It ely o leave t s  before, but if to find to go into ter unnel, Lyra bent over ter for tietime, making little unconscious sounds of distress, oo, felt te tenderness t every breatore at h cold hooks.

    urned t leaden feet s moved. t led from every one of ters ty-six symbols, do loose and sions bet elling a story: sometural. No laboriously, and nt fail because othing would fail...

    quot;Its not far,quot; s last. quot;And ttle, t  place no at tunnel ter. You cut t;

    ts  her side.

    ;Lyra, gal, it  be long noell  out figtles over, time in to drift along toms t used to be er, and my mots, all my ss... Lyra, c w;

    ed to put  of course t  ead, and t saook strengt.

    And on Lyras s lives iffness in t. turn soon to time as gs, but t eac tay  say a  their dying.

    Up and up t speak. tfalls, ttle stones teps dislodged. Ac and grim.

    tunnel. And ter dripping, a trickle, a running of er.

    quot;; said Lyra, reaco touc of rock t blocked t and cold. quot; is.quot;

    Surned to the harpy.

    quot;I been t; s;o guide all ts tll come to t land  in last nig, if you ent got a name, t cant be fig for ture. So I t Id give you a name, like King Iorek Byrnison gave me my name Silvertongue. Im going to call you Gracious ings. So ts your name nos ;

    quot;One day,quot; said t;I ongue.quot;

    quot;And if I kno; Lyra said. quot;Good-bye, Gracious ings, till I die.quot;

    Sigh cheeks.

    tialys said: quot;t;

    quot;Yes,quot; s;ts er says. Its close to ress.quot;

    quot;t me speak to ts.quot;

    S;Listen, because tress on a mountaintop: t is o s be of good courage and fig;

    Lyra turned to ill.

    quot;All rig; ;Im ready.quot;

    ook out to t,  knoher...

    quot;ill,quot; said Lyra, alarmed.

    opped. tuck in took  ened in tance of an invisible  a deep breath.

    quot;I nearly...quot;

    quot;I could see,quot; s;Look at me, ill.quot;

    In t lig  mout t t of her flesh.

    the knife came loose.

    quot;Ill try again,quot; he said.

    urned aip, touc. In, along, dos cro ills body and Lyras felt little jolts of cold along every nerve.

    And .

    t t t struck in o cover ts and living alike, so t ttle of gunfire, ts and screams antly clear, and ening.

    Jo and t of Lee Scoresby recovered t. Because bottle, t so disoriented by tc.

    Explosive rockets ing in ts of rock and metal over tain, ing angels, and coo, s arro ted on a dragonfly, diving to attack a flying mac tried to figo ed and skimmed above, its rider leapt off to clamp s neck; and t returned, so let its rider leap on t green back as traigo t t of tress.

    quot;Open it ; said Lee Scoresby. quot;Let us out!quot;

    quot;ait, Lee,quot; said Jo;Somet;

    ill cut anotion ed, and as t, ttern of ting. ttacking force began to opped moving forurned laboriously and moved back. A squadron of flying macting tter of a ragged battle ers, . troops equipped co disengage and pull back.

    quot;s going on?quot; said Lee. quot;t w;

    to be no reason for it: Lord Asriels allies numbered, tent, and many more of them were lying wounded.

    t a sudden movement among ts. ting out at someting in the air.

    quot;Specters!quot; said Jo;ts t;

    And for t time, ill and Lyra t tledo t, and wo see.

    quot; are t; said Lyra.

    quot;t platoon of Asriels riflemen...”

    And ill and Lyra kne;Run! Get a;

    Some of t from close by, looked around startled. Oter making for trange and blank and greedy, raised t of course . And t struck t man it came to.

    a spotted eeto spring.

    t giving an incoils of an invisible net, snarling, rying to reaco ing al nausea.

    quot;Rig; said Jo;Let us out now; we can fig;

    So ill opened t at ts; and trangest battle he could imagine.

    ts clambered out of till in t. to fear anymore, and t ters, grappling and ling and tearing at t see at all.

    tly, spectral combat. ill made , brandisers  before.

    , Lyra , too, c sers from time to time, in an oily glistening of t  shiver of danger.

    it rise, just a bank of earted by  sry te.

    tern , riven ops dra in titude  oo, on ted: macing brigir s draing.

    Beo , o tress. t gray in torm ligant ramparts of black basalt, stle figures moving about, repairing ttlements, bringing more o bear, or simply ching.

    And it  t Lyra felt t distant lurc akable toucers.

    S it  once, t it before. And it told , t s o become vulnerable to ters, and secondly, t Pan must be somewhere close by.

    quot;ill, ill...” she cried.

    urned, knife in hand and eyes ablaze.

    But before c, and so him.

    quot;Pan! Pan!quot; sanding on tiptoe to look all around.

    ill rying not to be sick. After a fes t to finding ts, cries, voices crying in pain or terror, tant yowk-yowk-yowk of cliff-gs circling overhe wind.

    Lyra felt it first on , and t in torm: all teness he horizon.

    Beill s every grove and every single tree bet and vivid, little frail t and flower.

    And t all  te-cers almost clearly no ills eyes and las so bloers a ted straig to in every sense for his.

    And noning, and t almig t o umbled, as if driven doo eac no one he millions of worlds.

    itca Skadis clan, and Reina Mitis, and corccumen, reaming over tress from t, from t of traigoorm.

    tile ers still remained in tco to cry out and tumble blazing to t most of time, and t fligcreamed like a river of fire into t of torm.

    A fligain to meet tcer t tco t, and t ones soared up o to left and rigorcer angel, outlined in fire, tumbled screaming from the air.

    And t great drops of rain came doorm clouds meant to douse tced; tcumen blazed defiance at it, spitting and o t to te Lyra and ill o tung tiny stones.

    t all tumbled and struggled, er from tumult: quot;Pan! Pan!quot;

    t constant noorn open. Bet;Pan! My Pantalaimon! Pan!quot; from Lyra and a  not w she was named.

    it to look to go t c for ters till not fully see. But Lyra o tle strengt to cling to Lyras sialys  ing movement t  mucs poric blue and t he dead.

    And t in t  from t. As tering t unlike any totally silent. It ress. It skimmed overop above to t of torm.

    But time to  it, because anotold Lyra t Pan  it, too, and tumbled blindly ting gs, errified, and sick.