The Anvil (71 page)

He
got
back
spread
his
wings
and
started
flying
.
He
landed
in
the
middle
of
the
small
river
and
thought
for
a
moment
.
He
closed
is
eyes
to
help
him
concentrate
,
then
started
to
hold
the
water
in
the
river
back
.
The
river
was
about
to
his
knees
and
was
not
very
wide
,
but
was
slightly
swift
.
After
a
moment
he
opened
his
eyes
and
saw
the
water
around
his
feet
was
only
half
way
up
his
shins
,
then
he
looked
forward
and
saw
a
wall
of
water
twenty
feet
tall
and
a
foot
thick
.
He
tried
to
make
it
bigger
as
he
held
up
the
water
.
He
moved
the
wall
in
front
of
him
leaned
it
slightly
towards
him
and
released
his
hold
on
the
water
.

He
quickly
made
the
mud
under
him
cover
him
as
the
water
came
crashing
down
.
He
managed
to
block
most
the
water
and
didn
’
t
get
soaked
.
He
practiced
earth
magic
standing
in
the
middle
of
the
river
,
sending
rock
,
sand
and
mud
in
the
air
and
forming
shapes
.
He
also
sent
rocks
flying
at
him
,
but
stopped
them
in
various
ways
,
making
a
wall
of
water
and
freezing
it
,
knocking
them
off
course
with
air
or
making
a
wall
of
dirt
,
mud
and
stone
.
He
went
to
the
small
bushes
and
plants
on
the
banks
of
the
river
and
practiced
controlling
those
.

Eventually
Alex
came
and
brought
him
behind
the
cabin
,
where
,
as
there
had
been
about
a
year
ago
,
two
racks
of
weapons
.
Tom
went
to
the
close
combat
rack
and
after
looking
and
testing
for
a
few
minutes
chose
a
spear
.
After
Tom
chose
the
spear
,
Alex
said
“
Good
choice
,
and
I
forgot
to
tell
you
something
.
You
get
a
bigger
axe
now
that
you
are
stronger
.
That
one
is
barely
bigger
than
a
throwing
axe
.”
and
Tom
looked
at
his
axe
.
It
was
pretty
small
for
a
battle
axe
,
he
realized
.
He
then
walked
over
to
the
ranged
rack
and
looked
and
tested
various
weapons
.

He
eventually
decided
to
start
using
a
throwing
axe
.
Alex
raised
an
eyebrow
“
Do
you
like
axes
at
all
?”
he
asked
sarcastically
,
and
Tom
laughed
“
No
,
I
hate
them
.
But
it
seems
different
than
what
most
people
use
,
so
most
won
’
t
practice
how
to
defend
against
them
.”
Tom
explained
and
Alex
nodded
.
Alex
went
inside
the
cabin
and
came
back
out
a
moment
later
.

He
carried
an
axe
,
double
edged
,
each
blade
a
little
bigger
than
a
dinner
plate
.
The
handle
was
encased
in
steel
and
leather
.
Alex
handed
the
axe
to
Tom
,
who
took
it
and
started
examining
it
.
He
started
swinging
it
to
test
it
’
s
weight
,
and
found
,
although
it
was
heavier
than
his
old
axe
,
he
could
swing
it
fairly
easy
.
He
put
the
axe
in
the
loop
on
his
belt
as
Alex
started
walking
towards
the
training
ground
.

Soon
Alex
had
him
throwing
his
two
throwing
axes
at
some
targets
,
set
at
various
distances
.
After
half
an
hour
he
started
using
his
crossbow
,
then
another
half
hour
later
,
Alex
took
him
to
the
town
training
grounds
to
train
with
his
spear
.
Most
the
townsfolk
wouldn
’
t
be
very
well
trained
,
so
Tom
could
learn
with
them
.
Tom
started
fighting
one
of
the
new
recruits
after
Alex
had
taught
him
the
basics
.
He
trained
with
his
spear
for
yet
another
half
hour
then
switched
to
his
an
axe
and
practiced
with
the
best
of
the
men
at
the
training
ground
.

Alex
had
gotten
a
practice
axe
with
the
same
weight
and
balance
as
his
new
one
,
so
Tom
didn
’
t
do
as
well
as
usual
,
but
still
beat
some
.
Everyday
after
Tom
followed
the
same
schedule
,
until
a
week
later
when
Alex
received
a
mission
.
Apparently
some
of
the
Ilemite
survivors
didn
’
t
want
to
go
back
to
Ilemart
and
had
made
their
way
to
southern
Ironwood
.