LAURA TORE OUT OF the forest so fast that her feet kicked up tiny explosions in the dirt. She ran through the center of Hillview, past the Endless Well and the Food-Giving Tree until she reached Torian’s house at the edge of the south wall. Just like all the other homes in town, it was a white stone structure with a thatched roof made of straw and reeds.

Laura banged on the door as hard as she could. “Torian!” she shouted. “Come quick!”

Some Lysor kids playing nearby in the Clear Lake stopped what they were doing and wandered over to see what the commotion was about.

Laura pounded on the door so hard, she thought it might fall off its hinges. “Hello?! Anybody in there?!”

The door flung open, and Torian stepped outside. “Laura,” he said with surprise. “Is everything all right?”

“No, everything is not all right,” she said, panting. Several Lysors started to gather in front of Torian’s house, their faces a mixture of curiosity and concern.

He gave them a small, reassuring wave, then turned back to Laura. “Well, what’s wrong?”

“Someone’s attacking the town!” she exploded.

Torian’s face twisted in confusion. “That’s impossible. The enchantment makes Hillview completely invisible to the outside eye.”

“Well, someone found it. I don’t know how, but it’s true,” Laura insisted. “Follow me!” She turned and started running back toward the Never-Dark Forest.

Torian hurried behind her, along with the group of Lysors who had gathered in front of his house. As they made their way through the town, more Lysors darted out of their homes and joined the group. Millie came outside wearing an apron covered in fish-bone dust and holding a wooden spoon. She recognized something she rarely saw on Laura’s face—fear. She dropped the spoon and ran after her.

Micah was in his study when he glanced out the window and saw Laura leading a parade of panic that was growing larger by the minute.

He raced outside. “Laura! What’s going on?”

Without breaking her stride, she shouted, “I saw an arrow hit the outside of the wall!”

A flash of exasperation crossed Micah’s face. “You were looking through the cracks again?”

“You can ground me later, Dad! Come on!”

By the time Laura reached the forest, the entire town was following behind her. She led them to the spot that until then she had never shown anyone.

“There,” she said, pointing to the cracks. “Someone shot an arrow at the wall. Look!”

Half the Lysors were practically climbing over each other to get close, while the other half hung back in fear.

Torian turned to the crowd, his back against the wall. “Please remain calm. I will get to the bottom of this.”

He pressed his face to the cracks for what felt like an eternity. Then he turned around and looked at Laura as if she were a puzzle he couldn’t solve. A very frustrating puzzle. That was missing too many pieces. “There’s nothing there,” he said.

“What?!” said Laura, her stomach twisting as if she’d just eaten a bowlful of Millie’s Thew. She rushed to the wall and looked for herself. Sure enough, the silver arrow was gone. “I—I swear I saw it,” she stammered.

Torian addressed the Lysors. “My friends, there is no arrow. We are not under attack. This was all”—he shot Laura a look—“a misunderstanding.”

A wave of relief washed over the crowd, then just as quickly, the tide turned to anger. The Lysors’ eyes sharpened into daggers, and they erupted in shouts of outrage.

“Well then, what is the meaning of this?!”

“The girl is nothing but trouble!”

“I knew she was a liar,” said Claude, smacking his older brother, Melvin, on the back. “You owe me a gray pear!”

Laura tried to meet her dad’s eyes, but his hand was cover-ing his face. Still, though, she could see his disappointment.

“I’m telling the truth!” Laura insisted.

This only seemed to anger the crowd more.

“Friends,” Torian said, raising his voice above the din. “Don’t judge too harshly. It’s not the Lysor way. After all, Laura is only a child, and we all know children tend to imagine things.”

Laura bristled. “I didn’t imagine—”

Torian spoke over her. “Now we’ve seen what happens when our eyes wander outside. Fear! Confusion! Chaos! The solution is as clear as our precious lake. We must seal up these cracks immediately!”

The crowd roared with approval.

“This isn’t about the cracks in the wall!” Laura shouted in desperation. “There’s something out there!”

“What’s out there doesn’t concern us. All that matters is what’s in here,” said Torian. “We must seal the cracks!”

The crowd roared even louder.

Laura exploded, “Do you have gray pears for brains?! This isn’t going to solve anything!”

Micah pushed through the crowd and grabbed her shoulders. “Laura, stop! Please!”

She looked up at his face. “You believe me, don’t you, Dad?”

He sighed heavily, searching for the right words. “I…think…sometimes you want an adventure so badly that your imagination gets away from you.”

Suddenly Laura felt completely and utterly alone. Which is an especially terrible feeling in a crowd.

The Lysors began to chant, “The walls will never fall! The walls will never fall!”

Torian picked up a handful of dirt and spread it over the cracked wall.

“Talamh’e,” he uttered, and the dirt turned to stone.

Laura watched as the last light from the outside world disappeared. Her mind hovered somewhere between fury and devastation, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Millie. Laura turned to her, red-eyed.

“I believe you,” Millie said.

“My friends,” said Torian, “we are safer today than we were yesterday.” He raised his fist and shouted triumphantly, “The walls will never fall!”

Boom!

The earth shook violently, and the entire north wall crumbled to the ground.