“We are going to get a blow soon,” Lyra called. “See if you can find some shelter.”

Antello shouted back an acknowledgement and Lyra returned to her puzzling questions. A rich person who needs some evil magic done must be part of the answer, she conceded. If that was true then she was willing to bet that other mages, perhaps not of the same stature as her father, were probably coerced into trying the evil magic before the mysterious wealthy person organized the attack on the Academy. She wondered how she could find out if this was true and if the information would lead her closer to finding her father.

Another troubling revelation was that Rhodella was a mage and, according to Walak’s account, a rather proficient one. She also had used a dagger to fend off the raiders. Neither of these details squared with Lyra’s knowledge of her mother. Lyra had been sure that Rhodella shared Master Malafar’s pacifist beliefs. Rhodella had never been known to use magic, in fact she never even participated in any of the discussions regarding magic, either in regards to the Academy or Lyra’s education. Lyra sighed. How could she live with two people her entire life and not really know them? Had she been so wrong about her mother or had Rhodella been under some type of magic spell? Perhaps Walak was mistaken about the source of the fireballs, but Lyra could not think of anyone else who could have been responsible.

Antello reappeared at the head of the little column and announced that he had found shelter for the night, and led the party to a small cave not far off the trail. The cave entrance was small, forcing the students to crawl in and necessitated leaving the horses tied up outside. There was barely enough room for the four of them and their packs and the small enclosure certainly ruled out a fire for the night, though they did light a torch for illumination. While everyone was getting settled, Syman went out to tend to the horses, but he returned after only a few minutes when the sky opened up and sent torrents of rain tumbling down.