Balt t it o t air over tundra, flailing o t ime before o ill, hey were back in Lyras world.

    quot; is it?quot; said ill as trembling beside ;Is it danger? Get behind me...”

    quot;Baruc; cried Balt;my dear Baruch is dead...”

    quot;;

    But Balt tell;   inguis keep still: o seek out Baruc, calling, crying, calling; and t, and fly doo urge ill to , and promise to cirelessly; and to tance of kindness and courage t Baructen none of t a nature so gracious could never be snuffed out, and o ting about in every direction, reckless and ricken, cursing tars.

    Finally ill said, quot;Balt;

    t ter cold gloom of tundra, to ;You must try to keep quiet no tll attack if tect you  if ttack you up t be able to oo, tll be to o Lyra. Please dont forget t. Barucrong, be strong, too. Be like ;

    At first Balt speak, but t;Yes. Yes, of course I must. Sleep no;

    ill trusted o. And presently he fell asleep again.

    o anding nearby. t rising, and ts ipped h gold.

    Before ill could move, Balt;Ive decided  do. I say , and do it co Lyra, if I can, and to Lord Asriel. I  I never met a nature t made me so ardent to do good, or to be kind, as Barucimes, but eacime o redeem me. Nos not, I

    so try  it. Perime to time, but I sry all t;

    quot;t; said ill, shivering.

    quot;S;

    quot;Yes,quot; said ill, quot;fly ell me o take forever.quot;

    Baltook to t told ill everyt, because rying to do  and not atron, t, from   angels o see, including parts of  of ure Lyra atron no some time Balto tell  not quite yet. It oo difficult.

    ill, reckoning t it o get ing for a fire to catc off toted and potimes come t t  tle sense of making progress.

    Sometime later, w was brighamoss voice spoke beside him.

    quot;About oo tie up. I fle tly sout a passage, t;

    quot;Good,quot; said ill fervently. quot;And does to to;

    quot;It goes to to;

    quot;I  lock me up if I cant speak t;

    quot;As your daemon,quot; said Balt;I sranslate for you. I ainly understand try.quot;

    ill oil  least  least every step took o Lyra.

    taining reindeer, and dogs t barked as  out of tin c , and t flood: o s of corrugated iron sbuildings  away.

    But t  t curious feature of t first   even made umble once or t of tical, all leaning ttle chquake?

    Dogs erical fury, but not daring to come close. Baltaken te dog igail, and  t tance. ted and listless.

    ill paused in ter of ttle village and looked around, ood staring at  people  coats, muddy boots, and fur s, and t look friendly.

    te dog co a sparroo ills s t of t  look t is tful to do.quot;

    ill kept  talent. By time

    to t interest in  t hing loudly.

    Baltly, quot;t. You e to urn and bo;

    ill did so. t less eyes moved over ills face and body, taking everything in. he beckoned.

    ill  to the doorway and bowed again.

    t said somet;ever you like.quot;

    quot;I speak Englis; ill said slo;I dont kno;

    quot;A; cried t gleefully in Englis;My dear young man! elcome to our village, our little no-longer-perpendicular K is your name, and w;

    quot;My name is ill, and Im going sout my family, and Im trying to find t;

    quot;t come inside and ,quot; said t, and put a he doorway.

    terest in Balt to t:  into ills s as if he were shy.

    t led o a parlor obacco smoke, eamed quietly on a side table.

    quot; ; said t. quot;tell me again.quot;

    quot;ill Parry. But I dont knoo call you.quot;

    quot;Otyets Semyon,quot; said t, stroking ills arm as o a c;Otyets means Fat of tc is your fat;

    quot;Jo;

    quot;Joccc;

    quot;Im lost,quot; ill said. quot;I raveling o t ic, and t lost. So Im traveling souts ;

    t spread ;A soldier? An explorer from England? No one so interesting as t rodden ty roads of Kuries, but in time of up  appear tomorroor, ill Ivanovitc stay t in my alk and eat toget; he called.

    An elderly ly. o ook a glass and filled it  tea from t tea to ill, togettle saucer of jam h a silver spoon.

    quot;t; said ill.

    quot;to sen tea,quot; said t. quot;Lydia Alexandrovna made it from bilberries.quot;

    t  tea ter, but ill sipped it, nonet kept leaning foro look closely at  o see ract he village sloped.

    quot;t; t said. quot;It is all foretold in t. Jo river only a s o tic Ocean. All tains of central Asia it flohousands of years,

    ever since ty of God ty Fated t  turned again and  norturned upside do;

    quot;A long ;I didnt kno kno w? ;

    quot;Bring me t large book on ttom s; said Semyon Borisovitc;I will s;

    t dreable and licked urning t atlas.

    quot;; ing y fingernail at a spot in central Siberia, a long  of t  of tains in tibet all to tic.  t ched.

    Semyon Borisovitcalked and talked, pressing ill for details of iced dissembler, ans in some beetroot soup and dark bread, and after t e.

    quot;ell, c; said Semyon Borisovitc;S cards, or o talk?quot;

    ea from took it doubtfully.

    quot;I cant play cards,quot; ;and Im anxious to get on and keep traveling. If I  to teamer going sout;

    ts e flick of t.

    quot;trouble in to; ;Lydia Alexandrovna er ic. You did not see armored bears w;

    t ly t only ill could ;Be careful.quot; And ill kne once  Lyra old  t try to contain his feelings.

    ;e ;

    quot;Yes, t is , to ills relief, quot;But no, and to let tcers of evil! t to deatco do c to t age? try to seduce you. t, cunning, deceitful  skin, t voices, and take your seed, you kno, take your future, your c are to come, and leave you not to deat;

    t reaco took dotle and two small glasses.

    quot;Noo offer you a little drink, ill Ivanovitc; ;You are young, so not very many glasses. But you are groo knoaste of vodka. Lydia Alexandrovna collected t year, and I distilled ttle is t, tyets Semyon Borisovitcoget;

    tle, filling eaco talk made ill  so drink  discourtesy?

    quot;Otyets Semyon,quot; anding, quot;you ay longer to taste your drink and to alk, because ell me eresting. But you understand I am un my family, and very anxious to find t move on, muco stay.quot;

    t pus  of  t;ell, you s. But before you leave, you must drink your vodka. Stand ake it, and do;

    all at once, and tood very close to ill. In , dirty fingers t seemed tiny; but it , and ill could smell tang of tale s and tains on t sick before he began.

    quot;Drink, ill Ivanovitc; t cried, ening iness.

    ill lifted tatingly so figo avoid being sick.

    to come. Semyon Borisovitc , and took ill by both shoulders.

    quot;My boy,quot; o intone a prayer or a psalm. Vapors of tobacco and alco came powerfully from o brush.

    ts cig, left, rig Baltiny clao  still. omac  move.

    Finally it  stepped back and pushed him away.

    quot;Go, t; ;go soutc;

    ill gatried to raig ts ook t of the village.

    s place. Baltop at one point, and laid tle; but ill made  he would never drink vodka again.

    And in te afternoon t of toer so broad it might have been a sea.

    Even from some  trouble. Puffs of smoke ing from beyond ter by the boom of a gun.

    quot;Balt; ;youll o be a daemon again. Just keep near me and c for danger.quot;

    o tskirts of ttle tos mud stains on toed, but as oing, of screams, and of t louder.

    And  last tco look a terfront, s of big vessels rose above tops.

    An explosion s of a nearby o the smoky air.

    ill reacreet and looked along terfront.  cleared a little, ing vessel standing offss place against tols surrounding a great gun, wched,

    boomed again. A flasy splash.

    ill s, but,  to expect, t al, or creatures in  flo in alarm. to t splastered, and some ran in flames to ters edge and plunged in, to be s along and out of sig.

    ill found a man close by weacher, and said:

    quot;Do you speak Englis;

    quot;Yes, yes, indeed...”

    quot; is ;

    quot;ttacking, and ry to fig it is difficult, we have only one gun, and...”

    t  of blazing pitcime it landed even closer to t immediately after ion, and t ating the barrel swing down low.

    quot;A; ted, quot;its no good, t fire...”

    t brougo in alarm and despair, especially  into being on t or turned to flee; but time t launcoing o  against t.

    t doo t o traitors. took no notice, but ran to lower a gangplank.

    turned to go back on board, a s ence like a candle flame.

    tion from t once t and o face t ups over tops. And at top of tion of ironclad migs t rained on o make test dent in his massive armor.

    ill said to t;tacking to;

    quot;t fuel. But  figes, robbers...”

    t bear  ted; and ill sa to to the breech.

    An idea came, and  onto t into ty space bethe bear.

    quot;Stop!quot; ed. quot;Stop fig me speak to t;

    tood still, astonis trengto cayed y.  clao t.

    quot; are you?  do you ?quot;  language.

    tc one anot, and tand translated for thers.

    quot;Ill fig,quot; cried ill, quot;and if you give ing o stop.quot;

    t move. As for tood ed and jeered and ed er. But not for long, because ill turned to face tood cold-eyed, contained, and perfectly still, until ter stopped. rembling on his shoulder.

    , , quot;If I make t agree to sell t agree. If you dont, troy all of you.quot;

    t  turn; coalking, gesticulating, arguing, and after a minute, a voice called, quot;Boy! Make t;

    ill turned back. ook a deep breath and called:

    quot;Bear! You must agree. If you give o me, ting o stop, and you can buy fuel and go peacefully up t;

    quot;Impossible,quot; roared t;It  of its s fig;

    quot;I agree,quot; said ill, and every scrap of tention  ferocious being in front of ;Its not a fair contest at all. You  armor, and I ake off my  fairer, t, for example. tter matcll be no so fig;

    it expressed red, rage, and scorn, t claw and un  in place.

    And noerfront. No one spoke, no one moved. tell t somet tell   t of tless crying of seagulls over clang as t do ills feet.

    ill put ed t up on its end.  it. It consisted of a single s of iron, dark and dented, op and a massive c humb.

    quot;So t; ;ell, it doesnt look very strong to me. I dont knorust it. Let me see.quot;

    And ook ted t t of t, and sliced off a corner as if ting butter.

    quot;ts ,quot;  anoto a pile of fragments in less te. ood up and  a handful.

    quot;t ; ter onto t at , quot;and t o me, Ill o fig it. Are you ready, bear? I tcake off your er all.quot;

    Utter stillness. tc a drop of s trickle down his spine.

    t and took a step backward.

    quot;too strong a ; ;I cant fig. Boy, you ;

    ill kne a second later t and he bear had

    finiso turn and call out, to keep t:

    quot;No keep ter tart repairing t t tie up and refuel.quot;

    it ake a minute to translate t and let t among tco t ting out, as a net of sandbanks baffles and breaks up tc ood more fully t the boy had achieved.

    ill put t a different kind time. to dismantle the quayside.

    Ons about clearing up, but several more came croo see ill, curious about to command t ime for ill to become inconspicuous again, so  ed all kinds of curiosity a  magic, but simply a e eresting, less attractive to tention. t urned away.

    But ttention

    anotraordinary po ills command. ly, in a voice t seemed to the ships engines.

    quot; is your name?quot; he said.

    quot;ill Parry. Can you make anot ?quot;

    quot;Yes.  do you seek?quot;

    quot;Youre going up t to come o tains and t ake me?quot;

    quot;Yes. I  to see t knife.quot;

    quot;I o a bear I can trust. trusto tains to find. ongue. t;

    quot;I am Iorek Byrnison,quot; said the bear.

    quot;I kno; said ill.

    t aking fuel on board; tilted sideo let coal tes into t rose iced by townspeople, whe ship.