The Anvil (52 page)

Chapter
19

             
The
golem
that
had
stood
up
first
asked
in
a
gravely
voice
“
Who
dares
enter
the
Golem
Cave
?”
the
guide
lifted
his
torch
and
replied
“
Ronald
Herniad
”
then
whispered
to
them
“
Say
your
names
.”
the
golem
looked
at
the
rest
of
the
group
“
Thomas
Welton
.”
Tom
said
“
Alexander
Yinurd
.”
Alex
said
“
And
Joshua
Manthra
.”
Josh
finished
.
One
by
one
the
torches
set
in
the
wall
started
burning
.
As
far
as
Tom
could
see
golems
were
standing
and
moving
around
. “
We
ask
you
help
us
in
a
war
against
the
Ilemart
Empire
,
they
are
attacking
our
southern
cities
and
towns
as
we
speak
.”
Alex
said
,
and
the
golem
motioned
for
them
to
follow
him
.
They
walked
into
a
smaller
cave
,
but
it
was
still
large
,
and
sat
on
benches
.

Josh
and
Alex
talked
with
the
some
golems
for
what
seemed
like
hours
until
Tom
broke
his
silence
“
Listen
,
if
you
think
that
the
Ilemart
will
leave
you
in
peace
you
are
very
wrong
.
Even
if
they
don
'
t
find
you
immediately
,
their
greed
will
lead
them
into
your
mountains
and
they
will
find
your
caverns
just
as
these
people
have
.
Although
they
will
not
simply
leave
you
in
peace
,
sometimes
visiting
.
They
will
bring
their
armies
and
battle
you
until
they
enslave
you
and
make
you
fight
for
them
in
their
wars
.
Alone
you
will
stand
no
chance
,
we
won
’
t
either
.
But
together
we
will
stand
a
chance
.”
Tom
said
and
looked
right
at
the
golems
and
one
by
one
the
golems
agreed
on
going
to
war
.

The
group
went
into
the
main
chamber
and
signaled
to
a
golem
,
who
then
blew
a
horn
,
which
signaled
a
meeting
.
The
group
walked
over
to
a
raised
platform
and
waited
as
the
golems
came
.
The
golem
,
Hintior
,
walked
up
to
a
podium
“
After
many
hours
of
talking
with
these
humans
we
have
an
announcement
.”
he
said
,
then
continued
after
a
short
pause
“
The
golems
of
the
Evergreen
Mountains
are
going
to
war
with
the
Ilemart
empire
!”
cheers
and
shouting
erupted
as
Hintior
finished
,
Tom
saw
golem
messengers
already
running
out
from
the
main
cavern
into
tunnels
to
spread
the
news
.

Josh
,
Alex
and
Tom
left
shortly
after
to
let
the
golems
prepare
to
march
and
check
on
the
troops
from
the
village
.
They
had
decided
to
leave
three
days
later
and
head
south
.
Alex
went
to
send
a
report
to
the
king
on
what
had
happened
.
The
next
day
as
Tom
trained
with
his
axe
he
saw
a
crowd
of
villagers
watching
him
.
He
tried
to
ignore
them
as
they
watched
him
.
Eventually
he
decided
to
go
to
the
archery
range
and
practice
shooting
his
crossbow
,
plus
this
will
get
me
away
from
this
crowd
he
thought
.

Unfortunately
they
followed
him
,
but
soon
he
was
shooting
the
targets
as
quickly
as
possible
,
but
loading
a
crossbow
took
time
,
he
had
to
hold
onto
a
grip
in
the
front
then
pull
the
string
back
,
which
was
hard
while
holding
the
front
with
the
other
hand
,
and
finally
put
the
bolt
in
.
After
about
an
hour
he
went
into
the
house
that
they
were
staying
in
and
looked
at
his
crossbow
“
How
can
I
make
it
so
I
can
reload
it
faster
?”
he
said
to
himself
.
He
sat
thinking
for
about
fifteen
minutes
until
he
had
an
idea
.

He
hollowed
the
shaft
and
attached
a
short
piece
of
metal
to
the
hook
that
held
the
string
,
then
closed
it
,
but
left
room
for
the
metal
to
slide
and
cut
the
top
open
to
let
the
holding
device
slide
,
and
finally
put
a
handle
on
the
metal
hanging
from
the
bottom
.
He
went
outside
to
test
it
.