Lyra crawled to the top of the hill and peered out into the darkness towards the farm. Only the lit farmhouse was visible and she could not see Syman at all. Within moments, Syman slipped out of the trees and lay watching the farmhouse.

“There are six of them,” he reported. “They are getting ready to return to the village. It looks like they beat the farmer pretty bad, but the wife and son appear not to have been harmed. I didn’t want to stay down there in case they decided to check the farm before they left. We need to make sure they all leave before we go back down.”

Lyra merely nodded as the three students stared at the farmhouse. It was a while before the raiders left, but there was enough light from the open door to count the people leaving.

“I am going down alone,” Lyra stated. “Try to keep an eye on Walak. I am afraid he might do something stupid.”

Syman and Antello started to object, but Lyra’s stare froze their objections. Lyra strode into the trees and started down the hill towards the farm. The field was rough and rutted in places and Lyra wished for a moon to shed some light on the ground. Keeping her eyes focused on the lit farmhouse, Lyra stumbled her way across the fields and finally stood next to one of the windows.

Standing with her back to the wall, she stood silently, listening to the sounds from within the house. Someone was moving around and she could detect the movement of pots and sloshing water, although the occupants’ voices were kept too low to hear. A ripping sound convinced Lyra that someone was trying to bandage the farmer and she risked a look inside.

The farmer’s wife was tending to the farmer’s bruises and the son was stirring a pot on the hearth. No one else was visible. Lyra eased her way around to the front of the house and gazed into the darkness towards the barn and the road to the village. Nothing moved in either direction and Lyra opened the door and stepped in without knocking. The occupants all looked towards the door, fear clearly etched on their faces. Lyra closed the door and stood silently with her back against it as she looked around the room.