t village, in and out of t-formed across t gatside the open door of Marys house.
Cautiously t again, toer tree.
Its long brancrailed t corkscre doo t to rustle a leaf or snap a fallen t asleep in eachers arms.
toucly being infinitely careful not to hem.
As tly cleaning ills fast-ing t sound behem.
Instantly, in total silence, bot eyes, bare eeth, menace in every line.
A ood tlined by t Mary, and whough her voice made no sound.
quot;Come ; she said.
Pantalaimons daemon leapt il ree.
quot;Serafina Pekkala!quot; ;s ;
quot;s fly to a place ; she sleeping villagers.
ook it up, t s cro.
ttled on t comfortable branc, and two birds perched nearby.
quot;You be birds for long,quot; s;Very soon nole. Look around and take t into your memory.quot;
quot; ; said Pantalaimon.
quot;Youll find out sooner ten,quot; said Serafina Pekkala, quot;and Ill tell you some c none but c is t you are is possible?quot;
quot;itc; said Pantalaimon, quot;and s;
quot;In leaving you bot kno, t c time tce, abominable place, astroper it. to become a c cross it alone and leave undergo.
But , t t severed, as in Bolvangar; till one o far places and see strange things and bring back knowledge.
quot;And you are not severed, are you?quot;
quot;No,quot; said Pantalaimon. quot;e are still one. But it was so painful, and we were so frig;
quot;ell,quot; said Serafina, quot;t fly like c live as long as to c t.quot;
trangeness of this knowledge.
quot;Does t mean alaimon.
quot;Be patient.quot;
quot;And c all c;
quot;t c os ;
t. Serafina turned to tingale and said, quot; is your name?quot;
quot;I knoil I orn a;
quot;t;
quot;Kirjava,quot; said Pantalaimon, trying t; does it mean?quot;
quot;Soon you means. But no; Serafina on, quot;you must listen carefully, because Im going to tell you w you s;
quot;No,quot; said Kirjava forcefully.
Serafina said gently, quot;I can one t you knoo say.quot;
quot;e dont to !quot; said Pantalaimon.
quot;Its too soon,quot; said tingale. quot;Its mucoo soon.quot;
Serafina , because s sorroo guide to ation subside before s on.
quot;; she said.
quot;t; said Pantalaimon. quot;Every.quot;
quot;And you saw...”
quot;Yes,quot; said Kirjava, quot;we looked closely, and we saw w was ;
quot;e sa an angel,quot; said Pantalaimon quickly. quot;And tle people come from, too, ;
told tc trying to distract ; but s talk, because of thers voice.
But eventually t of to tell . tle, endless wil Serafina Pekkala said:
quot;You o punis; my Kaisa did just ter I came te barrens. But o me eventually, because o o be done next. Because you o tell t you kno;
Pantalaimon cried aloud, a pure, cold os and burroure table fear came into being.
Serafina c not compassion until s ills daemon, Kirjava tingale. Salking to tca Skadi, o. ttle broing an implacable ferocity as palpable as , and Serafina .
Finally Pantalaimons wild screaming died away, and Kirjava said:
quot;And ell t;
quot;Yes, you do,quot; said tcly.
Gradually ty left ttle bro e sadness in its place.
quot;t; Serafina said. quot;I left it to fly ians, all t;
t close, and in a moment two doves.
Serafina on: quot;t time you fly. I can see a little a you o climb trees t I t be birds ake in all t you can, and remember it you and Lyra and ill are going to t c it is yours to make, and no one elses.quot;
t speak. Sook ed aoreetops, circling ingle of tarlig sifting of t Dust she had never seen.
So t silently into t Mary except t s in ts so startling .
S on t tc in time ly o s Mary e uning a string. t Serafina epped in among to Mary, and sant easy affection t imes feel for people in dreams.
A moment later talking togeter remembered notrical transformers. It ime for Serafina to take charge.
quot;In a fes,quot; s;youll be alarmed. Youll find me beside you. Im s quite safe and to you. And talk properly.quot;
Saking til stering as t her.
quot;You must be tc; Mary whispered.
quot;I am. My name is Serafina Pekkala. are you called?quot;
quot;Mary Malone. Ive never been ly. Am I a;
quot;Yes. e must talk togetalk is o control, and o remember. Its better to talk ao stay inside, or ?quot;
quot;Ill come,quot; said Mary, sitting up and stretc;;
quot;Asleep under tree.quot;
t of t tree s curtain of all-concealing leaves, and o the river.
Mary cure of ion: s of age came in ed sadness.
t on ter, and Serafina told so the childrens daemons.
quot;t looking for today,quot; Mary said, quot;but somet knoain t ;
quot;ell, ;
Mary stared at her.
quot;If you could see ; Serafina on, quot;you yello;
quot;An Alpine c;
quot;itime, I could teaco see oo, and to see ts strange for us to t see t;
told Mary it meant.
quot;And to tell t; Mary said.
quot;I t of o tell t of telling you and letting you he
responsibility. But I sa .quot;
quot;t;
quot;I kno;
quot;t discovered it...quot;
Mary tried to take in all tions of oo hard.
After a minute or so Mary said, quot;Can you see Dust?quot;
quot;No, Ive never seen it, and until t.quot;
Mary took t and to tc it to her eye and gasped.
quot;t is Dust... Its beautiful!quot;
quot;turn to look back at ter tree.quot;
Serafina did and exclaimed again. quot;t; she said.
quot;Sometoday, or yesterday if its after midnig; Mary said, trying to find to explain, and remembering flo river like t;Sometiny but crucial... If you ed to divert a migo a different course, and all you , as long as you put t place to send t trickle of er t ead of t erday. I dont kno ly, or sometil t felt like t, but suddenly t tracted to t stopped flo;
quot;So t o ; said Serafina, marveling. quot;And nos safe, or it will be w c;
Sold Mary about t .
quot;I an angel: a female angel. Srange; soget; s on, forgetting t t ;old me many t all tory of ruggle betupidity. Sried to open minds; ty and ried to keep t;
quot;I can t;
quot;And for most of t time, , ws and palaces are occupied by ;
quot;Yes,quot; said Mary, quot;I recognize t, too.quot;
quot;And truggle isnt over no a setback. trongly, and be ready to resist.quot;
quot;But ; said Mary.
quot; t of atron, and led o tatron is gone forever. So is Lord Asriel.quot;
Mary caug;And Mrs. Coulter?quot; she said.
As an anscook an arroing it: t, traig, t perfectly balanced.
And s in two.
quot;Once in my ; s;I sa orturing a co myself t I arroo . No toget.quot;
Mary, distressed, said, quot;ell Lyra?quot;
quot;ait until s; said Serafina. quot;And s not. In any case, s ell s to kno;
t in silence for a wars slowly whe sky.
quot;Can you see a to do?quot; said Mary.
quot;No, but if Lyra returns to er as long as s ;
quot;Mary began, and found s considered t for a moment. quot;I suppose I belong in my oo leave t Ive ever been in my life, I t;
quot;ell, if you do return er in anot; said Serafina, quot;and so salk more on t forever. Embrace me noer.quot;
Mary did so, and Serafina Pekkala fleil Mary could see her no more.
At about time, one of turned to t afternoon by a different route and seen it; t lay undisturbed ures, and by an ancient understanding itled to take any creature left dead after dark.
ts body back to , and ed very lay in t doly turning to rust.