t lake. t be sometting ty anyake t is and you can guide me if I go ;

    It  ill realized  ing. In fact,  t of his wound since he woke up.

    opped and looked at t  after t. It ment , but t a sign of blood; and after t bleeding , t   leap almost h joy.

    ally. true, till , but  quality of pain: not t a smaller, duller sensation. It felt as if it c her had healed him.

    he slope, cheered.

    It took to ttle blue lake. By time , , and in t, took it off, s cover, for  feo ter, to fall on er freezing mout  it made eeth and skull ache.

    Once ,  up and looked around. ion to notice t noer, and rident insect noises from all around.

    quot;Balt;

    quot;Always ;

    quot;;

    quot;Beyond t.quot;

    quot;Are ters around?quot;

    quot;No, none. I dont ers , and nor ;

    ill took up o ted out.

    Beyond it a little camp  up, ents and till alive and hiding.

    But t scrapings only scratc t. tents ill, ter ill drifting slo from  briefly, but it iny lizard.

    tents erial,  more among the dull red

    rocks.  and found it empty. So  in tin and a box of matcrip of some dark substance as long and as t first  it  in t  clearly to be dried meat.

    ell, er all.  a t cly salty, but full of good flavor.  t and tcogetin into ents, but found ty.

    t till last.

    quot;Is t he air.

    quot;Yes,quot; said Balt;;

    ill o trance, ole er, urn led ill to tle knife itself. Sir C, and poed unpleasantly, and ill didnt  to look at it, but a glance inside tent s ty of to steal, so epped over to look more closely.

    ly o take. ill o guess. ook a small magnifying glass in a steel case, because  to ligcougeen for er, mucer tskin flask in cup; a small pair of binoculars; a roll of gold coins t-aid kit; er-purifying tablets; a packet of coffee; t; a bag of oatmeal biscuits; six bars of Kendal Mint Cake; a packet of fisebook and a couple of pencils, and a small electric torch.

    all in  anot, filled een from to Balthamos:

    quot;Do you t;

    quot;You could do ; came t;Some faculty to enable you to recognize o respect and obey it.quot;

    quot;Are you ;

    quot;Muc;

    quot;ell, you see, I cant tell. Are you a man? You sound like a man.quot;

    quot;Baruc. Now ;

    quot;So...” ill stopped s tom, and tried to see to see. quot;So ;  on, quot;and t w ;

    quot;Not al in t majority of cases...Very rarely.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;Four t;

    quot;And did ;

    quot;In yours. But t.quot;

    quot;But ;

    quot; is t of tapion?quot;

    quot;I just  to kno;

    quot;Better to stick to your task. You y, you oys you need to keep you alive; no;

    quot;o go.quot;

    quot;;

    quot;till find us if ay  a couple more to do.quot;

    ill sat do Cake. It  as to nouris ter again. ty-six little pictures painted on ivory  t t a puppet, t  t was obscure.

    quot;; o Balthamos.

    quot;Quite possibly s up. truments udied for many years, and even tand t;

    quot;S making it up. S truly. Sold me t;

    quot;t is as mucery to me, I assure you,quot; said the angel.

    Looking at ter, ill remembered somet reading it: somet tate of mind so be in to make it  urn, to feel tleties of the silver blade.

    Feeling curious, ook out t a small  of   blue air, but belorees and fields:  a doubt.

    So mountains in t correspond to mountains in   time. to use it again!

    to  felt like an electric shock.

    If this one and his own?

    Surely it s into any of them.

    up again, letting o tip of told il led among toms t every tiny snag and ripple in the air.

    Instead of cutting as soon as  t little , as  to anot racing a roitcly t none of them was harmed.

    quot; are you doing?quot; said the air, bringing him back.

    quot;Exploring,quot; said ill. quot;Be quiet and keep out of t cut, and if I cant see you, I cant avoid you.quot;

    Balted discontent. ill  t for tiny s and ations.

    t. And as  t to cut t once,  t quality: te, t one cloudy; a ttle and frail...

    But among t more easily t one to be sure: his own world again.

    up and felt ip for a snag  quality.  ic and resistant, and let ts hrough.

    And yes! t   green fields and  a desert of rolling dunes.

    and opened anotrial city, h a line of chained and

    sullen rudging into a factory.

    one, too, and came back to  a little dizzy. For t time ood some of true po very carefully on t of him.

    quot;Are you going to stay ; said Balthamos.

    quot;Im to anot is, and maybe ts ting-to kno like  or you mig back. Youd be lost forever.quot;

    quot;Indeed. But may we...”

    quot;And youd o kno in opening it,quot; said ill, as muco o t;So its not as easy as I t. e  lucky in Oxford and Cittagazze, maybe. But Ill just...quot;

    o ion oucy of resonance, like triking a  of course t it came, like every otiniest movement ty air.

    t was.  somew was again.

    t . t t t a grassy upland meado sky, in  of stiff heir backs.

    epped t animal looked up incuriously and turned back to t  for tried them.

    Yes, ill  meant ttagazze-.

    it back to t get lost; no safely.

    itrengt  and she rucksack over his shoulder.

    quot;ell, are you ready no; said t sarcastic voice.

    quot;Yes. Ill explain if you like, but you dont seem very interested.quot;

    quot;Oever you do a source of perpetual fascination. But never mind me.  are you going to say to t;

    ill looked around, startled. Fartrail, a long ravelers eadily up to seen , but if ayed whey would soon.

    ill gat  was dry. hing else he could carry.

    quot;Lets go fart; he said.

    o retie t it could .  off along travelers, and t air.

    Mucer t day tains onto a spur covered in grass and dwarf r, and soon, op.

    tle from time to time Balt;Not t ; or quot;to t,quot; and ed t really o keep aravelers, because until t as well ayed whey were.

    Noting,  range companion. tline of a man seemed to quiver in t, and t.

    quot;Balt; ;I  to find a stream. Is t;

    quot;t; said t;just above trees.quot;

    quot;t; said ill.

    een. But before o ttle ion from Balturned to see line dart across to, and ill could see ter  ly; but o pause, and listen, and to to skim back sly to ill.

    quot;; ;Baruc invisible. Come, come. Come no;

    ill folloen. t, opened onto a dim, tundra-like landscape t ter tains in ttagazze  sky.  t once.

    quot;; ill said.

    quot;to follo;

    quot;;

    quot;Of course I read  goes ;

    ill looked around. te as t failed.

    quot;I dont  to sleep ; ;ell stay in ttagazze  and come t least t  ake any ot;

    quot;o do t?quot;

    quot;In t  one, tened of me at first because of t. So if o travel in o pretend to be my daemon, and take t least.quot;