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"But I’o back and look after el Balthao to Lord Asriel and offer the knife to hiht as well"

"He fled," said the bear

"He wasn’t a warrior He did as much as he could, and then he couldn’t do any more He wasn’t the only one to be afraid; I’h Maybe so thing looks o and do the wrong thing just because it’s dangerous We’re ht It’s very hard That’s why I didn’t answer you"

"I see," said the bear

They stood in silence for what felt like a long time, especially to Will, who had little protection from the bitter cold But Iorek hadn’t finished yet, and Will was still weak and dizzy from the blow, and didn’t quite trust his feet, so they stayed where they were

"Well, I have co "It ht final destruction on dom And itanyway;to do un-bearlike deeds and speculate and doubt like a hu You know it already, but you don’t want to, which is why I tell you openly, so that you don’t mistake it If you want to succeed in this task, you er think about your mother You must put her aside If your mind is divided, the knife will break

"Now I’ to say farewell to Lyra You must wait in the cave; those two spies will not let you out of their sight, and I do not want the when I speak to her"

Will had no words, though his breast and his throat were full He ed to say, "Thank you, Iorek Byrnison," but that was all he could say

He walked with Iorek up the slope toward the cave, where the fire glow still shone war dark

There Iorek carried out the last process in the hter cinders until the blade was glowing, and Will and Lyra saw a hundred colors swirling in the sed the e it directly into the snow that had drifted outside

The rosewood handle was charred and scorched, but Will wrapped his hand in several folds of a shirt and did as Iorek told him In the hiss and flare of steaether, and he knew that the knife was as keen as before, the point as infinitely rare

But it did look different It was shorter, and ant, and there was a dull silver surface over each of the joins It looked ugly now; it looked like what it ounded

When it was cool enough, he packed it away in the rucksack and sat, ignoring the spies, to wait for Lyra to come back

Iorek had taken her a little farther up the slope, to a point out of sight of the cave, and there he had let her sit cradled in the shelter of his great ar mouse-formed at her breast Iorek bent his head over her and nuzzled at her scorched and san to lick the on the burns, and she felt as safe as she had ever felt in her life

But when her hands were free of soot and dirt, Iorek spoke She felt his voice vibrate against her back

"Lyra Silvertongue, what is this plan to visit the dead?"

"It cahost, and I kneas calling to er Well, after we left you, he was killed, and it was my fault, at least I felt it was And I think I should just finish what I began, that’s all: I should go and say sorry, and if I can, I should rescue him from there If Will can open a way to the world of the dead, then we must do it"

"Can is not the same as must"

"But if you must and you can, then there’s no excuse"

"While you are alive, your business is with life"

"No, Iorek," she said gently, "our business is to keep promises, no matter how difficult they are You know, secretly, I’m deadly scared And I wish I’d never had that dreao there But we did, so we can’t get out of it"

Lyra felt Pantalai and stroked him with her sore hands

"We don’t kno to get there, though," she went on "We won’t know anything till we try What are you going to do, Iorek?"

"I’ back north, with my people We can’t live in the ht we could live here, but we can live more easily in the sea, even if it is war And besides, I think ill be needed I can feel war, Lyra Silvertongue; I can smell it; I can hear it I spoke to Serafina Pekkala before I ca to Lord Faa and the gyptians If there is e shall be needed"

Lyra sat up, excited at hearing the names of her old friends But Iorek hadn’t finished He went on:

"If you do not find a way out of the world of the dead, we shall not host My body will remain on the earth, and then become part of it But if it turns out that you and I both survive, then you will always be a welcome and honored visitor to Svalbard; and the same is true of Will Has he told you what happened e met?"

"No," said Lyra, "except that it was by a river"

"He outfaced rown boy was too daring for me, and too clever I am not happy that you should do what you plan, but there is no one I would trust to go with you except that boy You are worthy of each other Go well, Lyra Silvertongue, my dear friend"

She reached up and put her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into his fur, unable to speak

After a ed her arms, and then he turned and walked silently away into the dark Lyra thought his outline was lost alround, but it ht have been that her eyes were full of tears

When Will heard her footsteps on the path, he looked at the spies and said, "Don’t youto use it Stay here"

He went outside and found Lyra standing still, weeping, with Pantalai his face to the black sky She was quite silent The only light came from the pale reflection in the snowbank of the remains of the fire, and that, in turn, was reflected from her wet cheeks, and her tears found their own reflection in Will’s eyes, and so those photons wove the two children together in a silent web

"I love hied to whisper shakily "And he looked old! He looked hungry and old and sad Is it all co onto us now, Will? We can’t rely on anyone else now, can we It’s just us But we en’t old enough yet We’re only young We’re too young If poor Mr Scoresby’s dead and Iorek’s oldIt’s all coot to be done"

"We can do it," he said "I’ to look back anyot to sleep now, and if we stay in this world, those gyropter thingsto cut through now and we’ll find another world to sleep in, and if the spies coet rid of them another time"

"Yes," she said, and sniffed and wiped the back of her hand across her nose and rubbed her eyes with both palms "Let’s do that You sure the knife ork? You tested it?"

"I know it’ll work"

With Pantalaier-formed to deter the spies, they hoped, Will and Lyra went back and picked up their rucksacks

"What are you doing?" said Sal into another world," said Will, taking out the knife It felt like being whole again; he hadn’t realized how much he loved it

"But you yropters," said Tialys, his voice hard

"We’re not going to," said Will "If you coh with us if you "

"You lied!"

"No," said Lyra, "I lied Will doesn’t lie You didn’t think of that"

"But where are you going?"

Will didn’t answer He felt forward in the di

Salmakia said, "This is a mistake You should realize that, and listen to us You haven’t thought"

"Yes, we have," said Will, "we’ve thought hard, and we’ll tell you e’ve thought too back to Lord Asriel"

Theopened onto the world into which he had escaped with Baruch and Balthamos, and where he’d slept safely: the warm endless beach with the fernlike trees behind the dunes He said:

"Here - we’ll sleep here - this’ll do"

He let theh and closed it behind them at once While he and Lyra lay dohere they were, exhausted, the Lady Salmakia kept watch, and the Chevalier opened his lodestone resonator and began to play a e into the dark