The Anvil (69 page)

The
next
thing
Tom
knew
he
woke
up
in
the
castle
infirmary
.
Zack
lay
on
the
bed
on
his
right
and
outside
the
door
he
saw
Dejoni
.
Tom
started
to
prop
himself
up
with
his
arms
,
but
gasped
as
pain
ran
through
his
arm
.
He
fell
back
onto
the
bed
and
looked
around
.

Zack
had
many
cuts
and
bruises
,
most
minor
but
Tom
saw
some
swelling
on
his
head
.
Must
have
been
where
Werin
had
hit
him
.
Tom
looked
to
his
left
and
saw
Bryn
asleep
in
a
chair
and
Alex
on
the
next
bed
,
also
asleep
.

After
a
moment
Bryn
woke
and
saw
Tom
was
awake
.
She
almost
yelled
,
but
Tom
quickly
motioned
for
her
to
be
quiet
. “
We
probably
don
’
t
want
to
wake
up
Alex
,
Zack
and
everyone
else
.
So
please
don
’
t
yell
.”
Tom
said
,
and
Bryn
smiled
“
Of
course
,
you
wake
up
in
the
infirmary
with
a
broken
arm
along
with
many
cuts
and
bruises
after
killing
one
the
Ilemart
Supreme
Generals
and
you
ask
me
not
to
wake
everyone
up
.”
she
told
him
,
and
Tom
asked
“
How
long
was
I
asleep
?”
and
Bryn
’
s
smile
faded
.

“
You
were
asleep
for
two
days
.
Alex
,
Zack
and
Dejoni
have
already
been
awake
but
need
to
stay
here
and
rest
for
a
little
longer
.”
she
answered
and
Tom
nodded
.

That
made
sense
,
he
had
fought
one
of
the
greatest
warriors
at
fourteen
. “
I
’
m
surprised
I
am
still
alive
,
but
it
is
only
because
of
you
,
Madison
,
Zack
,
Dejoni
and
Alex
I
am
still
alive
.
If
Zack
and
Dejoni
hadn
’
t
attacked
him
when
they
did
,
he
would
have
killed
me
while
I
was
lying
there
,
and
if
Madison
didn
’
t
stop
his
axe
,
he
would
have
chopped
me
in
half
.
And
if
you
hadn
’
t
shot
his
arm
,
he
would
have
killed
me
.

Even
if
you
had
killed
him
there
he
swing
would
have
had
enough
momentum
to
kill
me
.
So
thanks
for
saving
my
life
.
And
while
I
finished
him
off
,
I
couldn
’
t
have
if
Alex
had
knocked
him
off
his
dragon
and
killed
it
.”
Tom
told
her
and
she
looked
at
him
for
a
moment
“
You
’
re
just
being
modest
,
you
killed
one
of
the
greatest
warriors
ever
.
And
you
’
re
only
fourteen
.”
she
said
and
Tom
shook
his
head
.

He
turned
his
head
as
Zack
started
to
wake
.
He
yawned
and
sleepily
looked
at
Tom
for
a
moment
then
his
eyes
opened
his
eyes
wide
. “
Well
,
it
looks
like
sleeping
beauty
has
decide
to
wake
up
.”
Zack
said
jokingly
,
and
Tom
looked
at
him
for
a
moment
then
replied
in
kind

“
Sleeping
beauty
?
Well
I
guess
the
beauty
is
right
,
but
look
who
was
sleeping
when
I
woke
up
.”
Slowly
the
others
woke
and
Bryn
brought
Madison
to
see
him
.
After
a
few
hours
Tom
went
back
to
sleep
,
and
spent
another
four
days
in
the
infirmary
.
Zack
,
Alex
and
Dejoni
were
released
two
days
before
him
,
but
they
visited
him
a
lot
.
As
Tom
walked
out
into
the
bright
sunlight
,
squinting
as
his
pupils
dilated
.

He
went
to
find
Alex
to
ask
him
what
would
happen
now
.
Tom
noticed
people
pointing
at
him
and
whispering
.
After
a
few
minutes
of
this
he
got
annoyed
by
it
,
and
covered
himself
with
scales
and
kept
to
the
shadows
when
possible
.

Suddenly
a
girl
who
looked
about
his
age
stopped
in
front
of
him
.
After
standing
and
looking
as
if
she
wanted
to
say
something
,
she
turned
and
ran
away
.
Tom
shook
his
head
and
hoped
that
people
would
stop
soon
.

Eventually
he
found
Alex
and
asked
him
what
they
were
going
to
do
. “
Well
,
you
need
to
finish
your
training
,
so
eventually
we
will
go
to
Blangto
.
But
for
now
we
will
stay
here
until
you
get
your
strength
back
.”
Alex
answered
,
and
Tom
agreed
.
There
had
been
a
time
when
he
would
have
said
he
was
ready
,
but
by
now
he
knew
his
limits
.