The Anvil (46 page)

Eventually
he
fell
asleep
and
woke
the
next
morning
late
.
He
ran
downstairs
and
ate
breakfast
then
ran
out
to
find
a
messenger
to
tell
Alex
he
was
in
Pine
Grove
and
was
headed
to
Blangto
.
He
found
one
,
gave
him
the
message
and
paid
him
.
He
went
back
home
and
grabbed
his
pack
he
told
his
mother
where
he
was
headed
then
left
.
He
flew
slowly
watching
the
ground
for
movement
that
might
be
Caleb
.

The
day
passed
uneventfully
and
Tom
camped
in
a
small
clearing
.
He
found
a
small
hollow
at
the
base
of
a
large
tree
and
camped
inside
it
.
He
left
a
hole
large
enough
for
smoke
to
go
out
and
fresh
air
to
come
in
but
covered
the
rest
.
He
ate
a
small
dinner
then
went
to
sleep
after
casting
a
spell
to
keep
the
fire
going
and
not
let
it
get
out
of
control
.

Chapter
18

Tom
woke
to
the
sound
of
collapsing
dirt
.
A
pale
man
jumped
down
into
the
hole
and
looked
red
in
the
fire
light
.
Tom
didn
'
t
change
his
breathing
at
all
,
which
he
had
learned
from
Alex
to
trick
people
into
thinking
he
was
asleep
.
Some
other
pale
men
and
women
jumped
into
the
hole
and
the
first
motioned
for
them
to
search
the
hollow
.

Tom
suddenly
jumped
up
at
the
nearest
one
,
a
woman
with
long
black
hair
,
and
held
her
with
a
knife
to
her
throat
.
Some
raised
their
crossbows
at
him
but
the
leader
waved
them
down
then
the
man
smiled
. “
You
don
'
t
know
what
we
are
do
you
?
Well
let
me
fill
you
in
.
We
are
vampires
,
so
if
that
little
knife
slits
her
throat
it
will
not
kill
her
.”
he
said
.

Tom
made
a
piece
of
flaming
wood
fly
into
his
hand
replacing
the
knife
“
No
I
guess
not
,
but
this
will
.”
he
replied
.
The
vampire
edged
closer
but
Tom
stopped
him
“
Come
any
closer
and
she
dies
.”
then
after
a
moment
of
thought
“
Again
.
Or
can
you
really
die
if
you
'
re
a
vampire
cause
you
are
already
dead
.”
he
finished
.

The
vampires
thought
for
a
moment
,
he
had
learned
this
trick
from
Alex
too
,
and
Tom
made
his
move
.
He
threw
the
vampire
he
was
holding
at
the
others
and
threw
the
wood
after
her
then
grabbed
his
bag
and
tried
to
get
away
,
but
the
vampires
were
too
fast
.

They
grabbed
his
feet
as
he
launched
into
the
air
and
pulled
him
back
.
They
put
him
on
the
ground
and
held
him
there
then
the
one
he
had
held
grabbed
a
piece
of
wood
from
the
fire
,
careful
to
avoid
the
flames
,
and
walked
over
to
him
slowly
.

As
she
prepared
to
burn
him
a
knife
flew
from
the
shadows
and
got
buried
in
the
vampire
'
s
heart
.
She
grabbed
uselessly
at
the
knife
then
fell
on
the
ground
and
burst
into
flames
.
The
vampires
looked
around
scared
then
saw
a
tall
man
at
the
edge
of
the
light
,
the
man
held
two
more
knives
in
both
hands
,
ready
to
throw
.
Tom
recognized
him
quickly
,
he
was
the
strange
warrior
he
saw
at
his
training
.

He
couldn
'
t
see
his
face
as
it
was
covered
in
shadows
,
but
could
see
the
bulky
build
and
other
things
such
as
the
weapons
he
had
,
a
large
bow
,
a
quiver
,
two
large
swords
with
black
handles
and
silver
sheaths
,
along
with
other
smaller
weapons
. “
Now
I
give
you
vampires
two
options
,
finally
die
or
help
this
boy
find
his
brother
.”
the
strange
man
said
with
a
large
,
deep
,
booming
voice
.
The
vampires
quickly
agreed
to
help
Tom
find
his
brother
.

Obviously
they
knew
this
strange
man
,
or
at
least
knew
of
him
.
Tom
slept
the
rest
of
the
night
then
in
the
morning
he
started
to
set
out
.
He
noticed
the
vampires
seemed
to
be
avoiding
the
sun
,
then
he
remembered
stories
about
how
vampires
burned
in
the
sun
.