laurence harnessed himself to the heavy and well-secured chain of the breastplate temeraire wore , and felt the enormous leap that took them off the deck like a springing away from care : wind tearing by and the curving vastness of the world opening wide beneath them , even the massive potentate diminishing into toy-like insignificance as temeraire circled higher ; they seemed almost level with the enormous cloud-banks that broke up the sky a little way north .