Chapter 20 CHAPTER TEN: THE SHAMANTEN-2

"I cant do very much myself. My heart is diseased beyond the powers of anyone in this world to cure it. I have one great effort left in me, perhaps. But I know something Lord Asriel doesnt, something he needs to know if his effort is to succeed. "You see, I was intrigued by that haunted world where the Specters fed on human consciousness. I wanted to know what they were, how they had come into being. And as a shaman, I can discover things in the spirit where I cannot go in the body, and I spent much time in trance, exploring that world. I found that the philosophers there, centuries ago, had created a tool for their own undoing: an instrument they called the subtle knife. It had many powers—more than theyd guessed when they made it, far more than they knew even now—and somehow, in using it, they had let the Specters into their world.

"Well, I know about the subtle knife and what it can do. And I know where it is, and I know how to recognize the one who must use it, and I know what he must do in Lord Asriels cause. I hope hes equal to the task. So I have summoned you here, and you are to fly me northward, into the world Asriel has opened, where I expect to find the bearer of the subtle knife. "That is a dangerous world, mind. Those Specters are worse than anything in your world or mine. We shall have to be careful and courageous. I shall not return, and if you want to see your country again, you'll need all your courage, all your craft, all your luck.

"Thats your task, Mr. Scoresby. That is why you sought me out." And the shaman fell silent. His face was pallid, with a faint sheen of sweat. "This is the craziest damn idea I ever heard in my life," said Lee. He stood up in his agitation and walked a pace or two this way, a pace or two that, while Hester watched unblinking from the bench. Grummans eyes were half-closed; his daemon sat on his knee, watching Lee wily. "Do you want money?" Grumman said after a few moments. "I can get you some gold. That's not hard to do." "Damn, I didn't come here for gold," said Lee hotly. "I came here ... I came here to see if you were alive, like I thought you were. Well, my curiosity kinda satisfied on that point."

"I'm glad to hear it." "And theres another angle to this thing, too," Lee added, and told Grumman of the witch council at Lake Enara, and the resolution the witches had sworn to. "You see," he finished, "that little girl Lyra .. .well, shes the reason I set out to help the witches in the first place. You say you brought me here with that Navajo ring. Maybe thats so and maybe it aint. What I know is, I came here because I thought Id be helping Lyra. I aint never seen a child like that. hope shed be half as strong and brave and good. Now, I heard that you knew of some object, I didnt know what it might be, that confers a protection on anyone who holds it. And from what you say, I think it must be this subtle knife.

"So this is my price for taking you into the other world, Dr. Grumman: not gold, but that subtle knife. And I dont want it for myself; I want it for Lyra. You have to swear you'll get her under the protection of that object, and then Ill take you wherever you want to go." The shaman listened closely, and said, "Very well, Mr. Scoresby; I swear. Do you trust my oath?" "What will you swear by?" "Name anything you like." Lee thought and then said, "Swear by whatever it was made you turn down the love of the witch. I guess thats the most important thing you know."

Grummans eyes widened, and he said, "You guess well, Mr. Scoresby. Ill gladly swear by that. I give you my word that Ill make certain the child Lyra Belacqua is under the protection of the subtle knife. But I warn you: the bearer of that knife has his own task to do, and it may be that his doing it will put her into even greater danger." Lee nodded soberly. "Maybe so," he said, "but whatever little chance of safety there is, I want her to have it." "You have my word. And now I must go into the new world, and you must take me." "And the wind? You aint been too sick to observe the weather, I guess?"

"Leave the wind to me." Lee nodded. He sat on the bench again and ran his fingers over and over the turquoise ring while Grumman gathered the few goods he needed into a deerskin bag, and then the two of them went back down the forest track to the village. The headman spoke at some length. More and more of the villagers came out to touch Grummans hand, to mutter a few words, and to receive what looked like a blessing in return. Lee, meanwhile, was looking at the weather. clear to the south, and a fresh-scented breeze was just lifting the twigs and stirring the pine tops. To the north the fog still hung over the heavy river, but it was the first time for days that there seemed to be a promise of clearing it.

At the rock where the landing stage had been he lifted Grummans pack into the boat, and filled the little engine, which fired at once. He cast off, and with the shaman in the bow, the boat sped down with the current, darting under the trees and skimming out into the main river so fast that Lee was afraid for Hester, crouching just inside the gunwale. But she was a seasoned traveler, he should have known that; why was he so damn jumpy? * * * They reached the port at the rivers mouth to find every hotel, every lodging house, every private room commandeered by soldiers. Not just any soldiers, either: these were troops of the Imperial Guard of Muscovy, the most ferociously trained and lavishly equipped army in the world, and one sworn to uphold the power of the Magisterium.

Lee had intended to rest a night before setting off, because Grumman looked in need of it, but there was no chance of finding a room. "What's going on?" he said to the boatman when he returned the hired boat. "We dont know. The regime arrived yesterday and commandeered every billet, every scrap of food, and every ship in the town. They'd have had this boat, too, if you hadn't taken it." "Dyou know where theyre going?" "North," said the boatman. "Theres a war going to be fought, by all accounts, the greatest war ever known."

"North, into that new world?" "Thats right. And theres more troops coming; this is just the advance guard. There wont be a loaf of bread or a gallon of spirit left in a weeks time. You did me a favor taking this boat—the price has already doubled. ..." There was no sense in resting up now, even if they could find a place. Full of anxiety about his balloon, Lee went at once to the warehouse where hed left it, with Grumman beside him. The man was keeping pace. , but he was tough. The warehouse keeper, busy counting out some spare engine parts to a requisitioning sergeant of the Guard, looked up briefly from his clipboard.

"Balloon—too bad—requisitioned yesterday," he said. "You can see how it is. Ive got no choice." Hester flicked her ears, and Lee understood what she meant. "Have you delivered the balloon yet?" he said. "They're going to collect it this afternoon." "No, they're not," said Lee, "because I have an authority that trumps the Guard." And he showed the warehouseman the ring hed taken from the finger of the dead Skraeling on Nova Zembla. The sergeant, beside him at the counter, stopped what he was doing and saluted at the sight of the Churchs token, but for all his discipline he Couldn't prevent a flicker of puzzlement passing over his face. "So well have the balloon right now," said Lee, "and you can set some men to fill it. And I mean at once. And that includes food, and water, and ballast." The warehouseman looked at the sergeant, who shrugged, and then hurried away to see to the balloon. Lee and Grumman withdrew to the wharf, where the gas tanks were, to supervise the filling and talk quietly. "Where did you get that ring?" said Grumman. "Off a dead mans finger. Kinda risky using it, but I couldn't see another way of getting my balloon back. You reckon that sergeant suspected anything?" "Of course he did. But hes a disciplined man. He wont question the Church. If he reports it at all, well be away by the time they can do anything about it. Well, I promised you a wind, Mr. Scoresby; I hope you like it." The sky was blue overhead now, and the sunlight was bright. To the north the fog banks still hung like a mountain range over the sea, but the breeze was pushing them back and back, and Lee was impatient for the air again. As the balloon filled and began to swell up beyond the edge of the warehouse roof, Lee checked the basket and stowed all his equipment with particular care; for in the other world, who knew what turbulence theyd meet? to the framework with close attention, even the compass, whose needle was swinging around the dial quite uselessly. Finally he lashed a score of sandbags around the basket for ballast. When the gasbag was full and leaning northward in the buffeting breeze, and the whole apparatus straining against the stout ropes anchoring it down, Lee paid the warehouseman with the last of his gold and helped Grumman into the basket. Then he turned to the men at the ropes to give the order to let go. But before they could do so, there was an interruption. From the alley at the side of the warehouse came the noise of pounding boots, moving at the double, and a shout of command: "Halt!" The men at the ropes paused, some looking that way, some looking to Lee, and he called sharply, "Let go! Cast off!" Two of the men obeyed, and the balloon lurched up, but the other two had their attention on the soldiers, who were moving quickly around the corner of the building. Those two men still held their ropes fast around the bollards, and the balloon lurched sickeningly sideways. Lee grabbed at the suspension ring; Grumman was holding it too, and his daemon had her claws tight around it. Lee shouted, "Let go, you damn fools! She's going up!" The buoyancy of the gasbag was too great, and the men, haul as they might, couldn't hold it back. One let go, and his rope lashed itself loose from the bollard; but the other man, feeling the rope lift, instinctively clung on instead of letting go. Lee had seen this happen once before, and dreaded it. heavyset husky, howled with fear and pain from the ground as the balloon surged up toward the sky, and five endless seconds later it was over; the mans strength failed; he fell, half-dead, and crashed into the water. But the soldiers had their rifles up already. A volley of bullets whistled past the basket, one striking a spark from the suspension ring and making Lees hands sting with the impact, but none of them did any damage. By the time they fired their second. shot, the balloon was almost out of range, hurtling up into the blue and speeding out over the sea. Lee felt his heart lift with it. Hed said once to Serafina Pekkala that he didnt care for flying, that it was only a job; but he hadnt meant it. Soaring upward, with a fair wind behind and a new world in front—what could be better in this life? He let go of the suspension ring and saw that Hester was crouching in her usual corner, eyes half closed. From far below and a long way back came another futile volley of rifle fire. The town was receding fast, and the broad sweep of the rivers mouth was glittering in the sunlight below them. "Well, Dr. Grumman," he said, "I dont know about you, but I feel better hi the air. I wish that poor man had let go of the rope, though. Its so damned easy to do, and if you dont let go at once theres no hope for you." "Thank you, Mr. Scoresby," said the shaman. "You managed that very well. Now we settle down and fly. I would be grateful for those furs; the air is still cold."