Chapter 1

A New Discovery

I blinked my eyes at the file in my lap. The file contained info on a new mutant we'd just taken into custody.

Below was a picture of the mutant, one of the few members of the population who suffer from a condition called mutism. A long time ago a world wide disease was spread. Less than 0.1% of the population was affected byt his disease and those who survived it came out... different.

Their genes had been affected, causing them to develop random abilities that should not be humanly possible.

At first mutants were known and feared all over the world. During those times it had been easy for the Magisterium to round them up. But now they were in hiding, making them extremely harder to find. But occasionally we would track down one of two that had slipped our grasp.

"Mrs Coulter." The co-pilot waled up to me, his eagle-daemon resting on his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"We've almost reached Bolvangar."

I nodded and he walked off, leaving me alone in my seat. Well... not completely alone. My golden monkey was at my side as usual. I stared out the window at the lifeless snowy land of the North. My patience was wearing thin and I wished the airship would just land already.

I had somewhere to be. Someone to meet.

The letter I had received was tucked into my coat pocket. I could remember every single word written on the paper.

Dear Mrs Coulter,

I have heard recently that you have been in search of your daughter,

Lyra Belacqua, who went missing almost a week ago.

I am happy to inform you that we have tracked her down and that she is

with us in Bolvangar.

I don't not wish to ask you this but I must insist you come to us

for reasons I will explain to you in person.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Cooper

Finally, I was going to be able to see my daughter. How she had ended up in Bolvangar, I had no idea. Bolvangar was where wesent all the mutants to be tested for a cure for their conditions.

Lyra and I had never met before. I had no idea what she'd look like, but I bet he looked just like me. Her mother.

The airship landed without a fuss and I strode out into the large metal building out in the middle of nowhere, far away from prying eyes. Dr. Cooper was there to greet me.

"Welcome Mrs Coulter," she and her fox-daemon trotted beside me along with another scientist with a rat-daemon on his shoulder. "It's a pleasure having you here."

"I'm sure it is." I replied, not at all interested in their pleasure, I only cared about mine.

"There have been som improvements since you last visited."

"Oh?"

"Some mutants are responding well to the new antidote. Though the mutants with more physical mutations have been experiencing some difficulties."

"How so?"

Dr. Cooper flashed a worried glance at her companion. "Let's just say they aren't mentally stable at the moment. But other mutants are mostly reacting quite well. Our death rate had reduced slightly."

"Good improvement, but if I had wanted to know this i would have read your last report. Which I have." I turned around to face them and I saw their fear flashing in their eyes like warning lights. "So where is she?"

"Um..." Dr. Cooper began. "Well, you see..." I sharped my gaze and she stumbled out a few words. "Just down that corridor but-"

I had already turned on my heel and was strutting down the hallway, glancing at each door. Which one was Lyra behind though?

"But I think there's something we need to talk about first, Ma'am."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well... you see, she isn't in the best condition at the moment."

I didn't look at them but I felt my heart skipped a beat. "Is she sick?"

"Yes- well, no. Not in the usual sense."

"Then what, woman? Spit it out!" I shouted, coming to a stop. She shrunk back slightly and her daemon whimpered ever so slightly. "If you won't tell me then point me to her door."

The doctor pointed an unsteady finger towards the door at the very end of the hall.

Without another word i strutted towards it, not carrying that neither of the two doctors were following me anymore. That's good. I wanted to be alone with her. Oh, I couldn't wait! I pushed open the door and froze in my tracks. I now understood what the doctors had been trying to tell me and I was furious that they hadn't warned me.

"Hello?" The young girl mumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she woke up. Her daemon, currently in the form of a white fox, sat up quickly, his ears pricked.

Lyra did certainly look a lot like me. We had the same brown hair, only hers was longer and ran all the way downto just above her waist. Her skin was pale from staying in the could North. Our eyes were a matching clear blue.

But there was a big difference between us that took me completely by surprise.

Sprouting from Lyra's back were two long, feathered wings. Only the wings were completely made of metal and at the tp of either wing was a metal horn.

"Hello." I replied, taking it all in quickly. She was a mutant. That changed things, but it didn't change my wanting for her. I took a few steps forward.