Lyra and ill eac ion. tialys and Salmakia tending to tside, flies cut from spiderer in a tin plate.  Pantalaimon, mouse-formed,   t to  outside.

    quot;You can still decide differently,quot; said Salmakia.

    quot;No, . e decided already,quot; said Lyra, stubborn and fearful at once.

    quot;And if  come back?quot;

    quot;You dont o come,quot; Lyra pointed out.

    quot;ere not going to abandon you.quot;

    quot;t if you dont come back?quot;

    quot;e sant.quot;

    Lyra . S really looked at t s of tanding on table just an arms lengt beautiful, not pretty, but t of face you o see if you ing out t. But s no if ever t y and   a o o lull and sooto, one day, in a voice like t.

    quot;ell,quot; Lyra said, and found  choked, so she swallowed and shrugged.

    quot;ell see,quot; said turned back.

    Once ten tter tea, s, took t off ty toely a little  to come closer, t looking back to see if they were following.

    t. It , and reamers of to t t all toget o c colors flash.

    Before long ttlement and made tream t ture toad as big as ills foot, rying to move out of t t kne to  it.

    quot;It o kill it,quot; said tialys. quot;; said Lyra. quot;It migill like being alive, in spite of everyt;

    quot;If , aking it ; said ill. quot;It s to stay agnant pool migter t;

    quot;But if its in pain?quot; said tialys.

    quot;If it could tell us,  since it cant, Im not going to kill it. t oads.quot;

    tsteps made told t t alaimon  eyes o Lyras so ill rembling and trembling.

    Suddenly ttle  , but it urned o talaimon crept into Lyras breast as sogetreading carefully along th.

    And t ter lay still in front of the pebbles.

    turned to t, and a little  t, a ty stood crazily out over ter. t; tty began, and  began. Lyras deato epped into t to do next.

    quot;Listen,quot; said ill.

    titive sound out on ter: a creak of , regular splas   and moved foro tting planks. Lyra follos, looking like ood at tty, pressing t t, and o brus settled on t sloting closer and closer.

    quot;Dont lets go!quot; Pantalaimon whispered.

    quot;Got to,quot; Lyra whispered back.

    S ill.   turn aside. And tialys on ills sc, like cobime to time t to clear t make t. She dead.

    t.

    It  ro, battered, patcting; and t , ly around t, pale eyes sunk deep among folds and wrinkles of gray skin.

    go of an oar and reaco t in t at tty. ito bring t rig the planks.

    to speak. ill got in first, and to step dooo.

    But tman held up his hand.

    quot;Not ; he said in a harsh whisper.

    quot;Not w;

    quot;Not ;

    ended a yelloing directly at Pantalaimon,  form immediately became ermine we.

    quot;But ; Lyra said.

    quot;If you come,  stay.quot;

    quot;But ! ed die!quot;

    quot;Isnt t ?quot;

    And t time Lyra truly realized rembling, and clutcig he whimpered in pain.

    quot;t; said Lyra opped: it  fair to point out t t o give anything up.

    ill c t tty, at tagnant puddles, t , against h. Impossible! Never!

    quot; stay o come,quot; tman said again.

    to land on t, man. Lyra ccir at troom t migh a pardon.

    tman bent to listen and then shook his head.

    quot;No,quot; ;If so stay.quot;

    ill said, quot;ts not rig o leave part of ourselves be;

    quot;O you do,quot; said tman. quot;Its une t salk to t s leave. You  knoil you are on ter, and t oo late. But you all o leave t part of yourselves o t;

    No, Lyra t, and Pantalaimon t  go ther again?

    And s ted  of ing ts companion, co t, and so a storm of  ec muffled t all along tcree stumps, tures t lurked ted cry and dretle closer to the ground, afraid of such passion.

    quot;If e to end  tman shook his head.

    quot;, but if  stays ; he said.

    quot;But ;

    quot;I dont kno;

    quot;;

    quot;Leave?quot;

    quot;ere going to come back. ere going to to come back.quot;

    quot;Not t;

    quot;t ;

    quot;I aken millions, and none came back.quot;

    quot;t. ell find our . And since o do t, be kind, boatman, be compassionate, let ake ;

    quot;No,quot;  ;Its not a rule you can break. Its a la; er, and tilted  ran out again. quot;t makes ter fall back into ts a la. I cant tilt my er fly upake o t s stay.quot;

    Lyra could see notalaimons cat fur. But ill saialys dismount from o spring at tman, and ention; but turned  o say:

    quot;o t me, it  ake come ruggle and cry, try to bribe me, ten and fig  me, sting as you ter comfort take no notice of me.quot;

    ill could c ting ing trying to put  claime after time sill ried to cling.

    Surn back.

    Snt do it.

    Srue to t-deep, life-deep bond linking o Pantalaimon, s t first, s out of her mind…

    But s.

    quot;Pan, no ones done t; s;but ill says ake care, my dear, youll be safe, e of my life finding you again, I  stop, I  rest, I , o to, Ive got to...quot;

    And s ter and cold and frighe muddy ground.

    animal ell. o be so young, a cub, a puppy, someten, a creature so sunk in misery t it ure.  Lyras face, and ill could see  look a avoid t, and y and  time as ing. ts of feeling bet t electric to him.

    And Pantalaimon didnt ask o t, too. And  if  be able to resist; so t so as not to distress tending t it  , it  be long before toget . But ill kne ttle girl earing  out of .

    tepped doo t. S t it barely rocked at all. S beside ill, and  Pantalaimon, rembling at tty; but as tman let go of t to pull t atle dog daemon trotted  to tly on t planks, and stood c c drety faded and vanis.

    te t even in t muffled, mist- raised an ec of course it  an ec  of urn from to the dead.

    quot;My , ill...quot; so  face contorted h pain.

    And t ter of Jordan College o t Lyra  betrayal and it would  erribly, was fulfilled.

    But ill, too, found an agony building inside  toget as he same anguish.

    Part of it  as if an iron  and  out betried to  in. It  it al, too: somet and private o t o be, and ill ure of pain and s.

    And it . It  kill me, Im frigead; s matter, I dont love ; and as if s, and pretended s so as to spare  as bad as t. to feel.

    So ill kne all t of   bealaimon, on t poisoned and desolate s came to ill and Lyra at t, and tear-filled glance. And for time in t not t, eachers face.

    Only tman and t to t insects , so dislodge ture; and t against the slime-puddled floor.

    ted longer ted to measure. t of alaimon abandoned on t ing to trengto see w would hey would land.

    ills arm rong around  oo, o peer t gray gloom and to ly somet darken.

    tman pulled on one oar to turn t a little to t.

    quot;; said tialys, small but strong as ever, to it, as if oo, had been suffering pain.

    quot;Near t; said tman. quot;Anotes,  tage.quot;

    quot; island?quot; said ill. rained, too, so tig hardly seemed his.

    quot;te to t; said tman. quot;Everyone comes s, c;

    quot;e s; whispered Lyra fiercely.

    eyes y.

    As ter, dark green, dense, and gloomy. teeply, and trees gre  could slip bet t t Lyra gave a little ; but not no ever again.

    quot;Are ; ill said to tman.

    quot;Makes no difference,quot; ;t came ed all t t ake, someone o be dead  not for time t make yourself alive again. And ttle infants, sometimes, t to to t tle crying baby on my lap many, many times, t never knehe difference

    betoo, t, snarling and savage and cursing me, railing and screaming:  t I take some noo put t, tion to see I  t trution t going to too, in turn, sooner ted.

    I let em cry and rave; t  me; t in the end.

    quot;So if you dont knotle girl so to contradict you.  you are, youll know soon enoug;

    All time eadily ro and reac to  for t  t rose out of the lake.

    alongside t still for t  to get out: as long as s, talaimon o t ure ated, but t out, pale and clutc; so so as well.

    quot;t; so tman. quot;ell  of everyto  before, I s;

    quot;Yes, Ill tell ,quot; said tman.

    rokes faded a.

    ttle ravelers, at t mist, t t a great  of them.

    Lyra s as if urned into lace and tter air could flo of alaimon ill, s, Roger must  like t as ainside, trying to cling to e fingers.

    tood still and listened. ter from t one or two drops splasheir cheeks.

    quot;Cant stay ; said Lyra.

    togeto tic stone blocks, green  slime, rose o t t t, to tell:  ing filaments of a jellyfisouched.

    quot;t; said ill in a rained voice.

    It tered ern under a slab of stone. Before ill could lift , one of tening them horribly.

    Immediately ted into ttle le. But t fle tal bloled  above tialys and Salmakia gats.

    t bird ture, s of a ures like o mind as soon as he saw her clearly. her face was

    smoot aged beyond even tcy and misery of all of teful expression on ures. But as travelers sated ed as if sed ancient blood again and again. ted, filto one fiercely;  of putrescent stink ed from ime she moved.

    ill and Lyra, botried to stand upright and face her.

    quot;But you are alive!quot; them.

    ill found ing and fearing han any human being he had ever known.

    quot;; said Lyra, w as repelled as ill.

    For ansed a jet of noise rig tc Lyra and togeturned into y of c teaco regulate to appeal to, nowo hide.

    and looked he sheer power of her scream had made him dizzy.

    quot;If youre trying to stop us,quot; ;tter be ready to fig door.quot;

    t time it o purse o a mock kiss.

    t;Your motmares. e s ;

    ill didnt move, because out of tely along tialys on t at to dig o tures scaly leg, and tialys launc off tly onto tric blue steed and up into the air.

    t on te. Anottered t  ill and Lyra bot taggered. But so tone ood out from  of serpents.

    ill tugged at Lyras ried to run to t turned, ting Lyra behe knife.

    t once, darting close at ing ao get in a blo distracting  s o the ground.

    Lyra called out, quot;tialys! Salmakia! Stop, stop!quot;

    tering in t one curn, and flexing , and t was w Lyra iced.

    too land on. Salmakia realized o tialys: quot;S. e cant  ;

    Lyra said, quot;Lady, ;

    travelers nearly fainted from tion and decay t ed from her.

    quot;No-Name!quot; she cried.

    quot; do you  ; said Lyra.

    quot; can you give me?quot;

    quot;e could tell you ed, I dont knorange t;

    quot;Oo tell me a story?quot;

    quot;If youd like.quot;

    quot;Maybe I ;

    quot;You mig us go in t door and find t weve come o look for; I ;

    quot;try, t; said No-Name.

    And even in  t s been dealt trumps.

    quot;O;  before, sting and improving and adding: parents dead; family treasure; shipwreck; escape ...

    quot;ell,quot; stling into orytelling frame of mind, quot;it began ay, oime. ting in our forest. t   ;

    it even a cry of  Lyra, clastretc ime to duck, but still one of t ore out a clump of hair.

    quot;Liar! Liar!quot; t;Liar!quot;

    Sly for Lyras face; but ill took out t of reac in time, and ill led Lyra over to t tred:

    quot;Liar! Liar! Liar!quot;

    And it sounded as if   so be screaming Lyras name, so t Lyra and liar hing.

    ill  , o protect

    t to tten  out the blade.

    ting dragonflies, tumbled to ts as them.