The Golden Compass Chapter 12 Summary

The Lost Boy

• When the rescue party stops for a rest, John Faa asks Lyra to ask the alethiometer about Bolvangar's defenses.
• She does and tells John Faa that there are 60 men with wolf daemons and rifles – the Sibirsk regiment.
• Lyra also learns that there's a kind of ghost that's haunting a neighboring village. John Faa brushes this off.
• Undeterred, Lyra tries to recruit Iorek to take her to the next village over.
• Iorek says he'll only do it with John Faa's permission.
• After explaining the importance of what the alethiometer says, John Faa agrees.
• Lyra hops on Iorek's back and off they fly to the village. Lyra feels a little shy because Iorek is so big and powerful.
• At one point they stop and Iorek points out hundreds of witches flying to war in the sky. They better tell John Faa about this.
• The two finally arrive in the village and are met by a man with a rifle. Iorek speaks the man's language. Apparently he thinks they are devils.
• The man directs Lyra and Iorek to a shed, where they find something horrible.
• By lantern light, Lyra sees a child with no daemon. Instead, he is clutching a dead fish. The child has been severed.