Celestial Liaison

Bright shining light was all around them, Lyra and Pantalaimon. Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel were gone, she could not spot them anywhere. She was dazed and unaware of what was happening. She found herself at the beach she had seen in the sky, Pan beside her. Around them palm trees were swaying their heads to the sky, and she found dry, light sand like gold underneath her feet. Lyra's head was aching, and she felt sick to her stomach. After a few minutes that seemed like ages she understood what happened. She had left her world, Jordan, the north, Iorek, Lord Faa, Ma Costa, Lee and everything else she had ever known. She had left her world and all her comfort and found herself now in a new reality. But she was not scared. She felt confused, but not scared.

  "Don't you worry Pan, we'll be alright," Lyra said. Pan, who was in the form of a wildcat, looked around. On one side of them the ocean spread. Blue, and endless it seemed. There were seagulls hovering above their heads screaming painfully. On the opposite side facing the ocean there was a city, with tall buildings stretching towards the misty sky. The air surrounding them was thick and foggy and it was hard to breathe. The smell of garbage and dirt was palpable.

Lyra turned to the city, a dystopian sight. Behind an abandoned playground not far from the beach where she was standing, she saw a large dark shape moving. Lyra ducked down and observed the shape slowly moving around. She noticed the movement, it reminded her of something. Suddenly it stopped and held still for a moment.

  "I don't like the feeling about this Lyra," said Pan nervously. Lyra stood up and started to slowly walk along the beach to a nearby palm tree. When she had reached the lonely tree she started to climb it, so did Pan in his shape of a wildcat. Steadily she crawled up the stem keeping a firm eye on the shape beyond the playground. Climbing seemed to be no problem for Pan, who almost flew up to the top. When she had almost reached the top and could stretch her hand to touch the leafy green, the big shape started to move towards her at a fast pace. It was about 150 meters away and emerged closer and closer. The fog in the air made it difficult to determine its identity. When it had come halfway, she could see what it was. A bear. But not like the kind Iorek and Ioufur had been. This bear was smaller and of another kind, she could see. It was dirty with a rugged dark fur. When it was almost at the foot of the tree, it slowed down and walked the last meters in a dull, strained manner. His eyes were tired, so was his body language. He was not strong like the other bears she had seen before. When he had reached the tree Lyra was occupying, he looked up at her and gave away an exhausted roar. He then sat down leaning towards the stem of the tree. There they were, Lyra, Pan and the bear, in a stalemate position.

Lyra turned to Pan, who still was in the shape of a wildcat.
  "Well, what now Pan?" Lyra asked. Pan looked at Lyra with a look that expressed nil.
  "Well, I could change shape to a Siberian tiger and go down to chase the bear away," Pan suggested. Lyra sighed. She looked down at the tired, washed up beast who was sitting beneath them. She felt sorry for the poor creature somehow. Just before Lyra was to agree with Pans' suggestion, an arrow came flying through the air, just a few inches from hitting the bear. The bear stood up clumsily with assistance of the tree. As he was on his feet, another arrow went through the air swiftly just as close as the first one. The bear started to run off in a frightened manner, he was not elegant and strong, but more wounded and terrified, like a sheep running off from a wolf. When the bear was out of sight, Lyra climbed down the tree, of course she was not as smooth as Pan in his wildcat form. She felt the soft sand underneath her feet and scouted the area to see where the arrow had come from. She was on her toes and could feel her heart thumping in her chest. Pan was just as shocked as Lyra. Suddenly a boy appears behind one of the other palm trees on the beach. Lyra turns and stands ready to fight. The boy behind the palm tree slowly emerges towards Lyra with his bow ready to fire. He was about the same height as Lyra, with dark hair and hazel eyes. They both observed each other's every move closely. Lyra noticed that the boy did not have any daemon by his side, and she was afraid that the people of Bolvangar had taken her away from him, just like they had done with Roger and the other children. They are only a few meters apart from each other when the boy puts down his bow and lays it on the ground in front of him. Lyra puts her hands up in the air as a sign of passiveness.
  "Hello, my name is Lyra, this is Pan, we mean no harm," said Lyra with a trembling voice.
  "Hello Lyra, my name is Arash." He looked closely at Lyra, observing every detail as if he were looking at someone familiar. "We need to get away from this beach as soon as possible. You never know what kind of creatures might appear, follow me," he said quickly. He grabbed his bow and headed for a small beaten path that led between a pair of over flooded dustbins. Lyra and Pan followed closely behind him.
  "Where are we going?" Lyra asked.
  "I will take you to a safe place. By the way, what is the deal with the wildcat?" Arash asked, crouching behind a dustbin scouting.
  "This is Pan, my daemon".
  "A daemon?" Arash replied baffled.
  "You don't have daemons in your world?"
  "In my world, what are you talking about?" Arash continued annoyed. Lyra did not feel like the time was right to start talking about dust, the alethiometer which told the truth, the bears and gyptians of her world, so she kept quiet and followed. They followed the small path that led to the city away from the beach.