The Anvil (39 page)

Bryn
sat
in
one
of
the
chairs
Tom
had
magically
made
,
asleep
.
Tom
put
more
wood
in
the
fire
and
waited
for
Bryn
to
wake
.
About
an
hour
later
Bryn
woke
slowly
,
until
she
noticed
Tom
was
awake
and
jumped
up
. “
You
'
re
awake
!
Why
didn
'
t
you
wake
me
up
?”
she
yelled
.

Tom
sat
where
he
was
calmly
. “
Ya
I
'
m
awake
and
I
didn
'
t
wake
you
up
because
you
need
sleep
too
.
How
long
was
I
asleep
?”
he
asked
. “
Only
about
a
day
.
The
dragon
has
come
to
the
entrance
of
the
base
,
but
left
after
I
ordered
all
the
warriors
to
get
away
from
the
entrance
.”
Bryn
answered
.
Tom
nodded
“
I
think
we
have
to
kill
the
dragon
before
Alex
will
come
.”
he
said
,
Bryn
nodded
her
head
in
agreement
.

They
sat
planning
how
to
kill
it
for
about
an
hour
before
Bryn
suddenly
said
“
It
'
s
wings
are
hurt
so
it
can
'
t
fly
very
well
,
so
we
attack
it
in
the
air
!”
both
of
them
smiled
but
then
Tom
had
a
thought
“
But
aerial
combat
is
extremely
difficult
and
it
takes
a
lot
of
energy
.
Energy
I
might
not
have
.”
the
smiles
faded
quickly
.

So
they
decided
they
would
create
a
floating
platform
for
Bryn
,
wait
until
Tom
was
feeling
better
then
attack
the
dragon
.
The
time
passed
quickly
as
they
made
a
wooden
platform
and
enchanted
it
so
it
wouldn
'
t
burn
and
it
would
fly
.
They
also
made
some
wooden
soldiers
with
the
anti
-
burn
enchantment
.

Tom
put
magic
guards
from
fire
around
Bryn
and
himself
.
A
day
after
they
finished
they
stood
at
the
entrance
of
the
cave
watching
the
giant
blue
dragon
circle
over
the
forest
below
them
.
Bryn
stepped
onto
her
platform
and
Tom
'
s
wings
appeared
.
Tom
ran
and
jumped
out
of
the
cave
with
the
army
behind
him
and
Bryn
beside
him
.
As
they
neared
the
dragon
it
turned
blew
fire
at
them
,
but
Tom
'
s
spells
protected
them
.

The
dragon
swung
its
tail
at
the
warriors
when
they
got
close
enough
.
Bryn
and
some
of
the
archers
stopped
and
took
aim
at
the
dragon
.
A
moment
later
a
storm
of
arrows
launched
at
the
dragon
,
but
most
were
burned
as
the
dragon
blew
fire
on
them
the
rest
bouncing
harmlessly
off
its
scales
.

Tom
smashed
into
the
dragon
'
s
head
with
all
his
momentum
,
hoping
to
break
its
neck
and
finish
the
fight
quickly
.
The
rest
of
the
warriors
smashed
into
its
head
and
neck
mostly
,
but
some
dove
on
its
wings
.
Soon
the
warriors
were
slashing
at
the
dragon
,
but
while
Tom
'
s
spells
protected
them
from
fire
they
didn
'
t
stop
them
from
being
turned
into
splinters
when
the
dragon
hit
them
with
its
claws
,
whipped
them
with
its
tail
or
bit
them
with
its
giant
teeth
.

Suddenly
Tom
heard
a
scream
from
behind
him
and
saw
the
dragon
'
s
tail
swinging
passed
the
ruins
of
Bryn
'
s
platform
and
Bryn
falling
to
the
ground
.

All
the
archers
and
warriors
only
had
the
command
to
attack
the
dragon
,
Tom
had
simply
formed
the
wooden
soldiers
and
gave
them
a
simple
purpose
not
having
the
time
to
give
them
thoughts
,
and
didn
'
t
notice
her
falling
.

He
jumped
off
the
dragons
head
and
folded
his
wings
,
diving
as
fast
as
possible
after
Bryn
.
He
cast
two
spells
,
one
to
slow
Bryn
'
s
fall
and
the
other
to
speed
his
dive
.
As
he
neared
her
he
slowly
spread
his
wings
to
slow
himself
,
grimacing
from
the
pain
,
trying
not
to
smash
into
her
too
hard
.
He
grabbed
her
and
glided
down
to
the
trees
,
setting
her
against
a
tree
then
flying
back
up
.
As
he
wove
his
way
through
the
trees
he
had
an
idea
.