The Anvil (38 page)

Tom
grabbed
his
shield
and
axe
then
ran
into
the
fight
.
The
dragon
blew
fire
in
Tom
'
s
direction
,
burning
several
guards
.
Tom
threw
up
a
wall
of
stone
and
blocked
the
fire
.
Tom
hacked
at
the
dragon
and
jumped
on
its
neck
but
quickly
got
thrown
off
.

His
impact
with
the
ground
drove
the
air
from
his
lungs
and
he
laid
there
a
moment
,
then
noticed
something
wet
flowing
near
his
head
.
He
turned
his
head
and
saw
water
flowing
from
a
crack
in
the
wall
into
a
small
puddle
.
Tom
saw
the
dragon
preparing
to
blow
fire
and
Tom
sent
the
water
straight
into
the
dragon
'
s
head
,
knocking
its
head
to
the
side
.
That
just
seemed
to
make
it
angry
,
and
it
broke
through
the
entrance
.

Tom
thought
quick
and
magically
widened
the
crack
in
the
wall
.
Suddenly
an
arrow
flew
into
the
dragon
'
s
side
and
both
Tom
and
the
dragon
looked
and
saw
Bryn
with
her
bow
raised
,
about
to
shoot
again
.

Tom
recovered
first
and
broke
the
wall
sending
the
water
flying
straight
at
the
dragon
a
second
behind
Bryn
'
s
arrow
.
The
arrow
went
into
the
dragon
'
s
shoulder
,
then
the
water
hit
the
dragon
sending
it
out
of
the
cave
.

The
dragon
flew
away
dripping
water
and
blood
.
Tom
looked
at
the
ashes
of
the
guards
and
frowned
.
The
dragon
had
destroyed
most
the
guards
.
Tom
and
Bryn
walked
farther
into
the
cave
and
ate
breakfast
.

After
breakfast
Tom
created
more
warriors
,
fixed
the
entrance
and
put
traps
around
it
while
Bryn
hunted
.
A
little
after
lunch
they
heard
fighting
near
the
entrance
again
.
They
both
rushed
to
the
entrance
to
find
the
same
dragon
trying
to
get
in
.
Tom
once
again
rushed
into
the
battle
and
Bryn
stood
back
shooting
at
the
dragon
.

Tom
was
thrown
back
when
the
dragon
suddenly
swung
its
massive
head
,
and
he
struggled
to
stand
but
fell
again
.
Bryn
shot
three
more
arrows
at
the
dragon
'
s
head
then
ran
over
to
Tom
,
who
was
still
trying
to
get
up
.
Bryn
got
to
Tom
as
the
dragon
saw
him
,
the
dragon
had
realized
Tom
and
Bryn
were
the
biggest
threat
and
saw
its
opportunity
to
get
them
both
.

It
started
to
breath
fire
,
but
Tom
and
Bryn
were
saved
by
a
warrior
jumping
at
the
dragon
'
s
head
knocking
it
to
the
side
.
Tom
looked
weakly
up
at
the
dragon
and
she
could
see
his
resolve
strengthen
to
pass
Alex
’
s
test
.

He
gathered
his
arms
under
him
and
he
pushed
himself
up
.
He
rose
to
his
feet
and
stared
at
the
dragon
.
He
raised
a
stone
wall
just
in
time
to
stop
the
dragon
'
s
fire
as
it
tried
again
.

His
face
showed
pure
determination
as
he
lowered
the
wall
and
started
to
attack
once
again
.
His
attacks
were
weak
at
first
but
started
gaining
strength
.
Tom
took
control
of
a
giant
amount
of
water
and
attacked
the
dragon
with
it
.
He
blocked
the
dragon
'
s
fiery
breath
and
encircled
the
dragon
in
water
.
Tom
made
the
water
freeze
.
He
made
layers
of
stone
,
dirt
,
metal
and
ice
all
around
the
dragon
.
Bryn
could
see
the
strain
on
Tom
'
s
face
as
he
started
crushing
the
dragon
inside
.
But
the
dragon
broke
out
of
the
shell
and
flew
away
,
Tom
collapsed
knowing
the
battle
was
over
for
now
.
Some
guards
caught
Tom
and
carried
him
over
to
where
he
had
slept
the
night
before
.

Chapter
15

             
Tom
woke
and
wondered
why
his
back
,
legs
,
arms
and
every
square
inch
of
him
hurt
.
His
memory
came
back
and
he
stood
up
,
quickly
regretting
it
.
His
head
swam
and
his
legs
collapsed
and
he
ended
up
sitting
on
his
bed
again
.
A
warrior
heard
him
and
walked
over
with
some
food
.
Tom
ate
quickly
then
tried
standing
again
.
This
time
a
soldier
helped
him
and
he
managed
to
walk
to
the
fire
.