Roger's been taken

Mia was dreaming peacefully in the small encampment that she had built with her new friends. Aster was nestled in her arms in the form of a ferret, touching her warm face with his nose. In her sleep, she dreamed about a melodic voice that sounded like the songs of birds, a voice that sang a lullaby to her every night when she was asleep. Almost like her mother's.

"Mia! Mia!" Lyra's voice echoed in her ears, interrupting her dream. "Wake up! Wake up!"

"Mmm," she slowly woke up and rubbed her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Asriel's got Roger! He's going to cut him!"

Mia's inner core was activated by the news. "What?"

"We have to go! Now!"

Quickly Mia pulled on her coat and her hat and swung her satchel around her shoulder. Quickly they dashed outside, and they cried out for Iorek.

He came charging forward.

"Asriel's got Roger! We have to follow the footprints!" she screamed, desperate to get going as soon as possible.

"Bears!" he called.

"You're calling the bears?!" Mia exclaimed.

"We'll be needing them. Climb on you two!" Iorek ordered. Quickly they mounted their polar steed and together they took off into the distance.

As they did, for a moment Mia heard the roaring of engines. She twisted her head. She gasped. There were three giant airships.

She felt scared to the core. "Lyra..." she tapped her shoulder.

Lyra turned and around and her eyes were set on what Mia had seen.

"The Magisterium are here!" she screamed.

"Then our situation has become more difficult," Iorek said. The arrival of those giant vehicles motivated him to charge further and further at a faster pace.

"Why did he take Roger?!" Mia questioned furiously. "Why couldn't he have taken me instead? He must have known he was more important to you!" she exclaimed. "What kind of father is he to separate you from your best friend?!"

Lyra was silent for a second. "Oh no,"

"What?" Mia asked.

"Remember those footsteps we heard outside the bathroom, that must have been him. He must have overheard us talking about what happened to you at Bolvanger. That's why he didn't take you. He must have known if he tried to use you, it wouldn't have been a success but with Roger..."

Quickly Mia gripped her shoulder. "We'll get there!"

Iorek suddenly stopped. Lyra asked him why and he said he heard something. They dismounted him and walked forward. They saw three airships, nearly camouflaged in the sky, heading to them in their direction.

"They're heading towards the mountain!" Lyra screamed.

Iorek commanded his bears to prepare. Just then before Mia could even blink, a wave of gunshots came flying down in their direction from the airships.

"Take cover!" Iorek roared.

"Christopher Clumbers," Mia screamed. She pulled Lyra behind a boulder. We clung onto each other tightly. This felt more terrifying than back at Bolvanger.

Being near Mia gave Lyra strength, but she remained traumatised. Her heart was thumping. Her head was spinning. The earth kept shaking underneath her feet. Some snow came falling on them. They ducked behind another corner to take better cover, but a shot bear came falling in front of them. They went another direction but more bullets from the sky came raining down and bombs.

"Look out!" Quickly Mia jumped at Lyra and before they could hit the snow, there was a tremendous explosion that made them fly through the air and land in a pile of snow. Luckily Lyra was still conscious and managed to sit up, spitting the snow out my mouth. Her thoughts drifted back to Mia. She turned her head and saw her body nearly covered by the snow. She pulled her out and kneeled down begging her to be okay. Her eyes drifted away. She was okay but she took the hit a little harder.

Lyra know didn't whether to cry or scream for joy. "You saved me,"

"You save me...I save you," she smiled. She smiled back.

Lyra helped her stand up just as Iorek staggered towards them. "Quickly climb on!" he ordered. "I'll get you two to the mountain!"

The girls mounted him. Lyra let the still shaken Mia sit in front of her and she clung onto her waist tightly so she wouldn't fall off. Iorek charged faster than ever, not letting fear from being shot at holding him back. The atmosphere was a rampage of fire and bullets and bombs all around us. But they remained strong. They finally made it off the battlefield and arrived at the foot of the mountain. But Iorek stopped, when they came in front of an ice bridge over a deep chasm.

"I cannot cross this bridge," he said.

He was right. It was quite thin. A heavy bear with two heavy girls would cause it to crack. Even if they went one at a time, Iorek's weight alone would cause it to crack completely.

The girls slipped off. Lyra stepped forward. She turned around and saw Iorek had taken off his helmet.

"Thank you, King Iorek Byrnison," she smiled proudly.

"Thank you Lyra Silvertongue," he said back.

She hugged his face, giving him a kiss on the snout. She loved that bear and he loved her more than her father. She turned to Mia

"I'm coming with you," Mia said, before she could say anything.

"No Mia. I've already put you in enough danger," she refused. She couldn't bear the thought of putting another friend in harm's way like she had unintentionally done to Roger.

"You know that wouldn't stop me from following you. You're going to need all the help you can get," Mia repeated her father's brave words.

Lyra felt such commitment from this brave girl, the daughter of a valiant aeronaut who had brought me so far, who like Iorek had shown more love to her than Asriel.

"You're just as brave as your father," Iorek said proudly. "He'd be really proud of you if he were here,"

She smiled. "Thank you,"

"Now go you two," he said.

Lyra went first. She was scared but Pantalaimon assured her everything would be alright. Once she reached the end, she turned back around towards Mia.

Aster in the form of a weasel settled on Mia's shoulders to be her balancer. Without looking down and only focusing on Lyra, Mia treaded carefully across the bridge towards Lyra's offered hand. Once it was in reach, Lyra pulled her across to safety. Mia looked at her and facially thanked her. The two turned back towards Iorek who gave her an encouraging smile.

They hiked. They climbed. They took a moment to catch their breathes. It was so tiring doing this alone. Mia was more used to it but Lyra wasn't.

"You can do it Lyra!" she kept encouraging her. But she remained frightened. She offered her a hand and kept hauling Lyra up whenever she let fear pull her back. Aster and Pan transformed into birds and flew up to check it out.

Aster dived back down taking the form of a fox.

"We have to hurry!" he screamed. "He's put Roger in a cage just like the ones at Bolvanger,"

This motivated the two girls to keep going. They finally made it to the slope underneath where he was.

"I'll distract him while you free Roger," Lyra said.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"If it means saving Roger yes!"

"Okay but be careful," Mia warned.

Lyra circled around up the walkway while she started climbing up the slope towards Roger. "Asriel!" she screamed. "Asriel stop!"

As she reached him, she saw he had nearly pushed the blade down to cut Roger and Saecilia apart. Once he saw her, he stared towards his daughter, looking at her with fuming eyes. "Lyra!"

"You step away from Roger right now!" she ordered.

"I can't do that!" Asriel refused, his daemon snarling at Pan who was currently in the form of an Arctic Wolf.

"Leave him alone! What's he ever done to you?!"

"Lyra, I have to do this!" he sounded desperate.

"No you don't! I won't let you hurt him!"

"And how's a little girl like you...going to prevent me?" he sounded like he was threatening her. "Believe when I tell you that I'm sorry I have do this!"

"Asriel!" his daemon roared. She had noticed Mia right behind Roger's cage.

Suddenly Stelmaria leapt at them. Mia screamed and lost her balance and fell backwards. She then swiped Aster away with her ferocious paw. Lyra tried to reach Roger, but Asriel grabbed Lyra and hauled her back.

"Don't you dare touch Roger!" she shouted, struggling to let go.

"I'm sorry Lyra," he apologised again. Before she could do anything, he hauled her down the slope and she went sliding down, landing in a bed of fresh snow. Before she could even react, she heard a sudden boom behind her head.

Another chapter down! Get ready for the finale of Part 1! Please let me know what you all thought. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought. I would love to hear your opinions.