They ran to the mountains and stopped to rest. There was the hum of an engine and Sara looked up. Lyra started jumping up and down with glee.
"Mr. Scoresby! Down here!" Lyra shouted. A man from the balloon looked down and gently floated down to them. Mr. Scoresby was a Texan and very lively for a man of his age.
"Get in people and we'll set off for home!" The Texan shouted. Everyone boarded the air craft, even Iorek! The ship lifted into the air and they set off. Serafina flew beside them on her cloud pine and Sara talk to her for a while. She fell asleep next to Lyra after a while and Serafina talked to Mr. Scoresby.
"The witches believe that Sara and Lyra are part of a prophesy. They are saying that one of them will be like Eve and the other will help. As Eve was tempted into sin one of them will too. The church and the Authority are questioning whether or not to let them live." Serafina said. Mr. Scoresby only nodded a sad nod and kept steering.
Sara awoke to the screech of cliffghasts. Sara looked over the edge to see one of the monstrous devils flying straight at her face. She retreated back into the balloon and fell on the floor next to Lyra. She shook Lyra until she was awake and showed her what was going on. Roger and Iorek were already batting away some of the cliffghasts. The basket started rocking back and forth, back and forth. One of the cliffghasts flew into the balloon and grabbed Sara by the hair. A bunch more came and she was lifted off the floor. Sara kicked and screamed for help. Lyra grabbed a knife and Sara caught it. She immediately started slashing at the little devils that held her up so high. Pete was screeching and flying about as a hawk. The cliffghasts finally let Sara go and she fell, down down to the snowy region bellow. A little more to the right and she would have fell down the cliff and to the pointed rocks bellow that! She looked up and saw the cliffghasts lift Lyra and drop her. Sara dove out of the snow mound and out of the way of Lyra.
"Rotten little things." Sara mumbled. Lyra stuck her head out of the snow and crawled over to Sara. They huddled together like survivors of a ship wreck. There daemons were flying about above them, shrieking with fear. Pete flew up to the balloon and told Mr. Scoresby what happened but he was so caught up in the battle that he didn't even notice Pete. He flew back down to Sara's side and hugged her close. Lyra was holding Pan in his tabby cat form, purring softly to calm him down. They all got up and looked around. Sara could see everything from where they were.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Sara called. Her voice echoed among the great valley. There was a small grunt from behind her and a growl. Sara turned around slowly, and there was Lyra, kicking and screaming. Snow flew everywhere. Behind Lyra stood a bear and he was holding Lyra by the hood in his mouth. Sara put up her hands and walked beside the bear slowly. He dropped Lyra and spoke in a language both Lyra and Sara didn't understand. He tried several language until he found the right one. Another bear came from behind him and spoke.
"Your name?"
"Lyra Belacqua and Sara Belacqua."
"Where have you come from?"
"The sky."
"In a balloon?"
"Yes."
"Come with us. You are a prisoner. Move, now. Quickly."
Weary and scared, Sara and Lyra followed reluctantly. How would they talk there way out of this one?