The Anvil (5 page)

A
week
later
while
on
his
morning
run
he
was
running
by
some
trees
when
a
giant
black
bear
charged
out
of
the
trees
towards
him
.
Tom
hefted
his
axe
and
shield
.
He
side
stepped
and
the
bear
ran
past
him
and
turned
.
It
advanced
slower
when
it
reached
him
it
rose
up
on
its
hind
legs
and
smashed
down
on
Tom
.
Tom
barely
put
up
his
shield
in
time
to
block
the
crushing
blow
Tom
then
hacked
at
the
bear
'
s
side
with
his
axe
.
The
bear
tried
to
hit
him
with
a
swipe
but
Tom
blocked
it
and
swung
his
axe
as
hard
as
he
could
into
the
bear
'
s
head
.
The
bear
toppled
over
and
Tom
dropped
his
bloody
axe
and
mangled
shield
on
the
ground
and
stood
there
for
a
second
then
sank
to
his
knees
.

Tom
didn
'
t
know
how
long
he
knelt
there
but
eventually
Alex
came
looking
for
him
.
Alex
found
him
kneeling
there
by
the
giant
bear
.
Alex
came
over
to
Tom
and
put
a
hand
on
his
shoulder
and
led
him
back
to
the
cabin
.
Then
Alex
cast
a
spell
so
Tom
'
s
arm
would
heal
faster
then
send
Tom
to
his
room
.
Tom
came
out
hours
later
and
found
Alex
reading
some
important
looking
papers
.
Alex
looked
up
and
saw
Tom
he
asked
“
That
was
an
amazing
thing
you
did
,
most
apprentices
wouldn
'
t
have
been
able
to
fight
a
full
grown
black
bear
,
even
with
a
months
more
training
.”
Tom
looked
at
his
left
arm
then
at
Alex
“
Thanks
for
healing
my
arm
.”
Tom
said
“
But
I
want
to
get
back
to
training
.”
Alex
nodded
then
replied
“
Most
people
would
quit
after
that
.
I
have
a
new
daily
schedule
for
you
.
First
,
you
run
then
swim
,
after
you
swim
,
push
ups
and
pull
ups
.
Then
you
work
on
weapon
skills
,
afterward
you
train
magic
,
then
you
have
some
other
skills
.
That
will
take
most
the
day
but
now
you
have
two
hours
free
.
Plus
you
get
at
least
week
to
visit
your
friends
and
family
every
two
months
.” “
OK
lets
get
started
.”
Tom
only
got
a
few
hours
training
then
he
canoed
over
to
the
town
to
see
what
was
there
.

As
Tom
stepped
onto
the
shore
he
started
to
walk
into
town
.
As
he
passed
a
shop
selling
mirrors
he
looked
into
one
and
his
eyes
widened
.
He
saw
how
much
just
three
weeks
of
training
had
changed
him
.
He
had
more
defined
muscles
,
almost
all
his
fat
was
gone
and
he
was
much
tanner
.
He
was
taller
,
too
.

He
started
walking
again
and
wandered
the
town
looking
at
everything
.
He
had
been
there
before
,
but
just
with
Alex
to
get
some
food
and
other
household
things
.
But
those
trips
had
been
fast
just
get
to
the
stores
and
leave
.
Suddenly
there
was
a
scream
from
up
the
street
and
a
man
in
black
ran
out
of
a
store
.
The
man
ran
away
from
Tom
.

But
Tom
started
running
after
him
,
silently
he
thanked
the
hours
of
running
.
The
man
was
fast
but
Tom
was
faster
,
Tom
tackled
the
man
to
the
ground
spilling
the
contents
of
the
man
'
s
bag
.
The
thief
tried
to
kick
Tom
but
the
man
was
face
down
so
the
attempts
failed
.
Tom
yelled
for
some
rope
and
a
man
ran
forward
with
some
.

The
thief
had
dark
blond
hair
and
blue
eyes
.
Tom
held
down
the
flailing
man
while
the
other
man
tied
up
the
thief
.
After
that
was
done
Tom
started
to
lead
the
thief
down
the
street
to
his
canoe
a
boy
around
Tom
'
s
age
ran
up
to
him
and
asked
“
Who
are
you
?”
Tom
looked
the
boy
in
the
eye
as
he
answered
“
I
'
m
Tom
,
Apprentice
Dragon
Guardian
.
Who
are
you
?”
The
boy
looked
at
Tom
in
awe
then
replied
“
I
'
m
Zack
.”
Tom
looked
at
the
boy
,
he
had
dark
hair
and
brown
eyes
.