FADE IN:
INT. WATCHTOWER — NIGHT
Moonlight slices across the cold stone floor. Lyra sits upright on her bedroll, wide-eyed.
The voice outside drifts in again — soft, melodic, almost hypnotic.
VOICE (whispering)
Lyra… come.
She glances at Rowan. He's still at the window slit, dagger in hand, watching the forest.
LYRA
Rowan… do you hear that?
ROWAN
(tense)
No. What do you hear?
LYRA
Someone's calling me.
---
EXT. WATCHTOWER — CONTINUOUS
From outside, the shadows move unnaturally. The moon seems dimmer here. The Voice hums an old lullaby — one Lyra remembers from her earliest childhood.
---
INT. WATCHTOWER — NIGHT
Lyra's heartbeat pounds in her ears. She rises slowly, moving toward the broken doorway.
ROWAN
(sharply)
Stop.
She freezes.
ROWAN
If you step outside now, you'll never come back.
LYRA
But it knows me. I know that song…
ROWAN
That's how they lure you. They find what you ache for, and they make it sing.
---
EXT. FOREST EDGE — SAME TIME
The Hunter Leader stands cloaked in shadows. His mask gleams in the pale light. Beside him, a tall, feminine shape made of shimmering darkness sways gently, lips forming Lyra's name over and over.
HUNTER LEADER
She'll come to us. They always do.
---
INT. WATCHTOWER — NIGHT
Lyra steps back from the doorway, torn between fear and longing.
LYRA
What if they know the truth about me? What if they can tell me who I am?
ROWAN
And what price will they ask for it?
The tension is broken by a sudden howl in the distance — long, deep, and unnervingly human.
Rowan curses under his breath.
ROWAN
We have to move. Now.
---
EXT. FOREST — NIGHT
They slip from the watchtower, Rowan leading the way through dense brush. The moon flickers behind clouds, and the air grows heavy.
The voice follows them — sometimes ahead, sometimes behind, never in one place for long.
LYRA
(whispering to herself)
Why do I feel like I've been here before?
Rowan hears her but says nothing.
---
EXT. RIVER CROSSING — LATER
They reach a rushing, black river. The only crossing is a narrow, moss-covered stone bridge.
Rowan steps onto it — but Lyra halts, staring into the water.
Something is moving beneath the surface.
A face.
Her own.
It smiles.
---
LYRA
Rowan…
But before she can say more, a deafening crack echoes through the forest. Arrows of black energy slam into the bridge, shattering stone.
Rowan grabs her arm, pulling her toward the opposite bank as the bridge collapses into the torrent.
ROWAN
Run!
---
EXT. RIVERBANK — CONTINUOUS
They crash into the undergrowth, breathless, wet, and cold. Behind them, the Hunter Leader's voice carries through the trees.
HUNTER LEADER
Run as far as you like, little spark. We'll still find you.
---
INT. RUINED SHRINE — NIGHT
They take shelter inside a moss-covered ruin. Moonlight spills through the broken ceiling, illuminating strange carvings — symbols that seem to shift when Lyra stares too long.
She reaches out to touch one — and it burns her skin with a flash of light.
LYRA
(gasping)
What is this place?
Rowan looks at her with a mix of fear and resignation.
ROWAN
Your mother built it.
---
FADE OUT.