The Anvil (93 page)

The
Anvil
started
advancing
again
and
stopped
one
fourth
the
way
across
the
bridge
.
The
went
into
what
Tom
called
the
tortoise
,
the
second
and
third
lines
putting
their
shields
over
their
heads
while
the
first
continued
to
hold
their
shields
in
front
of
them
,
a
simple
but
effective
way
to
protect
against
archers
and
other
ranged
units
.

The
enemy
archers
began
firing
,
the
arrows
bouncing
off
or
sticking
in
their
shields
.
Tom
leveled
his
crossbow
and
aimed
through
a
hole
between
two
shields
,
he
saw
a
man
,
obviously
high
ranking
,
leading
the
enemy
troops
.

He
took
a
moment
to
make
sure
he
wouldn
’
t
miss
.
He
took
one
last
breath
and
pulled
the
trigger
.
His
bolt
traveled
through
the
hole
and
hit
the
enemy
officer
in
the
neck
,
causing
him
to
fall
from
his
horse
.
Tom
lowered
his
crossbow
and
put
it
across
his
back
.
The
enemy
paused
a
moment
but
continued
advancing
towards
the
wall
of
shields
known
as
the
Anvil
.

The
enemy
began
to
hit
the
shields
,
but
were
not
confronted
by
another
soldier
but
by
shields
,
stabbing
swords
and
spears
.
Tom
saw
a
Arstanian
cavalry
unit
behind
the
Anvil
and
flew
over
the
the
commander
.

He
told
him
that
the
Anvil
would
separate
for
a
moment
to
let
them
through
.
He
flew
back
to
the
Anvil
and
waited
to
give
the
order
as
the
cavalry
began
charging
forward
.

He
yelled
“
Open
the
wall
center
!”
to
his
troops
,
who
opened
a
hole
in
the
center
of
the
shield
wall
.
The
cavalry
charge
through
the
hole
a
moment
later
and
once
they
were
through
,
the
Anvil
closed
again
.

After
a
few
minutes
the
cavalry
began
falling
back
,
until
they
turned
and
galloped
back
towards
the
Anvil
.
Tom
gave
the
open
command
again
as
the
cavalry
galloped
closer
,
a
moment
later
the
cavalry
galloped
passed
him
.
Soon
more
cavalry
units
joined
the
first
and
they
began
charging
through
holes
in
the
wall
that
disappeared
almost
as
soon
as
they
passed
.

Although
the
cavalry
helped
,
many
Ilemite
men
got
to
the
Anvil
,
but
were
quickly
killed
or
wounded
by
the
group
.
Tom
walked
behind
the
three
lines
,
often
quickly
flying
over
them
and
attacking
the
Ilemites
for
a
moment
then
flying
back
over
.

Over
half
an
hour
later
the
battle
was
finished
,
the
Anvil
had
held
the
bridge
the
entire
time
.
Tom
stayed
after
the
rest
of
the
men
left
to
count
the
dead
in
his
group
.
Each
man
was
easily
recognizable
from
the
large
shield
on
their
arm
.
He
searched
and
found
only
two
men
had
been
killed
,
one
more
was
wounded
and
unable
to
walk
on
his
own
and
before
the
rest
had
left
he
had
counted
only
thirteen
wounded
.

He
flew
back
to
the
command
room
in
the
castle
,
went
in
and
found
the
leaders
of
the
war
arguing
. “
War
is
full
of
risks
!
We
can
’
t
hold
out
against
the
Ilemites
forever
here
,
they
will
simply
get
more
reinforcements
.
We
don
’
t
have
the
men
to
hold
the
border
for
any
extended
period
of
time
.”
one
man
was
saying
.

“
But
this
is
too
large
of
a
risk
.
We
can
’
t
spare
the
men
to
do
this
.”
another
said
,
then
the
first
started
talking
again
. “
If
we
don
’
t
take
a
risk
we
will
never
win
.
But
if
we
sent
some
troops
across
this
crossing
to
take
the
Ilemites
from
the
side
,
we
will
have
a
much
better
chance
of
winning
.”
he
indicated
where
the
troops
would
go
.

Tom
thought
a
moment
“
Well
,
if
we
send
men
across
and
they
are
not
found
they
could
take
out
the
siege
weapons
and
archers
.”
suddenly
everyone
looked
at
him
,
he
paused
and
one
shook
his
head