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Chapter 20

Golden Auroras

It was during this trip back to Cittàgazze that Mrs. Counter would finally realize why it was Will was so important.

Lyra had ushered them back to the other world, almost breathless as she explained the spectres were on their way back (if not already there) and there was something Will had to do. Will, too, seemed agitated as they crossed over, his dark eyes glancing to their right.

"I found some stuff out, too," he simply replied, heading over to the right without another word. Exchanging a puzzled look with Lyra, Mrs. Coulter followed, opening her handbag so that golden money could roam free.

Finally! he thought, his glee almost infectious as he ran out ahead of the group, stretching his legs. I'm all coiled up like a damn snake in there.

She snorted at the comparison, thinking immediately back to Carlo and his "proposition" for her. There was something in this world he wanted, as he'd made clear to her. Something he wanted enough to blackmail her. He was even hesitant to tell her what it was, for the item was supposedly so great and so widely-sought after that even she would be interested in its possession, if she knew more about it. "You'll know it when you see it," he'd said to her, "and then you'll bring it immediately here to me, Marisa, do you understand?"

Mrs. Coulter could promise him whatever he wanted, but she wouldn't be able to keep it until she saw what it was he wanted-and if she even wanted to risk or waste her time retrieving it. Mrs. Coulter also had Lyra and the alethiometer. She doubted Carlo knew the exact extent to which Lyra could read the device, which would tell her everything she would want to know about whatever it was. And then she could focus on traveling with Dr. Malone to London and learning more about what was happening in their world.

But she had to follow Will and Lyra now, all her senses and instincts telling her that whatever they were after was important and, above all, dangerous.

The golden monkey felt it, too: that off-putting feeling. The children didn't seem to notice, which made Mrs. Coulter fear the spectres were back. But this felt different than it did the first time in a way she couldn't possibly explain. It wasn't long until they'd reached a tall, glimmering tower. Mrs. Coulter's eyes lifted to trace its entire length, noting the golden statue of angels at the center.

Perhaps the Authority has blessed this world as well? the golden monkey wondered. Mrs. Coulter wasn't so sure, but she knew better than to voice it out loud in front of Lyra.

"And what is this?" she asked instead, noting the hard look that passed between Lyra and Will. They both seemed to know what this was, and what it meant.

"The Torre degli Angeli," Will answered solemnly, tripping up a bit over the pronunciation (which was Italian, Mrs. Coulter realized). "Some kids told me while I was investigating earlier."

"Where did they go?" Lyra asked, a sharp edge to her voice.

"I scared them away." Lyra smiled then, but Will missed it. "Figured we wouldn't want them around. But Mrs. Coulter, I think this might be what that man wants. According to the kids, there's a crazy man with a special knife up there. A knife from the old ages or something like that."

Ah. Some sort of knife of legends. Of course Carlo would be interested in that. Mrs. Coulter held back a smirk, because that was precisely the sort of thing men like Carlo sought after. Special artifacts lost in time and space, waiting to be claimed by a worthy pursuer. It was appalling that he'd send her out to do his own dirty work, but not entirely surprising. The man lacked integrity in a way Mrs. Coulter could barely stand.

"Those kids said this tower is haunted," Will said, in a tone that attempted to appear skeptical but that, underneath, wasn't entirely sure. He glanced over at Mrs. Coulter then before quickly looking away again.

"It's not." Lyra's voice was quiet as she gazed over at it, her eyes knowing. Mrs. Coulter realized that this was what Lyra had been referring to earlier. And by the way the girl looked over at Will, her eyes sad, she realized that this involved Will as well. A boy with a… A boy we need to find. She'd said it all those days ago. And now was the time.

Will turned to her, brow furrowed, but didn't say anything. He just nodded, and then joined Lyra in looking up at the tower. Faintly, Mrs. Coulter felt that eerie presence again, and it was enough to make the hair on her arms stick up and the golden monkey's hackles to raise.

Indeed, Pan seemed unsettled, too. He was in the form of a moth and was fluttering anxiously on Lyra's shoulder, whispering in her ear. Mrs. Coulter wondered what he was saying, but she had a guess: this was a bad place. Something felt wrong. Displaced. Something was here that shouldn't be. It was a relief for Lyra's daemon to be feeling this, too, as it meant it wasn't just her and thus not necessarily a sign of the spectres.

"There's a man up there," said Lyra quietly, breaking their collective silence. "Young, with curly hair. I'd seen him with some of those other kids earlier. I think he's their older brother. But I—I know he's up there, and that he's got the knife."

"Well then," said Mrs. Coulter, clearing her throat and smoothing down the red dress she was wearing. "Shall we go up and talk to him, then?"

Will murmured his agreement, taking a step forward, but Lyra reached over to stop him, her arm firmly pressing into his shoulder. "You have to be careful, Will," she urged. Will seemed surprised as he looked at her, nodding, before she let go and he moved forward, looking over his shoulder at them.

"What did you read, Lyra?" Mrs. Coulter asked her, coming over to stand beside her.

Lyra looked up at her with heavy eyes and sighed a deep sigh. "You'll have to wait and see. But this is for Will to do. We can help, but he has to do it."

This was serious. It was in the air, in Lyra's voice, in every word and action. Mrs. Coulter moved forward and put her hand out for Lyra, not sure if she'd take it but feeling the increasing threat of danger and the need to keep her close. Surprisingly, Lyra accepted and took her hand, following her mother up toward the tower, just behind Will and his steady step forward.

All the while, the spectres from nearby started to gather closely, sensing not only the presence of the woman and her golden monkey daemon but also that of two men up in the tower.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lord Asriel stepped onto the hard rock carefully, looking all around him. He and Stelmaria had walked the golden tunnel for days, possibly weeks. They stopped only to drink water, eat crumbs of their rations, and then sleep for an hour before they kept going. He was surprised to see that the golden tunnel changed and evolved as they went. He'd been stuck at one of the deadends debating what to do when, suddenly, another path started to appear, leading down a whole different section. Asriel knew he'd walked far enough so that no one would ever be able to find him, so he felt safe as he took to exploring the world through this window, although safe was a questionable word when it seemed that this world was filled with active volcanoes.

"How intriguing," Stelmaria growled, pacing a bit further ahead of them. Asriel glanced down at his watch just now, deciding to give himself ten minutes or so to determine if this world was safe enough for them to temporarily stay. She stepped a little faster then, keen to make the most of their time.

For all the plans that Asriel had set out, the fine minutia hadn't been one of them. He almost wanted to laugh at it now, how reckless he was. Thorold had warned him of this, of rushing too quickly into the explosion and of the exploration when he'd barely had time to think about how exactly he'd build his army and his regime to take down the ultimate regime.

"Here!"

At his daemon's call, Asriel increased his pace to a jog until he caught up with her, pausing at the little cliff she was gazing down at. A few feet below was a small stream of water—or what looked like water.

"Shall I test it?" he asked her, already strapping his rucksack back on fully and heading toward the edge. Her thoughts of agreement filled his own as they climbed down together. Asriel then set down his pack and pulled out a small metal gadget, which he placed into the water and held for a few seconds.

"It's clear," he announced a minute later, tone surprised. The water was drinkable. More than drinkable, even, as the water came back clearer than some of the dirty rivers back in their London. Stelmaria wasted no time in bending down and lapping down at it, noting the warmth of the water and the pleasant, spring-like taste of it. Asriel pulled out one of his almost-empty canteens and unscrewed the top, glancing down at his watch to see how much longer he had to determine if they'd leave or not.

The canteen's lid slipped from his hands as he continued to stare down at his watch.

"What is it?" Stelmaria mumbled between laps, her yellow eyes glancing in his direction.

Asriel didn't know what to tell her. When he looked down at his watch, it showed that no time had passed at all—which was impossible since he knew they'd been there at least ten minutes and his watch was unbreakable and required no batteries since it operated by the presence of his and his daemon's Dust.

"That can't be." Stelmaria was standing by his side now, staring at the watch. It hadn't even moved, not even one second.

"Perhaps there isn't any Dust here?" Asriel wondered, reaching for any kind of logical explanation. He dug through his other gadgets to verify this theory, pulling out a Dust-operated heat thermometer. Alas, as he turned it on, the machine started whirling up before spitting out a temperature to them. Twenty-two degrees celsius.

"It must be the watch, then," Stelmaria concluded, though she wasn't sure. Just then, Asriel had a theory. It didn't make sense, but he set his bag down and then pulled himself up over the rock, gesturing for Stelmaria to follow.

They ran back over to the window, jumping up into it since it rested a few feet above the ground of this world. Stelmaria landed with ease while Asriel struggled a bit and landed on his knees. It took him a few seconds to get back up onto his feet.

Once he was settled, however, he felt himself taking a deep breath before glancing down at his watch, aware of Stelmaria balancing on her hind legs to stare at it, too.

The small hand was turning again, counting the seconds. Asriel let out the breath he was holding, eyes locked with Stelmaria.

For the second time, Asirle jumped down back into the volcanic world, his eyes entirely on his watch this time as he readied his legs and body for the impact. As soon as he'd passed through the window's threshold, the small hand stopped turning. Asriel then felt the impact of the ground, on which he'd landed a bit shakily due to his eyes being diverted elsewhere.

"It can't be," Stelmaria simply mused, standing but moving her paws in place as she stared over at him.

"Yet it is," Asriel declared back, his voice light and jovial. He let out a laugh, eyes still on the watch with the hands that refused to move. "A world with a different sense of time. Or, perhaps, no time at all…?"

Asriel wasn't sure, but that wasn't important at the moment. He'd stumbled upon something so grand and so useful for his purposes that he could feel nothing but joy and determination as he and his daemon went back over to his rucksack, getting ready to plan not only their next move but their next 100 in barely any time at all.