The Anvil (25 page)

They
landed
in
the
back
yard
and
Tom
'
s
family
came
into
the
backyard
.
Soon
all
the
greetings
were
done
and
everyone
went
inside
to
eat
,
Dejoni
flew
off
to
find
a
food
in
the
woods
.

The
rest
of
the
day
Tom
and
Zack
spent
with
Tom
'
s
family
.
The
next
day
Tom
and
Zack
spent
with
and
some
friends
.
Suddenly
around
lunch
,
they
heard
a
bell
ringing
.
Everyone
in
the
village
knew
what
that
bell
meant
.
Someone
was
attacking
.

Chapter
11

It
hadn
'
t
been
rung
for
almost
a
year
.
Tom
bolted
up
and
yelled
to
Zack
“
Come
on
!”
they
ran
to
Tom
'
s
house
and
got
their
gear
.
They
ran
towards
the
bell
and
Dejoni
flew
down
to
them
when
there
was
enough
room
.
Madison
had
also
gone
to
the
bell
.

Town
guards
were
flooding
to
the
bell
.
Tom
looked
around
and
saw
that
the
commander
of
the
guard
wasn
'
t
there
.
He
ran
up
to
the
raised
platform
and
yelled
“
Everyone
follow
me
!”
surprisingly
everyone
followed
him
without
hesitation
,
responding
to
the
tone
of
authority
in
his
voice
.

As
they
ran
out
to
the
fields
Tom
saw
that
the
attackers
were
mounted
and
lightly
armed
.
Obviously
they
wanted
to
get
in
,
take
some
things
and
get
out
.
Arrows
flew
over
Tom
'
s
and
the
guards
'
heads
.
Dejoni
and
Zack
flew
over
them
and
Madison
was
preparing
to
cast
spells
.
Some
of
the
raiders
fell
to
the
arrows
but
most
survived
.
As
Tom
hit
the
first
raider
he
jumped
and
tackled
the
man
from
his
horse
.
He
swung
his
axe
in
a
controlled
rage
.

How
dare
these
people
attack
his
home
!
he
thought
as
he
saw
Dejoni
and
Zack
struggling
to
fight
off
a
large
group
of
the
raiders
.
He
led
some
of
the
guards
towards
them
and
helped
them
.

Tom
heard
Zack
yell
at
him
“
Look
out
!”
Tom
ducked
and
Zack
slashed
the
man
behind
Tom
.
All
around
him
men
from
both
sides
were
falling
.
Tom
looked
over
and
saw
a
smaller
group
of
raiders
riding
down
towards
the
battle
.

He
turned
to
Zack
and
yelled
“
Get
on
Dejoni
!
We
have
to
stop
those
raiders
!”
Zack
quickly
ran
to
Dejoni
and
jumped
on
.
Dejoni
swung
his
tail
hitting
many
raiders
then
took
off
.

Tom
'
s
wings
came
out
and
he
jumped
and
kicked
a
raider
'
s
head
.
Dejoni
landed
in
the
middle
of
the
attackers
crushing
some
.
Dejoni
swung
his
tail
,
snapped
his
jaws
and
clawed
the
raiders
.
Zack
fought
from
his
back
,
mostly
using
magic
.
Tom
landed
on
a
raider
and
knocked
him
from
his
saddle
,
then
landed
on
the
horse
.

He
fought
from
it
'
s
back
until
he
saw
the
man
who
obviously
was
leading
this
smaller
band
and
he
crouched
in
his
saddle
as
they
rode
towards
each
other
.

He
launched
himself
into
the
man
and
they
both
went
tumbling
to
the
ground
.
They
both
quickly
got
off
the
ground
and
ran
at
each
other
.
Tom
swung
his
axe
at
the
man
'
s
head
but
the
man
blocked
the
blow
with
his
shield
.
The
man
swung
his
sword
at
Tom
'
s
neck
,
but
Tom
deflected
the
shot
with
his
shield
.

Tom
rammed
the
man
with
his
shield
and
swung
his
axe
with
all
his
strength
into
the
staggering
man
'
s
head
.
Tom
felt
the
metal
and
bone
give
way
under
the
blow
.
Tom
flung
himself
back
into
the
mindless
fighting
around
him
,
some
of
the
guards
had
followed
the
boys
to
this
battle
.

Minutes
later
Tom
smashed
his
axe
into
the
last
man
and
he
looked
around
him
.
The
battle
at
lasted
only
minutes
,
but
the
ground
was
covered
in
bodies
and
blood
.
He
stood
there
panting
until
he
felt
a
hand
on
his
shoulder
.
He
looked
back
and
saw
a
girl
from
the
village
,
about
his
age
handing
him
some
water
.
He
drank
his
fill
then
started
to
help
clean
up
.
He
looked
into
the
face
of
the
guard
he
was
carrying
and
recognized
him
,
his
name
was
Fredric
,
he
had
a
wife
and
two
small
children
.
He
put
down
the
body
and
he
felt
another
hand
on
his
shoulder
.