The Anvil (42 page)

He
walked
out
of
the
tent
into
the
middle
of
the
group
.
Tom
made
the
wind
carry
Samantha
'
s
voice
better
and
he
heard
her
tell
the
robbers
who
she
was
.
Bryn
stepped
out
of
the
trees
on
the
other
side
of
the
clearing
.

Tom
looked
over
as
Dejoni
and
Zack
landed
in
the
edge
of
the
clearing
.
Many
of
the
group
looked
nervous
.
Tom
took
off
the
hood
and
said
“
And
I
am
Tom
,
apprentice
to
Dragon
Guardian
Alex
.”
the
leader
of
the
robbers
turned
toward
him
. “
You
are
Thomas
Welton
?
Do
you
know
what
you
have
done
to
my
family
?
First
you
got
one
of
my
brothers
arrested
,
killed
my
other
brother
and
my
sister
'
s
husband
.
I
will
kill
you
!”
the
man
said
then
raised
his
sword
above
his
head
and
charged
,
a
mad
look
in
his
eyes
.
Tom
stepped
to
the
side
as
the
man
swung
his
sword
down
.

Tom
swung
his
axe
at
the
man
'
s
hands
but
missed
.
Tom
and
the
other
man
didn
'
t
notice
as
a
few
of
the
robbers
surrendered
,
but
most
decided
to
fight
.
Soon
all
around
Tom
and
the
robber
leader
was
chaos
,
but
neither
noticed
as
they
fought
some
of
the
robbers
stood
and
watched
as
the
two
fought
with
both
magic
and
weapons
.
Suddenly
the
man
rammed
the
hilt
of
his
sword
into
Tom
'
s
shield
Tom
stumbled
and
fell
.

The
man
grinned
,
with
such
hate
you
could
barely
describe
it
as
a
grin
,
as
he
walked
over
to
where
Tom
lay
.
Tom
tried
to
get
up
but
the
man
had
the
air
holding
him
down
.
The
man
put
the
tip
of
his
sword
onto
Tom
'
s
neck
,
the
man
laughed
and
Tom
had
an
idea
.

He
closed
his
eyes
and
suddenly
the
man
stopped
laughing
.
The
man
dropped
his
sword
grabbing
at
his
own
face
.
Tom
watched
as
the
man
fell
and
died
.
His
spell
had
removed
the
air
around
the
man
'
s
head
,
all
but
the
gasses
Tom
had
learned
were
toxic
to
humans
.

Tom
stood
up
and
swung
his
axe
at
the
nearest
robber
.
The
remaining
robbers
were
quickly
defeated
and
of
the
twenty
about
eight
had
surrendered
and
were
quickly
chained
.
Tom
looked
at
the
sun
and
saw
it
was
touching
the
horizon
as
it
went
down
.

He
turned
to
Samantha
“
What
are
we
going
to
do
with
those
guys
?”
he
asked
. “
We
are
going
to
take
them
to
Pine
Grove
,
but
right
now
we
are
going
to
set
up
camp
.”
she
answered
.
Setting
up
camp
went
quickly
because
some
tents
were
already
there
.
The
prisoners
got
one
of
the
large
tents
.
The
four
human
friends
sat
around
the
campfire
with
Dejoni
laying
behind
Zack
“
Anyone
have
a
good
story
?”
Tom
suddenly
said
.

Dejoni
moved
his
head
into
the
circle
“
I
have
one
.
It
is
the
story
of
the
Council
of
the
Phoenix
.”
he
said
. “
In
the
beginning
the
human
race
lived
on
an
island
chain
.
Two
powerful
empires
began
to
expand
,
conquering
almost
all
the
other
nations
until
only
the
other
empire
and
one
city
on
Phoenix
Island
.
The
empire
of
the
east
had
great
magic
and
the
west
had
an
explosive
powder
they
had
developed
.

“
The
phoenix
islanders
had
come
from
all
over
,
seeking
a
peaceful
live
.
But
the
two
empires
desired
to
rule
all
the
islands
.
They
both
decided
to
attack
Phoenix
island
.
The
western
empire
send
a
fleet
of
ships
armed
with
cannons
,
metal
tubes
that
shot
large
iron
balls
.
The
western
empire
send
hundreds
of
small
canoes
and
dozens
of
small
boats
.
The
Phoenix
people
prepared
their
defenses
.
Leading
them
was
a
small
group
of
five
people
.
The
island
was
covered
with
the
great
city
,
the
massive
walls
surrounding
the
entire
island
.
Thoma
was
the
leader
of
the
entire
island
.
He
was
a
mighty
man
who
had
tamed
a
phoenix
.
He
was
a
powerful
magician
and
fighter
.
He
began
organizing
the
defenses
,
setting
dozens
of
cannons
on
the
walls
and
having
mages
prepare
magical
defenses
.