Somewhere in the darkest, deepest abyss of the world, five creatures fell.
Two of them were obviously animals; but it wasn't all that sure, seeing as how there was no light to prove it. One of the animals, long ago, when light still touched him, had been a golden monkey with dark claws and evil little eyes. The other one, much bigger, once was a pearly-white snow leopard with dark spots all over his silky fur, a glint of mighty intelligence in his eyes.
As for the three other figures, two looked like humans. One was a woman and the other was a man. The final form, although plunged in shadows, clearly showed some strange appendages coming from his shoulders that looked like the wings of a white swan. But he, unlike the others, was also clearly dead, seeing as how he wasn't trying to fly out of this abyss.
But all that wasn't sure, since there was no light to assure the creatures were what they seemed to be. Besides, the living four of the forms had their eyes closed, and seemed to be sleeping.
But little did anyone know, they had been sleeping for a very, very long time waiting to be awoken.
For even after plunging into the Last Abyss, which had not yet been closed, Mrs. Coulter, her daemon, Lord Asriel and Stelmaria knew there was a little girl out there who would soon need their help. And they slept until she would call them.
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When Will walked back into the forge, a terrible shiver ran through him, and he suddenly felt as if he was going to be sick. The boy bit his tongue and took a deep breath.
But his eyes darted to Easheatter.
He heard laughter, and for the first time in his life, he heard a voice in his head that wasn't his own.
'Will. . .Will. . .so, you have forged me again. So, you have brought me back, Will. So. . . what now, Will?' Its voice was cold, and resonated in an echo inside his head. The boy felt the blade's presence in him.
Will took a step back, horror painted on his face. Aurora turned to him, surprise on her features. But soon, that stunned look was replaced with comprehension, as her eyes also fell on Easheatter.
'Will, Will, Will. . .' The blade called him, laughing coldly.
Will swore as a terrible and sudden blast of pain crossed his entire head, and fell to the ground, hands over his eyes. Aurora fell next to him, grabbing his shoulders and pushing his hands from his eyes.
She saw through the window to his soul, as he faded, dragged deep inside of himself by the blade's voice.
"Will! Listen to me, Will! You have to fight him. You can't let him win! Please, listen to me, Will! Please! Don't give in, don't give up!" The girl screamed, watching as the boy's gaze became even more distant.
Charles and Miroka stood on the side, wondering what was going on. Kirjava suddenly came running into the forge with a cry of pain.
Her scared, strangely distant eyes scanned the dark little room, and she dashed disgracefully at the boy. But with a screech, the little cat stopped in its tracks and hissed insanely, before falling to the ground, limp, but breathing hard.
"WILL!" Aurora bellowed, and without another thought, she slapped the boy as hard as she could over the cheek, leaving a mark where she had hit him, like a fiery tattoo.
He gasped, blinked and resurfaced a moment, before being dragged into himself by Easheatter again. Aurora shouted something, but the boy didn't hear her.
'Come on, Will. Won't you use me?' The blade questioned him in his head, mocking.
'Why should I?' Will asked it mentally, fighting a bit more. But he felt lazy and tiered, and wanted this all to end right now; all the pain, the suffering, and the effort. He wanted it all to be gone, to leave him be. He wanted to shut his eyes and let that frightened picture of Aurora that floated before him fade away into nothingness.
'Because I am yours. Use me, Will. Use me to be the most powerful.'
'But Aurora said. . .'
'Forget her. All she wants is to take me and kill you. And then, she wants to kill Lyra. . .'
"NO!" Will roared, pushing Aurora aside. She gasped, surprised, and fell, hitting the ground hard. Charles rushed forward to help her up, as Miroka rallied herself to Solstice, who was now a cat, to get Kirjava on her feet.
But Will's daemon suddenly screeched, and clawed at Solstice, who staggered back.
"Kirjava!" The girl's daemon shouted, a cut gleaming near its eye. That's when Equinox came in.
He leaped into the forge, a terrifying sight to be seen.
He was a large black lion, with insane, fiery eyes and a thick black mane that bristled with every breath he took. He opened his jaws, which were lined with rows upon rows of terrible, silver teeth, and roared so mightily the ground shook.
Will screamed something, halfway through being frightened, halfway through being enraged. Kirjava snarled, raising the fur on her back, as her eyes became the home of a terrible fury.
Aurora pushed Charles back, and Solstice quickly moved Miroka out of the way, holding her in her black-panther mouth.
Will moved away from them, until the small of his back pressed against the table of which Easheatter lay. His eyes were as insane and furious as those of his daemon, which ran at him and jumped into his arms, before perching itself on his shoulder like a grotesque bird.
Kirjava hissed, eyes flaring madly, as Will's hand scanned the table, before reaching the blade's handle.
"Will. Listen to me, boy. You have to fight Easheatter off. Now. You can't afford to give in. You just can't. Do you hear me, Will?" Aurora demanded, terrified at what might happen in he gave up.
But Will didn't hear her.
'Will, kill her. She wants to hurt Lyra. She wants to kill Lyra.' Easheatter chanted in his head.
The boy's face became suddenly disfigured. His upper lip curled like an angry animal's, his eyes became thin slits and his eyebrows contracted. Aurora suddenly realized that it was now or never. After this, he would be lost.
But what could she hit him with? What would be strong enough to bring him to his senses?
Solstice put Miroka on the ground, still in her black panther form, and looked over at Equinox. He growled softly at her, she blinked, and suddenly, nodded, understanding what her love wanted from her.
There was a flash of black light, and beside the black lion that was Equinox, there was a female lion in the same, pit-black color, with the same, red eyes that reflected the flames of Hell.
Aurora turned around, stunned, and her cape followed her in her movement. That's when Will dashed forward.
Kirjava leaped from his shoulder, ears flat against her head, all claws and fangs bared, as the boy bellowed, raising Easheatter, who laughed manically.
The girl, in slow motion, turned around and saw him coming.
But before she could do as much as let her jaw drop, two flashes of black dashed past her and leaped at the boy.
One being Equinox, hit the boy with his front paws and sent him to the ground. The other being Solstice, managed to open her jaw and grab a firm hold around the boy's daemon.
Will tried to stab the lion that was pinning him down, but Equinox stayed strong, holding the boy's hand away from himself.
Kirjava hissed manically, twisting one way and another, as Solstice brought her to Aurora, who just barely had the time to recover from her shock.
Charles had a hand over his chest and was gaping at the scene. It had all happened too fast for him to record everything.
'Make him remember what he is here for.' Equinox ordered mentally, still fighting Will.
At first, Aurora didn't understand, but a sudden memory of a world belonging to mulefas, in which a boy named Will and a girl named Lyra had for the first time seen their real daemon dawned on her.
She remembered how it had happened; how he daemons had chosen to stop changing.
And almost dreamily, ignoring Will's screams and Equinox's growls, she kneeled and her hand reached out towards the boy's daemon. It managed to scratch her, but she didn't feel it.
Because suddenly, her hand met the cat's soft fur.
At that moment, Equinox leaped from the boy, letting him up, and he jumped to his feet. Aurora realized the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, caused when someone touched her daemon, had suddenly left without her even noticing it had come.
And she stroked Kirjava's side. The daemon had frozen, and was now quivering, breathing hard, looking frightened. Aurora knew it was suddenly remembering Lyra's hand in his fur, as he changed for the last time and picked his form.
Will looked like he was going to attack, but suddenly; he let out a stunned cry. Aurora let her hand drop, and looked over at him. Her daemons made her realize that if she didn't give the final blow now, it would all be useless. So she took in a deep breath.
"Remember that one night, that last night, with Lyra, in the world of the mulefas, when everything changed. Remember, because you will never forget. Remember why you are here. Remember who you are here for, Will. Remember!" She shouted, getting up from her crouched position, fists clenched, brow set.
The boy blinked, looking around, and suddenly, he screamed.
Kirjava screamed.
Easheatter screamed.
But Will was the only one to hear the blade. Not even Solstice and Equinox, who heard it when the boy didn't, could hear it now. The knife's voice resonated in his head.
Will clenched a hand over his forehead and another around the blade's handle. Aurora quickly removed Forseti from her leather case, and let the little sunlight reflect on the blade.
She felt it awaken, and felt how Forseti realized what was going on. The blade turned all her powers towards Easheatter, who started to glow.
"Hold on, Will." Aurora murmured.
She saw the evil knife shine and saw a little twinkle on its tip.
The next second, Will gasped, opening his eyes wide, and the little twinkle on the end of Easheatter let go of the blade and slowly made its way towards Forseti. The magic tip was off, at long last, and Aurora's blade longingly called to it.
And the Easheatter's screaming was gone. Will sighed relief, before dropping to his knees. Kirjava staggered to him, and both looked up at Aurora, who was gazing absently at the little sparkle that was reaching for her own knife.
Equinox roared, Solstice roared, and the girl said something, but no one heard.
Forseti emitted a strange, chilling sound, and suddenly, the spark touched its tip, and faded.
Will smiled, and passed out, knowing he had done what was needed. Aurora followed him into darkness.
(0)
"You must concentrate, Lyra." Aurore ordered.
Beads of sweat fell from her forehead and down to her shoulders. The shirt she was wearing was almost entirely soaked.
"I'm trying." She hissed back through clenched teeth, eyes shut tightly, trembling. Pan watched from the side, frowning; he had a bad feeling about this.
Tenebrus looked at the girl calmly; he could see strands of Dust detaching themselves from the girl and lashing out. It looked like the Sun releasing fiery strands of particles from itself.
But the Dust always came back to the girl. That's why Aurore was frustrated; because this wasn't working how he had planned it to work.
Because they had less time than they had expected; both had felt something about Aurora and her two daemons a bit earlier; it was like a surge of power that cursed through the worlds, all the way to them.
First, Tenebrus had felt Aurora's daemons reach a very powerful form they used only in time of crisis; it was the Dark Form. The knowledge to gather all the evil and darkness around you and morph into a dark creature came from the World of Shadow. It consumed amazing amounts of power, but transformed whoever used it into a dark, evil, and terribly strong creature.
Then, Aurore had felt how Easheatter died.
And now, he was not only nervous, but also frustrated.
And that's why he wasn't paying attention.
Tenebrus suddenly noticed how a strand of Lyra's Dust let go of her and flew at the man. The daemon was about to shout a warning, when the particles of the two humans collided.
Lyra gasped and Aurore doubled over.
Lyra saw darkness, and she felt evil and cold. She saw nothing but shadows, hate and rage. There was no good intentions, no positive thought in the place she was at. There was only greed and dark.
And she felt how something, distantly, collided with the side of her leg. It was enough to bring her back. . .
She blinked and the world returned with such speed that she felt dizzy.
At her side was a snarling wolf that had clearly butted into her leg ragefully, throwing her to the ground. Pan came running at her, staying well out of range of the wolf.
"Tenebrus!" Someone yelled.
Lyra looked up and saw Aurore as he came near, menacing. The wolf snarled at him too, but turned into a bald eagle and flew away quickly.
The man shook his head at it as it rose into the air with spectacular speed.
"The idiot. . ." He hissed angrily, before turning kind eyes to the girl at his feet. He stretched out a hand, and Lyra hesitated only one second, thinking of her mother with her eyes that hid evil behind kindness.
But she took the warm hand and let herself be picked up, Pan on her shoulder.
"What was that?" She questioned, confused, touching her leg, which throbbed from it's harsh contact with Tenebrus's head.
Aurore raised his shoulders.
"I think when your Dust particles met mine, somehow, you opened a mental window and saw a dark world." He answered simply.
Lyra frowned.
"But there was nothing but evil in that world! There can't possible be such a place!" She exclaimed.
The man sighed and ran a hand through his black hair.
"That's where you're wrong. There is indeed such a world, and that's where my sister had learned to exploit the evil around her to morph her daemons into extremely powerful ones. I felt her do so not too long ago." He told her.
Tenebrus came flying down and landed on a branch, turning into a raven. Pan narrowed his eyes at him.
Lyra scowled deeply.
"Why didn't you tell me about this when it happened?" She demanded, suspicious. Aurore looked uneasy.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to worry." He said quietly, looking down. Lyra found he looked like a kid who did something wrong, but didn't mean to. Her hands reached towards him and set on his arm comfortingly.
"Don't worry. . .just tell me about stuff like that next time, alright? I need to know."
He smiled kindly and nodded.
(0)
Eight pages. . .wow. . .So, how was it? At first I thought I wasn't gonna write the part with Lyra, since the story was long enough already, but finally I decided to put it. That's why it's all short and stuff.
Anyway, what do you guys think 'the evil world' Lyra saw actually is?
Unnamed: Thanks.
FoxofRoses: Lol. Don't worry, it'll all become clear soon enough. You just gotta be patient.
Anotymous: Yeah, I know cliff hangers are annoying, so I'll try to minimize them. But most of the time, I put them cuz the chapter is either too long or I want to keep something secret for the next chapter. Thanks for the review; its good to see more people are reading this.
TerribleFish: Double thanks. Mrs. Parry was cool, wasn't she?
Kaiame: Yeah, I know you're confused and all. I've put an 'resume' to un-confuse you all. Here it is:
RESUME SO FAR: Aurora and Aurore are twin brother and sister. Both were born in Cittagaze, from a witch mother of Lyra's world, and a human father from Will's world. But something strange happened at their birth: there was an earthquake and all the world shifted. SO, the whole 'Dust escaping and Specters' talked about in 'His dark materials' wasn't caused by Easheatter (the blade. I know I spell it wrong, alright?), but by the birth of the twins. The first human-created window appeared and a Specter was released.
NOW, here's what's not sure: Both the twins tell a similar story of their birth and life, but what you DON'T KNOW is which one is lying. That's why this is confusing. But don't worry; at the end, everything will be revealed. Until then, you have to be patient, because I'm not even sure who will be the good guy in the end.
Nyway; hope that clarified a few things.
Next chapter, Will wakes up and a few questions are answered, while Lyra listens to what Pan has to say about all this. How much time is left? And who can be trusted in all this?