As darkness fell, this was how things stood.
In his adamant tower, Lord Asriel paced up and down. His attention was fixed otle figure beside the lodestone resonator, and every other report had been diverted, every part of his mind was directed to the hat came to the small square block of stone uhe lamplight.
King Ogu in the of his gyropter, swiftly w out a plan to ter the iions of the sistorial Court, which hed just learned about from the Gallivespian in his own aircraft. The navigator was scribbling some figures on a scrap of paper, which he hao the pilot. The essential thing eed: getting their troops on the ground first would make all the differehe gyropters were faster than zeppelins, but they were still some way behind.
In the zeppelins of the sistorial Court, the Swiss Guard were attending to their kit. Their crossbows were deadly over five hundred yards, and an archer could load and fire fifteen bolts a mihe spiral fins, made of have the bolt a spin and made the on as accurate as a rifle. It was also, of course, silent, which might be a great advantage.
Mrs. Coulter lay awake irao the cave. The golden monkey was restless, and frustrated: the bats had left the cave with the ing of darkness, and there was nothing to torment. He prowled about by Mrs. Coulters sleeping bag, scratg with a little horny fi the occasional glowflies that settled in the cave and smearing their luminesce over the rock.
Lyra lay hot and almost as restless, but deep, deep asleep, locked into oblivion by the draught her mother had forced down her only an hour before. There was a dream that had occupied her for a long time, and now it had returned, and little whimpers of pity and rage and Lyratic resolution shook her breast ahroat, making Pantalaimon grind his polecat teeth in sympathy.
Not far away, uhe wind-tossed pines on the forest path, Will and Ama were making their way toward the cave. Will had tried to explain to Ama what he was going to do, but her daemon could make no sense of it, and whe a window and showed her, she was so terrified that she nearly fainted. He had to move calmly and speak quietly in order to keep her nearby, because she refused to let him take the powder from her, or even to tell him how it was to be used. In the end he had to say simply, "Keep very quiet and follow me," and hope that she would.
Iorek, in his armor, was somewhere close by, waiting to hold off the soldiers from the zeppelins so as to give Will enough time to work. What her of them knew was that Lord Asriels force was also closing in: the wind from time to time brought a far-distant clatter to Ioreks ears, but whereas he knew what zeppelin engines sounded like, he had never heard a gyropter, and he could make nothing of it.
Balthamos might have been able to tell them, but Will was troubled about him. Now that theyd found Lyra, the angel had begun to withdraw bato his grief: he was silent, distracted, and sullen. And that, in turn, made it harder to talk to Ama.
As they paused oh, Will said to the air, "Balthamos? Are you there?"
"Yes," said the aunelessly.
"Balthamos, please stay with me. Stay close and warn me of any danger. I need you."
"I havent abandoned you yet," said the angel.
That was the best Will could get out of him.
Far above in the buffeting midair, Tialys and Salmakia soared over the valley, trying to see down to the cave. The dragonflies would do exactly as they were