The Anvil (66 page)

Tom
nodded
to
Zack
,
Dejoni
and
the
rest
of
the
warriors
,
then
they
ran
at
them
.
Dejoni
spat
at
the
shields
,
but
a
spell
blocked
the
acid
.
He
reached
the
wall
and
Tom
jumped
over
it
and
landed
on
an
archer
.
He
stayed
low
and
chopped
at
two
enemy
archers
legs
,
then
smashed
their
chests
.
The
enemy
warriors
didn
’
t
know
what
to
do
as
Dejoni
and
Zack
landed
and
joined
Tom
in
attacking
the
archers
.
If
they
attacked
them
the
warriors
would
break
the
wall
and
let
the
archers
shoot
them
,
but
if
they
didn
’
t
move
Tom
,
Zack
and
Dejoni
would
eventually
kill
all
the
archers
.

Tom
saw
the
enemy
shield
bearers
push
against
the
weight
of
the
warriors
and
made
sure
Zack
and
Dejoni
could
hold
off
the
archers
for
a
bit
longer
.
Then
he
turned
and
ran
towards
the
shield
wall
where
the
warriors
were
trying
to
get
through
.
He
chopped
one
man
down
as
he
decided
what
to
do
,
got
one
as
he
pulled
his
sword
out
.
After
Tom
took
out
three
more
men
the
Arstanian
warriors
got
in
.

The
rest
of
the
enemy
shield
men
pulled
out
their
various
weapons
,
swords
,
spears
and
one
or
two
axes
.
About
twenty
enemy
troops
still
stood
,
three
of
them
archers
.
The
enemy
warriors
turned
to
face
them
as
the
Arstanian
archers
fired
.
About
seven
of
them
fell
dead
or
severely
wounded
,
and
two
more
were
slightly
wounded
.
Tom
turned
to
face
some
of
the
enemy
troops
,
which
had
been
split
into
two
groups
,
two
of
the
Arstanian
warriors
turned
the
same
way
as
Tom
,
Zack
,
Dejoni
and
two
more
of
their
troops
turned
the
other
way
.

Zack
and
Dejoni
had
already
killed
the
rest
of
the
archers
,
Tom
ran
straight
at
the
enemy
,
followed
by
the
two
warriors
who
had
faced
the
same
way
.
The
archers
shot
the
enemy
in
farthest
from
them
,
both
on
the
side
Tom
was
on
and
Zack
.
Tom
kicked
the
nearest
man
’
s
shield
,
sending
him
back
into
the
other
warriors
and
into
the
path
of
an
arrow
.
The
two
behind
him
jumped
into
the
gap
with
him
and
they
all
took
out
one
man
each
.
The
other
group
finished
and
they
resumed
their
run
towards
the
command
tent
.

After
a
few
minutes
pushing
through
random
fighting
,
they
stopped
at
a
wall
.
Made
of
logs
,
sharpened
and
placed
outwards
,
with
upright
logs
behind
them
.
They
turned
to
help
fight
the
Ilemart
army
in
the
confusion
.
Suddenly
,
they
heard
a
loud
horn
blow
over
the
battle
.
The
Ilemart
forces
retreated
through
a
hole
in
the
wall
,
keeping
the
Arstanian
forces
back
as
they
went
through
.
Once
most
the
enemy
soldiers
were
behind
the
wall
,
the
hole
was
covered
by
a
stack
of
logs
.

To
his
left
Tom
saw
a
griffin
rider
try
to
fly
over
the
wall
,
but
he
got
shot
and
after
falling
a
moment
stopped
as
if
he
had
hit
an
invisible
wall
.
Tom
knew
that
they
would
have
to
not
only
scale
the
wooden
wall
,
but
destroy
the
magic
wall
.
Already
spells
were
being
cast
to
take
down
the
wall
.
Boulders
flew
at
the
wall
as
if
by
themselves
,
but
Tom
knew
magicians
were
flinging
them
at
the
wall
to
wear
it
down
.
Other
magicians
cast
spells
to
get
past
the
spell
,
if
they
found
a
way
past
they
could
crush
the
wall
quickly
.

Tom
grabbed
a
rope
from
a
fallen
tent
and
tied
a
noose
.
He
threw
the
rope
up
to
the
top
of
the
wooden
wall
,
trying
to
catch
the
top
of
a
log
and
either
bring
it
down
or
climb
up
the
wall
.
Enemy
archers
shot
arrow
after
arrow
into
the
army
while
enemy
warriors
tried
to
keep
the
soldiers
away
.