“Wake up,” Antello whispered and upon seeing Lyra open her eyes, moved off to wake Walak. Syman was already stirring and Lyra rose quietly and gathered her belongings.
“A band of raiders rode by here a few moments ago,” Antello softly explained. “If we were awake, I think we could have taken them. No more than six of them.”
“Antello,” Syman growled, “we don’t want to attack anyone, even if we can take them. What we want to do is quietly disappear. Which direction were they heading?”
“South, like us,” Antello replied sullenly. “They were not moving fast, so maybe we should wait a while before moving out.”
Syman stuck his head out the cave entrance and peered at the sky and the ground. “It hasn’t rained for some time and doesn’t look like it will today,” he announced. I would like to make it to the city of Gatong today if we can, but I do not want to catch up to the raiders. Does anyone know the trails in this part of the forest? Perhaps there is another trail we can take, one that is less used.”
Everyone looked sheepish and shook their heads, but it was Lyra who spoke. I have never been farther than Tala, which is the village we visited last night. I know the main trail goes to Gatong, as does the road, but I have no knowledge of the other trails. I do know a bit about the geography though. The Altha River flows into Gatong and should be to our east. Maybe we should cross the road and try to find it. We could follow the bank into the city.”
“I have to believe that the road would be closely watched,” frowned Syman. “Even just crossing it would be a risk and we would not make Gatong before nightfall if it is any appreciable distance to the east. I would rather risk an unknown trail as long as it heads in the right direction.”
“But we might find the Imperial Guard on the road,” argued Walak. “Once we find them we will be safe.”
“The Imperial Guard has barracks in Gatong,” interjected Antello. “We can tell them about the attack when we get there. I think Syman is right. I will scout for another trail while the rest of you travel slowly down the main trail. You won’t catch up to them unless they stop, but be alert in case they turn around.”
When Syman nodded at the plan, Antello mounted his horse and rode off into the forest. Walak was torn between wanting to stay in the cave until the raiders went home and getting to Gatong so he tell the Imperial Guard about the attack. During his hesitation, Syman and Lyra mounted and set off down the trail. Walak hurried to catch up to them before they left him behind.
They rode slowly for over an hour with Syman in the lead before Antello returned and indicated that he had found another trail. The group left the main trail and followed Antello. Their cross-country journey was easy at first, but soon they were riding through scratchy bushes with thorns and barbs. The barbs reached out to snare their clothes and scratch their arms, but it was the noise of the journey that bothered them the most. If anyone were listening, the sounds of their journey would certainly be heard. Finally, they broke free of the bushes and found a narrow trail. Antello halted as he reached the trail and listened intently for any sounds that didn’t belong. Only the morning chirping of birds and the gurgle of a distant waterfall disturbed the woodlands and Antello led the small group southward in single file.
It was impossible to talk while riding single file and still remain quiet, so everyone was left to their own thoughts for the remainder of the morning. Lyra had a lot of questions without answers and thinking of them only frustrated her. Instead, she let her mind drift back to her magic lessons and started looking at what she had been taught in a different light. She had always hated the lessons because she saw no reason for the magic. Walak was right about one thing; the lessons were boring and useless. Still, she had never thought of being in her present position and now she started seeing uses for some of the spells that she thought were useless, like starting a fire without a tinderbox. That lesson had seemed pointless while living in a castle where the corridors were lined with burning torches.
She started looking at each spell in a new light. Fetching a small object could become handy if they were hiding and couldn’t move. Making a noise emanate from a distance could be a good distraction and sending a scent upon the wind could be used to lead tracking dogs astray. Smiling to herself, she began to find dozens of uses for the spells she had learned. Mentally, she cataloged each spell and thought of ways they could be utilized. Still she wished she had learned some offensive magic and her hand instinctively patted her saddle sack as she thought of the books she would read as soon as she got the chance.
Near high sun, Antello called a halt and they ate a small meal of dried meat and bread. No one spoke during the brief respite and soon they were back on the trail. An hour later, Antello slowed as the narrow trail rejoined the main trail. There were no recent tracks visible, which led Antello to believe that the raiders had not come this far and they proceeded down the main trail.
The afternoon’s travel was uneventful and as the sun approached a hand’s width from the horizon, the city of Gatong appeared through the trees. The area between the students and the city was all cultivated so the trail turned sharply at the edge of the forest and ran directly east towards the road. Antello stopped and Syman drew abreast of him as they scanned the open area together.
“I don’t see anyone who looks like a raider, but I am not fond of proceeding in the open,” Syman summarized. “Perhaps we are better off to spend the evening here and approach the city in darkness.”
“You can’t be serious,” cried Walak. “We spent all day riding in silence for fear of being discovered and right down there is the Imperial Guard. All we have to do is make a run for it. If anyone is watching for us, we will be inside the city before they know what is going on.”
“Let’s compromise,” offered Lyra. “Antello and Walak can ride in now and alert the Imperial Guard. Syman and I will follow as soon as we see you enter the city safely and try to book passage on a boat.”
“Don’t book any boat passage for me,” objected Walak. “I have no desire to go to Alamar. I am reporting the attack and asking for an escort home. You three can go off fighting raiders by yourself. I want no part of it. It was your father’s fault that the Academy was attacked in the first place. You will be lucky if you aren’t jailed for failing to report the attack.”
With the last words of Walak’s tirade, he charged down the trail towards the road and Syman nodded to Antello to follow him. “You don’t trust him either, do you?” Syman asked Lyra when they were alone.
“It is not that I distrust him,” Lyra replied after some hesitation, “it is just that I do not trust him. I wonder if his father might be behind the attack on the Academy.”
“And you do not find it strange that he was the only person from inside the castle who escaped unharmed?” Syman asked.
Lyra cocked her head and sent Syman a puzzling glance. “So that is why you were so interested in our conversation last night. I just assumed that his story was true. Walak has always been a cowardly obnoxious brat and I could picture him hiding in a closet so I gave it no thought.”
“He certainly has no love for Master Malafar or the Academy,” added Syman. “I don’t know what to think. I only urge caution in what we let him know.”
“Thanks for stopping the conversation last night,” nodded Lyra. “I wasn’t sure how to get out of telling him more, but I share your caution. Still, Walak does not have the courage to have remained at the Academy if he knew there was going to be an attack. He could not have had any advance notice of the attack, but that does not mean that his father didn’t order it. I am probably fishing in a wash tub, but his father is something I want to check out.”
“Well at least we shall be free of him now,” reflected Syman. “He just entered the city with Antello not far behind. Nobody gave them more than a cursory glance so I think we are safe to enter. Let’s ride casually and make a run for it only if we are threatened. No sense in giving people a memory of our passing.”
Lyra nodded in agreement as they started down the trail towards the road. The sun was just starting to set as they gained the road and traffic was almost nonexistent. Lyra let her eyes wander to the farms lining the road, their uniform rows of tilled earth reflecting a warm glow in the light of the setting sun. Half height painted fences lined the road with a scattering of gates for the access trails leading to the farmhouses. It was a pleasant view and prettier than Tala’s scattered farms. The walls to the city rose up before them and Lyra felt excitement run through her. She had only been to Gatong once before and that was so long ago that she had all but forgotten those childhood memories. She tried to anticipate what the hustle of city life must be like with people running every which way on shopping sprees or errands of some sort.
The city gate was clearly visible now and Lyra could pick out the shining white uniforms of the Imperial Guard manning the entrance. Beyond them she could see fine carriages on the road and a long line of storefronts with gaily-painted signs. As they got up to the gate, she saw Antello standing beyond the Imperial Guards and he was making some strange gestures. Syman halted and grabbed the reins to Lyra’s horse just before they passed through the gate.
“Darling,” Syman cooed, “maybe we should inquire about work with the farms out here before we try to get a job in the city. I am pretty handy with a plow and it looks like they might need help.”
Lyra stared at Syman, but watched the Imperial Guards who were only several feet away. “Whatever you wish husband. I think living on a farm again would be good. Which one should we inquire of first?”
Syman mumbled an unintelligible reply as he turned, leading Lyra’s horse with him, and headed back up the road. He slowly and calmly passed two or three gates before selecting one to open. They traveled up the trail to the farmhouse and Syman dismounted and walked up to the farmhouse door. Lyra stole a glance back towards the city and saw nothing unusual. Lyra sat upon her horse as the sky darkened and Syman talked to an old weathered farmer in a jovial manner as if there was no urgency in his unusual behavior. Lyra wanted to scream at Syman to tell her what was going on, but she forced herself to sit calmly as the old farmer kept glancing over towards her and smiling.
Eventually the farmer retreated indoors and Syman came back and helped her dismount. “We are going for a little walk my dear,” he grinned. Leading their horses eastward pass the farmhouse, Syman whistled an old sailor tune and walked with a swagger. Lyra’s curiosity boiled within her as she walked alongside the whistling cadet, but again she held her loving facade. Syman led them along a narrow path that ran between two fields and eventually they halted at another gate. Syman opened the gate and kept on going until they had entered the forest beyond.
“Okay,” Lyra huffed, “what exactly is going on?”
“Sorry, Lyra,” smiled Syman. “I am not sure what is the matter, but Antello signaled not to enter the city. He was concerned about the Imperial Guards, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why.”
“How do you know all this?” questioned Lyra. “And what was all that with the old farmer?”
“Antello and I have a system of signals,” explained Syman. “We developed them to avoid getting caught at the Academy. It is nothing fancy, but he signaled that we need to circle around the city and, as Gatong is a seaport, the only way we can do that is to the east. The little speech I gave at the gate was to make a story up which the guards would believe. I think they would be interested in people who turned around after seeing their uniforms guarding the gate. I chose the farm that was best tended to inquire of work, knowing we would be turned down.”
“Okay,” conceded Lyra with a warm appraisal of Syman’s cleverness. “So you asked for work at the least likely place to want workers, but what did you discuss with the farmer for so long?”
“I told him that I was a sailor and newly married,” chuckled Syman, “just in case he actually needed help. When he politely declined my offer to work for him, I confided that your father did not approve of me and that he did not know of our wedding. I asked if there was somewhere that we might spend our honeymoon night without entering the city, for I feared that your father might come looking for us. I must have struck an old memory in him as he offered us a room for the night. I politely refused and inquired if there might be an old hunter’s cabin in the woods nearby. As I guessed, he confirmed that there were several and told me where I might find one. I asked permission to traverse his property and he gave it gladly and here we are.”
“Don’t start believing your own stories, Syman,” laughed Lyra. “I never realized how resourceful you are. How do we meet up with Antello though?”
“Well, he said we needed to circle around the city, so he intends to meet us on the other side. I would suggest that we find a high point on the other side of the city and keep watch for him. First, we are going to have to find a way to cross the Altha River. Perhaps we should catch some sleep in the hunter’s cabin first.”
Lyra playfully punched Syman’s arm and laughed. “I think we need to circle the city and find out what is going on to alarm Antello.”
Darkness settled over the valley as Lyra and Syman worked their way through the woods and finally found a trail leading eastward. The trail was well used, but not a main trail and they proceeded single file. Chirping crickets and croaking frogs created a racket loud enough to block out any other sounds and Syman led them slowly through the woods to avoid stumbling upon a patrol. Eventually, the trail ran alongside the Altha River and they followed it upstream for several hours before coming to a crudely made bridge. They crossed quickly and started following the trail on the other side of the river back towards the city.
It was approaching the middle of the night when Syman spotted the glow of a campfire ahead on the trail. Raucous laughter drifted lightly on the wind and Syman turned around and they retreated back up the trail. Backtracking for a while, they came to a fork in the trail and turned south. The narrow trail wound through the forest and started climbing. Being unfamiliar with the area, Syman could only follow the trail and hope that they came to an intersection that would allow them to turn westward once again, but the trail continued southward and climbed steadily. The soil turned rocky as they climbed and they began seeing glimpses of the starry sky as they continued to ascend the trail. The trail began to switchback and Syman realized that they were climbing out of the valley and were not likely to find a connecting trail until they either reached the top of whatever they were climbing or they descended the other side.
“I think we ought to find a place to sleep,” suggested Syman. “I am sure that we are probably south of the city now and we need some height to watch the road. In the morning we will be able to see where we are.”
Lyra was sore from riding and welcomed the stop. She quickly agreed and Syman began searching in vain for a suitable campsite. The trail had grown quite steep since they had agreed to stop and the night sky was completely visible to one side, while the other side was a wall of solid rock. The path consisted of small rocks and Syman had almost given up finding a campsite when he spotted an overhang in the rock wall. It was not a cave, but the overhang would offer some protection should the weather turn to rain.
They halted and dismounted and led the horses under the overhang where Syman had found a protrusion in the rock to tie the reins to. The ground was quite pebble-strewn and they laid blankets on the ground and slept on top of them.
Lyra awoke several hours later, feeling as if she had not slept at all. The sun had risen and while they were still in the shade of the mountain, the entire valley below was bathed in sunshine. Lyra stood on the edge of a cliff and gazed out over the broad valley and the sea beyond. The city of Gatong lay nestled below and the rising sun reflected off a multitude of buildings like light refracting through a many-faceted prism. Lyra never imagined such beauty and was so enraptured with the vision that she did not notice when Syman walked over and stood next to her. The intrusion of his voice startled her and she jumped.
“It is a beautiful sight, isn’t it,” Syman commented.
“Yes,” Lyra sighed, regaining her composure. “It is hard to imagine such beauty. The city seems so small from up here.”
“Indeed, it will be impossible to spot Antello from this distance,” Syman agreed. “I am going to walk up the trail a bit and see if I can tell how far we have to go up before it starts back down. We might be better to turn around and take our original trail back to the road. I am sure that whoever had the campfire last night is long gone.”
Lyra nodded as Syman left and returned to gazing at the vista before her. The people of the city were rousing from their night’s slumber and she watched them move busily about like tiny ants. The sun’s reflection off the buildings kept moving ever so slightly and the people and horses flitted from light to dark as they traversed the streets. Somewhere down there is Antello she realized, suddenly afraid for him. What was it that spooked him so? Was he in danger or did he sense danger for Lyra? A sense of darkness fell over her just as the shadow of a cloud fell over Gatong and she knew that they must hurry to meet Antello, or perhaps, rescue him.
Syman returned at a run and Lyra turned to meet him.
“We stopped just short of the summit,” Syman panted, “and the watchtower that sits upon it. It is crawling with Imperial Guards.”
“Is that bad?” questioned Lyra. “I mean why should we be afraid of Imperial Guards? They will protect us from the raiders at least.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” offered Syman. “Antello is no fool and he obviously did not want us to pass the Imperial Guards at the gate. I do not pretend to understand what is going on, but I think we should avoid everybody until we talk with Antello and that includes the Imperial Guard. There is no way past them other than returning the way we came and that is what we are going to do.”
Lyra looked deeply into Syman’s eyes trying to read whether it was fear or concern that lurked within them. Finally, realizing that his caution was probably well founded, she shrugged and went to pack the horses for the trip back down the mountain.
The journey down the trail was quicker in the daylight than it had been the night before and within a couple of hours, they were past the site of the campfire and approaching the road south of Gatong. Mindful of the watchtower atop the mountain, Syman found a concealed waiting place that offered a good view of the road and they settled in to wait for Antello to come out the gate.
A couple of hours passed before they finally saw Antello and when they did, he was not coming from the city, but from the south. Quickly, they mounted and made for the road, turning south when they reached it. Syman and Antello ignored each other as they passed on the road, and Syman and Lyra continued south until the city was out of sight. Syman dropped a shiny coin on the ground and led Lyra into the woods until they found a small clearing. There they waited for Antello to show up and they did not have to wait long.
“I thought I would never find you,” greeted Antello. “That was my fourth run over the road this morning and I really didn’t want to have to do it again.”
“Sorry,” apologized Syman, “we had trouble finding a safe way around the city. What is the matter with us entering Gatong? Did Walak get to speak with the Imperial Guard about the raiders?”
“Oh he got to talk with them alright,” frowned Antello. “He was already talking to them by the time I reached the gate. When they found out he was from the Academy, they dragged him off to be interrogated.”
“Well that is what he wanted,” interjected Lyra. “I don’t see why that bothered you so much. It makes sense that they would want to investigate such a massacre.”
“No, no, no,” Antello shook his head. “They already knew about the massacre. They were taking him into custody as an accomplice. “
“An accomplice?” Lyra scowled. “Whatever would make them think he was an accomplice?”
“Whoa,” interrupted Syman. “You are not making sense, Antello. Start from the beginning and go slowly. Tell us everything that happened.”
“I am trying to,” sighed Antello. “Okay, when I got to the gate, Walak was off his horse and talking to the Imperial Guards. He appeared to be arguing and they dragged him off right before my eyes. Nobody paid any attention to me riding in and I immediately dismounted and went to the first street merchant I saw. I asked her what the commotion was about and she started telling me about the terrible massacre at the Academy. When I asked her if the person they dragged off was one of the raiders, she told me that he had just admitted to leaving the Academy with the killer and that he was arrested.”
Lyra started to interrupt and Antello held his hand up to stop her. “I asked her what she meant and she pointed to a poster on the backside of the gate. She told me that Walak had just admitted to leaving the Academy with the terrible killer who was pictured on the poster. The picture was of you, Lyra. You are wanted for the massacre at the Academy.”
“Wha…at?” Lyra stuttered. “You can’t be serious, Antello. How can they think a young girl killed all those people?”
“And how did they get a picture of you?” questioned Syman. “Think about it for a moment. The raiders are searching high and low for you, Lyra. By making up some story about the young female wizard who blew everyone away with her magic, they now have the Imperial Guard hunting for you.”
“Precisely,” Antello continued. “That was why I signaled you to get away from the city. After I warned you, I spent the night trying to find out more information. I thought at first that Walak would set them straight and they would take down the poster. Instead, it appears as if Walak told them everything he knew about your plans. The docks were swarming with Imperial Guards asking if you or anyone who looked like Syman or me had inquired about passage. I started keeping to the shadows after that. Thankfully, Walak’s description of us would fit a lot of people. I hung around a tavern next to the south gate for most of the night and tried to listen to any talk from the Imperial Guards. I didn’t learn much more except that a runner was sent out with the poster to every town between here and Alamar.”
“So they even know where I am headed,” stated Lyra. “Walak has certainly been a big help to the raiders. There is no way we can get to Alamar through the raiders and the Imperial Guard. I might as well give myself up and explain what really happened.”
“No,” shouted Syman. “That is pure foolishness. Don’t you see it yet? The Imperial Guard cannot protect you from the raiders. Do not underestimate their reach. They would not have arranged for the Imperial Guard to hunt you if they did not already have a way to get you from the Imperial Guard. They have thought this through very cleverly. The Imperial Guard would have to transport you to the capital and the raiders would think nothing of ambushing the Imperial Guard to get you in their hands. They want you very badly and they will stop at nothing to get you. Turning yourself in would be the same as slitting your own throat.”
“I agree,” added Antello. “We will find a way to get to Alamar. At least we know enough to avoid the Imperial Guard now. We might have gone straight to them if we had not found out about the poster. Syman and I will get you there like we promised Rhodella. I know we can do it.”
Lyra hugged them both and cried. Maybe with friends like Syman and Antello she could make it, but she wasn’t sharing information with anyone else again.