The Anvil (The Dragon Guardian)

by I Heaton

  The one enemy soldier jumped at them, sword raised above his head. Tom stepped forward and used his leg to sweep the man’s leg out from under him and followed with a cut to the neck. Behind him one of the other Arstanian soldiers went down and Tyler thrust his spear at the killer, who didn’t see the attack until it was to late. Tom spread his wings and buffeted the enemy soldiers with wind while Tyler protected his back with the other soldier.

  Tom folded his wings and sent a stone into a enemy warriors head. Soon ten Arstanian warriors and an archer joined them, but that didn’t stop them from being pushed into the river. Tom smiled as a enemy warrior kicked his shield and he landed in the water, the warrior was unsure what to do when he saw the smile.

  Tom magically took control of a large amount of the water and sent it crashing around the enemy warriors, then froze it instantly with the enemy warriors inside. About ten soldiers were captured in the ice and the group ran out of the river towards the camp again. Tom blocked an arrow from hitting him as a warrior next to him fell with a short gasp of pain with an arrow in his neck.

  Tom pointed his axe towards the enemy archers then ran towards them yelling. The small group followed him as he slammed into the wall of warriors protecting the archers. Tom blocked a volley of arrows with a stone wall, then broke the wall and sent the rocks flying extremely fast at the archers. Seven archers went down and Tom ran towards them, swinging his axe left and right, cutting down archers and warriors alike.

  While most boys his age and maybe a year or two older would barely be able to swing his axe, Tom’s strength from his training allowed his to swing the axe like it was a toy. Tom’s shield also ended some lives as he would swing his arm and hit men in the neck or head with the edge of the shield. Tom barely noticed anything until suddenly an enemy warrior stood in front of him and as Tom swung his axe at him, the man simply stepped back. Then the soldier smiled and Tom realized this was not a normal soldier.

  The man created a spike of water from the moisture in the air, which there wasn’t much of, and froze it solid. Tom smiled and created a spike of rock and made it float in front of him. Tom sent the spike flying at the man then dived to the side as the man launched his spike. Tom’s spike hit a enemy archer in the chest, sending him back a couple of feet, while the man’s spike hit one of the Arstanian warriors, into his neck and shattered as it hit metal on the opposite shoulder.

  Tom covered himself in scales and spread his wings while the enemy made himself hover using a platform of wood and sending air against it. They both launched into the air and Tom tried to start the man’s platform on fire, but the man put it out. The man pulled a long sword from his belt and made his platform fly towards Tom, who dived and went behind him. Tom flew towards him as he turned and Tom swung his axe, but was again blocked.

  The man swung his sword and opened a shallow cut on Tom’s shin. Tom hovered as blood oozed from his shin, off his foot and onto the soldiers and ground beneath him. Tom looked down and had an idea, he dived down quickly and the man followed him. Tom leveled about ten feet above the ground and closed his eyes, concentrating on the ground. He opened his eyes and sent pillars of stone shoot from the ground arch up and made a stone cage around the man. Tom then made the stone cage start sinking towards the ground with the man inside, who trying to break the bars.

  The man gave up and decided to try to kill Tom. He broke a piece of wood off his platform, about a foot long, and sent it flying at Tom’s heart. Tom flapped his wings strong once before the wood hit him. He managed to fly up a bit, and instead of hitting his heart, the wood buried itself in his thigh and Tom felt it hit bone before he fell to the ground.

  Chapter 23

  Tom woke with his leg wrapped in bandages. “I have got to stop waking up in bandages. It’s turning into a habit.” he said to whoever was sitting next to him. He turned and saw Zack laughing “Ya, first from fighting some bandits, then a Supreme General and now this. You seem to have some thrill issues. Try learning how to play a board game. Those are much safer.” Zack replied sarcastically. “Well, I guess I should pass on the message from Alex and John.” he continued “Basically we both are getting a break for a week and a half. Alex and John are on some missions.” Tom sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked around.

  He was back in the cabin, he slightly remembered waking for short periods of time. Zack handed him some crutches and Tom started packing. Zack left to talk to Dejoni. After packing Tom ate a quick meal and walked outside, Zack and Dejoni lay a few yards away. “I am going to town for a second, I want to see Tyler.” Tom told them and put his crutches on the ground, spread his wings and took off. He landed at the training ground and saw Tyler, who had a bandage on his forearm, training with a new recruit.

  After they finished Tom, using his axe for support went over to him. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t die while I was asleep.” Tom told him “No I didn’t, but I was wondering if you were dead.” Tyler replied, and Tom shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you. Now I want to sit down. My leg is hurting since I got a little splinter.” Tom said sarcastically. After talking and joking Tom flew back to the cabin where he grabbed his pack and along with Zack and Dejoni flew north towards Pine Grove.

  As they flew they talked and Tom found out Zack and Dejoni were still at Hilltop Lake, but hadn’t had much time to visit Zack’s family because John was training them away from the cabin most the time, so Zack and Dejoni were going to Hilltop Lake. Tom would be going back to Pine Grove to visit his family. Before they parted Zack handed Tom his crutches as Dejoni had been carrying them for Tom.

  Tom held the crutches under his arm for the rest of the way home. He landed just outside the town and started making his way towards his home. Many people called greetings to him, mostly people he didn’t know. Funny how people who have ignored you, and in some cases hated you, can turn around and say they have always liked you or something like that when you are famous.

  One boy his age came out from his house and acted like they had been friends for ages, although the boy used to go out of his way to ignore or irritate Tom. “Why do you suddenly want to be my friend, Kyle?” Tom asked him simply, and after a moment Tom pushed passed him. Kyle almost turned to follow him, until he saw the axe, spear, throwing axes, crossbow and dagger and he stopped. Tom went straight to his house, opened the door and walked in.

  He walked to the kitchen and saw his dad sitting at the table talking to Tom’s mom and Caleb. “Hello everyone. Your favorite famous person is here.” Tom said, and everyone looked at him. His mom was the first to get to him and she almost choked him when she hugged him. After Tom had greeted his dad and brother his dad said “Tom, I think Caleb wants to tell you something, something you might have something to do with.” Tom looked at Caleb who smiled “Well, since my famous brother is a Dragon Guardian Apprentice I thought I would try to go as far in life as I can. So that suggestion Alex gave me to join the Master Smiths, well I acted on it. One of the Masters are coming in two days to see some of my work, if they like it I will begin the training. I think I will show them your shield, if you don’t mind, and some of my other stuff.” Caleb explained, and Tom was silent for a moment “That’s awesome Caleb! Of course you can show them my shield. I hope you pass.” Tom exclaimed, and Caleb’s smile widened.

  Tom spend the rest of the day resting, the trip and his leg had taken a toll on his body. At dinner Siera asked about his leg, and Tom thought for a moment how to make the story sound less dangerous for his mother.

  Then he decided to tell the entire thing and started. Tom went on a walk after dinner, he didn’t get very far before his leg started hurting too much. He got back and went to sleep, and in the morning woke to the smell of bacon and eggs. He got up, dressed and went down stairs, and as he expected his mother was cooking bacon. He sat down and put his crutches against the wall as his mom finished cooking and set the pan on the table.

  Caleb came down, looking stressed, looked at Tom �
��Where is your shield?” he asked Tom “In my room by my weapons.” Tom told him, confused, then asked “Why do you need my shield? I thought the Master was coming tomorrow.” and Caleb stopped and turned around “Well, I realized something. After that battle you were in, I would think I could make it look better and fix it a little.” Caleb explained then turned and went to get the shield. Their mom shook her head and sat down to eat.

  Tom ate, got his axe and crossbow and went to find some of his friends, hopefully they hadn’t heard about what happened and were going to treat him differently. He soon was walking through town with Jordann, Mykala and two more of his friends. Only one of his friends, James, treated him differently at first, but Tom soon told him “I’m still me, the guy you have known for years.” after that James treated him like he used to.

  That night, Tom took off the bandages and looked at his leg. The wound was scabbed over and he knew all the wood was out. He flexed his leg and felt pain shoot up his leg, but he knew it would be better in about a week. Alex and Tom had both cast spells to speed the healing, they could magically speed the healing process of any wound and small ones almost instantly but large ones like this would still take time.

  He wrapped his leg again and went to eat dinner. Caleb brought in his shield after dinner and Tom was amazed, all the dents were gone, the iron was painted red except for a black dragon design in the center. Tom’s eyes widen along with his smile and Caleb asked if he liked it, “I know you don’t have a coat of arms yet, but I don’t think Alex will mind. And if you keep fighting as much as you have, the paint will scratched off. The paint is just temporary.” Caleb told him after Tom asked about the dragon.

  The next day Caleb sat at the table looking nervous, excited and tired all at the same time. “What time is the Master coming?” Tom asked him, Caleb looked over at him quickly “At noon.” was his quick reply. Tom asked about what else Caleb was going to show him, so Caleb took him to the forge. There was a sword, it looked normal, a small object with many small barbs and a string along with a few other things.

  Caleb picked up the sword and showed Tom why he chose to show the Master this, he grabbed a medium sized hammer and put the sword across two anvils so only the ends were supported. He lifted the hammer and hit the sword three times in the middle, Tom expected the sword to have bent plenty, but Caleb picked up the sword and showed Tom, the three hits have barely bent the blade.

  Caleb bent it back to perfection, put it back and picked up the barbed object. Tom looked at it and saw it was just barbed U’s with the small metal string wrapped in the middle. Caleb led Tom outside and told him to throw this at him once he started running. Tom waited a moment then spun the string and flung the small object at his brother, hitting him in the back. The barbs caught Caleb’s shirt and the small cable held, Caleb was forced to stop and Tom started pulling him back. After a second Caleb walked back and Tom got the thing off his shirt. “That is awesome, I can’t believe the cable held.” Tom told Caleb, who smiled “I hope the Master thinks it’s good.” Caleb replied, and the two went back in.

  Tom went back outside and sat practicing magic for a few hours until Caleb came out with a man who had to be the Master. He was mostly bald, except for some short blond hair on the back of his head, his eyes were a deep blue, his tan arms bulged from the muscle that had been strengthened from years of working metal.

  Caleb motioned for Tom to go over to him, and Tom saw the barbed object. “Hello, I’m Tom, Caleb’s brother.” Tom said to the man, who replied “Hello, I’m Kevin. Can I see your axe for a moment?” and Tom took his axe from his belt and handed to him, the Master examined it for a moment and smiled. “I thought that axe looked familiar, I’m the one who made it.” Kevin explained and handed the axe back to Tom, who put it back in it’s loop.

  Caleb handed Tom the barbed object and started running, Tom spun the cable and object around his head and released, hitting Caleb in the back again. Tom stopped Caleb, who walked back and Tom took the object out of his shirt. “I call it the barb lasso.” Caleb told them, and Tom went to practice more as the other two went inside.

  A few hours later Tom sat by the lake talking to some of his friends. “What is it like when everyone knows your name?” Jordann asked him, Tom paused for a moment. “It is annoying actually. I can’t believe I used to want to be famous. And one of the most annoying parts is, I only finished Werin. I would have been killed if Bryn, Madison, Zack, Dejoni and Alex helped me. The only injury I gave him was a hit in his leg, and of course the fatal wound to his neck. But I would have been killed before that if Zack, Dejoni and Madison hadn’t helped, and I wouldn’t have hit him if Bryn hadn’t shot him. He would have killed me on his dragon if Alex hadn’t tackled the dragon and killed it. The dragon was more dangerous than Werin, in fact.” Tom told them all, and soon they all went back to town.

  Tom slowed them all down until he handed his crutches to one of his friends and started flying, low and slow to stay with them. He got home, yelled “I’m home!” and went straight to his room to check his leg. He sat on his bed and took off the bandages slowly, he looked at the hole and he could see the first signs of skin beginning to cover the wound again.

  He cast a spell to speed the healing and another to ease the pain slightly. He went down stairs after rebinding the wound, he saw Caleb sitting at the table with his head hanging down. He must not have gotten the apprenticeship, Tom thought, but that barb lasso is pure genius. Caleb looked up as Tom walked in, the look on his face reinforced the assumption Tom had made.

  Suddenly Caleb smile and said “I got it! The Master is even thinking of adding the barb lasso to the Guardian and Rider basic equipment.” Tom smiles also and congratulates his brother. At dinner, about a dozen of Caleb’s good friends came and they all celebrated long into the night. Caleb would leave the following week and be an apprentice for about five years.

  The rest of the days passed uneventful aside from Zack and Dejoni coming the last three days, and in what seemed like no time Tom was flying with Alex back to Blangto. They landed and Tom checked his leg again, it was almost completely better. He expected it would be better in two days. He walked into the kitchen to make dinner and found Alex leaning against the counter, Tom had a quick moment of panic that he had done something wrong which quickly passed at what Alex said. “As you know, the Dragon Guardians hold a gathering twice a year, the last one was canceled because of the war. The next one is next week, so get ready. You will be trained in everything you have learned, all the ‘boring’ subjects, axe, spear, crossbow, throwing axe and all the magic.” Alex told him, and Tom started making dinner.

  The week passed quickly and before Tom knew it he was flying with Alex to the meeting spot. No one except the Guardians knew about the spot, as many of the best fighters gathered there, if an enemy set a trap or ambush they could kill or capture some of the most important leaders and fighters. As before Tom was amazed at the skill of the training fighters, in the air and on the ground.

  Alex showed Tom the spot they would camp and went to the command tent, leaving Tom instructions to set up camp. A young Guardian walked over to where Tom was setting up a tent. “You are lucky to get Alex as a master. I’m Ronald, I was Alex’s first apprentice, you must be his second.” the young man told Tom who smiled “Ya, I just hope I learn what he tries to teach me. I’m Tom, nice to meet you.” Tom replied and started to extend his hand to shake Ronald’s, but was stopped by the tent posts in his hand. “Want some help with that?” Ronald asked, and Tom nodded.

  He wanted to finish as soon as possible. Soon both tents were set up and they went to gather wood. After a while, the two sat around a fire as the sun began to sink below the horizon, Ronald drinking coffee, Tom had never liked the bitter drink. Alex walked back “Good to see you Ronald, I see you’ve met Tom.” Alex said, and after a few hours of talking Ronald went to his campsite and the other two went into their tents.

  The next day Tom and another apprentice, Jim who was
starting his second year of training but had not been able to come to the last gathering the Guardians had held, went with a Guardian, who introduced herself as Emily. Emily tested the two boys in both close range weapons, both long range weapons, combat magic, flying, aerial combat, ground combat and all around combat. Tom walked back to Alex’s and his campsite sore from all the tests.

  Tom’s wings now weren’t only a spell, they were part of him just as his arms and legs were. Alex told him that was normal, it would help him use them better. He still could make them disappear, but it was like putting an arm in your shirt. Unable to use or see them, but still felt. He sat on a log and warmed up some water for hot chocolate. The day after Emily tested the two boys on battle tactics, map making and reading, terrain advantages along with the more ‘boring’ subjects, such as math.

  The gathering lasted two days more, Tom, free from tests, wandered around talking to the Guardians and practiced the various skills he was learning. Sometimes he would stand and watch as Guardians practiced, both in the air and on the ground, he was amazed at the speed, strength and hand eye coordination they all showed.

  Often the wooden practice weapons broke from the power of the hits, when that happened the Guardian would simply start using magic or their body as a weapon. On the last day the two graduating apprentices were given a coat of arms, armour and golden claws, all symbols of Dragon Guardian. Tom and the other apprentices didn’t see the actual ceremony, but they got to come to the feast afterwards. Tom and Alex then went back to Blangto, where Tom resumed his training.

  A month later, as Tom was fighting a small group of dirt men controlled by Alex, a single horseman came to Blangto. He went straight through the village towards the Guardian’s cabin. Tom destroyed the last dirt man as the man dismounted in front of the training ground. The man took a moment to catch his breath then looked at Alex “The Ilemart are back, with a bigger army.”