The Anvil (61 page)

This
time
no
one
climbed
up
and
he
lit
it
without
a
problem
.
But
as
he
headed
to
the
next
one
he
saw
a
small
group
of
archers
and
warriors
on
top
of
it
,
and
he
turned
back
to
the
walls
.
As
he
flew
he
saw
two
more
battering
rams
had
reached
the
wall
and
were
hitting
the
gate
.
Tom
landed
in
front
of
one
and
touched
the
wooden
ram
and
magically
made
it
start
growing
again
,
Tom
saw
through
the
hole
in
the
front
the
enemy
troops
’
hands
get
encased
in
wood
.
Tom
then
set
fire
to
the
ram
and
moved
to
the
next
,
this
time
just
setting
fire
to
it
.

He
climbed
a
ladder
,
pushing
the
enemy
soldier
off
as
he
went
,
and
when
he
reached
the
top
he
jumped
off
and
spun
as
he
flipped
and
pushed
the
ladder
off
the
wall
.
He
sent
the
two
closest
ladders
off
the
wall
with
some
wind
magic
,
then
turned
his
attention
to
the
soldiers
on
the
walls
already
.
He
ran
to
the
closest
and
sent
him
flying
off
the
wall
with
his
shield
.
He
pushed
another
ladder
off
,
and
spun
as
Alex
landed
behind
him
. “
Time
to
fall
back
.
The
wall
is
lost
for
now
.”
Alex
said
and
flew
away
.

Tom
followed
him
as
he
landed
on
one
side
of
the
gully
past
the
front
gate
.
Alex
put
an
arrow
in
his
bow
,
Tom
following
suit
,
and
they
waited
for
a
minute
as
soldiers
from
both
sides
started
running
towards
the
main
gate
.
The
main
gate
closed
as
the
first
of
the
enemy
soldiers
got
to
it
,
leaving
them
open
to
the
archers
on
the
walls
of
the
gully
.
Below
them
there
was
nothing
but
mayhem
.
Groups
fighting
,
Ilemite
archers
firing
from
the
walls
and
Arstanian
archers
firing
from
the
sides
.
Tom
and
Alex
were
shooting
important
looking
Ilemart
soldiers
until
Tom
had
an
idea
.

He
told
Alex
and
they
started
shooting
the
enemy
archers
,
there
by
cutting
down
on
the
mayhem
by
reducing
the
arrows
and
helping
keep
their
troops
alive
.
Soon
the
Ilemart
forces
fell
back
,
Tom
and
Alex
flying
back
up
to
the
castle
to
rest
and
eat
.
Tom
looked
out
a
window
as
he
ate
and
saw
a
force
of
Ilemart
archers
and
spearmen
guarding
the
outer
wall
.

The
large
spears
had
the
advantage
of
range
he
knew
and
could
easily
reach
around
corners
,
which
was
why
often
defenders
used
them
.
But
once
inside
the
reach
of
the
spear
,
the
spear
was
almost
useless
.
Tom
watched
as
the
Ilemart
started
moving
rams
and
other
large
weapons
inside
the
gate
.
Then
as
he
watched
the
enemy
inside
the
wall
he
had
an
idea
and
he
ran
to
tell
Alex
the
idea
.
A
hour
later
Tom
stood
with
a
small
group
of
archers
and
warriors
,
one
of
the
five
groups
.

As
this
was
his
idea
and
he
was
a
Dragon
Guardian
apprentice
he
was
leader
of
this
group
.
The
all
wore
dull
gray
and
brown
cloaks
to
blend
in
with
the
rock
around
the
castle
.
He
led
the
small
group
into
position
and
signaled
to
a
sentry
on
the
walls
.
The
sentry
pretended
to
stumble
with
his
spear
,
but
Tom
knew
that
was
the
signal
to
begin
.
He
motioned
then
stood
with
the
rest
of
the
group
.
The
all
quickly
aimed
and
shot
at
the
enemy
troops
.

They
ducked
back
down
right
after
and
crawled
to
a
new
position
.
He
heard
the
hissing
and
clinks
of
arrows
flying
and
hitting
.
His
group
stood
again
and
shot
again
,
then
crawled
to
a
new
position
.
After
three
more
rounds
from
each
group
all
of
them
went
back
to
the
castle
,
shooting
as
they
went
.
In
the
end
only
one
of
their
number
had
been
killed
,
because
he
had
stupidly
decided
to
stay
up
to
shoot
more
,
and
three
wounded
.
They
counted
about
thirty
enemy
killed
and
another
twenty
injured
.