        Lyra trotted behind the creature, unnoticed, as he walked purposefully down to the water’s edge.  He picked up the same stick she’d used with his talon, and began to trace shapes in the sand, next to hers.  Before he was halfway done, she understood that it was an alphabet, and her hopes soared.  They had been so worried that it did not use written communication, yet it obviously had understood the purpose of her alphabet, and was demonstrating its own.