Disclaimer: I do not own the His Dark Materials Series.

A/N: I always wondered what, exactly, happened when Lyra crossed over the bridge, because we only saw her after Will found her, and at that point she'd been in the city for days. It was fun to imagine what the initial encounter with the new world might have been like, as well as figure out how Mrs. Coulter would deal with the idea of spectres! We learn at the end of book two that Mrs. Coulter could control the spectres, but that's once she knew what they were like. I imagine that even Mrs. Coulter would be wary of them and avoid them...at first.

Thanks for reading! Reviews welcome :)

Golden Auroras

Chapter 3

When Lyra and Mrs. Coulter crossed over to the other side of the window, both breathless and flushed with excitement, it was not exactly what Mrs. Coulter had expected.

The world in front of them was dark, chilly, and empty. And foggy. There was an endless presence of light fog all around them. Something about it made the fur stand up on the golden monkey's neck and goosebumps erupt across Mrs. Coulter's arms. She sensed something deep in her bones, a faint air of foreboding and unrest. She couldn't quite describe it, but it might be akin to instinct, to reflex. Whatever it was, it told Mrs. Coulter that something wasn't quite right with this world and that it wasn't entirely safe.

Lyra, meanwhile, apparently had no such misgivings. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the soft breeze coming in from the nearby sea. They were atop a cliff of some sort that dipped down into what might have been a little town, if anything could be seen beyond the fog. Pan transformed into a seagull, crying out and gliding closer to the shore as Lyra opened her eyes and dashed forward herself.

"Lyra, wait!" Mrs. Coulter called out, rushing after her. The golden monkey hissed as he chased after Pan, hardly able to keep up.

Didn't Lyra have any sense? Why were Mrs. Coulter's misgivings instantaneous while Lyra's nonexistent? They didn't seem to picking up on the same sense of this world, which was strange. It wasn't right. Nothing about this situation seemed right. After a few bounds, Mrs. Coulter caught up to the girl and grabbed her by the arm, more harshly than she'd intended. Lyra spun around, eyes hard, and Mrs. Coulter heard Pan squawk angrily.

"Don't touch me like that!" Lyra spat, wiggling to get away and to break free.

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Coulter quickly, letting go, "but hush, Lyra. Something doesn't feel right about this place."

At that Lyra's eyes widened before swiftly narrowing. Pan came back to her, transforming into a bright-eyed owl, and the two looked around with careful eyes as Mrs. Coulter pulled her daemon closer to her, a rare impulse that she just couldn't possibly explain.

There's something predatory in this world, the golden monkey thought to her, his beady black eyes squinting into the distance. I'm sure of it. Reminds me of those creatures we saw when we were in Africa.

Mrs. Coulter shivered at the memory. They'd seen a lot of gruesome and troubling things on their travels around the world—around their world, rather, as well as the other they'd visited. They'd seen inexplicable phenomena in both the far south and the far north, and they'd more than once felt as eerie as they did now, where their gut instincts simply urged for them to run and to escape. It never led to anything good, which was what made Mrs. Coulter so uneasy.

"We can't see anything," Lyra said after a while, frowning. "Just a bunch of fog."

"There's something here," Mrs. Coulter insisted. The golden monkey prowled around in front of them, keeping an eye out for whatever "it" was. "Stay close for now, Lyra."

They carefully made their way along the clearing in front of them, daemons on watch and humans deep in thought. What was this place, Mrs. Coulter wondered? Was it a world similar to their own? The breeze and the atmosphere felt tropical. Southern, or what Mrs. Coulter associated as southern. The air seemed normal enough to her, too. She soon felt sweat begin to build up in her heavy furs, so she shrugged out of them, gesturing for Lyra to do the same.

"Why is it like this?" Lyra was squinting as she tried to see her way through the fog. "Can't see anything."

Mrs. Coulter didn't know. But when they arrived closer to the trees—their furs draped over their arms—they finally saw something.

Or, rather, some one.

"Hey!" Lyra called out abruptly. The golden monkey hissed and Mrs. Coulter took in a sharp intake of breath, but she relaxed immediately as she made out a small child looking up toward them, her eyes surprised yet flecked with curiosity. She came over to them, cautiously, and the first thing Mrs. Coulter noticed was the absence of a daemon.

That wasn't a shock to her. In the world she'd briefly visited during her youth, the people there had no daemons. They weren't without souls, of course, but their souls didn't manifest openly in the way they did in their world. It was strange, really, to have viewed people without daemons as empty, obedient creatures mere days ago only to see a child so lively without one standing right in front of them now. What would give someone chills in one world was completely normal and regular in another.

It was remarkable.

Lyra, however, stiffened. Her eyes looked from the girl and at the spaces all around her, no doubt searching for her daemon. Mrs. Coulter saw from the corner of her eye that Pan remained high in the air as a bird, keeping his distance. The golden monkey, too, was a few feet away and hidden by the fog. Probably for the best, she thought to him. Don't want to broadcast that we don't belong here. Secrecy, she'd discovered, was key.

"Hello there," Mrs. Coulter sang to the child, who swiveled around to look at her. She was small, maybe 5 years old, and was carrying a basket half-filled with bright blue berries.

"You shouldn't be here," the girl said to her, voice and eyebrows raised.

She spoke English, albeit accented in a way that was distinctly non-British yet not quite anything else. Interesting. Mrs. Coulter tilted her head, feigning confusion and innocence. "And why not?"

"Because you're a grown-up. And the spectres are gonna come and get you."

It was silent for a moment, the girl still staring incredulously at Mrs. Coulter and Mrs. Coulter staring coolly back. What was she talking about? And how seriously could Mrs. Coulter take her? She was only a child, after all. Spectres... A children's tall tale, like that of the Gobblers? Mrs. Coulter caught Lyra's eye by this point, and she could tell her daughter was bothered by this and was not taking it lightly. Even though she doesn't seem to feel the same dread that we do, the golden monkey pointed out, from wherever he was in the fog.

Approaching it logically, then, they a) didn't know where they were, b) didn't know who this child was, c) didn't know what a "spectre" was, and d) didn't know anything about this world. For now, this child served as their guide, as their entry point. She had knowledge that they didn't. And it wouldn't bode well to scare her away or brush off what came across as very clear and real concern.

"She's alright," Lyra suddenly piped in. "They en't gonna bother her right now. Where are they, these spectres?"

"Came 'ere a bit ago." The girl dipped her hand into the basket, popping a berry into her mouth. "All the grown-ups ran away or else got eaten. You'll get eaten too, you know, if they find you."

"How do they find us grown-ups?" Mrs. Coulter was closer to the girl now, her hands clasped together in front of her in a calm, benevolent manner. Lyra came closer, too, building from Mrs. Coulter's lead. The two never spoke to one another about it, but they were operating from a shared understanding here: play dumb and ask as many questions as possible.

The girl—Angelica, as they'd learned she was called—told them all about the spectres and the ways they come and terrorize entire cities, sounding surprised that they didn't know about it already. She explained how the city below the cliff had only just recently been attacked, which is why she was up there. The adults of this world travel in mobile packs and are ready to leave at a moment's notice for when these attacks occur. The children rejoice in this lifestyle, as they have several days of uninterrupted free time with no adults, no rules, and no responsibilities. What happened to her particular pack of adults, however, was left unclear.

We need to get out of here, the golden monkey thought to her, still distanced yet growing increasingly agitated. If these things really do consume the souls of humans, then we would be… I would be…

Mrs. Coulter didn't want to hear him finish the thought; she blocked him out and continued to listen to Angelica, smiling softly at her and complimenting her bravery and her shrewdness every opportunity she could. After a while, Angelica agreed to share some berries with them (they were starving, they'd only just realized) and then gladly volunteered to go gather more along with some other supplies for them.

"We need to leave here, Lyra," Mrs. Coulter said as soon as the girl had gone. "I can't be around these spectres, and if they've only just taken the town below us…"

As Mrs. Coulter was speaking, Lyra was gazing at her pensively. Her dark eyes traced the lines of Mrs. Coulter's face and watched the mannerisms she made, her brow furrowing. Mrs. Coulter paused just then, feeling increasingly judged and interrogated, but before she could say anything, Lyra reached into her bag and pulled out something wrapped in a cloth.

"I need you to be quiet, and I need you to not take this from me," said Lyra slowly, her voice level and her eyes hard. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Coulter simply, and she watched as her daughter gingerly unwrapped her alethiometer and began to fiddle with the buttons and the hands.

It was captivating to watch her read it. Mrs. Coulter had never seen anyone read an alethiometer before, not even Fra Pavel. The Magisterium kept him locked up in his study as he examined the symbols and researched their meanings, but Mrs. Coulter had a feeling he didn't do it quite as Lyra did. Her focus was intense and her fingers quick as she moved the hands and watched them whirl, her eyes counting and tracking the machine's response. It was magical, unearthly, and somewhat terrifying to see. But in this moment, Mrs. Coulter truly appreciated it, and realized just how much her life depended on this machine.

Why is it she'd spent the past few months so terrified of this machine?

After several minutes, Lyra finally looked up, as if coming out of a trance. She blinked slowly and then whirled around to Mrs. Coulter.

"Everything she said is true," she rambled rapidly, "and we need to move. Now. They're coming and if we don't find somewhere else to go, they're going to eat you."

That was blunt, yet not entirely unexpected. All Mrs. Coulter could do was nod, clearing her throat quietly and signaling for the golden monkey come back over to her. It touched her how concerned Lyra seemed to be about her safety, and the urgency with which she moved forward and scouted ahead, her eyes glued to the machine. She was choosing to trust Mrs. Coulter as well, which was a positive step forward, even if she only did so out of obligation or because she fet that she needed Mrs. Coulter around to move forward.

"There's a boy," Lyra was saying, fiddling with the alethiometer and moving back the way they'd first come. Mrs. Coulter followed close behind. "A boy with—a boy we need to find."

What wasn't she telling her? Mrs. Coulter knew Lyra enough to tell she wasn't telling the complete trust. She could also sense the girl's apprehension. Had she asked the alethiometer more questions than she'd initially let on? Did it tell Lyra not to trust Mrs. Coulter after all? She needed to know, and she felt the golden monkey's annoyance at that desire. But she couldn't help it.

But Mrs. Coulter put that aside for now. What mattered immediately was finding a place where she'd be safe, and where Lyra could further read the alethiometer, and where they could stop for a minute and gather what in the world they were doing and how they were going to survive in an entirely different world full of creatures who eat souls and daemons.