The Anvil (34 page)

He
landed
on
a
bear
and
crushed
it
'
s
head
with
his
shield
.
He
jumped
off
it
'
s
body
into
another
bear
and
slashed
the
new
bear
'
s
neck
.
He
threw
his
axe
at
a
wolf
and
made
a
knife
.
He
jumped
from
bear
to
bear
until
only
the
wolves
were
left
.

He
dropped
the
knife
and
summoned
his
axe
.
The
guards
fell
into
a
formation
behind
him
as
the
wolves
grouped
together
.

They
stood
looking
at
each
other
for
a
moment
then
jumped
at
each
other
.
Tom
hacked
,
smashed
,
chopped
and
bashed
,
cutting
down
many
wolves
.
The
tree
-
guards
widened
the
hole
he
made
.

Soon
Tom
swung
his
axe
into
the
last
wolf
and
told
the
tree
-
guards
to
take
care
of
the
stone
bodies
,
he
need
the
ground
clear
around
the
walls
.
He
walked
back
into
the
fort
and
ate
his
breakfast
.
He
put
stone
spikes
on
the
walls
and
made
them
very
smooth
and
slippery
so
they
couldn
'
t
be
climbed
.
He
just
finished
eating
lunch
when
he
saw
Alex
flying
towards
his
camp
.
He
told
the
guards
to
stand
down
and
flew
out
to
meet
him
.
First
Alex
inspected
all
the
defenses
,
food
and
Tom
'
s
small
army
.

Alex
tested
Tom
'
s
fighting
skills
next
.
Finally
as
they
sat
down
to
eat
dinner
,
made
by
some
Tom
'
s
wooden
chefs
,
Alex
asked
Tom
“
What
do
you
want
to
help
you
for
the
rest
of
your
time
out
here
?”
Tom
hesitated
for
a
moment
then
answered
“
I
want
some
company
out
here
.
It
gets
really
lonely
.”
Alex
thought
for
a
minute
. “
I
might
be
able
to
work
something
out
with
someone
.
But
they
can
'
t
be
trained
,
very
well
at
least
.
So
if
you
have
some
ideas
let
me
know
right
now
.”
Alex
said
finally
.

Tom
thought
for
a
moment
then
said
a
small
list
of
people
,
not
including
Zack
or
Madison
because
they
were
well
trained
.
Alex
stood
up
“
If
I
can
get
any
of
them
and
they
fit
my
requirements
then
I
will
have
them
here
tomorrow
or
the
next
day
.
If
not
I
will
come
back
for
another
request
.”
he
said
then
flew
away
.
Tom
stood
up
,
checked
on
the
guards
then
went
to
sleep
.
Tom
was
woken
by
the
smell
of
smoke
.
He
rushed
outside
and
looked
around
.
Everything
seemed
to
be
burning
.
Alex
'
s
test
for
today
is
very
different
from
the
usual
he
thought
.
He
started
fighting
the
fire
near
the
food
storage
and
soon
had
that
out
.
After
the
fire
was
out
he
looked
around
at
the
damage
.
The
food
storage
hadn
'
t
been
touched
,
but
almost
everywhere
else
was
black
,
cracked
or
gone
.
He
had
lost
about
ten
tree
-
men
in
the
fire
.
He
set
about
repairing
his
base
,
silently
waiting
for
Alex
.
The
day
passed
without
anyone
coming
.
Eventually
he
went
to
bed
,
but
laid
on
his
back
wondering
who
would
come
.
Finally
he
drifted
off
to
sleep
.
He
woke
to
a
knock
on
the
wooden
frame
of
his
door
and
saw
the
person
he
had
been
hoping
would
come
,
Bryn
stood
at
the
door
with
a
note
.

Chapter
14

             
Tom
sat
up
and
smiled
. “
Morning
,
how
are
you
?”
Tom
asked
with
a
yawn
as
Bryn
said
“
I
'
m
good
,
I
'
m
glad
I
can
spend
some
time
with
someone
my
age
.
Samantha
isn
'
t
very
cheerful
most
the
time
.
I
have
a
note
from
Alex
for
you
,
he
had
to
go
.
How
are
you
?”
She
finished
and
handed
Tom
the
note
. “
I
'
m
pretty
good
.”
he
replied
as
he
read
the
note

“
Tom
,
Samantha
says
you
must
help
Bryn
train
and
teach
her
some
weapons
skills
and
simple
magic
, -
Alex
.”