The Daemon Cages:

Roger and Mia sneaked quietly along the passageways under the falling snow but we kept our backs pressed against the walls.

"Is there anywhere here where students are not allowed to go into?"

"Yes. Just around this corner,"

Mia allowed Roger to lead her to a pair of metal gates. A shadow emerged from around another corner. Quickly she pulled Roger away out of sight. They pressed our backs against the wall and watched a nurse push out a trolley. Quick as a whip, they sped through the closing gates. Around the corner through a door, they came across a giant room with giant metal boxes.

They slowed their walking. As they did, they heard quiet but hearable thuds from inside them.

They bent down in front of one and looked through a glass window. Mia gasped, pressing her fingers over her lips. Inside was a dog-daemon with no human. Although alive, he seemed to be completely still...as if he were a ghost.

"These are daemons cut from their humans," She gasped.

Roger looked at the label. "David," he moved onto the next one. "Shay. Bridget," Through the third one he saw a poor brown rabbit daemon cut from his human.

"These belong to the humans who were taken away," Roger opened another. It was empty. It was closed. It belonged to Billy.

"Billy...his daemon's gone," Roger turned pale. "That means..." his voice broke.

Mia placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Roger,"

He stared at her. "You knew?"

"I was there," she confessed. "Lyra and I found him...in a fishing settlement yesterday. He was all frozen and cold. He somehow managed to get out of this dreadful place. At least he got to see his mum and brother one last time,"

Roger could not hold back the tears leaking from his eyes. Mia pulled him into a hug as he cried. "I'm so sorry Roger," she said letting him cry into her chest. As he pulled back, I gently wiped his tears away.

"Thank you...for being there for Lyra when I couldn't,"

"We will not let this happen to any other child. I promise. We have to find the other children,"

Roger managed to pull himself together. "There is another corridor just past this forbidden room. We should check there,"

Going through a different door at the end of this horrifying room, they found ourselves in another dreadful corridor leading up to a locked door. They peered through the window. Mia struggled to catch my breath.

Inside were over ten children, their heads were shaven, they looked emotionless. It was horrifying.

"Did Billy look like this?" Roger asked.

"Yes," she confessed regrettably.

"We can't end up in there,"

"We won't. Help is coming soon,"

"But how long?" Roger was desperate to see Lyra again.

"Hopefully at least a day or two. In the meantime, we have to plan a breakout,"

Before their conversation could continue further, the alarm stopped ringing.

"We've got to head back," Roger abruptly grabbed Mia's hand and pulled her back down the corridor, out of the forbidden room and into the hallways they had sneaked around.

They were just almost back to where we had ditched the ground when Roger suddenly stopped. "What was that?" he asked, freaking out.

"What was what?" she asked.

A loud growl emitted in my ears. A loud one.

"That," Roger gulped. They turned right. Ahead of them was a black door that had the sign: Restricted! The roaring grew louder and louder from behind that door with no window.

"That sounds like..." Roger drifted off, interrupted by another loud growl of agony.

"A bear," she finished. "What's a bear doing here in Bolvanger?"

"Children regroup!" a nurse's voice shrieked from around the corner.

Roger grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Just as they turned another right corner, children were coming back together. They managed to merge in before they were spotted. They took it calm and easy. They walked cautiously, hoping to not attract suspicion. They managed to fool the nurse behind them into thinking they were planning to get everyone ready for the next fire drill before they were escorted to our rooms.

The Gyptians were forced to stop and rest for a few hours. Lee had constantly implored John to reconsider for Mia's sake, but he said that everyone was already too weak from walking double time on towards Bolvanger.

Speechlessly Lee had turned way from him and just sat with his balloon, with only Hester for company.

"Lee..." Iorek walked around in front of me and sat down. "I know you are worried for Mia. I am too. As is Lyra. But you must have faith,"

"How can I Iorek?!" he lashed out. "My daughter is at that horrible place...all alone. I can't lose her. It would feel like losing her mother...all over again. I never should have agreed to this in the first place,"

"As usual, you choose to do things for gold. But of course, it was through your daughter's efforts with Lyra to get you to join this cause. You cannot blame yourself Lee. You've always put your daughter's safety first. Otherwise, you would not be a good father,"

"I don't know if that's true about me Iorek," A part of Lee's heart wanted to believe his words. But another part of him kept compelling into believing that he had always been hard on her. He heard footsteps approaching but he didn't turn. He didn't turn around. He remained silent in his hunched position.

Lyra sighed. He had given her the cold shoulder all day. To her it seemed that he blamed her.

"Mr. Scoresby..." she spoke up.

He didn't turn his face around.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I never should have dragged you and Mia into this mess. I only thought about getting the info I needed to convince Iorek to help and to get your services. I was so desperate to get your help to rescue all those kids that I never considered how much danger Mia would be in. I thought she wouldn't be in danger as long as we were all together...but I was wrong. It's because of me that she's at Bolvanger and I'm really sorry,"

He did not move. She sighed. She turned to leave.

"I'm not mad at you kid," Lee's words echoed in her ears.

Lyra turned around and saw his face turned in her direction. "I know for a fact that Mia would have joined your cause either way. It's more myself that I blame. As her father, it's my responsibility to keep her safe. I put her danger by agreeing on this cause,"

Lyra sat down next to Iorek in front of him.

Yes I admit you guys conned your way into getting me to join which I admit was quite funny..."

I sniggered. Even Iorek gave a little snigger.

"But it was my choice whether to agree to this. And as usual, like Iorek says, most times I agree to do things for gold. But nothing is more important to me than her,"

"You're a wonderful father to her Lee," she consoled. "Much better than my own father...Lord Asriel. You love her and you always look out for her. That's the best dad you can possibly be,"

Her words seemed to lift his spirits slightly.

I'm sure that when Mia sees my friend Roger...he'll keep her safe,"

"Lyra...why don't you check your symbol reader?" Iorek suggested.

Lyra's eyes brightened. "That's right I should. It'll let us know if she's safe,"

"If you could please..." Hester implored desperately. Lyra fished out the Alethiometer and rotated the needles. She could feel Lee's eyes on her. He had spent every second worrying about Mia. Just like her, Pan and Iorek. And he would not rest or eat or stop until she was safe in his arms.

The main needle started rotating round, giving the Alethiometer answers.

"She's found Roger," she notified. "They've found the daemon cages. She's told him of Billy's death," She turned her attention back to the rotating needle again. "Wait...there's something else!"

"What is it?" Lee burst out. " Is she in trouble?"

"She's alright. But it says..." she concentrated harder. "There's a bear in Bolvanger. She's discovered there's a bear trapped in that facility,"

"A bear?!" Iorek roared, sounding angry. "What use does a group of child snatchers have with a bear?! Has she met this bear?"

"No. But there's something else," I continued. The Alethiometer was giving me more information than I had asked for, just like when it notified me of Billy. The needle settled on the Madonna. "Oh no. My mother's on her way there. And there's a man with her. A man from Trollesund. The same one who tried to kill have you killed Iorek and whose name you knew Lee. He's coming to take the bear away,"

"Oh no," Lee's voice had broken. "If he recognises her, she'll be in danger. We have keep going! Now!"

Lyra nodded her head. We have rested long enough. We had to get there now. And if my mother or that man hurt my friend, they would pay...with their lives. she vowed.

Oh my! Sounds like Mr. Sysselman is on his way to collect this bear! Imagine of what he and Mrs. Coulter will do to Mia once he recognises her. Let's hope they get there in time! Please let me know what you all think of it. Please, please send some reviews and let me know what you all think.