The Anvil

The
Anvil

The
Anvil

The
Beginning
of
a
Legend

The
Dragon
Guardian

Book
1

Izak
 
Heaton

Chapter
1

             
As
Tom
looked
out
his
bedroom
 
window
he
saw
one
of
the
Dragon
Guardian
fly
over
the
hill
.
The
Dragon
Guardian
were
the
defenders
and
law
keepers
of
the
kingdom
:
masters
of
magic
and
combat
.
They
were
able
to
turn
from
human
to
dragon
,
and
almost
anything
in
between
.
They
were
faster
,
stronger
and
had
better
sight
than
any
normal
person
.

The
kingdom
which
they
guarded
was
called
Arstan
. 
Arstan
was
divided
into
thirty
large
fiefs
,
each
with
at
least
one
Dragon
Guardian
,
sometimes
two
,
assigned
to
guard
it
.

Tom
was
a
thirteen
year
old
boy
from
Pine
Grove
. 
He
had
dark
brown
hair
that
was
almost
black
,
eyes
the
same
color
,
and
a
bulky
body
build
.
As
the
son
of
the
local
blacksmith
he
was
well
muscled
,
but
not
as
strong
as
his
older
brother
,
Caleb
. 
Caleb
was
going
to
take
over
the
shop
when
their
father
retired
. 
He
also
had
two
older
sisters
;
Sierra
,
who
was
eighteen
,
and
Kiya
,
who
was
twenty
.

Tom
knew
that
as
he
grew
older
he
would
either
have
to
leave
Pine
Grove
to
start
his
own
blacksmith
shop
,
or
stay
and
find
someone
to
take
him
on
as
an
apprentice
. 
Apprentice
for
what
,
he
couldn
’
t
decide
.
Tom
knew
little
magic
,
but
like
most
,
could
use
what
he
did
know
.

             
Suddenly
,
his
pondering
was
interrupted
. 
He
heard
a
crash
and
shouting
downstairs
.
When
he
peered
down
the
stairs
he
saw
a
man
taking
some
of
the
more
valuable
items
from
the
house
!
His
family
was
tied
up
,
unconscious
.
Without
thinking
he
ran
at
the
thief
and
tackled
him
to
the
ground
.

Tom
'
s
foot
slammed
into
the
intruder
’
s
stomach
and
the
man
grunted
in
pain
.
Tom
received
a
knee
hard
in
the
side
,
and
fell
to
the
floor
. 
He
struggled
to
his
feet
just
as
the
thief
rolled
away
and
got
up
.
The
man
tried
to
punch
Tom
in
the
head
but
Tom
ducked
and
retaliated
with
a
jab
to
the
side
.
His
opponent
 
over
extended
,
giving
Tom
a
chance
to
grab
a
candle
holder
and
hit
the
man
in
the
head
,
knocking
him
out
.

Tom
hurried
to
untie
his
family
. 
He
then
tied
up
the
thief
with
the
same
rope
that
had
been
used
on
his
family
.
His
next
thought
was
to
run
to
get
a
member
of
the
town
watch
.
As
he
hurried
through
the
streets
toward
town
a
man
stepped
out
of
the
shadows
,
grabbing
Tom
'
s
wrist
.

The
stranger
was
tall
with
light
blond
hair
and
pale
blue
eyes
.
The
man
asked
in
a
serious
voice
, “
Where
do
you
think
you
'
re
going
in
such
a
hurry
,
boy
?”

Tom
yanked
his
arm
away
and
replied
“
It
'
s
Tom
,
not
boy
. 
I
am
going
to
get
a
member
of
the
town
watch
and
I
don
’
t
have
time
to
talk
.”

He
was
about
to
go
when
the
man
smirked
and
asked
, “
Do
you
think
that
a
town
watch
member
would
be
able
to
do
more
than
a
Dragon
Guardian
?”

Tom
looked
at
him
curiously
,
then
answered
, “
Well
,
I
don
'
t
think
there
is
a
Dragon
Guardian
anywhere
near
here
.”

The
man
chuckled
and
added
“
You
'
re
looking
at
one
.”

Tom
stared
at
him
,
astonished
.
He
said
the
first
thing
that
came
to
his
mind
,  “
Will
you
come
and
arrest
the
thief
that
was
stealing
from
my
house
,
please
?”