The Anvil (33 page)

He
thought
for
a
moment
“
Maybe
it
is
John
and
Masdifi
.
But
if
this
is
a
challenge
from
Alex
if
I
let
it
come
to
close
it
could
prove
a
giant
problem
.”
he
came
to
a
decision
he
started
flying
towards
it
.
When
he
was
a
fair
distance
away
he
called
“
John
,
Masdifi
!
Is
that
you
?”
the
replying
roar
made
it
clear
it
was
not
and
it
wanted
to
fight
.
He
dove
back
down
to
his
fort
as
it
spat
acid
at
him
.
The
tree
-
guards
aren
'
t
trained
to
fight
enemies
in
the
air
.
He
thought
then
had
an
idea
.
He
got
the
wyvern
'
s
attention
and
led
it
to
a
clearing
near
his
base
.
He
called
his
guards
to
the
clearing
and
landed
in
it
.

The
wyvern
landed
also
eyes
staring
straight
at
Tom
.
It
raced
forward
at
Tom
but
Tom
sent
it
flying
back
with
a
large
stone
in
its
chest
.
Any
second
now
the
tree
-
guards
would
come
into
the
clearing
and
attack
the
beast
.

But
as
the
guards
entered
the
clearing
the
wyvern
threw
off
the
rock
and
smashed
some
of
the
tree
men
with
it
'
s
tail
.
The
ranks
formed
up
and
made
a
turtle
formation
,
all
the
shields
interlocking
so
they
were
defended
on
top
and
all
sides
.
The
warriors
moved
forward
but
holes
were
quickly
being
made
as
the
wyvern
spit
at
them
.
Tom
mentally
gave
a
command
to
the
commander
of
the
guards
to
spread
out
.
He
had
another
idea
.
He
reached
magically
into
the
trees
.
He
forced
his
will
on
the
wood
and
made
ten
wooden
crantos
.
They
wrapped
around
the
wyvern
but
the
beast
smashed
one
of
them
.

One
wrapped
around
its
neck
and
then
the
tree
-
guards
fell
on
the
wyvern
as
it
staggered
.
He
brought
his
mind
from
the
wood
crantos
and
they
became
lifeless
once
more
.
He
watched
as
the
wyvern
turned
into
stone
.
He
made
changes
in
the
guards
training
,
now
they
were
being
trained
to
fight
flying
enemies
.
He
also
made
griffins
out
of
the
trees
and
gave
them
will
.

His
fort
seemed
impenetrable
.
He
had
made
the
walls
three
feet
thick
and
ten
feet
tall
.
Each
corner
was
a
tower
that
was
twenty
feet
from
the
ground
.
His
personal
hut
was
a
small
shelter
against
one
wall
.
The
food
storage
building
was
just
to
the
side
of
that
about
the
same
size
.
In
the
center
was
a
large
common
.
A
large
fire
pit
to
cook
with
and
a
large
pavilion
.

Two
days
later
Alex
came
to
his
base
.
Helanded
in
front
of
gates
and
Tom
opened
them
.
Alex
walked
up
to
Tom
and
said
“
You
get
one
request
for
something
.
I
will
come
back
in
two
days
to
get
your
answer
.”
Tom
started
to
say
something
,
but
Alex
jumped
into
the
air
and
Tom
watched
his
purple
form
fly
away
.

Tom
walked
to
his
hut
and
went
to
sleep
thinking
of
what
he
would
ask
for
.
The
next
day
Tom
passed
time
thinking
of
what
to
ask
for
,
watching
the
training
and
improving
his
fort
.
He
had
some
of
the
tree
-
men
help
him
dig
a
moat
then
put
sharpened
stakes
at
the
bottom
.
He
used
a
spell
Alex
taught
him
and
changed
some
water
so
it
would
burn
easily
and
put
it
in
the
moat
.
Tom
went
to
sleep
after
he
ate
a
good
meal
.

One
good
thing
about
being
alone
with
only
tree
-
men
for
company
is
you
only
have
to
feed
one
person
,
the
tree
-
men
only
needing
sunlight
and
water
.
He
already
had
enough
food
for
the
rest
of
his
time
.
He
woke
and
found
the
guards
fighting
some
bears
and
wolves
.
He
grabbed
the
stone
axe
and
shield
he
had
made
and
flew
over
the
wall
.