Lyra's Oxford

"Lyra and the Birds" plot summary

From the tower of Jordan College in her Oxford, Lyra observes a flock of birds attacking a dæmon that is shaped like a bird. Because no human is nearby, the dæmon must belong to a witch. Lyra rescues the dæmon, named Ragi, who then asks her to help find a man called Sebastian Makepeace. Lyra deduces that Makepeace is the last remaining alchemist and agrees to bring Ragi to him after school.

That evening, Lyra slips away from St Sophia's School and leads Ragi from outside Jordan College on Turl Street to Juxon Street, where Makepeace lives. Ragi flies above Lyra and hides on rooftops to avoid detection, and during the journey he is attacked by pigeons but escapes. Ragi explains that his witch, Yelena Pazhets, is gravely ill with a new sickness that kills witches while leaving their dæmons alive and lonely. Lyra is horrified by this.

When they reach the end of Juxon Street near the Oxford Canal, Lyra's dæmon Pantalaimon peers through Makepeace's window without Ragi noticing and sees the alchemist lying on the floor with witch's instruments nearby. Sensing a trap, Lyra walks past the house, and Ragi cries out for his witch. Lyra realizes the witch is attacking her and decides to fight, as Will would have done. As Yelena charges, a swan rushes past Lyra and attacks the witch, who dies shortly after.

Lyra carries the swan back to the canal. The recovered Sebastian Makepeace then explains that Yelena, once his lover, blamed Lyra for the death of their son in the war from The Amber Spyglass and had intended to kill Lyra and frame him. After the dead witch causes a disturbance, Makepeace helps Lyra slip away unnoticed. Back at St Sophia's, Lyra and Pan reflect that the birds were actually helping her, and Lyra feels that Oxford is protecting her.