Lyra looked up and saw that the others were a distance ahead of her and she urged her horse to go faster. She smiled as she heard the distinctive shrill of blue tails and she started drifting back to her childhood and memories of playing in the woods. She caught herself before she drifted too far and brought her focus back to the attack on the Academy. All of the raiders had worn dark colors, but it certainly wasn’t a type of uniform, at least not any uniform that she had ever seen.

Lyra was so engrossed in solving the riddle of the attack that she didn’t notice that the boys had stopped in the middle of the trail as Syman reached out to stop her. Lyra looked up to see Syman holding a finger to his lips to silence her. Antello eased his sword out of its sheath while Syman cocked his head as if listening for something. Lyra wrinkled her brow in puzzlement as she strained to hear whatever had alarmed the boys. The seconds dragged on in silence until suddenly the she heard a twig snap under the weight of someone or something on the trail ahead. The feeling of fear she experienced at the Academy quickly returned even as she tried to convince herself that it was probably just an animal and she was overreacting. Still, the forest animal noises had ceased and Lyra began to wonder if the raiders had thought enough to block the trail in case she tried to escape.

Syman kept a restraining arm on Antello as he swept the forest with his eyes trying to detect any movement around them. Lyra understood what Syman was thinking and she started scanning the woods along their flanks as well. Using hand motions, Syman instructed the group to dismount and handed the reins to Lyra. Easing his own sword out of its sheath, Syman motioned to Antello to take the left side of the trail while Syman slid into the woods on the right. Lyra felt exposed holding the horses in the middle of the trail as the boys disappeared into the trees.