The Anvil (58 page)

The
keep
was
built
on
a
cliff
with
only
one
way
up
and
down
,
without
climbing
.
It
had
tall
walls
of
grey
stone
.
The
path
to
the
castle
went
through
a
gully
,
where
archers
could
be
placed
to
rain
down
arrows
on
enemies
going
up
the
path
.
The
small
group
landed
in
the
courtyard
and
saw
a
servant
coming
towards
them
. “
Hello
,
I
’
m
Tony
,
how
may
i
help
you
?”
the
servant
said
,
Tom
looked
at
the
others
then
replied
“
Can
you
show
us
where
to
find
some
food
and
then
somewhere
to
sleep
?
The
rest
of
the
army
should
be
here
later
.”
Tony
nodded
and
led
them
to
the
kitchen
.

Then
after
a
few
minutes
he
led
them
up
to
some
rooms
.
The
girls
went
in
one
room
while
the
boys
went
in
another
.
Both
boys
took
off
their
armour
,
then
collapsed
onto
the
beds
and
fell
asleep
.
The
next
morning
the
boys
got
up
,
went
to
see
Dejoni
then
got
some
food
.
The
two
girls
walked
into
the
kitchen
just
as
the
two
boys
walked
out
.
The
two
boys
waited
as
Bryn
and
Madi
got
their
food
,
then
they
all
went
to
Dejoni
,
who
had
caught
a
deer
and
was
eating
it
.
About
halfway
through
the
morning
they
saw
two
large
figures
,
one
a
dragon
with
a
rider
and
the
other
a
wyvern
with
two
riders
.

The
group
landed
in
the
courtyard
as
the
friends
got
there
.
Samantha
got
off
Alex
,
who
transformed
back
into
a
human
,
as
John
and
Jessica
got
off
Mastifi
.
The
apprentices
went
over
to
their
masters
,
then
the
castle
staff
asked
what
the
new
arrivals
needed
.
Soon
afterward
more
of
the
army
arrived
in
a
large
group
,
then
more
slowly
came
in
small
groups
.
The
golems
found
a
few
caves
where
they
lived
,
while
everyone
else
was
crammed
into
the
castle
’
s
rooms
.
Tom
and
Zack
soon
shared
a
room
with
two
more
men
and
even
Dejoni
had
to
share
his
shelter
with
another
wyvern
.

Two
days
later
Tom
sat
on
the
cliff
talking
to
Bryn
and
Zack
,
when
he
looked
over
at
the
forest
and
saw
troops
coming
out
.
He
spread
his
wings
and
flew
down
to
see
if
they
were
Ilemart
.
On
the
way
down
he
saw
the
crest
on
their
armor
and
knew
they
were
the
enemy
.
He
circled
back
around
and
flew
back
to
the
castle
as
fast
as
he
could
.
He
landed
in
the
courtyard
and
yelled
“
The
Ilemite
army
is
here
!”
everyone
looked
at
him
then
sentries
from
the
towers
yelled
down
and
confirmed
his
proclamation
.

People
were
running
everywhere
,
yelling
,
and
scrambling
to
do
something
.
The
people
outside
the
first
gate
at
the
gully
quickly
came
in
,
archers
and
some
warriors
ran
down
to
the
gate
and
prepared
for
battle
.
Tom
found
Alex
,
who
ordered
him
to
go
to
the
gully
gate
,
and
if
it
was
overrun
come
straight
back
.
He
flew
down
to
the
wall
and
positioned
himself
just
over
the
gate
.

Tom
looked
around
as
they
waited
for
the
enemy
to
approach
.
The
enemy
host
stopped
and
a
single
rider
rode
out
“
Give
up
your
weapons
,
and
we
will
spare
your
lives
!”
Tom
heard
him
shout
.
Their
response
was
easily
interpreted
,
as
they
yelled
their
defiance
back
.
The
rider
rode
back
to
the
army
,
and
they
started
moving
forward
.
Tom
waited
for
the
signal
to
fire
from
the
squad
leader
near
him
.
The
enemy
’
s
first
ranks
entered
firing
range
and
the
squad
leader
signaled
them
to
fire
.

Hundreds
of
enemy
soldiers
dropped
,
but
more
filled
their
space
.
The
leader
had
them
fire
one
more
simultaneous
shot
,
shouted
the
command
to
fire
at
will
,
I
would
really
hate
to
be
Will
.
Soon
the
first
of
the
enemy
troops
got
to
the
wall
,
along
with
a
battering
ram
.
He
jumped
down
onto
the
ram
,
cut
a
hole
in
the
roof
,
and
started
a
fire
inside
it
.
He
looked
over
the
army
and
saw
siege
engines
almost
completed
.
He
flew
back
onto
the
walls
and
started
shooting
again
.
Soon
the
enemy
army
started
falling
back
,
Tom
knew
they
would
be
back
as
this
was
probably
an
attack
just
to
test
their
defences
.