The Anvil (54 page)

Tom
made
the
stone
melt
back
into
the
ground
.
Cameron
was
so
angry
he
went
back
on
his
word
and
he
lunged
at
Tom
,
who
simply
put
up
a
hand
and
cast
a
spell
.
Cameron
stopped
in
midair
as
though
weightless
,
then
suddenly
Tom
sent
him
sliding
across
the
dirt
and
grass
.
Once
he
came
to
a
stop
Tom
flew
over
and
said
“
Now
you
might
not
be
so
quick
to
take
cheap
shots
after
a
match
.”
then
Tom
walked
away
.

Tom
walked
around
aimlessly
until
he
realized
there
was
a
small
group
of
men
following
him
.
He
turned
“
Why
are
you
following
me
?”
he
asked
, “
You
defeated
Cameron
with
trickery
and
cheap
shots
.
We
are
here
to
beat
you
the
same
way
,
only
you
won
’
t
walk
away
.”
one
of
the
largest
said
.

The
group
slowly
circled
around
him
as
he
said
“
Do
you
really
think
this
will
help
?
And
besides
,
I
didn
'
t
use
trickery
or
fight
unfairly
against
Cameron
.”
Tom
grabbed
his
axe
and
shield
off
his
back
. “
Ya
you
did
,
he
told
us
how
he
beat
you
fairly
,
then
you
kicked
him
as
he
grabbed
his
weapons
,
then
you
used
magic
against
him
and
made
a
fool
of
him
.
After
a
little
you
let
him
go
and
sent
him
flying
across
the
grass
.
Cameron
doesn
'
t
know
magic
you
little
piece
of
filth
.”
the
man
said
,
then
he
lunged
at
Tom
,
who
sidestepped
and
brought
the
shaft
of
his
axe
hard
on
the
back
of
the
man
'
s
head
.

Suddenly
each
man
brought
out
a
knife
or
dagger
,
Tom
looked
around
“
Guys
you
don
'
t
have
to
do
this
.
And
besides
Cameron
was
the
one
who
took
cheap
shots
after
the
match
,
he
knows
magic
but
is
very
bad
at
it
,
I
only
taught
him
a
lesson
.”
he
said
,
the
men
seemed
to
take
that
as
an
insult
,
most
likely
they
were
drunk
,
and
one
lunged
at
him
.
He
blocked
the
man
'
s
knife
with
his
shield
then
kicked
him
away
,
his
axe
almost
useless
in
the
tight
space
so
he
threw
it
out
of
the
circle
then
pulled
his
short
sword
.

After
blocking
two
more
strikes
he
took
a
knife
in
the
upper
arm
of
his
shield
arm
.
He
unstrapped
his
shield
and
dropped
it
,
as
it
would
be
useless
.
He
jumped
and
kicked
a
man
in
the
chest
,
bounced
off
and
spread
his
wings
.
He
flew
out
of
the
circle
slammed
the
handle
of
his
sword
onto
the
nearest
man
'
s
head
and
tried
to
get
away
.

Unfortunately
the
men
knew
the
streets
better
than
he
did
and
one
man
tackled
him
.
This
time
Tom
knew
he
couldn
'
t
hold
back
.
He
closed
his
eyes
and
sent
the
man
flying
into
one
of
the
others
,
made
the
small
plants
grow
around
their
wrists
and
ankles
,
then
turned
to
the
rest
.
He
saw
vines
on
a
wall
behind
them
and
made
a
plan
.
He
ran
towards
them
yelling
and
sending
bursts
of
air
magic
at
them
.
Some
flew
backwards
and
others
backed
up
.
He
sent
a
wall
of
air
towards
them
that
pushed
them
against
the
wall
.

He
immediately
made
the
vines
hold
them
against
the
wall
,
then
took
their
weapons
and
put
them
in
a
pile
.
Then
after
firmly
binding
them
,
but
not
so
tight
they
couldn
'
t
walk
,
he
made
them
walk
with
him
until
he
found
the
jail
. “
Hello
,
I
'
m
Tom
,
Alex
'
s
apprentice
.
These
men
tried
to
attack
me
just
barely
.
So
if
you
could
find
a
cell
for
them
it
would
help
.”
he
said
to
the
guard
standing
outside
.
After
handing
them
off
the
the
guards
he
went
to
find
Alex
.

After
about
fifteen
minutes
of
looking
he
found
Alex
and
Josh
walking
down
to
the
market
.
He
flew
up
to
them
and
told
them
what
had
happened
. “
Good
,
I
thought
they
would
attack
you
.
That
is
why
I
had
you
fight
Cameron
.
I
knew
they
would
come
after
you
if
you
beat
him
.”
Alex
explained
,
Tom
opened
his
mouth
to
reply
then
he
realized
Alex
had
a
point
,
Cameron
was
the
best
solo
fighter
in
the
town
but
a
group
of
them
would
be
even
better
.
Plus
Tom
would
get
experience
in
fighting
a
large
group
in
a
town
. “
Well
I
guess
that
makes
sense
.
So
if
I
don
'
t
need
to
do
anything
I
am
going
to
continue
walking
around
.”
Tom
said
,
he
turned
waved
at
Josh
and
Alex
,
who
waved
back
,
and
started
walking
.