The Anvil (26 page)

This
time
it
was
a
man
and
he
simply
said
“
Go
home
,
you
'
ve
done
enough
.”
as
Tom
walked
back
to
his
house
everything
was
silent
,
but
the
cries
and
moans
of
those
wounded
or
that
had
lost
family
.
Tom
simply
thought
This
is
what
he
would
be
doing
for
the
rest
of
his
life
.
He
went
up
stairs
to
his
room
and
took
off
his
armor
,
set
it
in
a
corner
along
with
his
bloody
axe
and
shield
.
He
looked
at
himself
in
the
mirror
then
tried
to
sleep
.

For
what
seemed
like
hours
he
lay
awake
and
listened
to
the
weeping
and
cries
.
Finally
he
fell
asleep
,
he
woke
in
the
middle
of
the
night
.
He
must
have
been
asleep
for
awhile
because
when
he
was
going
to
sleep
it
was
still
a
few
hours
till
sunset
.
He
stood
up
careful
not
to
wake
Zack
,
who
was
sharing
his
room
.
He
quietly
crept
downstairs
and
out
the
front
door
.
He
walked
down
the
street
,
bathed
in
light
from
the
full
moon
.
He
wandered
around
the
village
aimlessly
.
Suddenly
he
heard
a
soft
voice
say
“
Hello
?”
he
turned
quickly
pulling
out
his
dagger
as
he
turned
.

The
dagger
was
nearly
out
of
it
'
s
sheath
when
he
saw
the
speaker
,
it
was
the
girl
who
had
given
him
the
water
earlier
,
she
had
brown
hair
and
brown
eyes
she
was
also
kind
of
tall
.
Tom
quickly
said
“
Sorry
,
you
scared
me
.
I
guess
I
am
just
on
edge
after
that
battle
.
Thanks
for
the
water
earlier
.
I
'
m
Tom
.”
the
girl
laughed
saying
“
I
scared
you
?
You
scared
me
,
with
that
dagger
.
My
name
is
Bryn
.
Mind
if
I
join
you
on
your
walk
?”
Tom
shook
his
head
“
No
I
don
'
t
mind
,
but
what
are
you
doing
out
at
night
?”
Bryn
smiled
then
answered
“
I
was
going
to
ask
you
the
same
thing
.
I
just
couldn
'
t
sleep
.”
Tom
started
walking
“
You
too
then
.
You
cold
?”
he
asked
when
he
saw
she
was
shivering
a
little
.

Bryn
nodded
“
Just
a
little
,
why
do
you
have
some
magical
fire
power
or
something
?”
they
both
laughed
“
No
,
don
'
t
know
fire
magic
yet
,
but
I
do
have
a
jacket
.
Want
to
use
it
?”
Bryn
answered
“
Sure
,
but
won
’
t
you
be
cold
?”
Tom
took
off
his
jacket
and
handed
it
to
her
. “
No
,
but
I
hadn
'
t
seen
you
around
here
before
I
left
for
my
training
.”

As
he
spoke
his
wings
came
out
and
he
wrapped
them
around
him
.
Bryn
shook
her
head
“
You
wouldn
'
t
have
,
I
moved
here
a
few
months
ago
.
What
are
you
training
for
?”
Tom
said
“
I
bet
you
can
guess
what
I
am
training
for
.”
Bryn
looked
at
his
wings
and
said
,
with
a
small
smile
“
Um
,
maybe
becoming
a
Dragon
Guardian
,
no
that
doesn
'
t
make
sense
.
You
fight
in
battles
,
know
magic
and
have
great
weapons
.
Definitely
not
a
Guardian
.”
They
both
laughed
“
You
’
re
right
.
What
are
you
doing
with
your
life
?”

Bryn
shrugged
“
In
a
week
I
am
leaving
to
train
as
a
sentinel
.”
The
sentinels
were
a
group
that
serves
as
elite
scouts
for
the
kingdom
in
times
of
war
and
as
law
enforcers
in
times
of
peace
.
Their
weapons
were
long
range
,
a
bow
or
crossbow
and
a
throwing
weapon
along
with
a
short
sword
.
Tom
said
“
Cool
,
I
hear
the
training
is
hard
.”

They
walked
down
to
the
fields
and
sat
on
a
bench
Tom
had
made
.
They
sat
and
talked
overlooking
the
glistening
fields
and
farms
.

Suddenly
they
heard
what
sounded
like
beating
wings
behind
them
and
a
voice
that
sounded
like
a
growl
say
“
Tom
,
why
are
you
out
in
the
middle
of
night
,
isn
'
t
that
odd
behavior
for
humans
?”
Tom
spun
and
leaped
to
his
feet
and
pulled
out
his
dagger
,
again
.