The Anvil (43 page)

“
As
the
two
armies
approached
the
island
Thoma
and
his
small
group
went
to
the
Phoenix
Cave
.
With
the
help
of
the
magical
phoenix
they
created
a
last
resort
spell
.
No
one
knew
what
the
spell
did
but
them
.
The
first
army
to
reach
the
island
was
the
western
empire
.
Thoma
stood
on
the
walls
with
the
archers
and
engineers
who
controlled
the
cannons
.
No
one
spoke
as
the
fleet
of
ships
got
closer
to
the
island
.
As
the
first
cannon
fired
and
Thoma
saw
they
had
no
choice
but
to
fight
,
he
sent
a
single
arrow
at
the
ship
in
front
.

“
The
arrow
hit
the
ship
and
then
a
spire
of
fire
descended
from
the
sky
and
hit
the
ship
,
lighting
the
explosives
and
destroying
it
and
two
ships
next
to
it
.
The
cannons
and
archers
began
shooting
and
a
small
group
went
out
in
boats
to
attack
.
Even
as
they
began
fighting
on
the
western
side
of
the
island
,
the
eastern
empire
got
to
the
island
.

“
Now
the
island
was
under
attack
from
two
directions
,
the
western
defenses
led
by
Thoma
and
the
eastern
by
his
best
friend
Zato
,
another
mighty
fighter
.
Eventually
the
walls
were
breached
on
each
side
and
the
Phoenix
islanders
tried
to
hold
back
the
two
armies
.
Thoma
and
Zato
fought
fiercely
,
each
inspiring
their
warriors
to
fight
.
Helping
each
of
them
were
their
wives
.
The
fighting
was
all
over
the
island
until
each
attacking
army
began
rushing
up
the
main
street
to
the
island
’
s
center
.
The
islanders
were
pushed
back
until
they
had
reached
the
entrance
of
the
Phoenix
Cave
.
Thoma
and
Zato
stood
side
by
side
as
the
attacking
armies
began
their
final
rush
.

“
The
two
friends
leaped
into
battle
and
fought
like
no
man
ever
has
.
But
the
pair
’
s
skill
wasn
’
t
enough
.
The
two
friends
soon
found
themselves
with
only
their
wives
and
Thoma
’
s
brother
.
All
the
other
islanders
had
been
killed
.
They
looked
over
the
once
beautiful
city
,
the
once
graceful
white
stone
buildings
lay
in
ruins
and
the
streets
littered
with
wreckage
.
They
nodded
and
quickly
blasted
the
attacking
armies
back
a
little
with
a
large
number
of
rocks
then
turned
and
went
into
the
cave
.

“
Thoma
’
s
phoenix
landed
on
his
shoulder
as
the
five
friends
took
the
spell
from
its
place
.
The
phoenixs
around
them
cried
and
sung
their
songs
as
the
five
cast
the
spell
.
The
armies
rushed
forward
as
they
finished
.
There
was
a
burst
of
light
then
all
the
people
of
the
two
nations
found
themselves
on
separate
continents
with
no
memory
of
the
islands
.
But
on
Phoenix
island
the
five
survivors
made
a
deal
to
watch
over
the
two
nations
forever
.
The
spell
they
had
cast
had
caused
the
two
nations
to
move
and
also
they
had
become
immortal
like
a
phoenix
.
When
they
died
they
would
be
reborn
,
but
they
would
only
regain
their
memories
if
they
went
to
the
Phoenix
Cave
.”
Dejoni
finished
.
They
continued
telling
stories
such
as
epic
battles
among
other
things
.

Eventually
they
all
went
to
sleep
except
Tom
who
had
the
first
watch
.
Over
the
night
the
prisoners
tried
to
escape
only
once
and
silently
followed
as
they
walked
back
to
Pine
Grove
.
A
few
hours
later
they
walked
into
Pine
Grove
and
went
to
the
jail
and
handed
over
the
prisoners
.

After
that
Tom
and
Zack
went
back
to
Tom
'
s
house
for
lunch
.
Tom
'
s
mom
was
sitting
at
the
kitchen
table
obviously
worried
,
which
confused
Tom
.
The
two
boys
walked
in
and
Tom
'
s
mom
looked
up
,
her
face
washed
over
with
relief
.
She
got
up
and
hugged
Tom
,
who
was
caught
by
surprise
. “
I
can
'
t
believe
you
just
left
a
note
when
you
went
to
fight
those
robbers
!
Do
you
know
how
dangerous
that
was
even
with
the
others
?
I
can
'
t
believe
you
!”
she
yelled
,
tom
just
stood
confused
for
a
moment
“
Sorry
,
I
guess
I
am
just
used
to
doing
that
kind
of
stuff
.
I
didn
'
t
realize
it
was
such
a
big
deal
.”
he
said
,
he
really
hadn
'
t
realized
his
mom
would
make
such
a
big
deal
.