The Anvil (70 page)

Over
the
next
few
days
Tom
trained
a
little
harder
than
the
day
before
and
a
week
later
he
was
nearly
back
to
his
old
strength
and
his
arm
was
still
healing
.

One
night
the
next
week
,
he
sat
talking
to
Zack
in
their
room
,
they
shared
one
with
only
each
other
as
the
castle
was
starting
to
empty
. “
Have
people
been
coming
up
to
you
randomly
,
if
they
’
re
not
pointing
at
you
?”
Zack
asked
him
and
Tom
nodded

“
Yes
,
it
is
annoying
.
Like
the
first
day
I
got
out
of
the
infirmary
,
this
girl
came
up
to
me
.
Stood
their
for
a
second
then
ran
away
.
I
don
’
t
really
understand
it
,
I
am
just
a
normal
person
.
And
I
had
so
much
help
from
you
and
the
rest
of
you
guys
.
Why
?
Have
people
been
doing
that
to
you
too
?”
Tom
said
and
Zack
nodded

“
Well
,
we
should
go
to
sleep
.
If
we
are
going
to
be
famous
we
need
our
beauty
sleep
.”
he
said
and
they
went
to
sleep
.

Bryn
and
her
master
left
the
next
day
and
Madison
and
her
master
left
two
days
after
Bryn
.
A
week
after
Bryn
left
Tom
,
Alex
,
John
,
Masdifi
,
Zack
,
Dejoni
and
Josh
stood
outside
the
gates
of
the
keep
.

“
Well
,
I
guess
I
better
get
back
to
the
Immortal
Council
and
report
.
Bye
.”
Josh
said
,
then
mounted
his
Pegasus
and
flew
away
.
The
brothers
and
their
apprentices
said
their
goodbyes
then
flew
away
,
John
,
Zack
and
Dejoni
towards
Hilltop
Lake
and
Tom
and
Alex
towards
Blangto
.

Although
the
two
places
were
very
different
,
they
were
still
in
the
same
fief
.
After
flying
for
a
couple
of
hours
Tom
and
Alex
landed
in
Blangto
,
a
small
town
in
southern
Ironwood
.
Almost
no
water
sources
,
mainly
a
small
river
and
some
small
lakes
,
it
was
very
dry
and
most
animals
stayed
in
the
shade
during
the
day
.
The
town
itself
was
built
near
the
river
.
Alex
’
s
cabin
was
on
the
opposite
side
of
the
river
from
the
town
.
They
crossed
the
small
bridge
to
the
cabin
and
went
inside
.

Tom
got
the
smaller
of
the
two
bedrooms
,
this
cabin
was
just
slightly
smaller
than
the
one
in
Hilltop
Lake
but
otherwise
the
same
.
Tom
put
his
pack
and
his
armour
in
his
room
,
he
kept
his
axe
,
shield
and
knife
with
him
as
he
always
did
,
and
went
into
the
back
.
He
watched
a
hawk
flying
through
the
air
and
he
flew
over
to
the
town
and
spend
an
hour
walking
around
.

Luckily
,
here
the
people
didn
’
t
know
who
he
was
,
so
they
didn
’
t
point
at
him
.
He
mentally
noted
where
all
the
stores
and
other
buildings
were
.
To
the
north
,
a
hill
of
red
sandstone
,
to
the
east
,
west
and
south
hills
of
black
volcanic
rock
.
After
an
hour
Tom
went
back
to
the
cabin
,
where
he
started
making
dinner
.
After
eating
Tom
and
Alex
sat
near
the
fire
,
Tom
was
trying
to
teach
himself
how
to
play
the
guitar
and
Alex
was
reading
reports
.

The
next
morning
the
two
went
to
the
river
. “
Well
,
you
need
a
different
training
schedule
as
we
are
no
longer
in
Hilltop
Lake
.
So
,
first
you
will
run
from
here
to
the
bridge
and
back
.
Then
circle
the
town
three
times
flying
,
land
back
here
and
practice
water
,
earth
and
air
magic
.
There
isn
’
t
very
much
plant
life
,
so
do
what
you
can
with
that
.
I
will
then
teach
you
and
practice
combat
with
you
.
I
am
going
to
start
teaching
you
a
throwing
weapon
and
a
new
close
combat
weapon
,
along
with
the
crossbow
and
axe
.
After
that
I
will
teach
you
desert
survival
skills
,
and
finally
I
will
teach
you
the
more
boring
subjects
,
like
math
and
geography
.”
Alex
told
him
and
Tom
nodded
and
started
running
towards
the
bridge
,
which
from
that
point
was
about
three
quarters
of
a
mile
away
.