The Anvil (63 page)

Tom
yelled
at
Zack
and
Dejoni
to
grab
some
barrels
,
lit
the
trail
and
grabbed
a
barrel
.
They
heard
the
enemy
troops
get
to
the
fire
and
try
to
put
it
out
.
Tom
glanced
behind
them
as
the
oil
caught
fire
and
spread
.
They
flew
over
the
enemy
troops
,
dropping
the
barrels
of
oil
like
bombs
.
Tom
dropped
his
over
some
of
the
enemy
archer
towers
,
lighting
the
wood
and
burning
some
of
the
archers
.
Zack
dropped
his
over
some
tightly
grouped
soldiers
,
and
Dejoni
who
had
grabbed
three
,
dropped
his
near
the
command
group
,
on
some
siege
equipment
,
and
on
a
different
section
of
the
archer
tower
.

They
landed
back
at
the
main
gate
,
they
joined
the
troops
pushing
the
enemy
back
,
and
about
half
an
hour
later
they
were
driven
back
to
the
first
wall
.
Josh
appeared
by
his
side
as
he
ran
up
the
stairs
to
the
gatehouse
.
Dejoni
had
decided
to
fly
to
the
top
of
the
gatehouse
,
along
with
Zack
.
A
spear
appeared
in
front
of
Tom
as
he
ran
up
the
stairs
and
Tom
just
barely
dodged
it
.

He
grabbed
the
spear
and
pulled
,
sending
it
and
it
’
s
owner
down
the
stairs
.
He
kicked
the
door
to
the
top
of
the
gatehouse
,
but
the
door
held
.
He
swung
his
axe
at
the
handle
as
Josh
and
some
other
soldiers
kicked
and
ran
into
the
door
.
Soon
the
door
burst
open
and
they
exploded
from
the
doorway
.
Dejoni
and
Zack
were
backed
into
a
corner
,
so
Tom
and
Josh
ran
towards
them
.

Tom
pushed
a
man
off
the
gatehouse
then
turned
to
block
a
strike
from
a
new
enemy
.
He
kicked
the
man
’
s
stomach
,
making
him
gasp
and
bend
over
.
He
slammed
his
axe
handle
onto
the
man
’
s
helmet
and
the
man
crumbled
like
a
sack
of
potatoes
.
Tom
grabbed
the
fallen
man
’
s
shield
and
tossed
it
like
a
disk
at
a
man
sneaking
up
behind
Dejoni
.
The
shield
,
a
lightweight
wooden
one
,
hit
the
man
in
the
back
of
the
neck
,
snapping
it
.
Tom
yelled
at
the
men
to
make
a
straight
line
.

They
did
as
they
were
told
and
he
led
them
against
the
enemy
,
pushing
them
back
towards
the
edge
.
Soon
the
Ilemart
troops
were
either
pushed
off
,
unconscious
,
or
dead
on
the
gatehouse
.
Soon
they
had
recaptured
the
walls
and
towers
along
the
first
wall
.
Tom
heard
a
horn
ring
out
from
the
Ilemart
ranks
and
the
enemy
started
going
back
to
their
camp
.
They
fired
arrows
at
the
enemy
ranks
,
killing
and
wounding
many
.
Tom
leaned
against
the
door
frame
.
He
spread
his
wings
and
jumped
off
the
gatehouse
towards
the
keep
,
gliding
as
far
as
possible
.

He
landed
just
outside
the
gate
,
which
was
now
open
.
He
walked
into
the
courtyard
and
saw
men
and
women
,
the
 
Arstanian
army
didn
’
t
care
if
you
were
male
or
female
as
long
as
you
wanted
to
join
,
sitting
and
talking
.
Most
were
bleeding
from
wounds
,
some
being
rushed
into
the
infirmary
,
and
some
lay
still
.
Tom
saw
Madison
and
Bryn
talking
in
a
corner
and
went
to
join
them
.
Bryn
’
s
bow
leaned
against
the
wall
.
Both
girls
had
minor
injuries
,
but
seemed
fine
. “
Hi
.”
was
all
Tom
said
and
the
girls
greeted
him
in
kind
.

After
talking
for
a
few
minutes
,
Tom
went
to
his
room
,
pulled
off
his
armour
,
dropped
his
axe
on
his
bed
and
put
his
armour
and
shield
in
a
corner
.
He
sat
on
his
bed
,
cleaning
and
sharpening
his
axe
.
Zack
came
in
after
a
few
minutes
,
he
did
basically
the
same
thing
Tom
did
,
and
they
sat
not
talking
,
the
only
sound
was
the
muffled
talk
from
the
courtyard
and
the
sliding
of
the
stones
against
metal
for
a
few
hours
.