The Anvil (91 page)

The
other
commander
threw
a
white
cloth
into
the
air
,
the
signal
for
the
end
of
the
training
exercise
.
The
Anvil
let
the
other
troop
out
and
allowed
their
shields
to
rest
on
the
ground
.

The
other
commander
approached
Tom
“
That
was
brilliant
.
How
do
you
come
up
with
all
those
ideas
?”
he
said
,
and
Tom
replied
“
Thank
you
,
I
don
’
t
know
where
I
come
up
with
these
ideas
.
But
your
troop
was
amazing
,
most
never
can
break
through
the
first
line
at
all
and
your
men
did
it
in
the
first
few
minutes
.”
Tom
wasn
’
t
lying
,
most
didn
’
t
get
passed
the
first
line
,
but
these
men
had
briefly
before
the
second
line
pushed
them
out
.

Tom
allowed
his
men
to
rest
while
he
talked
with
the
three
line
leaders
,
Tyler
,
Joseph
and
a
young
woman
named
Susan
,
who
also
practiced
battle
magic
and
archery
.

Each
had
earned
their
position
and
Tom
was
happy
with
his
decision
,
they
discussed
a
new
strategy
,
with
each
one
putting
in
ideas
and
pointing
out
flaws
.

After
a
few
minutes
they
finished
and
began
teaching
the
Anvil
the
new
strategy
,
a
simple
but
effective
way
to
trap
enemy
rams
,
as
rams
were
one
way
an
an
enemy
could
break
their
line
.

They
would
open
long
enough
for
the
ram
to
enter
then
reform
,
trapping
the
ram
and
the
men
using
it
behind
the
first
line
to
be
defeated
by
the
second
and
third
.
After
an
hour
they
had
it
down
,
so
Tom
allowed
them
to
take
the
rest
of
the
day
off
.

Tom
went
to
his
tent
and
put
away
his
training
weapons
and
picked
up
his
guitar
.
He
sat
outside
his
tent
playing
and
singing
softly
for
a
minute
then
put
the
guitar
back
inside
and
decided
to
go
flying
.
He
walked
back
out
of
his
tent
,
spread
his
wings
and
started
following
the
Pontal
River
.

Chapter
25

After
a
few
minutes
he
noticed
some
men
walking
across
a
crossing
,
curious
he
landed
in
some
nearby
trees
and
watched
as
the
men
,
who
wore
Ilemite
armour
and
crests
,
pushed
their
way
across
.
Tom
realized
they
were
going
to
attack
the
Arstanian
army
from
the
side
.

He
jumped
back
into
the
air
,
heard
yelling
behind
and
flew
as
fast
as
possible
to
the
Arstanian
camp
.
An
arrow
flew
passed
his
head
and
he
flinched
but
kept
flying
.
After
about
two
minutes
he
landed
in
the
castle
courtyard
,
exhausted
.
Some
guards
came
over
,
but
stopped
as
Tom
pulled
out
the
bronze
dragon
claw
,
symbol
of
a
Dragon
Guardian
apprentice
.

He
took
a
moment
to
catch
his
breath
then
started
running
to
the
Command
Room
.
The
guards
outside
stopped
him
,
he
showed
them
the
claw
and
they
let
him
in
.
He
came
in
and
everyone
looked
at
him
,
surprised
at
his
sudden
appearance
.

“
TheIlemitearesendingaforcetotake
”
Tom
started
,
talking
too
fast
for
anyone
to
understand
.
The
king
lifted
his
hand
for
him
to
stop
,
cutting
off
his
words
. “
Tell
us
what
is
happening
,
slowly
.”
King
Frederick
said
and
Tom
took
a
breath
.

“
The
Ilemite
are
sending
a
force
across
the
river
to
take
us
in
the
side
.
I
was
out
flying
and
saw
them
.”
Tom
explained
,
seeing
the
look
on
everyone
’
s
faces
.

Everyone
in
there
knew
how
bad
it
would
be
if
a
force
of
enemy
soldiers
suddenly
took
them
in
the
side
.
Alex
was
the
first
to
recover

“
We
need
to
send
a
troop
of
cavalry
,
they
could
take
out
the
enemy
soldiers
quickly
.
Tom
,
you
can
lead
them
to
the
crossing
,
I
will
come
too
.”
and
everyone
nodded
.

Within
minutes
they
were
leading
two
troops
of
cavalry
and
one
unit
of
cavalry
archers
to
the
crossing
.
Alex
was
the
first
to
spot
the
enemy
soldiers
and
told
everyone
to
be
quiet
.
If
they
could
surprise
the
enemy
the
fight
would
be
easier
.