(Author's Note: Don't kill me. It didn't take that long this time…*coughs*…anyway, please read now, and don't throw any rotten fruit at me. It doesn't help. Oh, by the way, the spacing is all screwed up because ff.net was being bitchy with the html and I was too lazy to figure out how to fix it. So just deal with it.)
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN-Mary's Invention
"No. Not again!"
Tobias's eyes flickered briefly as he came to, clutching his dæmon tightly to him. He couldn't see, as his vision was either destroyed or totally obscured by blood (he couldn't tell which) and his head didn't hurt at all; in fact, he couldn't feel anything throughout his entire body except his hands and arms, which were slick with blood. The only way that he knew he was alive was from an undefined rhythmic thumping noise and the swishing of wind, together with the comforting warmth of Aerotsierma's fur at his hands.
He tried to talk, but couldn't possibly command his vocal cords to respond. He had no idea where he was or what was going on until Aerotsierma spoke to him in his mind.
Tobias, you're paralyzed. Don't even try to move.
Tobias spoke back, his mind in a whirl. What happened, Aero? Where are we?
Breyman has you slung over his shoulder. It's the middle of the night and he's carrying you back to Dunestone, most likely.
Pain and panic enveloped Tobias's heart. Oh, Aero, no… He paused for a moment, thinking. What happened to Iris?
Aerotsierma responded. I'm not sure; we were blacked out by that time, but I think that Breyman might've killed her. Hurt her pretty bad, anyway.
Not saying another word, Tobias used his powerful Forthsight to seek out Iris's essence and touch her mind with his. He finally found her in the mass of confusing entities; sick with fright and worry, and in quite a bit of pain, unable to stand.
Tobias, don't!
But it was too late. Tobias used the power of his gift to heal Iris across the barrier of worlds, the exhaustion of the feat bringing him once more close to the brink of death.
*
"Oh my God!"
Mary jumped at the sudden outburst and exclaimed, "What's the matter? Did I hurt you?"
Iris struggled from Mary's grasp, saying, "No, it's gone! I don't believe it! I thought it had just gone numb, but it's gone! Completely!"
"You're mad; that's impossible. We should still take you to a doctor."
Mary put Iris down and they stood together in a dark street of Oxford. "No, Ms. Malone, I'm fine. Tobias healed me."
"He healed you? He isn't even here! That's impossible."
"No, you don't understand. The Forthsight; he is The One! With his power, he can do almost anything that his heart, will and conscience allow. He must've sensed my pain even across the barrier of the worlds, and healed me…"
Tears sprang to her eyes, but she quickly whisked them away. Her dæmon sat close by her feet, and nuzzled her gently. "He's probably dead now," she whispered.
Mary placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up so quickly. If Tobias is anything like I think he is, he has a will of stone and a heart of gold. He won't give in so easily. We have to help him in whatever way we can, though. We need to figure out what our next course of action shall be."
Iris nodded bravely and said, "What do you think we should do?"
"Well, I suppose that we need to find a way to gather help. We need Lyra…we badly need her bravery as well as her alethiometer. I take it that you have no way of traveling through the worlds yourself?"
"No, of course not. I think that Tobias might have an alternative way, though; I mean, he did write the formula down and everything, he might—"
"Formula? What formula?"
Iris shook her head like it didn't matter. "Nothing, just Tobias thinks that the Forthsight isn't magic or anything, but it's an actually physical process that can be explained. He showed Will last night…he wrote down all these weird equations that apparently explained how the windows can be made—"
Mary, wide-eyed, exclaimed, "Seriously! How old is he, now? He actually explained it with equations? Is he some sort of child prodigy or something?"
Iris nodded. "He's a mathematical genius, as far as I'm concerned. He—" But Mary interrupted, excitement dancing in her eyes. "You don't happen to remember what these equations were, do you?" Iris laughed. "I have no clue what any of it meant, trust me. However, he did leave the paper he wrote it down on in the coffee shop last night…"
*
As the first rosy hews of dawn crept over the green, distant horizon, Will felt himself growing sluggish. All night he'd been running, following Breyman's trail. The terrain was gentle for the most part…sandy and grassy with gentle hills for the most part…but Will was on no food, no sleep, and a lot of anxiety.
"Will. You have to stop."
Jogging still, he glanced at his dæmon, who was gracefully loping beside him. "I can't, Kir. I have to save Tobias; he's in mortal danger and he's my only link to Lyra!"
Kirjava put the brakes on and came to a halt, forcing her human to stop as well. "Will, do you honestly think that you're befriending and helping these poor people just to have them suit your own needs?"
Will glared at the beautiful black cat. "Of course not. I'm going to do my best to help them bring down their enemy, too. It's quite evident that they need my help very badly."
"Of course they do! Seeing Lyra is just a side benefit. You should be doing this to help them, not because you want to see Lyra. That should come after."
Will slammed his fist against a tree. "I know that, damn it! Don't tell me that you don't miss Pan, though!" His dæmon gently nuzzled his hand. "Of course I do, Will, more than just about anything. But we made a promise, and as much as we long to see Lyra and Pan, we have to help Tobias and Iris for the sake of helping them. They shouldn't be thought of as our link to Lyra and Pan, but as allies against evil. They're desperate for help; they need us."
Will sighed. "You're right, Kir. We have to do everything we can to help them; then, if everything turns out alright in the end, we can see Lyra."
"Yes. That's more like it. Now we need rest, Will, before we can go on. You find water; I'll find food. We'll take a quick break and be back on the trail in an hour or so."
*
Three Hours Later
Iris waited while Mary Malone sat on her couch, poring over the blank newspaper sheet on which Tobias had written his equations. Once in a while she'd murmur, "I don't believe this" or "this is absurd" or "this is incredible!" Her bird dæmon paced the armrest constantly, analogous to Iris's dæmon, who was pacing the opposite direction on the rug.
Finally, not saying a word, she jumped up and whisked away to her computer. Iris followed, watching intently. "This program I have…it might have some idea of how to use this incredible information…"
Mary quickly typed in some information and then carefully copied the equations into the computer. She took a seat…and there she stayed for hours, writing, pondering, and typing. She contacted several of her colleagues and eventually went up to her old lab, searching for an answer.
She came back with a contraption that she had quickly put together in her lab, and hooked it up to the computer. After several more hours of daunting work, Iris came quickly awake on the couch as Mary exclaimed, "I've got it! It works!"
Iris sleepily stumbled into the computer room, just in time to see a blinding white flash of light and Mary stumbling backwards in surprise and fright. The computer screen flickered, shortly followed by the lights, and then the electricity shut down, and the blinding light subsided.
And in its place was a window through the worlds.
Mary grinned almost manically. "It worked! I don't believe it! It worked!"
The house was dark, as the electricity had shut down. But there was light from the other side of the window…golden, late afternoon light filtered through a tree strewn hilly landscape.
Iris stared open-mouthed at the physicist. "Where…what…. whose world is this? Where are we going?"
But Mary had already fled away to the kitchen to quickly gather supplies. "Lyra's world, Iris. We're going to Lyra's world!"
Iris continued staring open-mouthed. Her mind was a blur. So much had happened in the last few days that she felt like her mind would explode soon. Her heart thumped with pain and worry at Tobias's fate, but also within surged excitement and the lust for adventure. "Lyra's world?" she said. "Will's friend, Lyra? He'll be so happy to see her…"
Mary returned with two small satchels of food. "That's for sure. I just hope that they'll be able to stay together, somehow…according to Tobias's equations, space does not exist between the two worlds when a window is created, therefore no Specter emerges. I only hope that this is true…it has to be, otherwise we'd probably have been attacked by now…"
Iris had very little idea of what she was talking about, but inquired nonetheless, "And Lyra will be able to help us?" Mary handed Iris a satchel. "I hope so. She would definitely be a terrific asset to have, anyway. She has this instrument, this 'truth meter' that could tell us what to do…but she had lost the power to use it just before we parted. I can only hope that she's taught herself at least a little bit of how to use it once more. If Will can't find and rescue Tobias, she's our only hope."
She took a deep breath and faced the dazzlingly bright window through the worlds that hung in midair before her. "Alright, Iris, let's go."
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(Author's Note: Soooo, whatchya think? Like it, no? Lyra will definitely be in the next chapter. Promise. *Ducks a flying rotten cantaloupe* No, I'm totally serious this time! Don't forget to review now.)
