Will Parry lay awake, pondering the events of the day, Kirjava lying
on his chest.
He lay awake, thinking.
"Tomorrow's midsummer's day." Kirjava murmured.
"Yeah... most painful day of the year." Will said back.
"At least you can remember." Kirjava said.
"Ten years... ten whole years since I began remembering..." Will said.
"Nine years and 364 days." corrected a voice at the foot of the bed.
Kirjava jumped from Will at the same instant that Will jumped from his bed.
"Xa..." Will began, attempting and failing to remember the name.
"Xaphania." the Angel said with a slight frown.
"What are you doing here?" Will asked.
"I'm here to help you." Xaphania said.
"You can't help me." Will said, lying down on the bed again.
Xaphania glanced at Kirjava, into the green eyes, watching the tail move.
She could tell that Kirjava wanted to listen, even if Will didn't.
"I can help you actually. Previously I couldn't. But now I can." Xaphania said.
"How?" Will asked.
"Give me the knife." Xaphania said.
"It's..." Will began.
"Broken, I know. Give the shards to me." Xaphania finished.
Will fished the sheath from under his bed, took a tray from his night- table and poured the contents of the sheath out onto it.
"Stop being difficult, assemble them." Xaphania said.
Will sighed and put each piece in the right place. No piece was missing, and at a certain angle, it looked like it was whole again. Will looked for several seconds as the light bounced off of it, unable to see the cracks that separated each piece. When he finally looked at it normally again, he gasped.
The knife was whole again.
"But... how?" Will stammered.
"Consider it permission." Xaphania said.
"It's not permission I need, it's invulnerability. And an unlimited supply of Dark Matter couldn't hurt. And what about the Spectres?" Will said.
"I'm afraid that we can't give you that, but we can grant you the power to live in other worlds. And the problem of the leaking Dark Matter has been solved. Spectres are no longer created by open windows, and their numbers are decreasing." Xaphania said.
Will, who had once again been lying down sat bolt upright, knocking the knife onto the floor, point first, burying itself up to the hilt.
Then, a suspicious expression overtook the shock.
"Why? Why now? Why not ten years ago?" Will asked.
"As I said, I only now have the power. But there are reasons. One of them is that it has become apparent that destiny prefers you and Lyra together rather than apart." Xaphania said. Will hadn't yet mentioned Lyra, but it was obvious that's why he'd visit another world. "Secondly," she continued, "There's a man named Kassius Krueri. He will stop at nothing to get that knife. You have to get away from him or get rid of him, and I know that you will bring Lyra with you. So she can go into other worlds too. Now I have to go now. Go to the botanical gardens in the morning and cut through. I'll meet you and Lyra there." Xaphania said, and before Will could say anything, she was gone.
Will could have ran a marathon several times with the energy he had, and therefore didn't go to sleep, but rather stayed awake with Kirjava, who was just as excited.
Will's alarms went off at eight o'clock in the morning, when the garden's opened. Without hesitation, he grabbed a jacket, scooped up Kirjava in one hand and ran out the door, shoving the knife into a jacket pocket.
He lived near the gardens, so it was a short run, narrowly avoiding several cars until he was there.
He shoved past several people on the way in, and ran to the bench that he and Lyra agreed to sit at.
He checked nobody was looking, and pulled out his knife, cutting a small window through the air. It felt good to be doing it again, and as he did it, he looked at the finger that he lost in gaining the knife.
He then looked through the hole into the other world.
Lyra half-sat half-lay on the bench, Pantalaimon lying with her.
She didn't cry as much as she did in previous years, but the depression had never gone, for not only did she love Will, but he was the only real friend she ever had, excluding Roger the Kitchen boy.
She had gone through Dame Hannah's school, disliking every moment of it, but if it taught her one thing, it was to be more civilised, but that, she thought, was more with age than practice. She was of course not like her mother, no makeup or beautiful clothing, just normal.
She stared, almost glared at the Alethiometer, which was sitting in the black velvet cloth on the bench. It was not as easy to learn as she had hoped. But soon her gaze turned, for she heard something behind her. She stood up and looked at what she had heard.
It was a knife. Not a whole knife, just the first two inches of it, cutting a hole in the air.
"Pan..." Lyra whispered, and Pantalaimon leapt into her arms.
Then a four-fingered hand came, pulling the small hole wider, and wider, until there was a small window. Then the owner of both the hand and the knife came through.
"Will?" Lyra whimpered.
Will didn't bother answering, but rather hugged Lyra, tears glinting on his and her cheeks.
Kirjava jumped through the opening a moment later and walked over to Pantalaimon.
"But Will... we can't live in other worlds. We realised that ten years ago..." Lyra said.
"You can now." Xaphania said.
"You don't have to sneak up on us, Xaphania." Will muttered.
"You must go to Citágazze. There you can find an Angel named Cain. He will surprise you many times, but he won't hurt or betray either of you. Meet him at the tower as soon as possible. He will explain more." Xaphania said, and again departed.
"What's going on Will?" Lyra asked, as Will closed the window and opened another. He peered through into Citágazze.
"Empty again... come on, I'll explain on the way." Will said, and climbed through.
Lyra followed, and Will closed the window. It was a short walk to the tower, and on the way, he explained the situation.
"Why'd you come for me? I mean why didn't you just get away?" Lyra asked.
"Two reasons. Firstly, if I had the opportunity in the last ten years, I would've come, but now I do, so I did. Secondly, I didn't want Kassius to be able to get to me through you, 'cause it'd work." Will said.
"Ten years is a long time, Will. Are you sure that you feel how you did then?" Lyra asked.
Will thought for a moment. It was an odd question to ask, and he thought Lyra could have made it sound like normal conversation if she tried, but she obviously didn't. "Of course I do. The last ten years have been empty without you. Do you?" he said.
Lyra smiled, and didn't answer, but rather turned, tugging Will to face her and then kissed him.
Once they had stopped and continued walking, they noticed something odd about the tower.
No Angel. There was someone about their age, wearing a brown leather jacket and spiky hair and a Lynx Dæmon.
He looked up.
"Will Parry? And Lyra Belacqua." the man said.
"Are you Cain?" Will asked.
"The one and... not only, but close enough." Cain said.
"I thought you were and Angel." Lyra said. Cain dropped his leather jacket and something enormous unfolded from almost nothing on his back to gigantic black-feathered wings. "Dark-Angel." he said. "Why've you got a Dæmon if you're an angel?" Lyra asked. "It's a Dark-Angel thing." Cain said.
He folded his wings against his back again and replaced the leather jacket.
"Well what has Xaphania sent us here for?" Will asked.
Cain gave a short laugh. "To find me." he said, and wandered off down the abandoned streets.
"You know there's a lot of talk about you two." Cain said as he approached a derelict church.
"Who's talking?" Will asked.
"Angels, Ghosts. Angels mostly, the Ghosts are pretty self-obsessed." Cain said.
"What do they say?" Lyra asked.
"They refer to you as the knife-bearer and the silver tongue. They all hope that you'll succeed in getting away from or getting rid of Kassius, but they all think you'll fail pretty miserably. That's why Xaphania contacted me." Cain said.
"What can you do?" Will asked.
"Well I'm a weapons expert, I'm immortal, that's always a bonus, I can fly, bet neither of you can do that, I can fight pretty well, and I prefer people I help being polite to me if you don't mind." Cain said.
"Sorry... rough ten years. Rough twenty-two years actually." Will said. Obviously the missing year was the one that included Lyra.
"No problem, just hide your emotions. Maybe Lyra could lend you the silver tongue, the Angels say she can talk her way out of anything." Cain said with a wink before pulling the church doors wide.
They entered the previously grand church. About five hundred candles were lit, illuminating the gigantic room, which was carpeted in dust.
Cain led them past the broken benches and past the alter, grabbing a crucifix as he went and throwing it to Lyra.
"Let's hope God gives you two a blessing, you'll need it." Cain said, and they continued up a rickety staircase. "Watch the last step, it'd broken, but a ghost keeps replacing it to trap people." Cain said, kicking it as he passed it.
It caved in, but seconds later it rose up again by some invisible force.
Cain walked to a trunk, which he threw open.
He pulled out a knife in a black leather sheath and threw it aside, grabbed his pistol-crossbow, threw it aside too, a black and silver pistol in a holster and some black pouches, the contents of which could not be seen, and threw them aside as well. He then took out five plastic boxes and set them down gently. He also got a pocket-knife and a bundle of crossbow bolts. Finally he took about five black canvas pouches about the size and shape of a spectacle case, possibly longer.
He filled one pouch with the crossbow bolts, another with the pocket- knife, and another with some tools that he fished from the bottom of the trunk.
He then threw one to Will and one to Lyra. As they were each caught, both Will and Lyra realised they were full.
"Wire saw, lock-pick, pocket knife, just simple stuff." Cain said, and he began putting his various pieces of equipment onto his belt, which was slightly difficult due to the two chains he had hanging from it. Will followed his example and Lyra put hers into her small backpack.
He then took the plastic boxes and put them into a backpack, which he also filled with food and water.
"Make yourselves useful." Cain said, throwing a backpack to Will, who began filling it with food as well.
"What's the gun for?" Will asked.
"Shooting mostly, but it's a pretty good deterrent too." Cain said absent-mindedly.
"That's not what I meant." Will said.
"It's just a security blanket, I'll probably not even fire it. I actually got it from your world." Cain said.
"How'd you get to my world?" Will asked.
"I'm an Angel, remember?" Cain replied.
Once the two bags were packed, they left the church.
"I recommend that we go to Lyra's world first. There's someone who might help us a little bit south of the clay-beds in Oxford." Cain said.
Will cut through to Lyra's world and looked. They were in a safe position – nobody looking and they were on the ground.
They were on the clay-beds, where Lyra once hijacked a Gyptian ship.
"Tony!" Lyra yelled.
A man on one of the boats turned. He tapped his friend on the shoulder, who turned and grinned.
The two men jumped into the shallow waters and ran up to greet Lyra.
"Tony, Billy, meet Will and Cain." Lyra said. "Will, Cain, Tony and Billy Costa."
"Pleasure." Cain said, shaking Tony and Billy's hands, and Will did the same.
"Where're you a-heading?" Tony asked.
"I don't know. Ask Cain." Lyra said.
"Going to see a guy named McGrath. Lives a few klicks South." Cain said.
"Need a ride?" Billy suggested.
"If you're going that way, it'd be great." Lyra said.
"Come on then!" Tony said, going back to the boat and climbing on board. The rest followed his example.
Slowly at first the boat sped up down the river.
"So where are you from?" Tony asked Will.
"Another world." Will said.
Of all the unexpected answers, this was the strangest.
"Huh... what about you, Cain?" Tony said.
"Citágazze." Cain said. "Another world." he added at Tony's perplexed expression.
"So how'd you travel through worlds?" Billy asked.
"I use a knife. I can cut a window into other worlds, but I have to close them or we'll all die." Will said.
"Not much of a conversationalist are you?" Billy said.
"Not any more." Will said.
"How about you, Cain?" Tony asked.
Cain glanced at Lyra, not knowing how they'd cope with the truth.
"He's an Angel." Lyra said.
"Dark-Angel." Cain corrected.
"Well I'll be damned." Tony said.
"You never know, I might be able to arrange it so you aren't." Cain said.
"So where are your wings?" Billy asked.
"Under my jacket. They fold in surprisingly well. Magic really." Cain said.
"So why have you come to this world? I'm sure there are more interesting worlds then this one." Billy said.
"Came to get Lyra." Will said.
"Then they came to Citágazze to get me." Cain said.
"Then we all came back to see Cain's friend." Lyra said.
"Seems a lot of dimension-hopping just to see a friend." Tony said.
"It's important." Lyra said.
"This is about as close as we'll be able to get. The river goes east from here." Billy said.
"Thank's a lot, Tony, and you too Billy! I hope I see you after it's all over!" Lyra said as she, Will and Cain left the ship.
As the Gyptian ship departed, Cain led them further south, onto the streets and then to a church.
Cain pulled the doors open and entered.
Cain glanced left and right at the people in the hall, and then at the minister doing the service.
There was a quiet disgruntled murmuring amongst the people as Cain, Will and Lyra walked to the Alter. Cain then whispered something to the reverend, who pointed them to a door, which they went through.
"Well that was... embarrassing." Lyra said.
"It was just a church service, nothing that can't continue. I've always thought they should have intermissions anyway..." Cain said.
There was a crash up ahead.
"Cain Krueri?" a man gasped, a pile of books at his feet.
"Father McGrath." Cain said, nodding his head slightly and slowly rather than bowing as he should have done.
"I never thought I'd see you in a church again." McGrath said.
"You mean you never wanted to see me in a church again." Cain said.
"Of course I did, but only if you had mended your ways." McGrath said.
"They were never seriously bad in the first place." McGrath said.
"You killed another Angel!" McGrath said.
"God should have done it for me." Cain said.
"Nonsense! And anyway, your mother is an Archangel! Why did she bear a mortal's child? Disgusting!" McGrath said.
"I thought Angels were neither male or female in that aspect." Lyra whispered.
"Well they are." Cain whispered back.
"And if your mother was an Archangel, why are you a Dark Angel?" Lyra asked.
"When an Angel bares a mortal's child, the baby is a Dark Angel." Cain said hurriedly and dismissively. "Would you rather I was never born, McGrath?" Cain asked.
"Yes!" McGrath said.
"'Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid...for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee'" Cain quoted. "If God will not fail or forsake me, nor will you!"
McGrath pondered a moment.
"What do you wish of me?" he asked.
"Only tell me where to find Kassius Krueri." Cain said.
"Wait, hang on... Krueri is your last name... Father McGrath said it!" Lyra said.
Cain looked from Will to Lyra.
"Kassius Krueri is my father." Cain said.
"What?" Will said.
"I never met him. But he's my father." Cain repeated.
"So you're out to kill your dad?" Will asked.
"Yes and no. My father was named Thomas Krueri. He met my mother, Darla, and she gave birth to me. Then my father went far south, into the southern polar regions and returned as Kassius. Nobody knew what happened – only that he had changed for the worse. My father died in the South Pole. It's the man who killed him that I'm out to get." Cain said.
"Kassius was last known at the south pole, but in a different world. You'll never find him until he finds you." McGrath said.
"We'll find him... but first we need to free some help." Cain said.
"What do you mean, free some help?" Will asked.
"Lyra, remember the experiments your mother was trying? Cutting Dæmons away from people?" Cain asked.
"Yes, but how did you know about my..." Lyra began.
"Well her works being carried on in dear old Citágazze. Two friends are being held captive. We'll need their help." Cain said, and his Dæmon leapt into his arms.
"What's her name?" Lyra asked, gesturing to Cain's Dæmon.
The Lynx gave a loud purr before saying in a surprisingly seductive voice, "Cucia."
"We'd better get going." Cain said.
They left the building through a side door so s not to disturb the service again.
"Right Will, do your thing." Cain said, looking around to make sure nobody was watching.
Will took out the knife and cut into Citágazze. Once they climbed through, he closed the window.
"This is near enough to the place..." Cain said, walking down the street in a southern direction.
"So who was the Angel you killed?" Will asked.
"You don't want to know." Cain said.
"Yes, we do." Will said. "And what did he do to deserve it?"
"If I tell you then you won't want to travel with me, and then you'll both die." Cain said.
"We promise we won't leave?" Lyra suggested.
"He was named Demetrius. Not such an Angelic name, but he wasn't a very Angelic Angel. I killed him for reasons that are private." Cain said.
"Why would we hate you for that? That's hardly anything we didn't know already." Lyra said.
"It's coming. I found out after I killed him that his mother's name was Darla." Cain said.
"So you killed your own brother?" Will asked.
"Yes." Cain said.
"Really messed up lives you Angels live." Will said.
"Yeah, well he was only a half-brother. I never knew his dad, but I heard he was no angel himself, no pun intended." Cain said.
"So how do you kill an Angel?" Will asked.
"So you want all the grizzly details huh? Well it wasn't a pretty sight." Cain said.
"I've watched TV..." Will said.
"Ripped his wings off and his heart out, OK?" Cain said, agitated. "That's the place." he finally said.
"That's a hospital." Will said.
"Hardly. Citágazze is deserted so often that it's not a hospital any more. Just looks like one. Nobody ever goes there." Cain said.
As they got closer, that became apparent. It had fallen into disrepair, and windows were shattered.
Cain kicked the door open and entered.
"Back off!" yelled a voice from inside. Cain spotted a guard, drawing a pistol.
Cain dropped off his jacket and spread his wings, only being able to fit them in the room due to the high ceilings.
The guard fired the pistol several times, and each bullet was deflected away by the immense black wings.
Cain walked forward, grabbing the guard and throwing him straight up in the air, his head hitting the ceiling. A loud crunch announced his death, and the body dropped again, his head resting at an odd angle.
Three more guards poured into the room, drawing their own guns.
One guard was pounced by Cucia, who slashed and bit ferociously, while the other two were smashed into a wall by Cain's enormous wings.
"Grab the Kevlar." Cain said. "It's the bullet-proof vest." he added at the bewildered expressions.
Once Will and Lyra each had a vest on, Cain led the way through the Hospital.
The encountered several guards, but none were a match for a Dark Angel.
"So how can you deflect bullets with your wings, but they can be ripped off?" Will asked.
"They are indestructible as far as mortals are concerned, but an Angel can rip them from another Angel, though with great difficulty, and once they are gone, the Angel is mortal." Cain said.
Another guard stepped out, but was punched hard in the face by Will, and his neck bent right back to a horizontal angle.
Cain seemed not to mind, while Will and Lyra looked disgusted.
They were going down a staircase, down to what must have been about five storeys underground.
The security was tighter here.
And out stepped a guard with a shotgun and armour all over his body. It was still no competition. Cain punched straight through the armour and into the man's stomach.
"Tell us to look away next time, please." Lyra said.
But more guards were coming.
"Look away." Cain said as he curved his wing around to stop anybody being hit by the shots, and when they stopped to reload, he ran forward, twisting the neck of one guard around three hundred and sixty degrees, and grabbing his unloaded shotgun, smashing other guards in the head with a force to kill a Panserbjørne.
He was shot many times, as Will notice, but not a single bullet entered the skin.
Soon the hallway was littered with bodies, and the shotgun in Cain's hand was bent and deformed.
"Come on, hurry up. Just don't look down." Cain said.
Cain led them again down the corridors, and this time they entered a huge circular room with a pit in the middle, with glass running straight up to the ceiling, and seats running all around the pit so everyone could watch.
This was the 'operating theatre', where they cut the Dæmons away, apparently.
There was plenty of room for Cain to stretch his wings, so he did.
"Hide somewhere in this room. If anyone finds you, shoot them." Cain said, throwing his pistol to Will, who caught it.
The reason became apparent. Several armoured guards with machine-guns were on the opposite side of the room.
Cain protected them all with his wings as the guards fired.
"NOW!" he bellowed, and they both ducked behind the seats out of view.
Once they were concealed, Cain took flight.
It was an incredible sight – he no longer looked human.
Cucia closed her eyes, purring next to Will.
Lyra held Pantalaimon close, and Will kept Kirjava in his arms as the fire ceased.
It was then the yells began. Cain swooped down on them, grabbing random guards and throwing them at insane speeds across the room, crashing into walls and having cement crunch on top of them.
Lyra watched through a gap between seats. It was crazy – utterly insane. A Dark Angel, flinging these guards around as though they were weightless.
He reminded her of Iorek Byrnison, and his brute strength, how he left a wake of destruction in battle.
The last two guards still fired however, while the rest were either dead or fleeing.
Will landed now, knocking the bullets aside with a wing as though they were harmless snowflakes.
As the firing stopped, Cain jumped into the air, aided by his wings and kicking one guard hard in the chest (Lyra turned away as she saw a splatter of blood leaving the man's back) and using the man to push off and kick the last man in the face.
"Will, Lyra." Cain called, and they both left their hiding place to follow Cain again. "I told you not to look down..." he added at Will and Lyra surveying the wreck.
"Won't you go to hell for this?" Will asked.
"If I die. But I won't, so I'm OK." Cain said.
The next room had several doors leading in different directions.
Cain took the one that said 'Dormitories', and it led to another door which said 'Patient Dormitories'. He gave a dry laugh at the 'patient' part.
He pushed the door open, breaking the lock, and staring at the Doctor and the two nurses trying to convince fifteen people to leave the dormitories after they had heard the gunshots.
"Doc, you'd better leave." Cain said.
The doctor stayed still.
"Now." Cain said sternly, making his wings more obvious.
The nurses ran off past Cain, Will and Lyra but the doctor remained.
"Your choice." Cain said, walking up to the doctor and simply pushing him in the chest.
It wasn't enough to kill him, but he was knocked windless and he was knocked out as he hit the wall.
"Come on, we're getting you out of here." Cain said, and the prisoners cheered.
The prisoners ran off without waiting for Cain, Will and Lyra, but two stayed behind, a man and a woman.
"What took you so long?" asked one of them.
"I had to do a favour for Xaphania." Cain said. "But seeing as I freed you, you can give us a hand. We're going after Kassius." Cain said.
"You're setting you're sights a little high." said the man. "But my mother could help us." he added with a grin.
The woman was strange – not that she looked strange, more felt strange.
She was incredibly beautiful – flawless even. But she didn't seem normal.
"Will, Lyra this is Tommy, his mother's a Witch, and this is Alyssa – she's a half-angel. And Tommy, Alyssa, Will's the knife-bearer we've heard so much about, and Lyra is the silver-tongue – Iorek's friend." Cain said.
Greetings and 'pleased to meet you's were exchanged before Cain led them out to the operating theatre.
Before they continued, Cain took a fire axe to the wall, until he found a gas pipe. He cut it apart so that gas leaked, and then they continued, as fast as possible.
They didn't see any more guards on the way out – Probably too scared thought Will, and it would make sense.
When they reached the lobby, Cain folded his wings in completely and replaced his jacket that was still on the floor.
"I'll be right back." Cain said with a smile, and walked back to the staircase. The fire hadn't yet reached the top, but it would soon. Cain took a Zippo-lighter from his pocket and lit it. He looked down before dropping it.
About three stories down was a huge explosion, and he saw the gas flare up.
Cain then ran, back into the lobby, "Go, now!" he said, and the five of them ran as the hospital went up in flames.
"Got my gun?" Cain asked Will, who took it from his belt and gave it back to Cain, who holstered it again.
"Did you get a gun by any chance?" Cain asked Tommy, who nodded, opening his jacket to reveal a pistol and three spare clips stuck into his belt.
"Great." Cain said. "Lyra, can you read the Alethiometer well enough to ask how we should get to the south pole, and which world it is we have to get to?" he asked.
"How did you know about the Alethiometer?" Lyra demanded. "And my mother?" she added.
"I know a lot about you and Will, so can you or can't you?" Cain asked.
"Yes... maybe." Lyra said, taking out the Alethiometer.
She turned the dials on the Alethiometer slowly, backtracking occasionally. Once she was certain, she read it.
"It says... we should get there by... air – a zeppelin." Lyra said uncertainly, and turned the knobs again. "I can't..." she muttered, glaring at the Alethiometer before saying, "Citágazze I think but I'm not too sure."
"Good enough, we can work it out when we reach there. Where can we get a Zeppelin?" Cain said.
"Sounds like something that Gabriel could help us with." Alyssa said.
"Possibly." Cain said. "Not the Archangel." he added to Will and Lyra.
"Is he still in this world?" Tommy asked. "He shifted about quite a bit."
"He still in this world... just a little farther away." Alyssa said. "The nearest place that he could be is about five klicks north." she added.
"North. I always hated going north... Will, Lyra and Tommy stick together, you'll be OK as long as Will keeps hold of the knife, me and Alyssa are going to go ahead to see if Gabriel is about." Cain said. "I'll leave Cucia here, seeing as she can't fly." he added, and nobody argued, having heard about Witch Dæmons.
Alyssa also left her squirrel Dæmon behind, although it was a longer goodbye then Cain had said.
"Lets get this show on the road." Cain said, tossing his jacket and backpack to Tommy before unfolding his wings and taking flight.
He beat his wings slowly and powerfully until he reached a safe height, and he began gliding, Alyssa not far behind.
It was a very short flight to their destination, especially since they were going as the crow flies.
They landed at the airport – for it was an airport, but one that instead of having planes or helicopters had several Zeppelins.
They were walking towards the small, run-down building when they saw something.
"God-damn it. Spectres!" Cain said, cursing quietly.
"They've got Gabriel!" Alyssa cried.
"Get back to the others, tell them to be on their guard! I can handle a few spectres." Cain yelled, taking flight again before he heard a reply. He flew a few metres from the ground, as fast as his wings would take him towards the Spectres.
The nearest to Gabriel he kicked in the face – if you could call it a face – well it was the part of the body that was closest to being a face that a spectre could have. Angels, whether Dark or not could come in contact with Spectres, and fight them, but the Spectres still normally win if the Angel has a Dæmon. But Cain's was elsewhere.
He then grabbed and removed whatever the part of the body he just kicked, and the creature vanished.
He beat through the group, jumping up and kicking multiple spectres at the same time, or beating them with his wings.
Once he reached Gabriel, who was close to death by now, he beat off the spectres smothering his kestrel Dæmon and picked her up, passing her to Gabriel. He then grabbed Gabriel under the arms and pulled him into the air, up and towards the nearest Zeppelin.
He let him down on the top of the mooring tower, and by now Gabriel was fully conscious.
"Get into the Zeppelin and head south!" Cain yelled, following Gabriel in.
The Zeppelin started moving slowly.
"Seeing as I just saved your life, you could do me and some friends a favour." Cain said.
"What is it?" Gabriel asked, picking up his Dæmon and comforting her.
"We're going to the southern poles. We need a ride." Cain said.
"Bit far." Gabriel said with a frown.
"If it wasn't then we wouldn't've headed this way and you'd be dead." Cain said. "How fast can she go?" he asked, meaning of course the Zeppelin.
"About fifty miles per hour if conditions are good. Maybe around seventy if the wind's coming from behind us." Gabriel said.
"You'll be paid." Cain said.
"How much?" Gabriel asked, suddenly interested.
"Enough. There'll be a fight, so you'll get extra for the danger." Cain said.
Gabriel thought for a moment.
"You got yourself a deal." Gabriel said.
"Slow down." Cain said, glancing out the window.
Cain then opened the door and dove out, spreading his wings.
He dropped quietly behind Will, Lyra, Tommy and Alyssa.
"Alyssa, help me carry them up, Gabriel's waiting." he said as the rest turned round.
Alyssa grabbed Tommy and took off, Tommy giving a short yelp as he grabbed his Dæmon.
Cain waited for Lyra to get a hold of Pantalaimon before picking her up and taking off.
"So you found your friend?" she asked as they approached the Zeppelin.
"Yeah, he was being attacked by Spectres." Cain said as he helped Lyra into a standing position on the Zeppelin.
Alyssa had gone down for Will by now, so Cain sat down.
Tommy set Cain's backpack and jacket down on a seat and ran a hand through his hair.
"How can you talk to your mother?" Cain asked Tommy.
"Lodestone resonator." Tommy said. "If I had one of course." he added.
"I've got one... it can't be the right one, it'll send a message to the Gallivespians." Lyra said, taking it from her bag.
She handed the tiny black bar with the fingernail-sized earpieces and the little violin bow to Tommy, who took them.
He listened with one earpiece while he used the resonator.
A voice came through the other end, which only he could here, and he replied. A short conversation went on, and then he removed the earpiece.
"The Gallivespians will send some people to find my mother, and direct her here." Tommy said, giving the Lodestone resonator back to Lyra.
"What will we do for now?" Alyssa asked.
"Not much. If we want to get south as soon as possible, we'll can only make urgent stops." Cain said. He then took off his black long-sleeved shirt, which was full of bullet holes, revealing black-blue armour.
Lyra recognised it as roman armour that the Centurions wore, moulded in a 'muscle' shape, but with additions, like shoulder-bells. He also had metal gauntlets on.
Despite the numerous bullet holes in the shirt, there was not a scratch on the armour.
Now it was also obvious as the sunlight bounced off the armour that it was covered in a raised pattern. All over it were shapes, swirls here and there, and in the center of front part there was a small Celtic cross, and on the back was a gigantic Celtic cross.
"How is this powered?" Will asked, obviously meaning the Zeppelin.
"Hydrogen fuel. Constantly being made by Electrolysis. Battery electrodes in water making hydrogen, it should easily make enough fuel for getting there and back." Gabriel said.
"How long will it take?" Will asked.
"About two weeks." Gabriel said after thinking for a minute.
* * *
Will woke up in his chair, with Lyra still sleeping with her head against his chest.
Cain threw him an apple, which was caught with some difficulty, as he tried not to disturb Lyra.
"Don't you two sleep?" Will asked, spotting Alyssa sitting awake too.
"Don't need sleep." Cain said, and then he walked to Gabriel, who had obviously just awoken.
"How's the course coming?" Cain asked.
"We're going southwest. Just how we should be." Gabriel said.
"Why not south?" Cain asked.
"I wasn't keen on going over Africa, there are a few people who've got it in for me. Not very nice weather either." Gabriel said, meaning by 'a few people' a lot of people. "Don't worry, it'll only add on a day or two." he added.
* * *
The next seven days were dull, and completely uneventful, apart from Cain and Alyssa flying down to get more food and water.
They had been slowed down a bit by some wind in the wrong direction, but some wind in the right direction put them back on schedule.
Until, on the eighth day, they heard an explosion, and the Zeppelin lurched.
Cain looked out the window and said, "Damn it! Something's attacking us. Can this hunk-of-junk go any faster?"
"Full throttle, Cain!" Gabriel yelled. "Some wind's slowing us down!" he added.
Cain looked down again, and said, "Where the hell are we?"
"Amazon basin." Gabriel said.
"The Amazon? The Amazon with thirty foot long snakes?" Lyra asked.
"Yep, Anacondas." Gabriel said as the ship lurched again.
"We're losing altitude, fast!" Cain yelled.
"Parachutes in the back!" Gabriel said.
Cain ran back and grabbed four, throwing on to Will, one to Lyra, one to Tommy and one to Gabriel.
He kicked the door open, which had been damaged by a blast, and they jumped out one after the other, Cain last, grabbing the two backpacks full of food before diving out the door.
He spread his wings and flew, holding the two bags with one hand and clutching Cucia to his chest with the other.
He saw the other parachutes deploy, but there was another shot from the ground, and Cain saw Tommy's parachute crumple as whatever was fired went through it and exploded nearby.
"Alyssa!" Cain yelled, and she turned, catching the two backpacks that were flung at her as Cain went after Tommy.
He put his wings almost flat against his back as he dived. Tommy was getting tangled in his parachute.
He continued straight down, until he managed to grab Tommy with his one free hand and pulled out of the dive.
He looked up and flew back to the others, who were still drifting down slowly.
He saw Alyssa smash her wing against another of the explosives that fired up, knocking it straight back at the shooters.
Cain could see them now. Tommy was also fully conscious, and Cain let him go so he could pull his backup parachute ripcord.
The second parachute deployed, and he was safe again.
Now Cain drew the pistol from it's holster, and still holding onto Cucia, he fired with his free hand at the attackers, hitting one of them in the eye. They were a fair distance away still, and they couldn't tell who had shot at them, so continued firing the flak cannon as close to one of the para-droppers as possible.
Cain fired again, and shot the second man, who slumped over the flak cannon.
Will, Lyra, Tommy and Gabriel landed, then Alyssa and finally Cain.
Cain dropped the empty clip from his pistol and stuck it into his pocket, pulling out a new one and reloading the Walther P99.
Tommy drew his gun that he stole in Citágazze and clicked the safety off.
But there was no foreseeable danger for now.
Cain holstered his gun again and punched into a nearby tree angrily (leaving a large hole behind).
"How the hell can we get to the South Pole now?" he said.
Nobody replied.
There was the sound that puzzled everyone but Cain, who recognised it as the sound of at least a dozen submachine guns being cocked.
He lay awake, thinking.
"Tomorrow's midsummer's day." Kirjava murmured.
"Yeah... most painful day of the year." Will said back.
"At least you can remember." Kirjava said.
"Ten years... ten whole years since I began remembering..." Will said.
"Nine years and 364 days." corrected a voice at the foot of the bed.
Kirjava jumped from Will at the same instant that Will jumped from his bed.
"Xa..." Will began, attempting and failing to remember the name.
"Xaphania." the Angel said with a slight frown.
"What are you doing here?" Will asked.
"I'm here to help you." Xaphania said.
"You can't help me." Will said, lying down on the bed again.
Xaphania glanced at Kirjava, into the green eyes, watching the tail move.
She could tell that Kirjava wanted to listen, even if Will didn't.
"I can help you actually. Previously I couldn't. But now I can." Xaphania said.
"How?" Will asked.
"Give me the knife." Xaphania said.
"It's..." Will began.
"Broken, I know. Give the shards to me." Xaphania finished.
Will fished the sheath from under his bed, took a tray from his night- table and poured the contents of the sheath out onto it.
"Stop being difficult, assemble them." Xaphania said.
Will sighed and put each piece in the right place. No piece was missing, and at a certain angle, it looked like it was whole again. Will looked for several seconds as the light bounced off of it, unable to see the cracks that separated each piece. When he finally looked at it normally again, he gasped.
The knife was whole again.
"But... how?" Will stammered.
"Consider it permission." Xaphania said.
"It's not permission I need, it's invulnerability. And an unlimited supply of Dark Matter couldn't hurt. And what about the Spectres?" Will said.
"I'm afraid that we can't give you that, but we can grant you the power to live in other worlds. And the problem of the leaking Dark Matter has been solved. Spectres are no longer created by open windows, and their numbers are decreasing." Xaphania said.
Will, who had once again been lying down sat bolt upright, knocking the knife onto the floor, point first, burying itself up to the hilt.
Then, a suspicious expression overtook the shock.
"Why? Why now? Why not ten years ago?" Will asked.
"As I said, I only now have the power. But there are reasons. One of them is that it has become apparent that destiny prefers you and Lyra together rather than apart." Xaphania said. Will hadn't yet mentioned Lyra, but it was obvious that's why he'd visit another world. "Secondly," she continued, "There's a man named Kassius Krueri. He will stop at nothing to get that knife. You have to get away from him or get rid of him, and I know that you will bring Lyra with you. So she can go into other worlds too. Now I have to go now. Go to the botanical gardens in the morning and cut through. I'll meet you and Lyra there." Xaphania said, and before Will could say anything, she was gone.
Will could have ran a marathon several times with the energy he had, and therefore didn't go to sleep, but rather stayed awake with Kirjava, who was just as excited.
Will's alarms went off at eight o'clock in the morning, when the garden's opened. Without hesitation, he grabbed a jacket, scooped up Kirjava in one hand and ran out the door, shoving the knife into a jacket pocket.
He lived near the gardens, so it was a short run, narrowly avoiding several cars until he was there.
He shoved past several people on the way in, and ran to the bench that he and Lyra agreed to sit at.
He checked nobody was looking, and pulled out his knife, cutting a small window through the air. It felt good to be doing it again, and as he did it, he looked at the finger that he lost in gaining the knife.
He then looked through the hole into the other world.
Lyra half-sat half-lay on the bench, Pantalaimon lying with her.
She didn't cry as much as she did in previous years, but the depression had never gone, for not only did she love Will, but he was the only real friend she ever had, excluding Roger the Kitchen boy.
She had gone through Dame Hannah's school, disliking every moment of it, but if it taught her one thing, it was to be more civilised, but that, she thought, was more with age than practice. She was of course not like her mother, no makeup or beautiful clothing, just normal.
She stared, almost glared at the Alethiometer, which was sitting in the black velvet cloth on the bench. It was not as easy to learn as she had hoped. But soon her gaze turned, for she heard something behind her. She stood up and looked at what she had heard.
It was a knife. Not a whole knife, just the first two inches of it, cutting a hole in the air.
"Pan..." Lyra whispered, and Pantalaimon leapt into her arms.
Then a four-fingered hand came, pulling the small hole wider, and wider, until there was a small window. Then the owner of both the hand and the knife came through.
"Will?" Lyra whimpered.
Will didn't bother answering, but rather hugged Lyra, tears glinting on his and her cheeks.
Kirjava jumped through the opening a moment later and walked over to Pantalaimon.
"But Will... we can't live in other worlds. We realised that ten years ago..." Lyra said.
"You can now." Xaphania said.
"You don't have to sneak up on us, Xaphania." Will muttered.
"You must go to Citágazze. There you can find an Angel named Cain. He will surprise you many times, but he won't hurt or betray either of you. Meet him at the tower as soon as possible. He will explain more." Xaphania said, and again departed.
"What's going on Will?" Lyra asked, as Will closed the window and opened another. He peered through into Citágazze.
"Empty again... come on, I'll explain on the way." Will said, and climbed through.
Lyra followed, and Will closed the window. It was a short walk to the tower, and on the way, he explained the situation.
"Why'd you come for me? I mean why didn't you just get away?" Lyra asked.
"Two reasons. Firstly, if I had the opportunity in the last ten years, I would've come, but now I do, so I did. Secondly, I didn't want Kassius to be able to get to me through you, 'cause it'd work." Will said.
"Ten years is a long time, Will. Are you sure that you feel how you did then?" Lyra asked.
Will thought for a moment. It was an odd question to ask, and he thought Lyra could have made it sound like normal conversation if she tried, but she obviously didn't. "Of course I do. The last ten years have been empty without you. Do you?" he said.
Lyra smiled, and didn't answer, but rather turned, tugging Will to face her and then kissed him.
Once they had stopped and continued walking, they noticed something odd about the tower.
No Angel. There was someone about their age, wearing a brown leather jacket and spiky hair and a Lynx Dæmon.
He looked up.
"Will Parry? And Lyra Belacqua." the man said.
"Are you Cain?" Will asked.
"The one and... not only, but close enough." Cain said.
"I thought you were and Angel." Lyra said. Cain dropped his leather jacket and something enormous unfolded from almost nothing on his back to gigantic black-feathered wings. "Dark-Angel." he said. "Why've you got a Dæmon if you're an angel?" Lyra asked. "It's a Dark-Angel thing." Cain said.
He folded his wings against his back again and replaced the leather jacket.
"Well what has Xaphania sent us here for?" Will asked.
Cain gave a short laugh. "To find me." he said, and wandered off down the abandoned streets.
"You know there's a lot of talk about you two." Cain said as he approached a derelict church.
"Who's talking?" Will asked.
"Angels, Ghosts. Angels mostly, the Ghosts are pretty self-obsessed." Cain said.
"What do they say?" Lyra asked.
"They refer to you as the knife-bearer and the silver tongue. They all hope that you'll succeed in getting away from or getting rid of Kassius, but they all think you'll fail pretty miserably. That's why Xaphania contacted me." Cain said.
"What can you do?" Will asked.
"Well I'm a weapons expert, I'm immortal, that's always a bonus, I can fly, bet neither of you can do that, I can fight pretty well, and I prefer people I help being polite to me if you don't mind." Cain said.
"Sorry... rough ten years. Rough twenty-two years actually." Will said. Obviously the missing year was the one that included Lyra.
"No problem, just hide your emotions. Maybe Lyra could lend you the silver tongue, the Angels say she can talk her way out of anything." Cain said with a wink before pulling the church doors wide.
They entered the previously grand church. About five hundred candles were lit, illuminating the gigantic room, which was carpeted in dust.
Cain led them past the broken benches and past the alter, grabbing a crucifix as he went and throwing it to Lyra.
"Let's hope God gives you two a blessing, you'll need it." Cain said, and they continued up a rickety staircase. "Watch the last step, it'd broken, but a ghost keeps replacing it to trap people." Cain said, kicking it as he passed it.
It caved in, but seconds later it rose up again by some invisible force.
Cain walked to a trunk, which he threw open.
He pulled out a knife in a black leather sheath and threw it aside, grabbed his pistol-crossbow, threw it aside too, a black and silver pistol in a holster and some black pouches, the contents of which could not be seen, and threw them aside as well. He then took out five plastic boxes and set them down gently. He also got a pocket-knife and a bundle of crossbow bolts. Finally he took about five black canvas pouches about the size and shape of a spectacle case, possibly longer.
He filled one pouch with the crossbow bolts, another with the pocket- knife, and another with some tools that he fished from the bottom of the trunk.
He then threw one to Will and one to Lyra. As they were each caught, both Will and Lyra realised they were full.
"Wire saw, lock-pick, pocket knife, just simple stuff." Cain said, and he began putting his various pieces of equipment onto his belt, which was slightly difficult due to the two chains he had hanging from it. Will followed his example and Lyra put hers into her small backpack.
He then took the plastic boxes and put them into a backpack, which he also filled with food and water.
"Make yourselves useful." Cain said, throwing a backpack to Will, who began filling it with food as well.
"What's the gun for?" Will asked.
"Shooting mostly, but it's a pretty good deterrent too." Cain said absent-mindedly.
"That's not what I meant." Will said.
"It's just a security blanket, I'll probably not even fire it. I actually got it from your world." Cain said.
"How'd you get to my world?" Will asked.
"I'm an Angel, remember?" Cain replied.
Once the two bags were packed, they left the church.
"I recommend that we go to Lyra's world first. There's someone who might help us a little bit south of the clay-beds in Oxford." Cain said.
Will cut through to Lyra's world and looked. They were in a safe position – nobody looking and they were on the ground.
They were on the clay-beds, where Lyra once hijacked a Gyptian ship.
"Tony!" Lyra yelled.
A man on one of the boats turned. He tapped his friend on the shoulder, who turned and grinned.
The two men jumped into the shallow waters and ran up to greet Lyra.
"Tony, Billy, meet Will and Cain." Lyra said. "Will, Cain, Tony and Billy Costa."
"Pleasure." Cain said, shaking Tony and Billy's hands, and Will did the same.
"Where're you a-heading?" Tony asked.
"I don't know. Ask Cain." Lyra said.
"Going to see a guy named McGrath. Lives a few klicks South." Cain said.
"Need a ride?" Billy suggested.
"If you're going that way, it'd be great." Lyra said.
"Come on then!" Tony said, going back to the boat and climbing on board. The rest followed his example.
Slowly at first the boat sped up down the river.
"So where are you from?" Tony asked Will.
"Another world." Will said.
Of all the unexpected answers, this was the strangest.
"Huh... what about you, Cain?" Tony said.
"Citágazze." Cain said. "Another world." he added at Tony's perplexed expression.
"So how'd you travel through worlds?" Billy asked.
"I use a knife. I can cut a window into other worlds, but I have to close them or we'll all die." Will said.
"Not much of a conversationalist are you?" Billy said.
"Not any more." Will said.
"How about you, Cain?" Tony asked.
Cain glanced at Lyra, not knowing how they'd cope with the truth.
"He's an Angel." Lyra said.
"Dark-Angel." Cain corrected.
"Well I'll be damned." Tony said.
"You never know, I might be able to arrange it so you aren't." Cain said.
"So where are your wings?" Billy asked.
"Under my jacket. They fold in surprisingly well. Magic really." Cain said.
"So why have you come to this world? I'm sure there are more interesting worlds then this one." Billy said.
"Came to get Lyra." Will said.
"Then they came to Citágazze to get me." Cain said.
"Then we all came back to see Cain's friend." Lyra said.
"Seems a lot of dimension-hopping just to see a friend." Tony said.
"It's important." Lyra said.
"This is about as close as we'll be able to get. The river goes east from here." Billy said.
"Thank's a lot, Tony, and you too Billy! I hope I see you after it's all over!" Lyra said as she, Will and Cain left the ship.
As the Gyptian ship departed, Cain led them further south, onto the streets and then to a church.
Cain pulled the doors open and entered.
Cain glanced left and right at the people in the hall, and then at the minister doing the service.
There was a quiet disgruntled murmuring amongst the people as Cain, Will and Lyra walked to the Alter. Cain then whispered something to the reverend, who pointed them to a door, which they went through.
"Well that was... embarrassing." Lyra said.
"It was just a church service, nothing that can't continue. I've always thought they should have intermissions anyway..." Cain said.
There was a crash up ahead.
"Cain Krueri?" a man gasped, a pile of books at his feet.
"Father McGrath." Cain said, nodding his head slightly and slowly rather than bowing as he should have done.
"I never thought I'd see you in a church again." McGrath said.
"You mean you never wanted to see me in a church again." Cain said.
"Of course I did, but only if you had mended your ways." McGrath said.
"They were never seriously bad in the first place." McGrath said.
"You killed another Angel!" McGrath said.
"God should have done it for me." Cain said.
"Nonsense! And anyway, your mother is an Archangel! Why did she bear a mortal's child? Disgusting!" McGrath said.
"I thought Angels were neither male or female in that aspect." Lyra whispered.
"Well they are." Cain whispered back.
"And if your mother was an Archangel, why are you a Dark Angel?" Lyra asked.
"When an Angel bares a mortal's child, the baby is a Dark Angel." Cain said hurriedly and dismissively. "Would you rather I was never born, McGrath?" Cain asked.
"Yes!" McGrath said.
"'Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid...for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee'" Cain quoted. "If God will not fail or forsake me, nor will you!"
McGrath pondered a moment.
"What do you wish of me?" he asked.
"Only tell me where to find Kassius Krueri." Cain said.
"Wait, hang on... Krueri is your last name... Father McGrath said it!" Lyra said.
Cain looked from Will to Lyra.
"Kassius Krueri is my father." Cain said.
"What?" Will said.
"I never met him. But he's my father." Cain repeated.
"So you're out to kill your dad?" Will asked.
"Yes and no. My father was named Thomas Krueri. He met my mother, Darla, and she gave birth to me. Then my father went far south, into the southern polar regions and returned as Kassius. Nobody knew what happened – only that he had changed for the worse. My father died in the South Pole. It's the man who killed him that I'm out to get." Cain said.
"Kassius was last known at the south pole, but in a different world. You'll never find him until he finds you." McGrath said.
"We'll find him... but first we need to free some help." Cain said.
"What do you mean, free some help?" Will asked.
"Lyra, remember the experiments your mother was trying? Cutting Dæmons away from people?" Cain asked.
"Yes, but how did you know about my..." Lyra began.
"Well her works being carried on in dear old Citágazze. Two friends are being held captive. We'll need their help." Cain said, and his Dæmon leapt into his arms.
"What's her name?" Lyra asked, gesturing to Cain's Dæmon.
The Lynx gave a loud purr before saying in a surprisingly seductive voice, "Cucia."
"We'd better get going." Cain said.
They left the building through a side door so s not to disturb the service again.
"Right Will, do your thing." Cain said, looking around to make sure nobody was watching.
Will took out the knife and cut into Citágazze. Once they climbed through, he closed the window.
"This is near enough to the place..." Cain said, walking down the street in a southern direction.
"So who was the Angel you killed?" Will asked.
"You don't want to know." Cain said.
"Yes, we do." Will said. "And what did he do to deserve it?"
"If I tell you then you won't want to travel with me, and then you'll both die." Cain said.
"We promise we won't leave?" Lyra suggested.
"He was named Demetrius. Not such an Angelic name, but he wasn't a very Angelic Angel. I killed him for reasons that are private." Cain said.
"Why would we hate you for that? That's hardly anything we didn't know already." Lyra said.
"It's coming. I found out after I killed him that his mother's name was Darla." Cain said.
"So you killed your own brother?" Will asked.
"Yes." Cain said.
"Really messed up lives you Angels live." Will said.
"Yeah, well he was only a half-brother. I never knew his dad, but I heard he was no angel himself, no pun intended." Cain said.
"So how do you kill an Angel?" Will asked.
"So you want all the grizzly details huh? Well it wasn't a pretty sight." Cain said.
"I've watched TV..." Will said.
"Ripped his wings off and his heart out, OK?" Cain said, agitated. "That's the place." he finally said.
"That's a hospital." Will said.
"Hardly. Citágazze is deserted so often that it's not a hospital any more. Just looks like one. Nobody ever goes there." Cain said.
As they got closer, that became apparent. It had fallen into disrepair, and windows were shattered.
Cain kicked the door open and entered.
"Back off!" yelled a voice from inside. Cain spotted a guard, drawing a pistol.
Cain dropped off his jacket and spread his wings, only being able to fit them in the room due to the high ceilings.
The guard fired the pistol several times, and each bullet was deflected away by the immense black wings.
Cain walked forward, grabbing the guard and throwing him straight up in the air, his head hitting the ceiling. A loud crunch announced his death, and the body dropped again, his head resting at an odd angle.
Three more guards poured into the room, drawing their own guns.
One guard was pounced by Cucia, who slashed and bit ferociously, while the other two were smashed into a wall by Cain's enormous wings.
"Grab the Kevlar." Cain said. "It's the bullet-proof vest." he added at the bewildered expressions.
Once Will and Lyra each had a vest on, Cain led the way through the Hospital.
The encountered several guards, but none were a match for a Dark Angel.
"So how can you deflect bullets with your wings, but they can be ripped off?" Will asked.
"They are indestructible as far as mortals are concerned, but an Angel can rip them from another Angel, though with great difficulty, and once they are gone, the Angel is mortal." Cain said.
Another guard stepped out, but was punched hard in the face by Will, and his neck bent right back to a horizontal angle.
Cain seemed not to mind, while Will and Lyra looked disgusted.
They were going down a staircase, down to what must have been about five storeys underground.
The security was tighter here.
And out stepped a guard with a shotgun and armour all over his body. It was still no competition. Cain punched straight through the armour and into the man's stomach.
"Tell us to look away next time, please." Lyra said.
But more guards were coming.
"Look away." Cain said as he curved his wing around to stop anybody being hit by the shots, and when they stopped to reload, he ran forward, twisting the neck of one guard around three hundred and sixty degrees, and grabbing his unloaded shotgun, smashing other guards in the head with a force to kill a Panserbjørne.
He was shot many times, as Will notice, but not a single bullet entered the skin.
Soon the hallway was littered with bodies, and the shotgun in Cain's hand was bent and deformed.
"Come on, hurry up. Just don't look down." Cain said.
Cain led them again down the corridors, and this time they entered a huge circular room with a pit in the middle, with glass running straight up to the ceiling, and seats running all around the pit so everyone could watch.
This was the 'operating theatre', where they cut the Dæmons away, apparently.
There was plenty of room for Cain to stretch his wings, so he did.
"Hide somewhere in this room. If anyone finds you, shoot them." Cain said, throwing his pistol to Will, who caught it.
The reason became apparent. Several armoured guards with machine-guns were on the opposite side of the room.
Cain protected them all with his wings as the guards fired.
"NOW!" he bellowed, and they both ducked behind the seats out of view.
Once they were concealed, Cain took flight.
It was an incredible sight – he no longer looked human.
Cucia closed her eyes, purring next to Will.
Lyra held Pantalaimon close, and Will kept Kirjava in his arms as the fire ceased.
It was then the yells began. Cain swooped down on them, grabbing random guards and throwing them at insane speeds across the room, crashing into walls and having cement crunch on top of them.
Lyra watched through a gap between seats. It was crazy – utterly insane. A Dark Angel, flinging these guards around as though they were weightless.
He reminded her of Iorek Byrnison, and his brute strength, how he left a wake of destruction in battle.
The last two guards still fired however, while the rest were either dead or fleeing.
Will landed now, knocking the bullets aside with a wing as though they were harmless snowflakes.
As the firing stopped, Cain jumped into the air, aided by his wings and kicking one guard hard in the chest (Lyra turned away as she saw a splatter of blood leaving the man's back) and using the man to push off and kick the last man in the face.
"Will, Lyra." Cain called, and they both left their hiding place to follow Cain again. "I told you not to look down..." he added at Will and Lyra surveying the wreck.
"Won't you go to hell for this?" Will asked.
"If I die. But I won't, so I'm OK." Cain said.
The next room had several doors leading in different directions.
Cain took the one that said 'Dormitories', and it led to another door which said 'Patient Dormitories'. He gave a dry laugh at the 'patient' part.
He pushed the door open, breaking the lock, and staring at the Doctor and the two nurses trying to convince fifteen people to leave the dormitories after they had heard the gunshots.
"Doc, you'd better leave." Cain said.
The doctor stayed still.
"Now." Cain said sternly, making his wings more obvious.
The nurses ran off past Cain, Will and Lyra but the doctor remained.
"Your choice." Cain said, walking up to the doctor and simply pushing him in the chest.
It wasn't enough to kill him, but he was knocked windless and he was knocked out as he hit the wall.
"Come on, we're getting you out of here." Cain said, and the prisoners cheered.
The prisoners ran off without waiting for Cain, Will and Lyra, but two stayed behind, a man and a woman.
"What took you so long?" asked one of them.
"I had to do a favour for Xaphania." Cain said. "But seeing as I freed you, you can give us a hand. We're going after Kassius." Cain said.
"You're setting you're sights a little high." said the man. "But my mother could help us." he added with a grin.
The woman was strange – not that she looked strange, more felt strange.
She was incredibly beautiful – flawless even. But she didn't seem normal.
"Will, Lyra this is Tommy, his mother's a Witch, and this is Alyssa – she's a half-angel. And Tommy, Alyssa, Will's the knife-bearer we've heard so much about, and Lyra is the silver-tongue – Iorek's friend." Cain said.
Greetings and 'pleased to meet you's were exchanged before Cain led them out to the operating theatre.
Before they continued, Cain took a fire axe to the wall, until he found a gas pipe. He cut it apart so that gas leaked, and then they continued, as fast as possible.
They didn't see any more guards on the way out – Probably too scared thought Will, and it would make sense.
When they reached the lobby, Cain folded his wings in completely and replaced his jacket that was still on the floor.
"I'll be right back." Cain said with a smile, and walked back to the staircase. The fire hadn't yet reached the top, but it would soon. Cain took a Zippo-lighter from his pocket and lit it. He looked down before dropping it.
About three stories down was a huge explosion, and he saw the gas flare up.
Cain then ran, back into the lobby, "Go, now!" he said, and the five of them ran as the hospital went up in flames.
"Got my gun?" Cain asked Will, who took it from his belt and gave it back to Cain, who holstered it again.
"Did you get a gun by any chance?" Cain asked Tommy, who nodded, opening his jacket to reveal a pistol and three spare clips stuck into his belt.
"Great." Cain said. "Lyra, can you read the Alethiometer well enough to ask how we should get to the south pole, and which world it is we have to get to?" he asked.
"How did you know about the Alethiometer?" Lyra demanded. "And my mother?" she added.
"I know a lot about you and Will, so can you or can't you?" Cain asked.
"Yes... maybe." Lyra said, taking out the Alethiometer.
She turned the dials on the Alethiometer slowly, backtracking occasionally. Once she was certain, she read it.
"It says... we should get there by... air – a zeppelin." Lyra said uncertainly, and turned the knobs again. "I can't..." she muttered, glaring at the Alethiometer before saying, "Citágazze I think but I'm not too sure."
"Good enough, we can work it out when we reach there. Where can we get a Zeppelin?" Cain said.
"Sounds like something that Gabriel could help us with." Alyssa said.
"Possibly." Cain said. "Not the Archangel." he added to Will and Lyra.
"Is he still in this world?" Tommy asked. "He shifted about quite a bit."
"He still in this world... just a little farther away." Alyssa said. "The nearest place that he could be is about five klicks north." she added.
"North. I always hated going north... Will, Lyra and Tommy stick together, you'll be OK as long as Will keeps hold of the knife, me and Alyssa are going to go ahead to see if Gabriel is about." Cain said. "I'll leave Cucia here, seeing as she can't fly." he added, and nobody argued, having heard about Witch Dæmons.
Alyssa also left her squirrel Dæmon behind, although it was a longer goodbye then Cain had said.
"Lets get this show on the road." Cain said, tossing his jacket and backpack to Tommy before unfolding his wings and taking flight.
He beat his wings slowly and powerfully until he reached a safe height, and he began gliding, Alyssa not far behind.
It was a very short flight to their destination, especially since they were going as the crow flies.
They landed at the airport – for it was an airport, but one that instead of having planes or helicopters had several Zeppelins.
They were walking towards the small, run-down building when they saw something.
"God-damn it. Spectres!" Cain said, cursing quietly.
"They've got Gabriel!" Alyssa cried.
"Get back to the others, tell them to be on their guard! I can handle a few spectres." Cain yelled, taking flight again before he heard a reply. He flew a few metres from the ground, as fast as his wings would take him towards the Spectres.
The nearest to Gabriel he kicked in the face – if you could call it a face – well it was the part of the body that was closest to being a face that a spectre could have. Angels, whether Dark or not could come in contact with Spectres, and fight them, but the Spectres still normally win if the Angel has a Dæmon. But Cain's was elsewhere.
He then grabbed and removed whatever the part of the body he just kicked, and the creature vanished.
He beat through the group, jumping up and kicking multiple spectres at the same time, or beating them with his wings.
Once he reached Gabriel, who was close to death by now, he beat off the spectres smothering his kestrel Dæmon and picked her up, passing her to Gabriel. He then grabbed Gabriel under the arms and pulled him into the air, up and towards the nearest Zeppelin.
He let him down on the top of the mooring tower, and by now Gabriel was fully conscious.
"Get into the Zeppelin and head south!" Cain yelled, following Gabriel in.
The Zeppelin started moving slowly.
"Seeing as I just saved your life, you could do me and some friends a favour." Cain said.
"What is it?" Gabriel asked, picking up his Dæmon and comforting her.
"We're going to the southern poles. We need a ride." Cain said.
"Bit far." Gabriel said with a frown.
"If it wasn't then we wouldn't've headed this way and you'd be dead." Cain said. "How fast can she go?" he asked, meaning of course the Zeppelin.
"About fifty miles per hour if conditions are good. Maybe around seventy if the wind's coming from behind us." Gabriel said.
"You'll be paid." Cain said.
"How much?" Gabriel asked, suddenly interested.
"Enough. There'll be a fight, so you'll get extra for the danger." Cain said.
Gabriel thought for a moment.
"You got yourself a deal." Gabriel said.
"Slow down." Cain said, glancing out the window.
Cain then opened the door and dove out, spreading his wings.
He dropped quietly behind Will, Lyra, Tommy and Alyssa.
"Alyssa, help me carry them up, Gabriel's waiting." he said as the rest turned round.
Alyssa grabbed Tommy and took off, Tommy giving a short yelp as he grabbed his Dæmon.
Cain waited for Lyra to get a hold of Pantalaimon before picking her up and taking off.
"So you found your friend?" she asked as they approached the Zeppelin.
"Yeah, he was being attacked by Spectres." Cain said as he helped Lyra into a standing position on the Zeppelin.
Alyssa had gone down for Will by now, so Cain sat down.
Tommy set Cain's backpack and jacket down on a seat and ran a hand through his hair.
"How can you talk to your mother?" Cain asked Tommy.
"Lodestone resonator." Tommy said. "If I had one of course." he added.
"I've got one... it can't be the right one, it'll send a message to the Gallivespians." Lyra said, taking it from her bag.
She handed the tiny black bar with the fingernail-sized earpieces and the little violin bow to Tommy, who took them.
He listened with one earpiece while he used the resonator.
A voice came through the other end, which only he could here, and he replied. A short conversation went on, and then he removed the earpiece.
"The Gallivespians will send some people to find my mother, and direct her here." Tommy said, giving the Lodestone resonator back to Lyra.
"What will we do for now?" Alyssa asked.
"Not much. If we want to get south as soon as possible, we'll can only make urgent stops." Cain said. He then took off his black long-sleeved shirt, which was full of bullet holes, revealing black-blue armour.
Lyra recognised it as roman armour that the Centurions wore, moulded in a 'muscle' shape, but with additions, like shoulder-bells. He also had metal gauntlets on.
Despite the numerous bullet holes in the shirt, there was not a scratch on the armour.
Now it was also obvious as the sunlight bounced off the armour that it was covered in a raised pattern. All over it were shapes, swirls here and there, and in the center of front part there was a small Celtic cross, and on the back was a gigantic Celtic cross.
"How is this powered?" Will asked, obviously meaning the Zeppelin.
"Hydrogen fuel. Constantly being made by Electrolysis. Battery electrodes in water making hydrogen, it should easily make enough fuel for getting there and back." Gabriel said.
"How long will it take?" Will asked.
"About two weeks." Gabriel said after thinking for a minute.
* * *
Will woke up in his chair, with Lyra still sleeping with her head against his chest.
Cain threw him an apple, which was caught with some difficulty, as he tried not to disturb Lyra.
"Don't you two sleep?" Will asked, spotting Alyssa sitting awake too.
"Don't need sleep." Cain said, and then he walked to Gabriel, who had obviously just awoken.
"How's the course coming?" Cain asked.
"We're going southwest. Just how we should be." Gabriel said.
"Why not south?" Cain asked.
"I wasn't keen on going over Africa, there are a few people who've got it in for me. Not very nice weather either." Gabriel said, meaning by 'a few people' a lot of people. "Don't worry, it'll only add on a day or two." he added.
* * *
The next seven days were dull, and completely uneventful, apart from Cain and Alyssa flying down to get more food and water.
They had been slowed down a bit by some wind in the wrong direction, but some wind in the right direction put them back on schedule.
Until, on the eighth day, they heard an explosion, and the Zeppelin lurched.
Cain looked out the window and said, "Damn it! Something's attacking us. Can this hunk-of-junk go any faster?"
"Full throttle, Cain!" Gabriel yelled. "Some wind's slowing us down!" he added.
Cain looked down again, and said, "Where the hell are we?"
"Amazon basin." Gabriel said.
"The Amazon? The Amazon with thirty foot long snakes?" Lyra asked.
"Yep, Anacondas." Gabriel said as the ship lurched again.
"We're losing altitude, fast!" Cain yelled.
"Parachutes in the back!" Gabriel said.
Cain ran back and grabbed four, throwing on to Will, one to Lyra, one to Tommy and one to Gabriel.
He kicked the door open, which had been damaged by a blast, and they jumped out one after the other, Cain last, grabbing the two backpacks full of food before diving out the door.
He spread his wings and flew, holding the two bags with one hand and clutching Cucia to his chest with the other.
He saw the other parachutes deploy, but there was another shot from the ground, and Cain saw Tommy's parachute crumple as whatever was fired went through it and exploded nearby.
"Alyssa!" Cain yelled, and she turned, catching the two backpacks that were flung at her as Cain went after Tommy.
He put his wings almost flat against his back as he dived. Tommy was getting tangled in his parachute.
He continued straight down, until he managed to grab Tommy with his one free hand and pulled out of the dive.
He looked up and flew back to the others, who were still drifting down slowly.
He saw Alyssa smash her wing against another of the explosives that fired up, knocking it straight back at the shooters.
Cain could see them now. Tommy was also fully conscious, and Cain let him go so he could pull his backup parachute ripcord.
The second parachute deployed, and he was safe again.
Now Cain drew the pistol from it's holster, and still holding onto Cucia, he fired with his free hand at the attackers, hitting one of them in the eye. They were a fair distance away still, and they couldn't tell who had shot at them, so continued firing the flak cannon as close to one of the para-droppers as possible.
Cain fired again, and shot the second man, who slumped over the flak cannon.
Will, Lyra, Tommy and Gabriel landed, then Alyssa and finally Cain.
Cain dropped the empty clip from his pistol and stuck it into his pocket, pulling out a new one and reloading the Walther P99.
Tommy drew his gun that he stole in Citágazze and clicked the safety off.
But there was no foreseeable danger for now.
Cain holstered his gun again and punched into a nearby tree angrily (leaving a large hole behind).
"How the hell can we get to the South Pole now?" he said.
Nobody replied.
There was the sound that puzzled everyone but Cain, who recognised it as the sound of at least a dozen submachine guns being cocked.