Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her dæmon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle -- a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, and a mysterious substance known as Dust. As she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win -- or to lose -- this...

Lyra and Pantalaimon (now a pine-marten) are back at Oxford. But, their peace is shattered by Ragi, the daemon of the witch Yelena, who is searching for a healing elixir to cure his witch.