“We’ve already killed one of them,” bragged Antello. “They are not so tough. Master Caulder taught us well and we know how to take care of ourselves.”

“Enough,” demanded Syman. “Walak, if you want to leave you are free to do so, but I would not go towards the village if I were you. There were over a hundred raiders heading to the village and while I am not sure how many are in the farmhouse, I know it is not near a hundred. That means the rest are in the village most likely. Antello, stay and guard Lyra. I am going to check out the farmhouse.”

Cutting off any response, Syman rose and dashed into the trees. Antello rose to follow and looked down at Lyra. The moment of hesitation took Syman out of sight and Antello sighed and sat down next to Lyra. “I wish he would have waited for me. It would be safer with two of us going down.”

“Actually, you are better off here,” smiled Lyra. “We can watch and if he gets into trouble, we can create a diversion for him.”

“Watch?” questioned Antello. “It is so dark now that we cannot even see him.”

“True,” Lyra replied, “but the raiders cannot see him either. The lights from the farmhouse will allow Syman to see in, but the raiders will be blind looking out into the darkness. Syman will be alright.”

Lyra hoped she was right. She knew Syman was a cautious person, but she could not help but feel fearful for him. She knew that Syman had left abruptly to stop Antello from going with him and Lyra agreed with his judgement. Antello was too quick to pick a fight even with outrageous odds. She looked over at Walak who had not left but sat apart from the others, his body visibly shaking. The sweat was pouring off his face and Lyra could smell fear emanating from him. It was obvious that he wanted to leave, but he was afraid to go off on his own. Lyra felt sorry for him.