The harpies relent

Will is trying to cut a new window. There is an awful grating sound. His father, Jopari, appears and tells him to stop as it will make the knife shatter again. They find Lyra. She and Roger are still telling stories about their Oxford adventures; the ghost-children are still completely transfixed as are the harpies. As she finishes, Lyra asks the harpies why they have become so quiet. They explain how truthful stories nourish them. But they become angry as they realise Lyra plans to escape from the land of the dead.

As the harpies look like they are about to torture Lyra, Will presents them with a deal: if they can lead them and the ghosts to an exit from the land of the dead then every ghost will have to pay them a tax of a story that is truthful and represents a happy, beautiful moment from their lives. If they tell them a lie Will agrees that then and only then can the harpies torture them. At this point the ghosts become nervous asking how they will survive outside of the land of the dead. Jopari explains that they will not be alive, but they will dissolve into the world and become a part of all living things, in essence much better then being in the land of the dead, the ghosts agree.

The harpy called ‘No-Name’ agrees to lead the way.