The Anvil (56 page)

They
slowly
were
joined
by
others
as
they
drove
through
the
enemy
,
hacking
and
slashing
man
and
beast
alike
.
Then
as
Tom
brought
his
axe
down
onto
a
man
’
s
helmet
it
stuck
.
Tom
ducked
quickly
as
Josh
stabbed
a
enemy
who
was
about
to
kill
Tom
.
Tom
stood
back
up
wrenched
on
his
axe
,
which
finally
came
free
and
resumed
fighting
.
After
about
an
hour
Tom
heard
a
horn
sound
a
rhythm
and
wondered
what
it
meant
.

His
question
was
soon
answered
as
the
Ilemart
army
started
turning
back
.
Tom
sent
a
final
branch
to
impale
one
of
them
then
turned
and
walked
slowly
to
camp
.
Just
as
he
sat
on
a
log
by
a
fire
he
realized
his
stuff
was
still
where
he
left
it
before
the
battle
.
He
stood
up
and
started
walking
back
.
He
was
stopped
by
Josh
who
handed
him
his
equipment
then
left
.
Tom
found
Alex
,
who
told
him
where
he
should
set
up
his
tent
,
then
he
went
there
,
set
up
his
tent
,
put
his
stuff
inside
,
and
finally
went
to
find
food
.

After
a
while
he
found
the
cooks
’
station
and
after
a
little
bit
managed
to
get
an
apple
,
two
links
of
sausage
,
and
a
small
loaf
of
bread
.
After
he
had
wandered
around
camp
for
a
few
hours
eating
,
he
looked
up
and
saw
a
black
wyvern
with
a
young
rider
.
Tom
smiled
and
spread
his
wings
,
then
he
jumped
into
the
air
and
flew
over
to
them
.
Zack
pulled
off
his
helmet
and
Dejoni
hovered
as
Tom
neared
. “
About
time
you
showed
up
,
you
lazy
bum
.”
Zack
said
in
a
joking
manner
, “
Well
,
I
guess
you
aren
'
t
grateful
that
I
helped
bring
an
army
of
golems
,
werewolves
and
some
human
troops
?”
Tom
retorted
quickly
,
the
boys
smiled
and
the
group
landed
and
decided
to
look
for
someone
else
they
knew
.

After
looking
for
another
hour
they
decided
to
head
back
to
their
own
tents
,
which
they
found
were
near
each
other
.
They
went
to
dinner
after
a
few
minutes
showing
off
their
weapons
,
then
finally
went
to
sleep
.
Suddenly
Tom
was
awake
,
he
knew
it
wasn
’
t
morning
but
there
was
light
outside
.
His
sleep
clouded
mind
took
a
moment
to
realize
what
was
happening
.
They
were
being
attacked
.

Chapter
20

He
quickly
put
on
his
armor
,
grabbed
his
crossbow
,
axe
and
shield
,
then
ran
outside
.
All
around
him
tents
were
burning
and
people
were
running
.
Suddenly
Zack
and
Dejoni
were
next
to
him
,
Zack
obviously
had
hurried
putting
on
his
armor
.
Tom
saw
a
Ilemart
soldier
coming
towards
them
and
ran
to
meet
him
.
Tom
bent
down
and
used
the
man
’
s
momentum
to
launch
him
over
his
shield
,
then
turned
and
swung
his
axe
into
his
neck
.
Tom
turned
as
another
soldier
prepared
to
strike
him
,
but
was
hit
by
something
and
started
screaming
,
Dejoni
had
spit
acid
into
the
man
’
s
face
,
and
Tom
beheaded
him
just
to
put
him
out
of
his
pain
.
Alex
ran
over
to
Tom
“
Cover
me
using
your
crossbow
!”
he
yelled
,
Tom
pulled
out
his
crossbow
and
put
down
his
axe
and
shield
within
easy
reach
.

He
raised
the
crossbow
and
shot
over
and
over
.
Then
he
reached
for
another
bolt
and
found
no
more
were
left
.
He
put
his
crossbow
over
his
back
again
,
picked
up
his
axe
and
shield
then
ran
over
to
Zack
and
Dejoni
.
Tom
saw
a
small
figure
running
towards
them
,
shooting
the
enemy
soldiers
.
After
a
moment
he
recognized
the
figure
as
Bryn
.
He
yelled
at
Zack
“
Bryn
is
coming
,
let
her
behind
us
!”
then
Bryn
reached
them
,
went
in
between
the
boys
and
Dejoni
,
who
was
standing
behind
the
boys
facing
the
other
way
.