unning  Mrs. Coulter groaned aloud and to let tiny ruggle free.

    In a moment s up to ter, botime to be astonis enderly, and embraced ly before calling to ill.

    quot;You! Boy!quot;  ; t;

    quot;Of course I ; said ill. If t kno o tell them.

    quot;You and to follow us. ;

    quot;Ama, from t; said ill.

    quot;tell o return t;

    ill didnt ate. ever tended, ill get ah below.

    So c on, ed foro ter lay. Sunned ing, but s past her, and cried:

    quot;Lyra! Lyra, my daug go! Dont go!quot;

    Lyra looked do  tepped over ers feeble clutcears glistening on her cheeks.

    Crouc beside ted until ting, and ted do s, the leaping orange of flames.

    ill looked back once. In ters face ragic passion, and eously to  and  her arms, crying:

    quot;Lyra! Lyra, my love! My s treasure, my little c go, dont leave me! My darling daugearing my ...”

    And a great and furious sob ser all, Mrs. Coulter ears run dohe girls cheeks.

    But o be rut Lyras ed close to o  a crouc ers pistol.

    quot;Make for top of t; said t;and give yourself up to t ;

    Mindful of t t intention of obeying. t  , and Lyra and Ama ran behind him.

    quot;!quot;

    te men he Swiss Guard.

    quot;Iorek!quot; cried ill at once. quot;Iorek Byrnison!quot;  far a him.

    But someone else came from noion so being in front of them.

    But trained  later t at teete in t in fear and sing co vanis of sigreetops.

    Lyra  all ill-dazed eyes. It aken no more t it ol and clamped  o tt and pulled trigger, and t s t found t.

    taneously ttle spies launc t tims before ill could blink. t, and eacab heir daemons vanishing in mid-howl.

    ill leapt over t  alaimon racing -formed at t, and  dodging do pat, and a second later o. tced on roots and rocks, but tumbled to to te rocks under ts broke the immense silence.

    And t to omaccal

    to mention to  ted at   ing until omac y.

    Lyra c .

    ill finally recovered a little and looked around. And at once  t alone in ttle spies oo,  ternly. t and tures so distinct t t about they were.

    o Lyra, quot;ters in my rucksack, t;

    quot;O, oo muco believe,  to do, o even t... And its safe! You brung it all t;

    tumbled out of ly t even s expect anser over and over, roking tal and they knew so well.

    ill t: Itll tell us o mend the knife!

    But , quot;Are you all rigy?quot;

    quot;I dunno... yea not too much. Anyway...”

    quot;e s; ill said, quot;just in case t and come t;

    quot;Yes, ts true,quot; s, ill carrying his rucksack and Lyra happily

    carrying ttle bag s ter in. Out of t t tance and made no t.

    Over t offered a narro beneat,  for snakes, and s and some er from ills bottle.

    ill said quietly, quot;t kno of my mot made t, or catc knouck till  it mended. I didnt  ttle people to kno, Ive got t you could ask ter, maybe, and...”

    quot;Yea; s once. quot;Yea;

    Srument out in a moment and moved into t so s as ill o turn talaimon, mouse-formed no on her knee.

    Sarted before stle gasp of excitement, and s ill  it  finis, and sil trument fell still.

    S it a;Iorek? Is  I  t I  ;

    quot;Yes. Could  er said?quot;

    quot;Oal, ill! Not only armor, tle delicate t; Sold  tin box Iorek o s t;But w;

    quot;Close by.  obviously ing... And Balt ened...quot;

    quot;;

    t be feeling.

    quot;But Ill tell you more about er,quot; ;Its so strange... old me so many tand too...quot; hrough his hair and rubbed his eyes.

    quot;You got to tell me everyt; s;Everyt me. O still bleeding? Your poor ;

    quot;No. My fat. I just opened it up  its better no t hed made...”

    quot;You found your fat;

    quot;ts rigain, t nig;

    on some fresment from ttle old   ranger, tion t came to tcruck ing o ting h Iorek.

    quot;All t ; s;Dyou knoo me, ill, I t ted to  me...S...quot;

    She rubbed her eyes.

    quot;O my dream, ill, I cant tell you range it   clearness and understanding going so deep you cant see ttom, but clear all the way down.

    quot;It old you about my friend Roger, and  ried to rescue   wrong and Lord Asriel killed him?

    quot;ell, I saw , and he was, like,

    beckoning to me, calling to me, only I couldnt   me to be dead, it  t. ed to speak to me.

    quot;And... It  took o Svalbard,

    back to os and by t to Bolvangar to fetc  say sorry, itll all be no good, just a e of time. I got to do t, you see, ill. I got to go doo t care . t doesnt matter after t.quot;

    ill said, quot;t a  a  to ;

    S ruck by the idea.

    quot;You could ask,quot;  on. quot;Do it no;

    S over ter and ly. A minute later she answer.

    quot;Yes,quot; s;but its a strange place, ill...So strange ... Could ? Could o t,  of us does t? Because daemons fade aay in t t;

    quot;t be a t. A different part.quot;

    quot;You kno; sement, quot;I t must be true! Because I can t my body and I can t my daemon, so t be anot, to do t;

    quot;Yes. And ts t.quot;

    Lyras eyes blazed. S;Maybe  Rogers g out. Maybe we could rescue ;

    quot;Maybe. e could try.quot;

    quot;Yea!quot; s once. quot;ell go togets exactly ;

    But if t get t, to do not all.

    As soon as omac calmer,  up and called to ttle spies. te apparatus nearby.

    quot;; ;And w;

    t  a . t.

    quot;e are Gallivespian,quot; s;I am tialys. e are spies for Lord Asriel.quot;

    Sanding on a rock tinct and brilliant in t. tle voice ly clear and loerial and a sleeveless top of green, and  ume  rousers reaco midcalf. Botrong, capable, ruthless, and proud.

    quot; ; said Lyra. quot;I never seen people like you before.quot;

    quot;Our ialys. quot;e are outla.quot;

    quot;And  to do ;

    quot;to take you to your fat; said t;Lord Asriel sent a force under King Oguno rescue you and to ress. e are o ;

    quot;A suppose I dont  to go to my fat trust ;

    quot;Im sorry to ,quot; s;but to take you to ;

    Lyra couldnt : s loud at tion of tiny people making  it ake. Moving suddenly, talaimon, and oucip of a spur to   Bolvangar ouc ion.

    But t ill  up t ig use his spurs, and was holding him high.

    quot;Stalemate again,quot; said t;Put t;

    quot;Let go of Lyras daemon first,quot; said ill. quot;Im not in to argue.quot;

    Lyra sa ill ly ready to das ttle people kne.

    Salmakia lifted  aalaimons leg, and at once  free of o a , ail laseet  composure. After a moment urned and fled to Lyras breast, ermine-sialys back on tner.

    quot;You s,quot; to Lyra. quot;You are a tless, insolent co make you safe. Youd do better to act politely.quot;

    quot;Yes,quot; s;Im sorry, I ;

    quot;As for you...”  on, turning to ill.

    But ill interrupted: quot;As for me, Im not going to be spoken to like t, so dont try. Respect goes ten carefully. You are not in c to stay and o Lord Asriel no it.quot;

    Lyra could see tling, but tialys  ills  , and s  all costs tnt kno hen.

    quot;Very ; said t;e ss task  you must let us knoend to do.quot;

    quot;ts fair,quot; said ill. quot;Ill tell you. ere going back into Lyras ed, and o find a friend of ours, a bear.  far a;

    quot;t; said Salmakia. quot;e sa t come o Lord Asriel.quot;

    quot;Yes,quot; said Lyra, lying earnestly, quot;o t.quot;

    Pantalaimon  ed up to join them.

    quot;t poison,quot; Lyra said, turning back to t;in your spurs, I mean, is it deadly? Because you stung my moter, didnt you? ill s;

    quot;It ; said tialys. quot;A full dose c;

    And full of maddening pain,   tell .

    quot;I need to talk to Lyra in private,quot; said ill. quot;ere just going to move ae.quot;

    quot;it knife,quot; said t;you can cut to anot t so?quot;

    quot;Dont you trust me?quot;

    quot;No.quot;

    quot;All rig  got it, I cant use it.quot;

    on t  t  touc,

    quot;ell just o put up ; ill said. quot;As soon as t;

    quot;t; s;And t care, t;

    quot;I just . I  realized .quot;

    quot;; sly.

    Scalaimon as ed tiny mot go as far as t  as fast, and even more brigterned. Stled on it, ransparent ing.

    quot;Do you trust t; ill said.

    quot;Yes. t I t.quot;

    t back to to t;Im going to sleep no;

    t once and fell asleep.

    Lyra sat do-formed and er ruly fearless, and s beyond measure; but  good at lying and betraying and cing,  of t, s uous, because s for ill, never for herself.

    Sended to look at ter again, but to  time instead of unconscious, and s for a brief nap, as she assured herself before she fell asleep.