The Anvil (57 page)

Tom
looked
up
a
few
moments
later
and
say
Alex
,
in
dragon
form
,
flying
down
with
someone
on
his
back
.
Alex
crushed
a
few
enemy
soldiers
when
he
landed
and
the
person
on
his
back
jumped
off
“
Stay
with
them
.”
Alex
ordered
the
new
arrival
.
Who
turned
and
they
recognized
as
Madison
.
Tom
blocked
a
enemy
’
s
sword
with
his
shield
and
retaliated
with
a
crushing
blow
,
the
two
exchanged
blows
for
a
moment
until
Tom
kicked
him
and
hacked
at
his
neck
.
Tom
heard
the
others
fighting
behind
him
.

He
jumped
into
the
air
as
he
noticed
a
large
rock
flying
towards
them
,
he
thought
quickly
and
sent
the
rock
down
onto
the
enemy
troops
.
He
landed
and
smashed
his
shield
into
a
man
’
s
head
,
making
him
stagger
,
then
finished
him
with
a
quick
blow
from
his
axe
.
A
large
purple
dragon
,
he
recognized
as
Alex
roared
overhead
,
but
Tom
,
Dejoni
and
Zack
who
understood
and
had
studied
dragon
speech
,
understood
what
he
had
said
.

Tom
turned
and
said
“
Fall
back
!”
then
added
after
a
the
girls
looked
confused
“
Orders
from
Alex
.
Now
let
’
s
go
!”
Tom
took
the
lead
,
with
Dejoni
flying
just
above
them
,
Madison
and
Bryn
behind
Tom
and
Zack
behind
them
.
Alex
landed
next
to
them
and
changed
into
a
person
to
as
they
reached
the
edge
of
the
tents
. “
Head
straight
that
way
until
you
reach
Eagle
’
s
Keep
.
Wait
for
me
there
.”
Alex
said
quickly
and
indicated
which
way
.
Then
he
changed
back
into
a
dragon
and
flew
off
.
Tom
cast
a
spell
to
make
a
portable
fire
,
then
they
set
off
.

They
jogged
through
the
forest
for
a
while
until
they
should
check
for
pursuit
.
Zack
and
Tom
fell
back
and
hid
behind
trees
while
the
girls
and
Dejoni
kept
going
.
The
boys
waited
for
a
few
minutes
then
they
heard
people
running
through
the
trees
.
The
troops
passed
their
hiding
spot
and
the
boys
saw
the
Ilemart
insignia
on
their
uniforms
.
They
counted
ten
soldiers
,
then
the
boys
silently
followed
the
group
.

Zack
made
a
long
howl
,
the
signal
that
they
had
been
followed
.
Tom
and
Zack
could
see
Bryn
and
Madison
in
front
of
the
troops
and
Dejoni
flying
silently
above
them
.
Suddenly
the
girls
pretended
to
stumble
,
Bryn
grabbed
her
bow
and
Madison
prepared
to
cast
a
spell
and
Dejoni
did
a
large
turn
then
landed
in
front
of
the
girls
.
The
soldiers
charged
but
not
before
Zack
and
Tom
jumped
out
of
the
shadows
and
killed
two
of
them
.
Madison
made
a
root
shoot
out
of
the
ground
and
tie
up
a
man
,
Bryn
shot
two
arrows
,
wounding
one
and
killing
the
other
,
and
Dejoni
smashed
the
first
man
to
get
to
him
.
Zack
and
Tom
killed
and
pushed
the
soldiers
towards
Dejoni
,
Bryn
and
Madison
,
who
killed
the
rest
of
the
soldiers
.
The
soldiers
were
killed
in
a
few
moments
,
then
the
group
continued
going
towards
Eagle
’
s
Keep
.

After
running
for
a
minute
,
Tom
realized
something
and
stopped
.
The
others
followed
suit
and
looked
at
him
wondering
what
he
was
doing
. “
Why
are
we
running
?
Dejoni
can
carry
Zack
and
one
of
you
two
,
and
I
can
carry
the
other
and
we
can
fly
.”
Tom
explained
before
they
could
ask
.
Dejoni
landed
and
Zack
and
Madison
got
on
him
while
Bryn
got
on
Tom
’
s
back
.
They
took
off
,
flying
quickly
towards
the
keep
.

They
landed
for
a
rest
a
hour
later
,
then
they
took
off
again
,
this
time
Tom
holding
Bryn
beneath
him
so
he
could
move
his
wings
easier
.
After
about
half
and
hour
the
group
arrived
,
tired
and
hungry
,
at
Eagle
’
s
Keep
,
which
got
it
’
s
name
from
the
eagles
that
had
nests
on
the
cliff
it
was
on
.