The Anvil (95 page)

Within
a
few
more
minutes
the
other
commanders
both
threw
white
flags
in
the
air
.
Tom
smiled
to
himself
,
the
Anvil
had
beaten
three
units
,
one
cavalry
,
infantry
and
archer
.

After
a
brief
talk
with
the
other
commanders
he
let
his
men
have
the
rest
of
the
day
off
.
Tom
realized
it
was
almost
dinner
time
,
so
he
made
his
way
along
with
his
men
to
the
kitchen
area
.
He
ate
with
his
men
and
his
friends
and
later
sat
around
a
fire
singing
and
playing
music
.

The
next
few
days
were
about
the
same
,
but
on
the
two
days
before
the
battle
Tom
had
his
group
practice
defending
a
gap
.
Before
he
dismissed
them
on
the
day
before
the
attack
he
told
them
to
meet
two
hours
before
dawn
and
not
to
mention
it
to
anyone
.

As
he
walked
to
the
kitchen
area
he
was
stopped
by
Alex
,
which
wasn
’
t
very
rare
as
he
often
trained
him
before
dinner
.
Alex
had
him
follow
and
they
flew
a
mile
away
from
camp
.

Tom
wondered
what
he
was
doing
and
began
to
ask
,
but
Alex
cut
him
off
. “
Before
the
battle
I
want
to
teach
you
one
more
thing
that
will
help
.
I
will
teach
you
how
to
get
most
the
weapons
a
dragon
uses
.
Claws
,
fangs
and
a
tail
.
We
will
add
a
new
enchanted
part
to
your
armour
to
protect
your
tail
and
add
to
its
strength
as
a
weapon
.”

Tom
smiled
as
Alex
taught
him
the
spells
,
then
showed
him
the
new
piece
of
armour
.

The
armour
was
made
from
overlapping
plates
of
steel
but
near
the
end
large
spikes
of
steel
stuck
out
.
Tom
swung
his
tail
experimentally
and
smiled
,
the
steel
plates
still
allowed
the
tail
to
move
freely
.

After
Alex
taught
him
how
to
fight
with
the
claws
and
tail
,
the
fangs
wouldn
’
t
do
much
until
he
was
able
to
become
a
full
dragon
,
Tom
flew
back
to
the
camp
and
ate
dinner
. 

The
next
morning
he
met
his
unit
and
led
them
to
the
meeting
point
for
the
entire
party
.
Within
a
few
minutes
the
others
arrived
and
they
began
their
trip
to
the
enemy
camp
.
A
few
hours
later
they
got
into
their
positions
.
Tom
saw
a
man
on
the
other
side
of
the
river
see
them
and
run
to
report
to
the
king
.

After
a
minute
the
Arstanian
army
was
moving
towards
the
Ilemite
camp
.
The
Ilemites
,
as
expected
,
gathered
and
moved
to
meet
the
army
.
The
party
Alex
was
leading
waited
for
a
few
more
minutes
,
then
when
almost
the
entire
army
was
away
from
the
camp
and
fort
,
they
all
charged
for
the
fort
.

Tom
’
s
group
stayed
to
the
back
,
along
with
four
men
who
had
a
ram
who
were
staying
with
them
,
because
their
tortoise
formation
would
protect
them
from
arrows
.

They
almost
got
to
the
fort
before
someone
noticed
them
.
The
Anvil
ran
all
the
way
up
to
the
gate
and
held
up
their
shields
as
the
ram
started
smashing
the
door
.
After
a
few
more
hits
the
lock
broke
and
the
door
swung
inwards
.

The
cavalry
and
infantry
surged
passed
them
and
attacked
the
few
defenders
.
Tom
had
his
men
close
the
door
again
and
try
to
reinforce
it
.
Tom
flew
over
to
a
ballista
and
created
his
tail
as
he
drew
his
axe
.

He
swung
his
axe
at
a
man
and
smashed
his
tail
into
the
ballista
.
Soon
the
weapon
was
totally
destroyed
and
he
moved
started
to
move
on
.
He
stopped
as
he
heard
Tyler
yell
“
Tom
!
They
are
almost
here
!”
Tom
ran
back
over
and
saw
it
was
some
cavalry
that
were
approaching
.

He
had
one
line
follow
him
and
they
climbed
the
wall
,
Tom
had
noticed
rock
baskets
on
the
wall
and
they
started
dropping
and
throwing
the
rocks
into
the
enemy
ranks
below
them
.
The
Ilemite
siege
weapons
and
archers
had
stopped
firing
and
suddenly
arrows
began
flying
again
from
the
fort
,
this
time
shooting
the
Ilemite
forces
.