The Anvil (28 page)

Tom
laughed
“
I
knew
I
forgot
something
,
thanks
.
Why
don
'
t
we
all
go
to
the
lake
?”
all
the
others
nodded
and
agreed
.
They
all
went
to
change
and
met
just
outside
of
the
village
.
Bryn
and
Madison
got
on
Dejoni
with
Zack
.
Tom
spread
his
wings
and
they
took
off
.
They
landed
at
the
lake
a
few
minutes
later
Tom
got
rid
of
his
wings
as
the
girls
and
Zack
got
off
Dejoni
.
Dejoni
panted
and
said
“
That
made
me
tired
,
I
rarely
carry
two
almost
never
three
.
Good
night
.”
he
walked
off
to
the
shade
of
some
trees
and
laid
down
.

The
rest
of
them
stood
there
a
moment
in
silence
then
Zack
started
laughing
and
the
rest
soon
were
too
.
Tom
suddenly
made
water
launch
from
the
lake
and
soak
the
rest
of
them
.
This
time
he
started
the
laughing
.
They
started
swimming
and
messing
around
.
Eventually
Dejoni
joined
them
.
About
an
hour
later
they
went
back
to
the
beach
.
They
dried
off
and
started
to
leave
.
Dejoni
looked
at
them
all
“
I
am
not
carrying
three
people
again
.
That
is
too
much
.”
so
they
decided
Tom
would
carry
Bryn
,
because
he
knew
her
best
.

They
followed
the
road
mostly
on
the
way
back
.
Suddenly
Madison
pointed
to
the
road
. “
Bandits
!
Let
'
s
go
!”
she
yelled
.
They
flew
down
and
Tom
put
Bryn
off
the
the
side
of
the
road
.
Dejoni
and
the
rest
landed
right
in
front
of
the
bandits
,
who
were
approaching
a
ornate
carriage
.
Tom
landed
beside
them
and
said
“
Leave
or
be
punished
!”
the
bandits
wavered
for
a
moment
,
they
had
seen
Tom
fly
and
saw
Dejoni
along
with
the
weapons
they
boys
carried
.
Some
of
the
bandits
ran
but
about
twenty
stayed
.

One
of
them
said
“
You
think
we
'
re
scared
of
some
children
and
a
tiny
wyvern
?”
he
raised
a
mirror
,
seeming
to
signal
something
.
They
heard
the
beat
of
wings
and
saw
a
armored
man
riding
a
griffin
flying
down
.
The
boys
looked
at
each
other
.
Tom
said
“
I
'
ll
take
him
you
guys
stay
here
!”
he
launched
himself
into
the
air
before
anyone
could
argue
.
As
he
flew
he
heard
the
clash
of
metal
beneath
him
and
he
gathered
wind
around
him
.

He
flew
straight
to
the
man
and
when
he
was
feet
away
he
released
the
air
straight
towards
the
griffin
rider
,
knocking
him
off
balance
and
kicked
at
him
.
The
Rider
easily
dodged
the
kick
and
swung
his
mace
at
Tom
.
Tom
flew
under
the
griffin
to
dodge
the
swing
.
The
griffin
,
better
trained
than
Tom
thought
,
slashed
at
Tom
and
its
large
talons
cutting
his
side
.
Tom
nearly
fell
to
the
ground
but
managed
to
stay
aloft
.
He
flew
away
from
the
griffin
and
rider
quickly
.
Tom
looked
down
and
saw
the
bandits
there
nearly
defeated
.
He
dove
down
and
helped
the
others
finish
them
.

The
four
looked
at
the
griffin
,
flying
high
above
them
then
they
looked
at
each
other
. “
Together
.”
they
all
said
at
the
same
time
.
They
launched
into
the
air
and
flew
straight
towards
the
griffin
and
it
'
s
rider
.
Tom
flew
around
and
the
rest
attacked
straight
on
.
Tom
suddenly
remembered
what
Alex
had
said
after
Alex
had
faked
a
bandit
attack
on
the
camp
“
Use
your
advantages
,
Tom
.”
he
yelled
at
Zack
“
Get
back
!”
Zack
looked
at
him
then
turned
Dejoni
around
and
they
flew
a
small
distance
away
.

The
rider
laughed
“
You
cowards
!
Come
fight
me
!”
he
looked
back
as
Tom
said
“
You
'
ll
get
your
fight
.”
the
rider
realized
something
.
Tom
knew
combat
magic
.

That
was
his
last
thought
as
rocks
and
dirt
smashed
him
into
the
ground
.
Tom
hovered
for
a
moment
then
started
falling
.