The Anvil (22 page)

Alex
nodded
approvingly
“
We
just
came
to
check
on
Tom
and
Zack
,
have
any
questions
boys
?”
Tom
quickly
asked
“
Is
cranto
meat
edible
?”
John
answered
his
question
“
Yes
it
is
.
Why
do
you
ask
?”. “
We
were
just
wondering
,
we
killed
one
when
we
found
Madison
,
because
it
was
attacking
her
.
Right
now
you
are
sitting
on
it
.”
both
of
the
brothers
looked
down
startled
.

Sure
enough
they
had
been
sitting
on
the
dead
cranto
.
Alex
looked
at
the
boys
and
said
“
How
did
two
boys
and
a
small
wyvern
kill
a
cranto
?”
Tom
looked
at
his
master
and
replied
“
We
worked
together
,
Dejoni
did
most
of
it
.”
The
two
brothers
stayed
for
another
hour
or
so
then
left
.
Tom
,
Zack
and
Madison
sat
around
and
talked
.

But
eventually
Tom
went
to
sleep
,
after
a
few
more
minutes
talking
to
Madison
,
Zack
went
to
sleep
also
,
Madison
going
to
her
hut
moments
after
.
In
the
morning
they
ate
some
of
the
cranto
meat
,
it
actually
tasted
like
chicken
.
The
group
flew
around
,
Zack
and
Madison
on
Dejoni
and
Tom
just
flying
.
Tom
was
lost
in
thought
as
they
landed
in
a
clearing
and
ate
lunch
.
They
set
off
flying
back
to
camp
.

Madison
looked
at
Tom
,
flying
on
glistening
black
wings
and
wondered
what
it
felt
like
to
fly
on
your
own
power
,
to
be
so
free
and
powerful
.
Tom
looked
over
at
her
and
she
realized
she
was
staring
at
him
.

Then
Tom
said
“
You
are
wondering
what
flying
like
this
feels
like
aren
'
t
you
?”
Madison
nodded
and
asked
“
How
did
you
know
?”
Tom
replied
“
I
wondered
that
every
time
I
saw
something
flying
on
it
'
s
own
.
But
it
feels
amazing
,
flying
,
just
soaring
through
the
sky
,
seeing
everything
and
feeling
the
wind
.
Flying
with
something
under
you
just
isn
'
t
the
same
,
I
know
that
,
Alex
flew
me
to
the
Guardian
Meeting
.”
Tom
dipped
and
swayed
in
the
wind
.
He
flipped
and
rolled
,
then
yelled
to
Zack
“
How
about
a
race
to
camp
?
I
want
to
see
how
fast
Dejoni
can
fly
!”
he
shot
forward
with
Dejoni
and
the
rest
of
them
just
behind
him
.

The
race
didn
'
t
last
long
,
it
ended
in
all
of
them
laughing
,
Dejoni
made
an
odd
noise
that
sounded
somewhere
between
a
laugh
and
a
growl
.
They
landed
in
camp
and
Tom
was
exhausted
he
said
“
I
need
to
fly
more
,
Dejoni
is
barely
out
of
breath
and
he
was
carrying
two
people
.
How
does
he
do
it
?
I
must
be
getting
fat
.”
they
laughed
and
Tom
went
to
take
a
nap
.
Zack
and
Madison
practiced
combat
magic
.
Witches
did
many
things
,
some
fought
in
battles
,
some
healed
or
they
chose
a
different
path
.

Every
witch
apprentice
learned
the
skills
of
all
the
different
kinds
,
then
chose
one
to
specialize
in
.
When
the
sun
started
going
down
Zack
and
Madison
made
dinner
,
Tom
waking
up
when
the
smell
reached
his
hut
.
He
came
out
and
said
“
I
'
m
going
to
check
the
traps
.
Save
some
of
that
for
me
if
I
'
m
not
back
when
you
start
eating
.”
Even
after
telling
them
that
Tom
still
hurried
checking
the
traps
.

He
got
back
just
as
the
two
others
finished
making
the
stew
.
They
ate
all
of
it
and
soon
after
Zack
went
to
sleep
.
Tom
said
“
I
am
going
flying
,
I
love
flying
in
the
night
.”
Tom
'
s
wings
formed
,
blending
into
the
night
.
He
stood
and
took
off
.
Madison
went
to
sleep
.

As
Tom
flew
through
the
night
he
thought
about
many
things
.
It
started
raining
as
he
flew
,
and
he
was
about
to
turn
back
when
lightning
started
a
fire
in
the
trees
.
He
flew
down
and
harnessed
the
rain
,
soon
he
had
put
out
the
fire
and
he
took
off
again
,
flying
towards
camp
.
He
got
back
to
camp
and
went
to
sleep
.
The
next
day
he
woke
to
the
smell
of
cooking
meat
.
He
got
up
and
went
outside
.
He
looked
around
at
their
camp
.