The sky was clouded when Lyra opened her eyes. She could see it, because she was lying on the ground, with Aurore at her side. His icy eyes were full of concern, and his brow was down, but as she woke up, his obvious fear disappeared.
"You alright?" He questioned softly, helping her sit up. Lyra sighed and Pan quickly jumped onto her lap, trembling. She felt he was scared, and even more doubtful of the raven-haired man's motives.
"Yes. . ." The girl breathed, shutting her eyes.
There was a pause, as Lyra slowly got up, clutching her daemon against her chest, their hearts beating in unison.
"I think we should stop for today." The man proposed half-heartedly. But to his surprise, Lyra violently shook her head.
"No. I. . .I have to get this done. I need to read the alethiometer." She declared, looking at him. Pan was astounded: he had clearly whispered a warning to her, telling her that this whole Dust releasing thing seemed strangely suspicious to him. She had of course ignored him.
"Are you sure?" Aurore asked after a pause.
Lyra nodded.
"But first, I want a few answers. I want to know why my Dust and yours seemed so. . .dense around us. I've already seen the Dust of another person, through the Amber Spyglass, but it's never been so thick. . .why was it with us?"
Aurore smiled.
"It's not at all that complicated. You are the reincarnation of Eve, Holy Mother, as you surely know. Your destiny was to stop the incessant flow of Dust, and the only way you could do that was by attracting, at a certain age, an immense amount of Dust yourself. As for myself and my sister, we were what separated the parallel worlds, therefore, ever since birth, we've had this many particle around us." The man explained. But another thought crossed the girl's head, at that moment.
"Wait. . .if I release my Dust, won't that start over the whole problem. Won't it start the flowing of the particles again?" She suddenly looked at him suspiciously. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but a flash seemed to pass in the man's eyes.
"No, of course not, because you'll only release it for a moment. You'll be unharmed." He assured.
Lyra nodded, and breathed deeply.
"I'm ready." She declared. Pan jumped from her arms and suddenly noticed that Tenebrus was gone.
(0)
"Excuse me!" Aurora called, bringing Equinox up to an old woman in the busy streets. Will followed her, watching the people that passed him carefully, trying to find Lyra amongst the running kids and talkative parents.
"Yes?" The woman looked up, intrigued.
"Have you seen a girl. . .like, in the last few days or so. . .her hair is blond and she had these dark eyes. Her daemon is a pine marten. . ." Barely had she finished and already the woman shook her head, walking away.
Aurora sighed, and Will brought Solstice up to her.
"And?" He asked anxiously. The girl shook her head, angry.
"No one has seen her! I just can't believe it! But I should have known. . .my brother knows how to act in secret, and get what he wants." She told him, looking around herself, as if hoping Lyra would come prancing out of a food stand.
"We could try Jordan College. I heard that's where Lyra went. . ."
"No, I doubt he'd keep her there, if he had caught her. And I know he has. . .she'll be somewhere in the city, if we're lucky. . ."
Will's eyebrow rose.
"And if we're not?"
"Then she'll be out in the wild." Aurora sighed, gesturing the forest that surrounded the city. The boy swallowed heavily.
But at that moment, when all hope seemed lost, he felt a tug on his pants, and looked down to see a young kid, no older than himself, looking up at him. Kirjava watched the boy's daemon carefully; it was a sparrow, and when it saw the cat's gaze, it quickly took the defensive form of a small snake, slithering on the kid's shoulder.
"Hey, I hear you're lookin' for Lyra." The kid said, grabbing his daemon away from Kirjava's stare.
Aurora brought Equinox around Solstice, and faced the young teen. The horse's gaze was even more intense that Kirjava's and to this, the boy suddenly took a step back, intimidated.
"Yeah, we're looking for her. What can you tell us?" The girl said in a strong voice that was soft in its own way. And her gaze was kind enough to convince the boy he was safe.
"Well, I saw her 'bout two days ago. Was leavin' Jordan, she was. Kids know her here a lot 'round here; we hear she's been far 'way and lived great things, she has. She's kind of your hero, you know. . . we all looks up to her, even if she don' know it." The boy shrugged.
"Yes. Can you tell me where she was going? We're looking for her and it's very important." Aurora pressed on gently. Will was reminded of Mrs. Coulter; so powerful and deadly, yet so cunning to get what she wants. . .
"Yeah. . .was followin' an big dog, I saws her. Looked like the Grim, you know. . .I think it was someone's daemon, but I ain't sure. . .didn't see no human 'round. . .could it have been a daemon with no human?" The boy frowned.
Will wanted to yell at him to tell them where Lyra was, and expected Aurora to do the same, but to his dismay, she smiled kindly and shook her head.
"No, daemons can't exist without humans. It was just probably a smart dog. So, where did you say she went. . .?"
The kid looked relieved.
"Didn't see her beyond that street over there, but I thinks she went for the mountains there. . .'looked like that's where she was headin'"
The girl grinned at him.
"Thanks, you were an immense help. We'll see you around!" Aurora declared.
To Will's amazement, she searched her pockets, found a silver coin, and flicked it at the boy, who grinned back and bowed his head, before running off to his friends.
"Well, Will. Let's hurry. Heavens known how much time we have. . ."
And the girl kicked Equinox, who neighed wildly and sprang away towards the direction pointed out by the kid. Will grabbed Solstice's mane with one hand, and Kirjava with the other, as the horse dashed after its human, speeding through the busy streets, where people cursed them as they sprung aside to let the two black horses by.
(0)
Lyra concentrated, visualizing her Dust in three places: her forehead, her chest and her stomach. Then, she let it boil, as if it was water, and suddenly, without any warning, she released it.
(0)
Aurora suddenly stopped Equinox, who neighed as the rope pulled on his neck. Will almost fell of Solstice as she skidded on the stone road to a stop, almost hitting the other daemon.
"What's. . ." Will grabbed on to the horse's mane and pulled himself back up. Kirjava slowly withdrew her claws from his chest, body trembling.
The boy watched Aurora, as she gazed, horrified, at a mountain just beyond the city's limit. He followed her gaze, but saw nothing there. But he knew, by instinct, that something was wrong and he'd better keep quiet. He also paid no attention to the people who were pointing at them and muttering.
"Aurora, what do you see? Is it Dust. . .?" He whispered suddenly, not liking the look of horror that had painted itself on her face.
"Lyra. . ." She whispered.
Will looked at the mountain, but he saw nothing. The girl suddenly snapped back to herself and made him jump.
"I. . . I think we're too late. . ." She said quietly, eyes fleeing him. He did a double take, and his stomach turned over.
"W. . .what?" Will stuttered.
Aurora shook her head violently.
"I saw. . .oh, God. . .I saw so much Dust suddenly spring into the air. . .if she's still alive after. . .after that, then she's at the brink of death!"
He saw tears form in her eyes.
"I won't give up!" He hissed at her, and she looked up at him bravely, nodding fiercely.
"Yes. We have to go. . .we may still have time. . .we may not be too late. . ."
And Equinox sprang forward, people dashing out of his way, and Solstice followed. All the time they galloped towards the mountain, Will prayed Lyra was still alive. . .
(0)
It was powerful, it was exhausting and it was amazing. Never had she felt so light, and in perfect tune with the world. It was as if she was everything, and everything was her.
Lyra laughed, loving this feeling, as she felt herself float in the sky. . . she wanted to tell Pan how he felt; did he feel the same way too?
But as she turned her gaze towards him, floating next to her in the sky, she saw something that truly frightened her. Pan's torrent of Dust was escaping him, and he was slowly turning golden, as if he was joining the particles.
He looked like a small cloud of smoke. Lyra suddenly understood; this was what daemons looked like when they died. . .but then. . .she was dying?
"PAN!" The girl screamed. She didn't want to die; she didn't want to be separated from him!
And suddenly, she felt herself fall, and with her fading daemon, she screamed. She felt herself enter something heavy, and found herself in her body, lying in the grass, looking up at the sky. Pan, lying beside her, returned to his solid form slowly, and crawled onto her chest, crying.
Lyra cried also, feeling exhausted and trapped inside herself.
The last thing she saw, through a veil of tears and tiredness, was Aurore as he smirked.
"You. . ." Her voice was far away, and felt strange.
And then everything was dark.
(0)
CLIFFY! Bow before the cliffhangers, for they are your masters! Thanks for all the reviews guys, you ROCK!
Anotymous: You make a good point. But I use the term 'bad guy' for every evil character, whenever it's s guy or a girl. Still, if you read the next chapter preview, you'll see who is really the bad guy.
PS: I wrote my book in English, so it'll probably get published in USA. Or so I hope.
PPS: Where you live, it's not legal to own horses? In Canada, you can, as long as you like a bit in the suburbs.
DAncerchick9293: Thanks.
Fox of roses: Of course. How could this story end if they weren't? I'd get flamed to death! ( or to Dust. . .)
Quiz girl: Thanks. As you can see, it did indeed affect pan. You kinda gave me the idea to make him 'disappear'. As for your story, you better keep it up. I honestly want to see what is going to happen. Plus, you are good at HP/HDM crossovers (unlike I).
Unnamed: Yup, there's gonna be a sequel. I'm not sure what it'll be called, but I have an idea for the title. I can't say it now, cuz it would ruin a 'surprise' at the end of this story. Thanks.
PinkExplosion. Thanks. No more than two chapters left, I'm sorry to say. But look for the sequel. I'll work on it after this.
Kaiame: I hope things are getting clearer now. It's not that hard to guess who's bad anymore. You'll have it figured out soon enough. : )
Lobsstaceyters: You're welcome. I know it was a little short, but sometimes I run out of ideas.
Next chapter, Will and Aurora FINALLY reach Aurore, and stop him from doing something dreadful. They learn that he has stolen most of Lyra's Dust, and as the siblings face each other, Will must revive Lyra, because only she can call upon the power to wield Forseti and end this madness. But why won't she wake up?