'Betrayal…It hurts, doesn't it'

Prologue

'No, Lyra! You mustn't push your mind forward; you have to let it flow, but guide it with a light touch in the right direction. You are forcing yourself ch...'

The witch queen stopped. Lyra was no child anymore and she knew it. It seemed so hard to have to give her up to the many worlds and to will, when she herself loved the girl with the fierce eyes and lion-coloured hair. She was the mother that Mrs. Coulter had never been to Lyra and Serafina Pekkala felt a surge of protectiveness for the proud young woman.

'I'm trying, en't I?! I been trying for years now and it seems to me that I've got no closer to my goal than when I left 'im!'

Lyra turned and fled to the beauty and comfort of the large willow tree that reminded her so much of the place where she and Will had first admitted their love. This was her new practice area. None of the clan of witches dared to go near the tree and few saw Lyra outside of it. She was in training, trying with all of her soul to find a path to Will's world, the only way she knew how. Travelling.

It was so hard! She had managed to get a glimpse of the botanic gardens in the other Oxford six times now, but never set foot in it. Every time the sheer force of her excitement and joy to see Will shocked the fragile connection between the worlds in her mind and it snapped. Frustration began to eat away at her mind and after several more tries, she had had to give up. To access another world through travelling in the mind, Lyra had to calm her breathing and clear her mind before reaching out in the darkness with those thin, silvery bonds to attach themselves onto that of another world. Establishing a connection was not difficult at first but to maintain it and allow it to become strong enough for a human to walk along and breach the gulf between worlds was near impossible.

Fervently wishing that she still had the use of the alethiometer to guide her, Lyra picked up her daemon and walked slowly back to the cave which the witch clan resided.

'Oh Pan, sometimes I wish I'd chosen the alethiometer after all,' the scruffy young woman whispered to the pine martin curled up in her arms. But there was no answer; Pantalaimon was already dreaming and awaiting Lyra to join him.


Will Parry sat outside on the grass of his school of two years just outside the city of Oxford. He and his 'pet' cat, Kirjava were attempting to decipher the alien language of their maths revision.

'Joe! JOE!'

'Hi Matt, what are you doing out of class?'

Matt came and threw his bag down next to a nearby tree and sat against it with a smug expression on his face.

'I could ask you the same question. Free period?'

'Yeah,' replied Will. It was a wonder to him how he had managed to get so used to a new name and a new life with Doctor Mary Malone acting as his aunt.

'Hah! Our teacher didn't turn up so I've got a whole extra hour to do whatever I want.'

'Shouldn't you be revising? Don't you have an AS tomorrow?'

The youth merely shrugged and promptly lay down to sleep under the shade of the large oak tree.

Rolling his eyes, Will carried on attempting to decipher the algebraic inequality in front of him, which was proving to be more stubborn than he had previously anticipated. Will was a good student, but was forever distracted by thoughts of other places, and other worlds.

Kirjava sensed his longing for a different Oxford, and more importantly, the tender and soft creature that he loved. She climbed into his lap comfortingly and whispered that he should give the books a rest and have some fun.

Will wholeheartedly agreed with her; as much as he enjoyed being out of doors under the caress of the warm sunshine, it really was time he had some fun. That had bee difficult lately. He had seen so much in his Oxford, so much that reminded him of Lyra and increased his desperation to see her once again.

He would often find himself telling Kirjava anything that he knew Pan and Lyra would find fascinating, and wondering if Lyra had experienced anything akin to that which he had.

There was also that pressing worry, the shadow lurking behind him and seeping into every thought he had. Had Lyra forgotten all about him? Would she really remember to sit in the botanic gardens at midday the following day? Had she met someone new? Will would never know; he would never see her again until he died and waited in the land of the dead for her. And he despaired with that thought.


Well I hope you enjoyed that little snippet! It was only the prologue and hopefully it was to your liking! Please review and tell me what you thought of it! I also need a Beta reader so let me know if you're interested. This is my first fanfic I have ever written on his dark materials so let me know if you think I should carry on… I'm used to writing harry potter or Kingdom hearts so there will be a few of those appearing hopefully soonish

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IceTouch

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