The Anvil (7 page)

He
saw
the
two
girls
'
faces
and
laughed
then
said
“
Now
do
you
believe
I
am
an
apprentice
Guardian
?”
The
girls
nodded
,
Tom
smiled
and
told
them
“
I
have
to
go
and
tell
my
family
I
am
home
.”.
Tom
walked
towards
his
house
and
his
mom
was
in
the
garden
she
looked
up
from
her
work
and
when
she
saw
Tom
she
ran
to
him
and
squeezed
him
until
his
muttered
“
Choking
.”
and
his
mom
released
him
.

Tom
smiled
and
said
“
Great
I
can
kill
a
giant
black
bear
and
chase
down
criminals
,
but
I
am
defenseless
from
my
mom
.”
His
mom
looked
at
him
with
wide
eyes
and
asked
“
Giant
black
bear
?!
I
am
going
to
have
to
speak
with
your
master
about
sending
you
to
fight
a
bear
.”
Tom
laughed
and
said
“
He
didn
'
t
send
me
to
fight
it
I
ran
into
it
on
a
run
,
luckily
he
has
me
run
in
armor
and
with
my
axe
and
shield
.
And
where
is
something
to
eat
?
Where
are
Dad
,
Kiya
,
Siera
and
Caleb
?”.
His
mom
laughed
and
said
“
Always
hungry
,
and
Dad
and
Caleb
are
in
the
shop
,
Kiya
and
Sierra
are
at
the
lake
with
some
friends
.”
Tom
walked
into
the
house
and
saw
his
dad
and
Caleb
working
at
the
forge
.

As
he
watched
they
dipped
the
red
hot
metal
into
a
bucket
and
steam
billowed
up
.
His
dad
and
Caleb
then
walked
over
to
him
and
wiped
of
their
hands
on
their
aprons
.
They
slapped
him
on
the
back
and
Caleb
asked
“
How
is
training
to
be
a
Guardian
?”
Tom
replied
“
It
'
s
great
.
How
is
the
forge
?
By
the
way
my
shield
got
dented
really
bad
fighting
a
black
bear
so
will
you
help
me
fix
it
?”
His
dad
smiled
and
said
“
Of
course
we
will
help
fix
your
shield
.”
Tom
spent
the
next
few
hours
with
his
friends
and
family
.

But
then
he
went
into
his
backyard
and
practiced
with
his
axe
,
crossbow
and
magic
.
Some
of
his
family
and
friends
watched
him
as
he
made
a
warrior
from
the
water
in
the
stream
that
ran
through
the
yard
and
fought
it
with
his
axe
,
shield
and
crossbow
.

He
used
a
light
wooden
shield
because
his
good
shield
was
still
badly
dented
.
After
that
they
had
dinner
then
he
went
to
bed
.

In
the
morning
he
ran
to
the
lake
just
a
mile
away
swam
then
ran
back
.
When
he
got
back
his
father
and
Caleb
were
eating
breakfast
so
he
ate
with
them
.

Then
they
went
to
the
forge
and
started
to
fix
his
shield
.
It
took
hours
but
they
finished
the
shield
.
Tom
went
to
hang
out
with
friends
,
Caleb
had
stayed
at
the
forge
and
was
working
on
something
he
wouldn
’
t
say
anything
about
.

Tom
came
back
to
the
house
to
train
again
then
had
dinner
.
After
dinner
he
went
to
bed
.
The
cycle
repeated
itself
with
slight
variations
,
the
fifth
day
Caleb
came
to
Tom
holding
a
shield
.
Caleb
said
“
I
have
been
working
on
this
since
you
came
back
.
It
is
a
new
design
I
created
,
it
has
a
wooden
core
with
a
metal
shell
there
are
metal
cylinders
through
the
wood
to
strengthen
the
shell
.
The
shell
is
made
of
plates
overlapping
to
help
absorb
shock
.”
Tom
looked
at
the
shield
in
amazement
the
craftsmanship
was
as
good
as
his
first
shield
but
this
one
sounded
like
it
was
even
better
than
his
first
.

Tom
could
only
say
“
Thank
you
Caleb
,
thank
you
so
much
.”
Tom
trained
with
both
shields
.
Three
days
after
that
Alex
came
to
get
Tom
they
left
the
same
day
.
As
they
walked
Alex
asked
“
Is
that
a
new
shield
?”.
Tom
nodded
and
said
“
Yes
my
brother
made
it
for
me
.”
Tom
told
him
how
Caleb
had
made
it
.
Alex
listened
then
asked
Tom
“
Do
you
think
your
brother
might
want
to
be
a
Master
Smith
?”
Tom
'
s
eyebrows
shot
up
,
the
Master
Smiths
were
the
greatest
smiths
in
the
kingdom
they
crafted
the
armour
and
weapons
for
everyone
from
the
royal
family
to
Dragon
Guardians
,
and
he
said
“
Seriously
?
I
think
he
would
except
for
the
fact
that
he
is
supposed
to
run
my
dad
shop
after
he
retires
.”
Alex
didn
'
t
say
anything
in
reply
so
they
walked
in
silence
.