The Anvil (55 page)

Tom
continued
to
train
and
wander
for
the
rest
of
the
day
,
then
went
back
to
the
house
they
were
staying
at
.
The
next
day
was
mostly
the
same
,
but
he
was
not
attacked
as
he
wandered
.
The
third
day
he
woke
,
packed
and
went
down
for
breakfast
.
At
about
noon
the
troops
set
off
for
Fort
Redrock
,
in
the
south
-
western
part
of
Ironwood
.
After
a
few
more
days
they
arrived
,
rested
for
a
day
then
set
off
to
the
Yetro
Mountains
,
where
the
army
was
gathering
.
After
nine
days
after
leaving
Fort
Redrock
Tom
sat
around
a
fire
with
Alex
,
Josh
and
the
leader
of
the
golems
,
Intar
.

Suddenly
a
wolfish
man
stepped
out
of
the
shadows
and
smiled
. “
Hello
I
'
m
Getra
,
leader
of
the
Blackwood
forest
pack
.
And
on
behalf
of
my
pack
I
would
like
to
offer
our
help
in
the
war
.”
he
said
, “
Well
,
I
guess
you
can
come
with
us
,
but
don
'
t
bite
any
of
our
troops
.
We
don
'
t
want
trouble
.”
Alex
replied
quickly
,
Gentra
bowed
and
walked
back
into
the
forest
,
minutes
later
they
heard
loud
howling
to
the
east
,
then
the
sound
of
over
a
hundred
werewolves
coming
to
the
camp
.

Alex
stood
up
yelled
to
get
everyone
'
s
attention
,
announced
what
had
happened
,
sat
back
down
and
finished
eating
.
Three
days
later
the
tired
group
set
up
camp
and
stayed
there
for
a
day
,
Alex
,
Josh
,
Gentra
and
Intar
didn
'
t
see
any
sense
in
arriving
a
day
before
tired
,
rather
they
would
arrive
a
day
later
,
but
well
rested
.
Josh
estimated
they
were
half
a
day
’
s
march
to
the
army
gathering
point
in
the
Yetra
Mountains
.
Tom
went
to
sleep
early
,
and
in
the
morning
he
came
out
of
his
tent
and
started
practicing
with
his
crossbow
until
others
started
to
wake
so
he
could
help
make
breakfast
.

After
a
few
minutes
Alex
came
out
of
his
tent
and
saw
Tom
shooting
.
Tom
jumped
as
he
heard
Alex
say
suddenly
,
in
a
joking
tone
“
What
the
crossbow
I
gave
you
not
good
enough
?”
Tom
turned
quickly
“
Actually
this
is
the
crossbow
you
gave
me
.
I
just
made
some
adjustments
,
this
cocking
mechanism
is
easier
to
use
than
pulling
the
string
back
with
one
hand
.”
he
explained
,
then
they
both
went
to
help
cook
breakfast
.

After
half
a
day
of
marching
,
as
Josh
had
predicted
,
they
saw
the
tents
and
fires
of
the
Arstanian
army
.
But
as
they
watched
they
didn
’
t
see
the
usual
people
moving
throughout
the
tents
.
After
a
few
more
minutes
the
saw
why
,
they
saw
men
and
beasts
running
through
the
trees
fighting
.
As
Tom
watched
archers
in
the
trees
let
loose
a
hail
of
arrows
onto
the
Ilemart
army
,
taking
down
dozens
.
Tom
thought
for
a
moment
that
the
army
already
had
a
good
chance
of
winning
,
but
to
his
dismay
many
more
Ilemite
soldiers
and
beasts
rushed
forward
.
Tom
looked
around
him
and
saw
the
golems
,
troops
and
werewolves
running
past
him
ready
for
battle
.

That
shocked
Tom
back
and
he
unsheathed
his
axe
and
grabbed
his
shield
.
He
flew
straight
up
out
of
the
trees
then
dived
into
the
enemy
’
s
ranks
close
to
the
front
.
He
landed
on
a
soldier
’
s
head
smashing
into
him
so
hard
it
killed
him
.
He
swung
his
axe
,
smashed
with
his
shield
and
cast
spells
for
what
seemed
like
forever
.
After
a
few
minutes
some
Arstanian
soldiers
broke
through
to
where
he
and
Josh
,
who
had
come
with
him
,
were
.
The
soldiers
indistinctly
followed
the
two
who
had
them
go
into
a
arrowhead
formation
with
them
at
the
tip
,
and
drove
deep
into
the
enemy
’
s
numbers
.