Standing upright, Lyra smoothly stepped off the stairs and turned down a corridor leading to a rear exit from the castle. Once she was far enough down the corridor to be safely out of sight, she broke into a run, her bare feet pounding lightly on the smooth floor. Lyra reached the door and swung it open swiftly as she stepped out into the bright glare of the morning sun. She closed the door with an authoritative slam and turned to face the two boys.
“So,” she called, “you two are practicing without supervision again. Perhaps Master Caulder would be interested in your behavior.”
“Oh, no,” groaned Syman, the taller of the two boys. “Lyra, shouldn’t you be learning magic with your father?”
“Yeah,” echoed Antello, “you shouldn’t be here, either.”
“Okay,” chirped Lyra, “I won’t tell if you two don’t. I’ve been waiting for the chance for a rematch with you two.”
“I swear you should be taking lessons from Master Caulder instead of your father,” smiled Syman. “Come on, we don’t want to get caught out here. I’m ready for you this time. Master Caulder has taught us some new swings.”
“You are going to need them,” chuckled Lyra as she drew her wooden practice sword from her belt and leaped off the steps to land in the dew covered grass. “Let’s see what Master Caulder can teach you to protect against this . . . ”
Lyra swung her foot and knocked Antello’s feet out from under him. Turning quickly, she thrust a rising slash of her wooden sword towards Syman and the dark-haired boy had to leap out of the way.
“You are a wicked girl,” laughed Syman as he raised his wooden sword and moved into a defensive stance.
“And a cheater,” laughed Antello as he jumped to his feet and charged Lyra.
“There is no such thing as cheating when you are fighting for your life,” instructed Lyra as she ducked Antello’s thrust and tumbled to the ground to avoid the expected swing from Syman. “Master Caulder may be a Master Swordsman, but fighting for your life is not a tournament. Every action to defeat your foe is legal in order to avoid being killed.”
“She’s right,” agreed Syman as he ran to cross swords with Lyra, who had just regained a standing position. “Master Caulder should broaden our lessons to include situations we may face in real life.”
Antello smiled as he circled Lyra to trap her between Syman and himself. “I guess he figures we will learn those lessons soon enough,” he stated. “What he has taught us already makes us among the best swordsmen in Omunga.”
“Not by a long shot,” scowled Syman as he and Lyra continued to exchange blows. “He is an excellent teacher, but we have a lot to learn before we go fighting bandits or enter the Imperial Service. If we went off right now, we would be dead before nightfall.”
“Not a chance,” laughed Antello as he tried to trip Lyra in repayment for her opening gambit. “It would be our opponents on the ground, not us.”
“None of us are ready for bandits,” huffed Lyra as she jumped to avoid Antello’s swinging leg. “Still, I wish father would let me study with you instead of taking magic lessons. That stuff is so dry and boring.”
“Dry and boring, is it?” shouted Rhodella from the steps. “I thought you weren’t feeling well this morning, Lyra. Your father is going to be mighty displeased.”
Syman’s sword struck Lyra in the ribs when her mother shouted and Lyra stumbled to the ground. The wet dew felt cool against her cheek as she sat up and stared at the imposing figure of her mother with hands on her hips.
“I couldn’t resist, Mother,” pleaded Lyra. “You know how I enjoy practicing with the boys. Why won’t Father let me study under Master Caulder?”
“Your father is the finest mage in Omunga,” scolded Rhodella as she strode over to the errant trio. “People from all over the country send their children to his Academy to learn magic and you are one of the most gifted of all. How can you even think of wasting your efforts with this foolish nonsense? What do you think it does to his reputation to have his own daughter frolicking in the grass with two young boys who shouldn’t even be here? You waste your talents frivolously and you will end up getting hurt with this . . . this disgusting show of brute force.”
“Mother,” appealed Lyra, “Father refuses to teach any interesting magic. I have learned what he is willing to teach, but he refuses to go any further. It is not exciting anymore.”
“You mean he won’t teach you to use magic as a weapon,” scolded Rhodella. “You know your father’s feelings about that, Lyra. We do not need to air this problem in public. Get yourself cleaned up and report to him directly. I am sure that he will have a few choice words for you. And you two . . . Master Caulder is going to hear of this nonsense, I assure you.”
“Mother,” pleaded Lyra, “do not involve Syman and Antello in this. I will take Father’s punishment, whatever it is, but they have no part in it.”
“No part?” questioned Rhodella. “Master Caulder has strict rules about practice without supervision. There are reasons for this, Lyra. We cannot allow students to hurt themselves while here at the Academy. If just one student gets killed at the Omunga Academy of Magic, we will hear no end to it. There are other schools that would gleefully spread the news about our careless methods. All three of you will have your punishment.”
Rhodella turned and stormed into the castle. Lyra rose and smoothed her tunic, trying to rid the rough fabric of dirt before she had to meet her father. “I’m sorry,” she lamented. “I guess I wasn’t as careful as I should have been. I think Walak might have seen me leave. Now I’ve gotten the two of you in trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it,” smiled Antello. “We can handle Master Caulder alright.”
“Right,” snipped Syman. “We’ll just let him beat us silly and then we’ll plead for a swift death. It should all be over quickly.”
“I’ll . . . “ started Lyra before the sounds of screaming reached her.
All three turned towards the castle as the sounds of mayhem increased. The pounding of running horses drifted on the wind and Lyra saw dark clouds of dust from the road leading to the Academy. The road to the Academy was quite long and Lyra realized that a large group of warriors must be attacking the castle. Why anyone would attack the Academy was a mystery though. Looking at her wooden practice sword with disgust, Lyra grabbed Antello as he tried to move towards the rear door of the castle.
“Without weapons,” she whispered, “we will just be giving them three more victims.”
“You don’t think they will stop the killing inside do you?” quipped Syman. “In moments they will be out here to get us, too.”
“You are right!” exclaimed Lyra looking around frantically. “Quickly, get into the moat. Maybe we can circle around to the front and find some weapons.”
“We'd better find some,” declared Antello. “I plan on taking a few of the raiders down if I have to do it with my bare hands.”
“Your hands are not what I would call potent weapons,” quipped Syman as he joined the other two in a mad dash to the dry moat surrounding the castle.
Lyra looked up from the dry moat and saw the windows to the top floors. “This is not good enough,” she declared. “Whoever they are, they will still be able to see us.”
“Can’t you use some magic to help?” inquired Antello. “They must teach you something useful in there.”
“I wish they did,” frowned Lyra. “The fact is, my father doesn’t believe in using magic as a weapon. My Uncle Temiker and my Father had a falling out over this very subject and they have not talked since. They were very close when I was younger and now they won’t even talk to each other. We should move around to the front. We can hide under the old drawbridge.”