Where The Stars Fall

Chapter Nine: Where the Stars Fall

Lyra emerged from beneath the hearth just as the sky outside began to lighten. Her grandmother pressed a warm mug of something sweet and spiced into her hands and asked no questions.

Solenne climbed out after her, shook the deep-earth dust from her shimmering fur, and sat very properly in the center of the kitchen floor.

"All five seals restored," Solenne said. "The Shadow Loom contained. The starlight will return to the constellations over the next few nights." She tilted her head. "You did well, Lyra. Better than well."

"What happens now?" Lyra asked. "Do you go back?"

Solenne was quiet for a moment. "I must. The Constellation of the Fox needs its guardian." She stood and walked to Lyra's feet, looking up at her with those vast and star-colored eyes. "But the bond between us does not break when I return. You will always be able to find me if you need me. And I," she said, with great solemnity, "will always be watching over you."

Lyra knelt down and pressed her forehead gently against Solenne's. The fox was warm now — no longer crater-cold but burning with something steady and kind.

"Will I see another falling star?" Lyra asked.

"Oh, certainly. Many of them." Solenne stepped back. "But now you will know what it means."

She walked to the window. The dawn was coming in — the first pink threads of it, gentle above the silver mountains.

Then Solenne leaped upward, and where she had been there was only light, a streak of gold and violet rising into the morning sky.

Lyra watched until it faded.

Then she sat down at the kitchen table, accepted another mug from her grandmother, and watched the day begin — knowing that tonight, when the stars came out, they would be burning a little brighter than before.

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