The Anvil (76 page)

Tom
spend
the
rest
of
the
day
resting
,
the
trip
and
his
leg
had
taken
a
toll
on
his
body
.
At
dinner
Siera
asked
about
his
leg
,
and
Tom
thought
for
a
moment
how
to
make
the
story
sound
less
dangerous
for
his
mother
.

Then
he
decided
to
tell
the
entire
thing
and
started
.
Tom
went
on
a
walk
after
dinner
,
he
didn
’
t
get
very
far
before
his
leg
started
hurting
too
much
.
He
got
back
and
went
to
sleep
,
and
in
the
morning
woke
to
the
smell
of
bacon
and
eggs
.
He
got
up
,
dressed
and
went
down
stairs
,
and
as
he
expected
his
mother
was
cooking
bacon
.
He
sat
down
and
put
his
crutches
against
the
wall
as
his
mom
finished
cooking
and
set
the
pan
on
the
table
.

Caleb
came
down
,
looking
stressed
,
looked
at
Tom
“
Where
is
your
shield
?”
he
asked
Tom
“
In
my
room
by
my
weapons
.”
Tom
told
him
,
confused
,
then
asked
“
Why
do
you
need
my
shield
?
I
thought
the
Master
was
coming
tomorrow
.”
and
Caleb
stopped
and
turned
around
“
Well
,
I
realized
something
.
After
that
battle
you
were
in
,
I
would
think
I
could
make
it
look
better
and
fix
it
a
little
.”
Caleb
explained
then
turned
and
went
to
get
the
shield
.
Their
mom
shook
her
head
and
sat
down
to
eat
.

Tom
ate
,
got
his
axe
and
crossbow
and
went
to
find
some
of
his
friends
,
hopefully
they
hadn
’
t
heard
about
what
happened
and
were
going
to
treat
him
differently
.
He
soon
was
walking
through
town
with
Jordann
,
Mykala
and
two
more
of
his
friends
.
Only
one
of
his
friends
,
James
,
treated
him
differently
at
first
,
but
Tom
soon
told
him
“
I
’
m
still
me
,
the
guy
you
have
known
for
years
.”
after
that
James
treated
him
like
he
used
to
.

That
night
,
Tom
took
off
the
bandages
and
looked
at
his
leg
.
The
wound
was
scabbed
over
and
he
knew
all
the
wood
was
out
.
He
flexed
his
leg
and
felt
pain
shoot
up
his
leg
,
but
he
knew
it
would
be
better
in
about
a
week
.
Alex
and
Tom
had
both
cast
spells
to
speed
the
healing
,
they
could
magically
speed
the
healing
process
of
any
wound
and
small
ones
almost
instantly
but
large
ones
like
this
would
still
take
time
.

He
wrapped
his
leg
again
and
went
to
eat
dinner
.
Caleb
brought
in
his
shield
after
dinner
and
Tom
was
amazed
,
all
the
dents
were
gone
,
the
iron
was
painted
red
except
for
a
black
dragon
design
in
the
center
.
Tom
’
s
eyes
widen
along
with
his
smile
and
Caleb
asked
if
he
liked
it
, “
I
know
you
don
’
t
have
a
coat
of
arms
yet
,
but
I
don
’
t
think
Alex
will
mind
.
And
if
you
keep
fighting
as
much
as
you
have
,
the
paint
will
scratched
off
.
The
paint
is
just
temporary
.”
Caleb
told
him
after
Tom
asked
about
the
dragon
.

The
next
day
Caleb
sat
at
the
table
looking
nervous
,
excited
and
tired
all
at
the
same
time
. “
What
time
is
the
Master
coming
?”
Tom
asked
him
,
Caleb
looked
over
at
him
quickly
“
At
noon
.”
was
his
quick
reply
.
Tom
asked
about
what
else
Caleb
was
going
to
show
him
,
so
Caleb
took
him
to
the
forge
.
There
was
a
sword
,
it
looked
normal
,
a
small
object
with
many
small
barbs
and
a
string
along
with
a
few
other
things
.

Caleb
picked
up
the
sword
and
showed
Tom
why
he
chose
to
show
the
Master
this
,
he
grabbed
a
medium
sized
hammer
and
put
the
sword
across
two
anvils
so
only
the
ends
were
supported
.
He
lifted
the
hammer
and
hit
the
sword
three
times
in
the
middle
,
Tom
expected
the
sword
to
have
bent
plenty
,
but
Caleb
picked
up
the
sword
and
showed
Tom
,
the
three
hits
have
barely
bent
the
blade
.