The Anvil (74 page)

Tom
folded
his
wings
and
sent
a
stone
into
a
enemy
warriors
head
.
Soon
ten
Arstanian
warriors
and
an
archer
joined
them
,
but
that
didn
’
t
stop
them
from
being
pushed
into
the
river
.
Tom
smiled
as
a
enemy
warrior
kicked
his
shield
and
he
landed
in
the
water
,
the
warrior
was
unsure
what
to
do
when
he
saw
the
smile
.

Tom
magically
took
control
of
a
large
amount
of
the
water
and
sent
it
crashing
around
the
enemy
warriors
,
then
froze
it
instantly
with
the
enemy
warriors
inside
.
About
ten
soldiers
were
captured
in
the
ice
and
the
group
ran
out
of
the
river
towards
the
camp
again
.
Tom
blocked
an
arrow
from
hitting
him
as
a
warrior
next
to
him
fell
with
a
short
gasp
of
pain
with
an
arrow
in
his
neck
.

Tom
pointed
his
axe
towards
the
enemy
archers
then
ran
towards
them
yelling
.
The
small
group
followed
him
as
he
slammed
into
the
wall
of
warriors
protecting
the
archers
.
Tom
blocked
a
volley
of
arrows
with
a
stone
wall
,
then
broke
the
wall
and
sent
the
rocks
flying
extremely
fast
at
the
archers
.
Seven
archers
went
down
and
Tom
ran
towards
them
,
swinging
his
axe
left
and
right
,
cutting
down
archers
and
warriors
alike
.

While
most
boys
his
age
and
maybe
a
year
or
two
older
would
barely
be
able
to
swing
his
axe
,
Tom
’
s
strength
from
his
training
allowed
his
to
swing
the
axe
like
it
was
a
toy
.
Tom
’
s
shield
also
ended
some
lives
as
he
would
swing
his
arm
and
hit
men
in
the
neck
or
head
with
the
edge
of
the
shield
.
Tom
barely
noticed
anything
until
suddenly
an
enemy
warrior
stood
in
front
of
him
and
as
Tom
swung
his
axe
at
him
,
the
man
simply
stepped
back
.
Then
the
soldier
smiled
and
Tom
realized
this
was
not
a
normal
soldier
.

The
man
created
a
spike
of
water
from
the
moisture
in
the
air
,
which
there
wasn
’
t
much
of
,
and
froze
it
solid
.
Tom
smiled
and
created
a
spike
of
rock
and
made
it
float
in
front
of
him
.
Tom
sent
the
spike
flying
at
the
man
then
dived
to
the
side
as
the
man
launched
his
spike
.
Tom
’
s
spike
hit
a
enemy
archer
in
the
chest
,
sending
him
back
a
couple
of
feet
,
while
the
man
’
s
spike
hit
one
of
the
Arstanian
warriors
,
into
his
neck
and
shattered
as
it
hit
metal
on
the
opposite
shoulder
.

Tom
covered
himself
in
scales
and
spread
his
wings
while
the
enemy
made
himself
hover
using
a
platform
of
wood
and
sending
air
against
it
.
They
both
launched
into
the
air
and
Tom
tried
to
start
the
man
’
s
platform
on
fire
,
but
the
man
put
it
out
.
The
man
pulled
a
long
sword
from
his
belt
and
made
his
platform
fly
towards
Tom
,
who
dived
and
went
behind
him
.
Tom
flew
towards
him
as
he
turned
and
Tom
swung
his
axe
,
but
was
again
blocked
.

The
man
swung
his
sword
and
opened
a
shallow
cut
on
Tom
’
s
shin
.
Tom
hovered
as
blood
oozed
from
his
shin
,
off
his
foot
and
onto
the
soldiers
and
ground
beneath
him
.
Tom
looked
down
and
had
an
idea
,
he
dived
down
quickly
and
the
man
followed
him
.
Tom
leveled
about
ten
feet
above
the
ground
and
closed
his
eyes
,
concentrating
on
the
ground
.
He
opened
his
eyes
and
sent
pillars
of
stone
shoot
from
the
ground
arch
up
and
made
a
stone
cage
around
the
man
.
Tom
then
made
the
stone
cage
start
sinking
towards
the
ground
with
the
man
inside
,
who
trying
to
break
the
bars
.

The
man
gave
up
and
decided
to
try
to
kill
Tom
.
He
broke
a
piece
of
wood
off
his
platform
,
about
a
foot
long
,
and
sent
it
flying
at
Tom
’
s
heart
.
Tom
flapped
his
wings
strong
once
before
the
wood
hit
him
.
He
managed
to
fly
up
a
bit
,
and
instead
of
hitting
his
heart
,
the
wood
buried
itself
in
his
thigh
and
Tom
felt
it
hit
bone
before
he
fell
to
the
ground
.