Could she call them back without alerting the raiders? Should she tie the horses to a tree and go help them? Should she ride noisily down the trail to distract the raiders while the boys sneaked up on them? Wracked with indecision, Lyra promised to make contingency plans for such events in the future, should they survive this episode.
Suddenly, she heard screams and thrashing up ahead and ignoring caution, she charged up the trail while unsheathing her sword. As she approached the area where she had seen the furtive figure, she caught sight of Syman and Antello standing over a prone body. Running to where the boys stood, Lyra’s eyes grew wide as she recognized the body at their feet. The wealthy magic student from the Academy, Walak, lay sprawled on the forest floor and Lyra’s mouth gaped open as she slid to a halt.
“Say you didn’t kill him,” cried Lyra.
“Never touched him,” Syman replied. “He fell as we charged him. Must have hit his head or something. I didn’t realize who it was until he fell.”
“Lucky thing he fell,” quipped Antello. “We were ready to slice him in half.”
“Yes,” frowned Syman, “I guess the two of us could kill an unarmed student without too much difficulty. I think your assessment of our skills is a little too flattering Antello. These raiders are not something we want to mess with if we can avoid it.”
“I agree,” offered Lyra. “In fact, I was thinking that we need to have a plan ready for when this happens the next time. We can’t just recklessly react whenever something comes up. We need to have a strategy set up to handle everything.”