The Way The War, And The End – Chapter 8

Amazing 1000+ hits, and 11 reviews. I do not own the characters of Phillip Pullman otherwise I am gonna get eaten by Iorek Byrnison D. To Ibris all I can say is wait and see. p On with the story.

In the cold morning air, Lyra kissed back at the lips that were against her lips. She opened her eyes slowly knowing it is Will. Lyra broke the kiss and smiled, 'Good morning, Will.'

Will smiled back and said, 'Do you think they'll let us sleep in.'

'Now that you mention it…' Mary spoke, from behind the closed door that separated the rest of Svalberd to the room that Lyra and Will slept in, 'No. Now hurry up and get changed into your armour!'

'And don't forget your gear,' added Alex, 'they're lying on the table next to you!'

Will and Lyra's daemons began to stir from the shouting they heard. Kirjava arched her back and gave a yawn, while Pantalaimon moved his neck around, stretching the rest of his body, while giving a yawn of his own. 'Morning,' they both said.

Will and Lyra put on their armour and gear quickly, Will wearing a light shirt made of an unknown material Will was amazed at. It glittered despite its dark green colour matching the colour of Will's eyes. It was light but just looking at it, you could tell it was tough. Will wore a cloak around it with a hood. Lyra wore a light shirt made of the same material Will's shirt was, but was dark blue which also matched Lyra's eyes. They took their weapons and headed out.

After spending a night in a warm bed, the couple found themselves shivering as they went outside. It was cold, but even stranger, it was dark. It was day but the dark clouds prevented much light from seeping through.

Iorek was in his armour, but the angel Xaphania wore armour that was different. It was transparent and made the angel look graceful, but deadly. 'What now?' Will asked.

'There is little we can do to stall them,' Xaphania said, 'I have already sent word to Serafina Pekkala that we are here and are in dire need of their help.

'That's good to hear,' Lyra said. Lyra noticed a frown across her face and asked, 'Xaphania, what's wrong?'

'Lyra, I am finding it hard in these dark times,' Xaphania began, 'there were good angels amongst Hathrow's legions… angels I thought would never commit such an act of betrayal. I find it hard for myself to kill another angel…'

Lyra was amazed to find Xaphania so honest about her emotions and simply said, 'Do not worry, because death is something we will never fear again, after all, we know where that road leads…

Several miles away in the same world, a hooded figure approached the general of the Russian army. He said, 'Is everything ready General Telios?'

'Yes, angel Godfrey,' said General Telios in a clear and loud voice. He was ready for battle and so were his men.

'Then we attack immediately,' Godfrey said, 'there are two children, try to take them alive.' The angel Godfrey wore a complacent expression. If one looked carefully enough, you could see his light blond hair flowing. If you looked you would not be able to tell what he was thinking, but he was troubled… troubled by what Hathrow and the other angels did. 'Was it necessary to kill them all?' he thought as he saw the legions move out towards Svalberd. 'And why would Will and Lyra fight against us?' No. He already knew the answer to that. 'How could Xaphania twist them to fight alongside her…'

Godfrey's mind drifted back to the hours that Will and Lyra spent loving each other to no end. At the point, there had been a meeting. Usually only several thousand angels would attend. Instead several hundred thousands appeared at the council, awaiting the decision that must be made.

The angels were all discussing about what was to happen to Lyra and Will.

'I'm afraid there's little choice…' Xaphania spoke, 'Lyra and Will must live in their separate worlds otherwise they will die and if they die… all hope for the dead is lost.'

'But surely there is a way,' argued Hathrow, 'why not teaches them our ways of travel? Surely they can learn it.'

'No we cannot!' Xaphania said, 'in time they will forget their task and… this is the only other option I can think of without endangering all our worlds.'

The crowd fell silent. All of them dwelling on the decision but all of them knowing that this was necessary…

And so the decision was passed in the hour that Lyra and Will would have to live in their separate worlds so that they would build the republic of heaven. A place where everyone was unafraid of death and there was peace and prosperity all around.

After many of the angels left, Godfrey cornered Xaphania. 'Are you so sure there isn't any other way?'

'I have analysed this from every possible angel Godfrey,' Xaphania said in a melancholy tone, 'but in all my years I have never been so certain and uncertain.

'What do you mean?' Godfrey asked.

'What I mean is I am certain about this decision, but I am also uncertain about it as well,' Xaphania said, 'I feel as if I have made the right decision, but it will backfire in a way I cannot see.'

'We have lost the gift of foresight…' Godfrey said, 'the future is clouded for Lyra is the end of destiny.'

'Yes… everything has happened as foretold,' Xaphania said, 'I will be the one to tell the children.'

'Xaphania…' said Godfrey, 'I…'

'It must be done,' Xaphania said, 'you came to me in the first place seeking for an answer to this… this is the only answer I can see, and I'm afraid it is inevitable.' And Xaphania disappeared to find Lyra and Will.

Godfrey had always looked up to Xaphania. She was one of the oldest angels around and some of the wisest. Godfrey would always go to her in search for wisdom and if there was a dilemma he could not solve, he would go to Xaphania for answers and would always get one. Lyra and Will was Godfrey's responsibility in the beginning, but he soon found the job overwhelming for him and asked for Xaphania's help. Godfrey had implored to her time and time again for a better ending for Lyra and Will.

Sadly, as Xaphania had told him, 'It is inevitable…'

'Angel Godfrey!' yelled a voice.

Godfrey suddenly snapped out of the flashback, and simply replied, 'What!' with a tone of annoyance.

'Sir, we've sustained heavy casualties, we managed to break through the walls but there was no one there,' said the soldier.

'Damn it!' yelled Godfrey, 'do I have to do everything myself!'

'Umm… yes sir,' said the soldier, 'there's no way we can pursue them with the numbers we have at the moment.'

'USELESS!' yelled Godfrey and disappeared.

Meanwhile, on a ship heading southwards, Lyra and Will were at the decks of the ship offering help wherever needed. The warriors of Hrat were a group of people from France who answered only to the call of an angel. Xaphania took advantage of their belief and asked for their help. The warriors didn't seem like warriors at all. They wore plain simple garments but they were decorated beautifully with the colours of the world. They spoke fluent English and were very well educated.

Iorek and his bears were on board different ships and most of the witches including Serafina Pekkala went ahead of the ships to scout for any signs of danger while the rest remained in the skies above the ships on lookout for any pursuers.

By night, everyone ate their share of food, the food available could last them months but the people of Hrat rationed it nonetheless in case in any event there could be a chance of shortage. The food was satisfactory; bread and water with a hint of lemon, salted meat and vegetables and an apple or orange. It seemed little but it filled many stomachs.

After all eyes closed, only a few people were awake. Among them were Will, Lyra, Mary and their daemons, Serafina, Xaphania and Iorek. A quiet conversation could be heard.

'The escape was almost too easy…' Serafina spoke.

'The Russians boast too much about their superiority on the battlefield,' Xaphania spoke, 'they claim to have the best military skills in all the lands, when they are just like any other army… all they do is shoot, no questions asked, no idea what is happening.'

'I think it's time we consulted the alethiometer for our next path,' Lyra said. Lyra moved one dial to the baby symbolising the future. She thought hard but not so hard that her grasp of all that knowledge would slip… just barely… The dials began spinning and pointed to Bird literally meaning that, then to the chameleon for air, she suddenly saw avians flying, ready for a war, but which side are they on? The dial then moved to the owl symbolising fear. 'Fear of what?' Lyra thought, but the dials would not spin and provide a sufficient answer. Lyra tried again, 'Fear of what?' but the same result.

Feeling defeated she turned to Xaphania and said, 'Xaphania, are there such things as avians?'

'Yes, there is,' Xaphania said, 'they have built a city in the skies and have avoided detection from anything human.'

'Why?' Will asked

'Because they believe that they rule the skies and think the humans would desecrate their world if they were to find out,' Xaphania said, 'hmm… now that you mention it Lyra, the avian city floats above the North Sea and Hathrow may try to recruit the avians against us.

'Then it is likely we will see combat,' Mary said with a concerned look on her face.

'Yes, so we must be prepared for combat,' Xaphania said.

'And so we will,' Iorek said, 'but it will be difficult for us bears to attack them properly, they have the advantage of the air.'

'Yes, that is true,' Xaphania said.

'We'll figure it out long before we get there,' Lyra said.

'I suppose,' Mary said, 'but right now it's time we all head to sleep.'

Everyone went to their cabins but Will and Lyra along with Kirjava and Pan stayed on the main deck. 'Will, how did it come to this?' Lyra asked.

'I honestly don't know Lyra,' Will said, 'but I don't feel right.'

'What do you mean?' Lyra asked.

'I don't want to kill anyone,' Will said, 'I don't want to fight, but I have no choice.'

'We all have a choice Will,' Lyra said, realising tears began to burst from Will.

'No we don't Lyra,' Will began, 'we didn't have a choice back that day when we were separated.'

'Yes we did,' Lyra said, 'we could have decided to be selfish and be with each other but instead we decided to be selfless just so we could let everyone know of the land of the dead, it was as simple as that; an act of selfishness or selflessness.'

'But I cannot help but think Lyra,' Will said, 'what if you d-die, I c-couldn't b-bare to lose y-you a-again, not after a-all these y-years.'

Lyra wrapped her arms around Will, 'William Parry, you know you are not going to lose me… and that's because we're together, as long as we are, there isn't a force that can break us apart now.' 'But Will is right' she thought, 'what happens if one of us dies.'

'But t-there's so much to do, this w-war we have to fix, the republic of heaven, this is such a h-heavy responsibility,' Will said.

'I know, this is a heavy burden, but now that we are together, we can build it together…' Lyra said and they both headed to their cabin.

Xaphania had been below deck checking the supplies and had overheard the conversation. After hearing their conversation, Xaphania sighed and said, 'I guess I was wrong…'

Well that's chapter 8 ppl, I see more chapters coming up soon, holidays have almost ended where I am, just Sunday and then back to the tiresome life at school again. Personally I don't think I'm getting some of the characters involved enough e.g Alex. Though it's getting hard to find a place seeing as this war is mainly revolving around Will and Lyra. If anyone who has read chapter 7 before I edited it, please note that I changed Gaspite to Hathrow. (Hathrow sounded like a better name for a villain) Lots of conversation in this one, maybe a little too much but nonetheless I managed to reach my 2000 word limit, so all is well. Guess what happens in the next chapter after what happened just then between Will and Lyra.