Lyra was lifted off the ground, a knife held to her throat. She was face-to-face with her captor, and out of the corner of her eye, saw Barley still pinned on to the ground.

The man, who seemed to be the leader, had dark eyes, with short black hair. He smiled with yellowed teeth.

"Hello there, little one." He pressed the knife harder into the delicate skin around her throat. "You seem to be lost." Lyra's grimaced as he laughed wheezily. "Clyde Marington, but you can just call me Clyde. And you are?" Lyra only spat on his boot.

"Well then. Mark!" The man who was holding her twisted her arm behind her back, and wrenched it upwards. Lyra bitterly remembered the feeling. "Now..are you ready to tell me who you are?"

Suddenly, one of Clyde's lackeys tapped him on his shoulder. "Lookit what we found, sir!" It was a wanted poster with Lyra's face on it. Lyra cursed inwardly. "Ah...in that case, keep her alive. That's a big reward for returning her. Keep them here, and I'll be back with a wagon. They don't cooperate-" Clyde tapped his chin. "Use your imagination."

He mounted his horse, and galloped away. There was about six men there to guard them, and Lyra was tied to a tree, along with Barley. Barley turned, and whispered to her. "You okay?" Lyra still felt the blood flow from her nose, and an ache in her jaw. "I'm alive."

Barley grunted. "Good. I got a plan. None of these guys seem very smart." Lyra saw him adjust his hip, and she saw his flute sticking out of his pocket. "You know War Playing?" Lyra asked in surprise. "No, but there's a knife hidden in the center, in case of emergencies. If you can pull it out and cut the ropes without them noticing, you can grab your violin and...well, you know." Lyra nodded, and looked towards the other men.

They were sitting around, every so often looking back at her and Barley. They seemed bored, and they began to jest and chat. Lyra looked innocent and terrified as one looked at her. He squinted, staring for a moment, before finally turning back to his mates.

Lyra reached her tied down hand towards Barley's pocket. She reached, only hitting hard bark or material from Barley's clothing. Finally, she felt her index finger touch wood, and tried to reach farther while still looking trapped to the guarding men. Lyra slowly closed her finger around the wood. "Got it," she hissed. "Where's the knife?" Barley shifted his shoulders. "Tip it downwards."

Lyra obliged, and a small pocket knife came from the center of the flute. She slowly brought it back and forth across the thick ropes. It was about a half-hour before Lyra had completely cut them, and Barley pulled them to make it look like she was still tied firmly to the trunk of the tree. Lyra searched for her violin, and found it next to two guards talking to each other. She put the knife in her pocket, and shifted her shoulders.

Lyra tilted her head towards Barley. "Let go of the ropes and let me go in three....two...one...go!" Barley dropped the ropes and she yanked the ropes off of her, and ran towards her violin.

The few seconds it took Lyra to get to her violin felt like hours. She had never held off as many people before, and felt a pang of fear in her chest as her hand wrapped around the neck of her violin. As all six men came at her, and Lyra did the first thing she could think of. She played pizzicato. It knocked back one of the men, and slammed him into another.

Lyra slowly gained confidence, and she grabbed her bow and started playing fiercely. She saw Barley punch one of them, and smiled. Lyra played, her bow fluttering across the strings. Soon, all of them were on the ground, unconscious.

Lyra, who was still panting, looked over to Barley. He looked mostly unscathed. She laughed, and he soon started laughing too. "Phew! That was close." Barley looked exhausted. Then he looked up, and yelled, "Lyra look out!"

Lyra turned, and was slammed to the ground. She saw Clyde with his hands around her throat, choking her. Lyra gasped for breath. He growled. "You just need to die." Lyra struggled, and felt her hand touch something. She yanked upwards, and Clyde stopped. He coughed, and then fell to the side.

Lyra saw the knife from Barley's flute in his chest. She gasped, and felt horror, terror, and sickness all together. Lyra felt as if she were going to throw up. She turned towards Barley.

"B-Barley... What have I done?"

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Ohhhhhhhh no she didn't!😱 Kidding, lol. Mkay, sorry I'm being lazy on updates.

-Clo