"Pan," Lyra whispered apprehensively, "I told you we ain't supposed to be here."

Her mischievous dæmon chuckled quietly and wagged his raccoon-tail. "Aren't you normally the one to rush into trouble, Lyra? This can't be any worse than the time you snuck into the Retiring Room."

Lyra rubbed her left hand against the right arm holding her portable anbaric light in an attempt to ease the biting cold. She gave a little sigh and a half-roll of her eyes. "Yeah, but this is different. I wanted to see inside the Retiring Room, but I sure ain't curious at what's down in these catacombs."

"Why ever not?"

"Cause there's gonna be a corpse here and a skeleton there and not much else."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"What adventure? There ain't nothing here."

"What if we find a zombie, or a mummy? Or some secret business that nobody else knows about?"

"The most exciting thing we're gonna find is some pennies dropped."

"Cursed pennies!"

Lyra groaned under her breath as she advanced deeper into the chamber, Pantalaimon tip-tapping his way down the tunnel a few yards behind her.

The pair fell into a brief silence as they settled into their respective gaits. Tip-tap click-clack tip-tap went the rhythm, with the occasional splash as Lyra fumbled over a puddle of rancid water.

Lyra shivered. "Pan, can we turn around? This place is gonna give me nightmares."

Pan scoffed. "I'll protect you from any night-ghasts that make their way to your room." He briefly changed form to a sleek tiger to punctuate his point.

"Nah, I ain't liking this. It smells weird!"

Pantalaimon let out another chuckle from his raccoon-mouth. "I've got a much more sensitive nose than you, you know! It smells fine for-" he stopped suddenly. His nose perked up and he rapidly shifted form to a mosquito.

Lyra dropped back into a whisper. "What is it Pan?"

Pan's little antennae were bobbing up and down anxiously. "I'm not sure," he buzzed in her ear, "but it isn't good."

Lyra slowly lowered her portable anbaric light and shut it off, flattening herself against the wall. She felt Pantalaimon take refuge on her shoulder.

"...I'm gonna go investigate," he buzzed, the sting of unease evident in his voice.

"No, Pan, wait-"

But he was already gone. The microscopic profile of Lyra's dæmon instantly disappeared into the darkness. It was times like these that the girl wished she could shapeshift herself, into an owl or pit viper or fox, so she could peer into the impenetrable darkness. Her human-eyes were not adjusting to the darkness, and without the guidance of light or her dæmon, she couldn't hope to know what might lie in front of her.

Crash!

Lyra jumped and let out a little cry as she heard the sound of pottery impacting concrete. How far away was it? 2 feet? 20? She couldn't tell. She whipped her head around wildly, as if the movement could help clear the inky blackness pervading her vision. At once, she heard the noisy, guttural breathing of a feral creature, the stomp of an angry hoof, the clash of horns against the ground echoing around the chamber.

Lyra trembled with fear and sunk further into the wall, bringing her legs to her chest to make her as small and unthreatening as possible. She smothered the urge to call out to Pantalaimon for help, covering her mouth with her hand. Whatever this thing was, she didn't want to give it an inkling of where she was hiding.

She heard the sound of its hooves as it slowly moved around the room, circling like a drunkard protecting tokay. The clip-clop moved to the left… the middle.. then the right. It stepped closer… and then stepped further away. Lyra began to retreat herself, shuffling backwards, slowly, slowly. Pantalaimon will follow whether he likes it or not, she thought. We can't be separated for too long.

Lyra tentatively began to stand up, slowly, slowly. She started walking backwards, slowly, slowly. After her agonisingly slow retreat, she thought she was safe, when… Splash! she tripped over a puddle, scruffy knees scraping the cold floor. She couldn't help but let out a sharp gasp as she fell.

She could almost feel the creature's head slice through the air towards her. Pure, cold terror raced through her veins as she scrambled to stand up. She heard a low, rolling bellow from behind her as she clumsily climbed to her feet, and immediately she fled, adrenaline racing through her body.

Despite Lyra's best efforts, she could hear the beast closing in behind her. Its menacing hooves stomped across the ground with ease, and the noise was getting louder… and louder… and louder-!

The beast leapt over Lyra's head, and then it was rearing up on its hind legs, and then it was bearing its terrible fangs, and then it was changing form into an ermine…

Lyra gasped. "P-Pan?" she said furiously, wiping terrified tears from her lashes.

The dæmon, on the other hand, was wiping tears of merriment from his eyes, seemingly pleased with his little trick. "You should have seen the look on your face," he chuckled, slinking his way up Lyra's body and around her neck.

But Lyra did not see the humour. "That wasn't funny," she said indignantly. "I was terrified."

"Yes, I could tell," replied the dæmon gleefully. "Surely it couldn't have been too scary."

"I thought I was gonna die!"

"Oh, Lyra, you were never in any danger."

"But I felt like I was!"

"Well, you weren't."

Lyra grumbled, disgruntled but unable to come up with any further comebacks. "Let's go home." She turned her portable anbaric light back on and started walking back through the stuffy corridors. "Don't do that again."

"Fiiiiiiine," Pantalaimon whined, clearly disappointed with Lyra's response.

After a long silence, Lyra admitted, "you acted well."

At this, Pan perked up a little. "I just thought what a bull trapped in a catacomb for hundreds of years would think."

Lyra let out a small chuckle. "I dunno why I thought anything would be alive down here."

Pantalaimon nodded his ermine-head in amusement. "You were right."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing but corpses and skeletons down here."

A/N: Thanks for reading! I know it was extremely short, but I'm just de-rusting after a long hiatus. Please do leave reviews, positive or negative - I love constructive criticism!