Chapter 28 twenty-eight midnight

many times i have been Half in love with a pleasant death... — John Keats Lord Asriel said: "Marisa, wake up, we are landing." When the telekinesis flew in from the south, the noisy dawn was breaking above the basalt fortress, and Mrs. Coulter, sore and sad, opened her eyes.She didn't fall asleep all the time, she could see the angel Zephania gliding over the land, and then flew towards the city wall with the mind machine, and she also rose up and flew towards the tower. As soon as the mind machine landed, Lord Asriel jumped out and ran to the West Tower to find King Oakenway, completely ignoring Mrs. Coulter, and the technicians who came to take care of the flying machine immediately paid no attention to her, no one Question her about the telekinesis machine she stole like she's invisible.Sadly she went up to the room in the Jantar, where the orderly offered to bring her some food and coffee.

"Take what you have," she said, "thank you. Oh, by the way," she went on, as the man turned to leave, "Mr. ?” "Mr. Basilize?" "Yes, is he free to come up here for a while?" "He's working on his books at the moment, ma'am. I'll ask him up here when I'm free." She washed and put on the only clean shirt she had left, shivering from the cold wind shaking the windows and the gray morning light, and she put more coals on the iron stove, hoping that would stop her trembling, but this coldness is not only on the surface of the flesh, but also in her bones.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and the pale, dark-eyed alethier walked in with the nightingale elf on his shoulders, and bowed slightly.After a while the orderly arrived with a tray of bread, cheese, and coffee, and Mrs. Coulter said, "Thank you for coming, Mr. Basilitz. Would you like some refreshments?" "I'll have some coffee, thanks." "Please tell me," she asked as soon as she poured her drink, "because I'm sure you've been following what's going on: Is my daughter alive?" He hesitated.The golden monkey grabbed her arm.

"She's alive," said Basilisz cautiously, "but also..." "Really? Oh, please, what do you mean?" "She was in the world of the dead. For a while I couldn't understand what this instrument was telling me: it seemed impossible, but now it was certain. She and the boy entered the world of the dead, and they opened a way to release The ghosts came out, and the dead disappeared like their spirits as soon as they came out, and it seemed to them the best and most desirable ending. The alethiometer told me that the girl did it because she overheard a prophecy that death It will end, she thinks it is her duty to accomplish. So now there is a way out of the world of the dead."

Mrs. Coulter could not speak, so she turned and walked to the window to hide the emotion on her face. She finally said, "Will she come out alive? But no, I know you can't predict. Is she—how is she—did she—" "She's suffering, she's suffering, she's scared, but she's got that boy by her side, and those two Galliferspin spies, and they're still together." "What about the bomb?" "The bomb didn't hurt her." Mrs. Coulter was suddenly exhausted, and more than anything she wanted was to lie down and sleep for months, years.

Outside, flag ropes crackled in the wind, and rooks circled the walls, yelling. "Thank you, sir." She turned back to the alethiometer expert. "Thank you very much. If you find out more about her, or where she is or what she is doing, please let me know." The man bowed and left.Mrs. Coulter went over and lay down on the cot, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't close her eyes. "What do you think it is, King?" said Lord Asriel. He was looking at something in the western sky through the watchtower telescope, and it looked like a mountain hanging in the sky a hand-width above the horizon, shrouded in clouds, so far away that it was actually only an arm's length away. The size of a thumbnail when straightened.But it wasn't there long, and hung there motionless.

Telescopes brought it closer, but no more detail: No matter how much you zoomed in, the cloud still looked like a cloud. "Cloud Mountain," said Oakonway, "or—what do they call it? Chariot?" "It is the Regent who holds the reins, and he conceals himself well, this Metatron. They speak of him in the Apocrypha: He was once a man, a man called Enoch, of Jared The son—the sixth descendant of Adam, who now rules the kingdom, and his intentions are not only that, if the angel they found by the lake is not mistaken—is the angel who went into Mount Cloud to scout. If he wins The war, his attempt to directly interfere with human life, think of that, Oakenway - a permanent ecclesiastical court, worse than anything the disciplinary court could have dreamed of, staffed by spies and traitors from every world , at the command of a wise man who has the power to keep that mountain afloat, ... the old authority at least knows how to back out decently, leaving him the dirty work of killing heretics and hanging wizards The priests of the world will do it, and this new guy will be much more vicious."

"Well, he's already started by invading the Republic," said Oakonway. "Look—is that smoke?" A gray thing was leaving the clouds, a slowly spreading smear reflected in the blue sky, but it couldn't be smoke: it was floating against the wind that was tearing the clouds. The King put his binoculars over his eyes and saw what it was. "Angel," he said. Lord Asriel left the telescope, stood up, covered his eyes with the awning, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, until half the sky was dark, those tiny figures flew and flew, and kept coming.Lord Asriel had seen hundreds of millions of strong blue starlings circling Emperor Compo's palace at sunset, but in front of him was a huge flock he had never seen before. Fly away slowly, slowly, flocking north and south.

"Ah! what's that?" Lord Asriel pointed. "That's not wind." The clouds swirled over the south side of the hill, and long streamers of steam burst out in a strong wind, but Lord Asriel was right: the movement was from within and not from the air without, and the clouds fanned and rolled, Then separated for a second. There was more than one mountain, but they saw it only for a moment, and then the cloud rolled back, as if drawn by an invisible hand to cover it up again. King Oakenway put down his binoculars. "That's not a mountain," he said, "I see a battery..."

"I saw that too, a whole bunch of complicated stuff. I wonder if he can see through the clouds? In some worlds, they have the equipment to do that, but as for his troops, if they only have those angels -" The king uttered a short exclamation, half surprise, half despair.Lord Asriel turned and grabbed his arm with such force that it nearly broke his bones. "They don't have that!" he said, shaking Oakonway's arm vigorously. "They don't have a body!" He rested a hand on his friend's rough cheek. "Even though we are few," he went on, "even if we are short-lived, even if we are short-sighted—we are strong compared to them. They envy us, Oakenway! That's why they hate us, I I am sure. They yearn for our precious bodies, so strong and powerful, so adapted to this good earth! If we meet them with determination and strength, we can sweep these countless enemies like you can sweep clouds with your hands Same. Their strength is nothing more than that!"

"Lord Asriel, they have allies like us from a thousand worlds." "We'll win." "What if they sent those angels to find your daughter?" "My daughter!" exclaimed Lord Asriel joyfully, "isn't it marvelous to have such a child born into this world? You would think that she would go to the king of the armored bear alone, and use tricks to destroy his kingdom It was enough to be freed from his dominion--but she went down to the world of the dead to calmly set them free--and the boy, the boy I wanted to see, the boy I wanted to shake his hand. We started this Did they know what they were fighting against in a rebellion? No, but did they know - The Authority and his regent, the Metatron - when my daughter got involved, they knew what they were fighting Is there a contest?" "Lord Asriel," said the king, "do you understand her importance for the future?" "Frankly, I don't understand. That's why I want to see Basiliz, where is he?" "Going to Mrs. Coulter's, but he's tired and won't be able to do anything else until after rest." "He should have rested long ago. Send for him, will you? Oh, and one more thing: please ask Mrs. Oxenshire to come up to the tower as soon as she can. I must comfort her." Lady Oakenshire had been second commander of the Galliferspins, and now she had to take Lord Locke's duties, and King Oakenway bowed, leaving his commander to scan the gray horizon. All day the troops were assembled, and the angels of Lord Asriel's army flew high above the Cloud Mountains, looking for a breach, but without success.Nothing changed, no more angels flew out or in, and the wind tore at the clouds, which were endlessly renewing themselves without parting for a second.The sun moved across the cold blue sky and then moved down to the southwest, gilding the clouds and the vapors around the mountains with the creamy whites and scarlets of apricots and oranges in every shade.When the sun goes down, the clouds glow faintly from within. Now, the warriors of every world supporting Lord Asriel's rebellion were in place, and mechanics and mechanics were fueling planes, installing weapons, and calibrating sights and gauges.As night fell, welcome reinforcements arrived: the armored bears of the cold north arrived one by one--plenty of them, and their king among them.Soon afterward, the first tribe of witches arrived, and the sound of the air passing through their pine branches hung long in the black sky. Along the plain to the south of the fort, thousands of lights twinkled, indicating the barracks of those who had come from afar, and farther, at the four corners of the compass, planes of spy angels patrolled indefatigably, sentry. At midnight, in the Gintower, Lord Asriel sat discussing with King Oakenway, the Angel Zephania, Lady Oxenshell of Galliferspin, and Tocross Basilides.No sooner had the alethiometer finished speaking than Lord Asriel rose, and walked across the room to the window, where he looked out at the distant light of the cloud-mountains hanging in the western sky.The others were silent. They had just heard something that made Lord Asriel pale and trembling. They didn't know how to deal with it. At last Lord Asriel spoke. "Mr. Basilides," he said, "you must be very tired. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Please join us for a drink." "Thank you, my lord," said the alethiometer expert. His hands were shaking, and King Oakenway poured out a glass of golden Tokaj wine and handed him the glass. "What will this mean, Lord Asriel?" said the crisp voice of Oxonshell. Lord Asriel returned to the table. "Well," he said, "it means we'll have a new target when we join the fray, and my daughter and this boy got separated from their elves for some reason and managed to survive, their elves Somewhere in this world - correct me if I generalize wrong, Mr. Basiliz - their spirits are in this world, and Metatron intends to capture them. If he captures their spirits, boy We have to follow him. If he can control the two children, the future will always be his. Our mission is clear: we have to find the elves before them and keep them safe until my daughter and the boy are with us. They reunite." "What shape are they, these two lost elves?" said the Galliferspin leader. "They're not set yet, ma'am," said Tocross Basilisz. "They could take any shape." "So," said Lord Asriel, "it boils down to this: the future of all of us, our republic, every conscious species - all depends on my daughter staying alive, on not letting her and that boy The elves fell into the hands of Metatron?" "That's what happened." Lord Asriel sighed, almost contentedly, as if he had performed a long and complicated calculation and arrived at a very unexpected answer. "Very well," he said, spreading his large hands on the table, "then we will do so as soon as the battle begins. King Oakonway, you command all the troops to protect the fort. Lady Oxenshel, you immediately send your People search around for my daughter and the boy, and their elves. When you find them, protect them with your lives until they are reunited; I see that then the boy can escape to another world, out of danger. " The lady nodded, her straight gray hair gleaming like stainless steel in the light, and the blue eagle she had inherited from Lord Locke spread his wings swiftly on the shelf by the door. "Now, Zephania," said Lord Asriel, "what do you know of this Metatron? He was once a man: does he still have the physical strength of a man?" "He rose to prominence long after I was exiled," said the angel. "I've never seen him up close, but he can't rule a kingdom unless he's really strong, powerful in every way. Most angels tend to avoid hand-to-hand combat." Metatron, however, tends to like to fight, and to win." Oakonway could see that an idea had suddenly occurred to Lord Asriel, his attention was suddenly drawn away, his eyes lost focus for a moment, and then came back to them with peculiar concentration. "I see," he said. "Finally, Zephania, Mr. Basiliz told us that their bombs not only opened an abyss beneath the world, but shattered the fabric of things so much that everywhere It's cracks and gaps, and somewhere around there there must be a passage to the edge of that abyss, and I want you to find it." "What are you going to do?" said King Oakonway sternly. "I am going to destroy Metatron, but my role is almost over. It is my daughter who must live. Our task is to keep all the power of the kingdom away from her so that she can have a chance to enter a safer place. The world—her and the boy, and their daemon." "Where's Mrs. Coulter?" said the King. Lord Asriel stroked his forehead with one hand. "I don't want to upset her," he said, "leave her alone and try to protect her. But... maybe I'm not doing her justice. No matter what else she does, she always makes me Amazed. But we all know what we have to do and why we have to do it: We have to protect Lyra until she finds her daemon and escapes. Perhaps the only purpose of our republic was to help her do that. Well, let's Do your best." Mrs. Coulter was lying on Lord Asriel's bed in the next room, and at the sound of their conversation she moved, for she had not slept deeply, and she awoke from her disturbing dreams, unwell with longing And heavy. Her daemon sat up beside her, but she didn't want to go near the door, she wanted to hear only Lord Asriel's voice, not any specific words, and she felt that they were both doomed, she Felt that all of them were doomed. At last she heard the door next door shut, and stood up with vigor. "Asriel," she said, stepping into the warm naphtha light. His daemon growled softly: the golden monkey kept his head low to please her.Lord Asriel rolled up a large map without turning around. "Asriel, what's going to happen to us all?" she said, holding a chair. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, his face full of fatigue.He sat down, one hand resting on the table, and their elves were very still: the monkey slumped on the back of the chair, the snow leopard sat upright and alert beside Lord Asriel, eyes unblinking. Looking at Mrs. Coulter. "Didn't you hear?" he said. "I heard a little bit, I couldn't sleep, but I didn't listen. Where is Lyra, does anyone know?" "Nobody knows." He hadn't answered her first question yet, he wasn't going to answer, and she knew it. "We should have married," she said, "and raised her ourselves." This sentence was too unexpected for him, and he couldn't help blinking his eyes.His daemon growled softly from the depths of his throat, settling with paws out like a sphinx.He didn't say anything. "I can't bear the thought of a blank mind, Asriel," she went on. "Nothing is better than that. I used to think the pain would be worse—to suffer forever—I thought it must be worse... …but it’s better when you’re conscious, right? Better than not feeling anything, just going into the dark and everything disappears forever and ever?” His role was merely that of the listener, his eyes locked on to hers, and he listened so intently that there was no need to answer.She said: "The other day, when you were talking about her and me so meanly... I thought you hated her, I could understand you hated me, I never hated you, but I could understand... I could see you Why might hate me, but I don't know why you hate Lyra." He turned his head slowly to one side, then looked back. "I remember you saying a strange thing in Svalbard, on top of a mountain, just before you left our world," she went on, "You said: Come with me, and we will wipe out the dust forever . Do you remember saying that?But that's not what you mean, you mean just the opposite, don't you?I get it now.Why don't you tell me what you're really doing?Why don't you tell me what you're really trying to do is protect the dust?You should have told me the truth. " "I want you to come with me," he said hoarsely and calmly, "I thought you preferred lies." "Yes," she whispered, "I thought so." She couldn't sit still, but she really didn't have the strength to stand up, and for a moment, she felt dizzy, her head was spinning, the sound died down, the room darkened, but almost immediately her consciousness came back more relentlessly than before , the situation between them has not changed in any way. "Asriel..." she murmured. The golden monkey tentatively stretched out a paw to touch the paw of the snow leopard. The man watched without saying a word, but Stir Maria did not move, her eyes were fixed on Mrs. Coulter. "Oh, Asriel, what's going to happen to us?" Mrs. Coulter continued. "Is this the end of it all?" He didn't say anything. She got up like a sleepwalker, picked up the rucksack in the corner of the room, took out her pistol, and what she would have done next is anyone's guess, for there was the sound of running upstairs. Both of them, and their respective elves, turned to look at the orderly who came in, and the orderly said out of breath, "I'm sorry, my lord - those two elves - there are people not far from the east gate. Saw them - in the shape of a cat - and the sentry tried to talk to them, to bring them in, but they wouldn't come near, just about a minute ago..." Lord Asriel sat up, completely changed.For a moment, all fatigue faded from his face, and he jumped to his feet and grabbed his coat. Ignoring Mrs. Coulter, he threw his coat over his shoulders and said to the orderly, "Tell Mrs. Oxenshel at once: don't threaten, frighten, or coax those two elves, and anyone who sees them first..." Mrs. Coulter did not hear the rest of what he said, for he was halfway down the stairs, and when the sound of his running footsteps died away, the only sounds were the soft hiss of the naphtha lamp and the rush of the wind outside. moan. Her eyes met those of the elf, and the golden monkey's expressions were as subtle and complex as ever, and had been throughout their thirty-five years of life. "Very well," she said, "I don't see any other way, I think . . . I think we shall . . . " He knew what she meant at once, and he jumped on her breast, and they embraced, and she found her fur-trimmed coat, and they left the room very quietly, down the dark stairs.