The Anvil (The Dragon Guardian)

by I Heaton

  After Tom ate his breakfast, as Alex said he resumed his training. When his free time came he went over to the town and looked for Zack. He found Zack at the blacksmith's shop.

  He watched as Zack and the blacksmith made some horseshoes. Once they cooled the metal and the blacksmith went to get more Zack walked over to Tom and said “I help the blacksmith for money sometimes. It pays well but I don't think I want to work here much longer.” Tom laughed and said “I don't think you know this but my father is a blacksmith. I have worked with metal since I could lift a hammer.” Zack looked at Tom and told him “That is believable, come on let's see if Bob will let you help.” The two boys walked to the forge and Bob, the blacksmith, asked Zack “Who's this? You know I don't like having people back here who don't work here.”

  Zack told the blacksmith “This is Tom, he is the Dragon Guardian apprentice and he is the son of the blacksmith in Pine Grove. We were wondering if he could help.” The blacksmith looked at Tom and said “OK but you better work well. We need to make a cage.” They set to work making bars then putting them together.

  Then the blacksmith told Zack “OK your shift is over. Go.” The two boys walked out of the shop and went to Zack's house. They walked in and Zack yelled “I'm home.” His brother walked out of the kitchen and said “Hi Zack and Tom. How's training going to be a Guardian?” Tom replied “Good, but tiring.” Zack's mother came in and said “Hello boys dinner won’t be ready for a while so go do whatever you want.” Tom turned to Zack and asked “Have you ever been canoeing?” Zack shook his head. “Well I have a canoe let's go.” Tom finished and Zack said “OK sounds like fun.” Tom led the way to the docks were his canoe was and told Zack to get in.

  Zack got in and Tom pushed off and jumped in the canoe. They paddled around the lake for a while until Zack said “Dinner is probably ready. Let's go.” Tom shook his head and told him “I will drop you off but I need to get back to the cabin. I have to make dinner for me, John and Alex.” Tom dropped Zack off on the docks and paddled over to the island. He went in, washed then made dinner.

  He cleaned up the dishes then went to sleep. The days after that took on the same schedule. Training and most days doing something with Zack. A week after Alex told Tom “Come on we need to do a small mission. Just a highway robber.” They flew out the same day. The highway robber was easily taken care of. He had surrendered and went to prison. They got back three days after leaving.

  Then the schedule continued until one day Zack came over to the cabin for dinner. Zack and Tom walked in the cabin and Tom made dinner for the four of them. It was a simple but delicious stew. They all cleaned up the dishes then sat around the fire. Zack said after a while “I should go. Thanks for dinner.” Tom got up with him and to take him back to town.

  Suddenly Zack started running towards the grove of trees. Tom ran after him calling his name, he saw John and Alex running with him. Zack got to the trees and went into them. When Tom and them finally caught up to Zack he was kneeling in the trees holding a large stone. John muttered so softly Tom could barely hear him “He found the egg.” Suddenly the stone shook and cracked. Then a small black head broke through the surface and John said to Zack “Help it get out.” Zack started breaking the egg until in his hands he held a small wyvern, it looked like a dragon with small bull horns. Then John said to Zack “You have the choice now to get rid of it or become my apprentice and train to become a Wyvern Rider.”

  Chapter 6

  The Wyvern Riders were sometimes the elite bodyguards of the King and had most the same duties as a Dragon Guardian. Becoming a Rider was about as hard as becoming a Guardian. Zack looked at John and said “I will become your apprentice.” John smiled then whistled, a giant shadow came over them and the two boys looked up. Descending towards them was a large dark blue wyvern.

  John said to Zack “I think you should tell your family. You will live with me now.” John's wyvern landed and John said to Zack “Hop on I will take you to town then we will tell your family that you are my apprentice.” Tom watched as they circled higher and then flew to town. Turning to Alex he said “So if John is a Rider then why was he stealing from that shop?” Alex said to Tom “He was seeing if there was anyone in the town that would try to stop him. Sometimes Riders do that to find apprentices.” Realization dawned on his face and he felt happy for his friend.

  Alex and Tom went back to the cabin and went to bed. The next day Tom went into the kitchen and saw Alex, John and Zack sitting around the table eating breakfast. Tom wondered why he seemed to always be the last person awake. Tom said “Hello everyone.” They all muttered greetings and Tom got his food and sat down to eat.

  Alex and John were talking about what John and Zack were going to do. “Well there aren't enough rooms for everyone to have their own room if you stay,” said Alex then he added “But I guess Tom and Zack could share a room if you stay.” John thought for a moment then said “Well if we stay then it would be easier to train them both, because they could practice together. But living with a friend might also distract them from learning. I don't know what to do.” The brothers talked for a while then finally decided that John and Zack would stay, Zack and Tom would share one of the larger rooms and John would stay in the smallest room.

  They would build a shelter for the wyverns. Then the training started. Tom and Zack followed Tom's old schedule with one variation Zack would spent the time Tom learned about transforming things learning to care for his wyvern. The wyvern's shelter was a large pavilion with water, meat and a bed for each wyvern.

  The wyverns themselves looked like dragons but instead of breathing fire they spit acid. Also they had horns like a bull on their head and their colors were duller. The rest was the same four legs, wings, size and tail.

  The schedule kept going until a month after Zack became John's apprentice, Alex and John told their apprentices that they could take a break and visit friends and family. Zack had been visiting his family often because they were so close but Tom had not visited his family for over six weeks. The boys would get a week off, so Tom hurried and backed his bags.

  Zack came into the room the boys shared and asked “Mind if I come along with you? I have lived most my life here and I want to see some other places.” Tom looked up from his packing and said “Sure it will be fun to show you around Pine Grove and I will have someone to train with.”. The boys both smiled and Zack started packing.

  They were done packing a few minutes later and they went to the canoes. Zack had gotten his own when he became John's apprentice, but they both hopped in Tom's because they were going to the same place. They got to the dock and tied the canoe to it. They got out and grabbed their packs then started walking south to Pine Grove. They reached the town a bit after noon.

  The boys walked down to Tom's house without seeing anyone. They got to the house and went in. Tom saw his father and Caleb working at the forge. The boys watched as they hammered the red hot metal and then put it in a barrel and steam billowed up.

  Caleb saw Tom and Zack he smiled and said “Hi Tom. Who's that and how is the shield I made for you?” Tom replied “One question at a time. Well the answer to who this is, this is Zack, he his Alex's brother's apprentice and a friend of mine. The shield is amazing, it saved me when I was fighting a large group of bandits with Alex.” Tom took a deep breath then continued “By the way where is some food? And where is Mom, Kiya and Sierra?” Tom's dad said “The food is where it has always been, Mom is shopping and Kiya and Sierra are with some friends.” Tom and Zack ate while Caleb and Tom's dad worked in the forge. Once Tom and Zack were done eating Tom's mother came in with some food in her arms.

  Tom went over and took most of the things before his mom realized it was him. He set down the food and his Mother ran over to him and hugged him so hard he nearly choked. His Mother let go and yelled “Where have you been? Why haven't heard anything from you for nearly a month?” Tom smiled “I have been busy training and on missions with Alex, that's why you h
aven't heard from me for a while. I promise I will try to use the post more often.” Tom said.

  Tom spend the rest of the day with friends and family until dinner. At dinner Tom and Zack told Tom's family about what had happened in the last month. Tom didn't tell them the size of the bandit camp, for his Mother's sake. Then after dinner Tom and Zack went into the backyard for a training session. The rules were they could use anything they could, but they were not allowed to kill, make a lasting injury or knock each other out.

  They were using wooden weapons. They took their positions on opposite sides of the yard. Tom got out his wooden axe and Zack grabbed his wooden hand-and-a-half sword, its blade was long and was able to be used with one or two hands. Tom had his wooden round shield, because he also used the shield as a weapon and Zack had a large wooden kite shield.

  Caleb said “Begin.” and Zack started to run at Tom, but Tom willed the water from the stream to crash down of Zack and swirled him around in it. Zack took a few seconds to break Tom's hold on the water, but Tom already made a wall of rock around him.

  Zack used the water to break the wall and Tom struck at Zack suddenly. Zack put his shield up just in time to block the blow, but Tom was very strong from the months of training so the blow still jarred Zack's arm.

  They exchanged some blows then broke apart. Tom, who had started learning plant magic, made the grass grow around Zack's feet, but Zack had fought Tom before and knew the trick he quickly cut the grass with his sword. He looked up as Tom rammed he with his shield sending him flying into the stream.

  For a split second neither did anything then they fought over control of the water. Finally Tom got control and made a globe of water with Zack in the center. Zack broke the sphere and sent all the water flying towards Tom, but Tom dodged the attack and ran towards Zack. Zack put up his shield towards Tom and leaned into it as Tom hit, Zack fell over and Tom put his axe up against his neck showing where he could have killed him.

  Tom reached down and helped Zack up saying “Wow, you are getting a lot better. You just need to pay attention to your enemy at all times and not look away like you did when I got you with the grass.” They looked over and saw Tom's family watching. They looked amazed at the skill they both possessed.

  The two boys spend an hour exercising then went to sleep. The next day they woke up and went into the kitchen. Caleb was sitting at the table eating, and Tom asked him “Want to come hunting with me and Zack?” as Tom and Zack sat down with their food. Caleb shook his head and said “I don't have a bow and I have to help at the forge, sorry.” Tom thought for a moment then said “Zack used to help a blacksmith so he and I could help in the forge and we have a extra bow or crossbow.”

  “OK. Where will we go and what will we hunt?” Caleb asked. “I think that we will go into the mountains and hunt boar or wolves.” Tom answered, the two boys had been planning the hunt for a few weeks.

  Caleb's eyebrows shot up and he said “I was thinking deer or something like that. But I guess that those are OK.” They finished their breakfasts and went to the forge. The work went quickly because there was four people working on it. They finished about noon and they went into the back for Caleb to choose a crossbow or bow. He chose the bow and the boys left. They went into the mountains a few miles from their house.

  They searched around until they found some wolf tracks. They followed the tracks until they found a good spot and waited. They passed the time by talking softly. At one point a deer crossed the path, a while later finally a large wolf walked in front of them. Zack got up his bow up first and shot the wolf in the throat. Zack started to move to collect the body but an even larger wolf walked forward and it saw the boys. It started running towards them, Zack and Tom fired, Tom got it in the shoulder and Zack missed it completely Caleb raised his bow and shot. The arrow flew straight towards the wolf and hit the beast in the neck.

  Chapter 7

  As the giant wolf fell with an arrow in its neck the boys stood there in silence, Tom and Zack looking at Caleb and Caleb staring at the wolf. Then Caleb went to the wolf he shot and tried to lift it. It was so heavy that he barely could so Tom went over and helped him carry it. Zack went and got the smaller wolf he had shot and followed them.

  Tom looked up and saw that the sun was nearly down, then said “We should make camp soon, so find a stream.”. They found a stream a few yards away, and then Caleb said “Do we have a tent? It looks like it will rain tonight.” Tom shook his head and put down the wolf's body. Tom said “Caleb start a fire, Zack go get some water, I will make a shelter.” Looked around and started making a large shelter from earth and trees with magic.

  Caleb got out his tinderbox and made a fire. When Zack got back with the water the shelter was made and the fire was going. They boiled water in a tin pot Zack had brought and Tom made a stew from some plants he found and wolf meat. They went to bed after they ate. When they woke up they cleaned up the camp, leaving the shelter as it was.

  They got the wolves and hiked the rest of the way back to Pine Grove. They got there and Caleb went to work in the forge. Zack and Tom went to one of Tom's friend's house. They spent a few hours there then went on a run. They ran to the lake and swam. As they got out of the water they noticed some people about their age. They walked over and started talking to them. They found out that they were from Pine Grove. There were about five people in the group.

  They wanted to see some magic once they heard what the boys did. Tom told them about when Alex noticed him and about his various battles and missions. After Tom was done Zack started telling his story. They spent an hour talking then walked away to practice. They first practiced their archery, some of the group watched as they practiced amazed at the accuracy and speed they both showed. Then they got their practice weapons and fought, by now the whole group was watching in amazement as they chopped, hacked, stabbed and used the environment to try to beat each other.

  Some of the guys wanted to try fighting them or their friends. Each time one of the town boys tried fighting Tom or Zack they lost even though the apprentices were going easy on them. The apprentices showed them how to shoot the bow and crossbow. Then they sat talking and laughing until the sun started to go down. The apprentices walked back with their new friends. They got home tired, then ate and went to sleep. They woke and went to the kitchen to eat.

  Once they finished eating they packed a lunch then went to the lake where they were planning on meeting most of Tom's friends, including the group they met the day before, and spend most the day there. Some of Tom's friends were bringing their boats and canoes. Tom and Zack got to the lake before everyone else so they swam to a bunch of rocks sat on them until some of Tom's friends got there. Mykala and Jordann got there a few minutes after the boys had. The boys saw them and jumped in then swam to shore. The two girls got to the shore and put their things down. Then Jordann said “Hi Tom.” then turning to Zack asked “Who are you? I don't think I have seen you around Pine Grove.”

  “I'm Zack, one of Tom's friends from Hilltop Lake.” Zack answered.

  Slowly more and more of Tom's friends showed up, some with boats and canoes. They swam, talked, boated and did some other things. Tom looked around as they ate their lunches thinking that soon many of his friends would part, going to work at different towns and different jobs.

  He knew that some had already gone but still many were here like Jordann, Mykala, James, and many others. Suddenly a bear walked into the clearing growling and roaring. Tom nodded to Zack and they both grabbed their weapons. Tom ran towards the bear yelling, hoping to scare the bear away. The bear saw that he was coming and went back into the forest. Soon the bear was nearly forgotten as they resumed their party.

  Once the sun had started to set they all gathered their things and started walking back to the town. They ate dinner, trained and went to sleep. The next day they woke and went to get breakfast. They spent a few hours helping Tom's father and Caleb in the forge then had lunch. The rest of the day and the next d
ay Tom and Zack spent with Tom's family. Then as they were about to leave they heard a knock on the door.

  Alex walked in after Kiya had opened it. Alex said hello to the family then turned to Caleb and said “I have an offer for you, Caleb. Some of the smiths that work for the Riders and Guardians have heard of and seen the shield you made for Tom and are wondering if you would like to become an apprentice in that field of work. But the choice is up to you. What do you say?” the whole family except Tom looked surprised.

  Caleb took a moment then said “I will need to think about it. Give me a week or two I will sent my reply by the Post.” Tom and Zack finished saying bye to Tom's family then the three left. As they walked Alex asked the two boys questions about how their week went.

  They got to the cabin with a hour or so until lunch so the boys trained and Alex read reports, John was away on a mission. That was another good thing about all of them living together, one of the brothers could train both apprentices when the other had a mission they didn't want to bring their apprentice on.

  After lunch the boys went back to training. Tom, who had almost mastered water magic, was teaching Zack some spells. The sun was setting as Tom taught Zack the spell to clean water instantly.

  Alex called the boys in so they could make and eat dinner. They cooked some rabbit Alex had killed earlier. After they ate and were sitting around the fire, Alex said “Tomorrow you both start your wilderness survival course. It will be for a month. You will do it atleast once a year, each year you will have more challenges. So in the morning you will head into a section of woods with a tinderbox, tin cooking utensils, a hatchet, your weapons and armor. I have a spell on the area so I know if you leave it. You are not allowed to interact with other people. Zack, your wyvern, Dejoni will also come with you. Tom tomorrow I will give you a lesson only Dragon Guardians get... you get your wings.”