The Anvil (The Dragon Guardian)

by I Heaton

  Then he asked another troop to practice with them and this time they lasted alot longer, each time a little longer, and finally, in the last fight, they won. After the victory Tom told them to relax and rest the remainder of the day.

  Tom and Tyler talked as they walked back to camp, Tom explaining what was happening with the Anvil, how they had been formed, what fighting style they were training with, what special equipment they would have and why Tom was leading it.

  The two boys went to check on the shields, which were almost done, then went to dinner. After dinner they sat around a fire with their friends, as usual.

  As Tom sat back against a log after finishing a song he thought how peaceful this was, especially when they were in a war. The next day the Anvil got their new shields and they progressed so quickly, they soon won almost every fight.

  Two weeks after the Anvil started, only one battle had occurred, but the Anvil was stuck in the back, as they hadn’t been training very long. Now Tom was training with the Anvil, keeping an overall command of the group as they moved forward against the other troop they were training with.

  Tom was amazed that only two weeks ago, these men knew nothing of this new fighting style. Now each one supported and trusted the men next to him, each man was equipped with a sword, shield, spear and javelin.

  They would wait until the enemy came into javelin range, the second and third rows would throw theirs, the first row would switch with the second and throw theirs, then they either waited or approached the enemy, the first row using the swords to stab between the gaps in the shield wall, stabbing at whatever came into view as their visibility was very limited, while the second and third used the spears.

  Tom commanded and helped where he was needed, flying or walking along the line. Tom leaned to the second and third row leaders, each row had one, and whispered “Swing it closed.”

  Then half the third row went to one side while half the second went the other way, forming one long line. And on a signal from Tom they swung inward, squeezing the other troop between them and the first line.

  The other commander threw a white cloth into the air, the signal for the end of the training exercise. The Anvil let the other troop out and allowed their shields to rest on the ground.

  The other commander approached Tom “That was brilliant. How do you come up with all those ideas?” he said, and Tom replied “Thank you, I don’t know where I come up with these ideas. But your troop was amazing, most never can break through the first line at all and your men did it in the first few minutes.” Tom wasn’t lying, most didn’t get passed the first line, but these men had briefly before the second line pushed them out.

  Tom allowed his men to rest while he talked with the three line leaders, Tyler, Joseph and a young woman named Susan, who also practiced battle magic and archery.

  Each had earned their position and Tom was happy with his decision, they discussed a new strategy, with each one putting in ideas and pointing out flaws.

  After a few minutes they finished and began teaching the Anvil the new strategy, a simple but effective way to trap enemy rams, as rams were one way an an enemy could break their line.

  They would open long enough for the ram to enter then reform, trapping the ram and the men using it behind the first line to be defeated by the second and third. After an hour they had it down, so Tom allowed them to take the rest of the day off.

  Tom went to his tent and put away his training weapons and picked up his guitar. He sat outside his tent playing and singing softly for a minute then put the guitar back inside and decided to go flying. He walked back out of his tent, spread his wings and started following the Pontal River.

  Chapter 25

  After a few minutes he noticed some men walking across a crossing, curious he landed in some nearby trees and watched as the men, who wore Ilemite armour and crests, pushed their way across. Tom realized they were going to attack the Arstanian army from the side.

  He jumped back into the air, heard yelling behind and flew as fast as possible to the Arstanian camp. An arrow flew passed his head and he flinched but kept flying. After about two minutes he landed in the castle courtyard, exhausted. Some guards came over, but stopped as Tom pulled out the bronze dragon claw, symbol of a Dragon Guardian apprentice.

  He took a moment to catch his breath then started running to the Command Room. The guards outside stopped him, he showed them the claw and they let him in. He came in and everyone looked at him, surprised at his sudden appearance.

  “TheIlemitearesendingaforcetotake” Tom started, talking too fast for anyone to understand. The king lifted his hand for him to stop, cutting off his words. “Tell us what is happening, slowly.” King Frederick said and Tom took a breath.

  “The Ilemite are sending a force across the river to take us in the side. I was out flying and saw them.” Tom explained, seeing the look on everyone’s faces.

  Everyone in there knew how bad it would be if a force of enemy soldiers suddenly took them in the side. Alex was the first to recover

  “We need to send a troop of cavalry, they could take out the enemy soldiers quickly. Tom, you can lead them to the crossing, I will come too.” and everyone nodded.

  Within minutes they were leading two troops of cavalry and one unit of cavalry archers to the crossing. Alex was the first to spot the enemy soldiers and told everyone to be quiet. If they could surprise the enemy the fight would be easier.

  After a few seconds the rest of the Arstanians spotted them and Alex had them wait a second longer. He raised his sword above his head and started running towards the enemy yelling.

  The cavalry archers shot at them as the rest started towards them. Tom followed Alex and soon was fighting along with him.

  Tom swung his axe at the first Ilemite soldier within his reach and crushed his helmet. Tom jumped at at an enemy rider and knocked him off his horse. Tom grabbed the reins and swung into the saddle.

  He silently thanked the times Alex had him practice horseback fighting as he rode through the enemy.

  Tom swung back and once he was behind Arstanian lines hung his shield on the saddle. He turned the horse around and charged back. He ducked as a spear was thrust at him and quickly swung his axe at the enemy’s head.

  Tom’s horse reared as a man on foot swung his sword at Tom. One of the horse’s hooves hit the man on the head and Tom winced as the man fell. Two more infantry men ran towards Tom and he killed one with a stone spike he magically made hit him in the head.

  The other man got to Tom and tried to get behind him. Tom turned the horse and swung at the man, who blocked the blow with his shield. The man swung his sword at Tom, who dodged it.

  After exchanging a few more blows Tom realized he couldn’t defeat this man on horseback and that he didn’t have time to dismount.

  So Tom decided to surprise the man. He swung his axe again and leaned down. “Bah!” Tom shouted and the man hesitated only a moment, but the short time he hesitated was enough for Tom to deliver two quick, powerful strikes, the second getting passed the man’s defense and hitting his neck.

  Tom looked up and saw the rest of the enemy soldiers backed up against the river. He dismounted, got his shield and gave the horse to a cavalry man whose horse had been killed.

  Tom ran towards the last of the men and glided over them, landing in the river. He hit the first man before he could turn around in the water. Tom found good footing in the shallow river and hit his shield with his axe. “Fight me if you dare you cowards!” Tom yelled at the Ilemites.

  He kept insulting them until two in the back turned and began heading towards him. They reached him and he dispatched the first with one blow and blocked the second’s spear. He retaliated and rammed the man with his shield, making him stumble. He lunged forward and killed the man, but hit his foot on a rock.

  Three more Ilemites began making their way towards him, one was killed by an arrow but the other two made it to Tom, who quickly killed them.

  As
Tom killed the second of the attackers the twenty remaining Ilemites surrendered and the Arstanians began tying them up.

  Alex told Tom to fly back to Command and tell them they had won. He landed in the courtyard again and walked up to Command.

  He finished telling them as they heard a horn blast, signalling the Ilemite army was attacking. Tom flew to the bridge, where the Anvil was told to meet.

  He waited a moment as his troop arrived and got in their lines. He led them to the bridge. They stopped as they got onto the bridge, each man pulled out their javelin, prepared to throw and waited for Tom’s command.

  He waited a moment then said the command to throw. Seventy five javelins soared through the air towards the advancing enemy. All along the line men went down, some never moved again, some crying out in pain and some simply had to advance with the javelins in their shields weighting them down.

  The Anvil started advancing again and stopped one fourth the way across the bridge. The went into what Tom called the tortoise, the second and third lines putting their shields over their heads while the first continued to hold their shields in front of them, a simple but effective way to protect against archers and other ranged units.

  The enemy archers began firing, the arrows bouncing off or sticking in their shields. Tom leveled his crossbow and aimed through a hole between two shields, he saw a man, obviously high ranking, leading the enemy troops.

  He took a moment to make sure he wouldn’t miss. He took one last breath and pulled the trigger. His bolt traveled through the hole and hit the enemy officer in the neck, causing him to fall from his horse. Tom lowered his crossbow and put it across his back. The enemy paused a moment but continued advancing towards the wall of shields known as the Anvil.

  The enemy began to hit the shields, but were not confronted by another soldier but by shields, stabbing swords and spears. Tom saw a Arstanian cavalry unit behind the Anvil and flew over the the commander.

  He told him that the Anvil would separate for a moment to let them through. He flew back to the Anvil and waited to give the order as the cavalry began charging forward.

  He yelled “Open the wall center!” to his troops, who opened a hole in the center of the shield wall. The cavalry charge through the hole a moment later and once they were through, the Anvil closed again.

  After a few minutes the cavalry began falling back, until they turned and galloped back towards the Anvil. Tom gave the open command again as the cavalry galloped closer, a moment later the cavalry galloped passed him. Soon more cavalry units joined the first and they began charging through holes in the wall that disappeared almost as soon as they passed.

  Although the cavalry helped, many Ilemite men got to the Anvil, but were quickly killed or wounded by the group. Tom walked behind the three lines, often quickly flying over them and attacking the Ilemites for a moment then flying back over.

  Over half an hour later the battle was finished, the Anvil had held the bridge the entire time. Tom stayed after the rest of the men left to count the dead in his group. Each man was easily recognizable from the large shield on their arm. He searched and found only two men had been killed, one more was wounded and unable to walk on his own and before the rest had left he had counted only thirteen wounded.

  He flew back to the command room in the castle, went in and found the leaders of the war arguing. “War is full of risks! We can’t hold out against the Ilemites forever here, they will simply get more reinforcements. We don’t have the men to hold the border for any extended period of time.” one man was saying.

  “But this is too large of a risk. We can’t spare the men to do this.” another said, then the first started talking again. “If we don’t take a risk we will never win. But if we sent some troops across this crossing to take the Ilemites from the side, we will have a much better chance of winning.” he indicated where the troops would go.

  Tom thought a moment “Well, if we send men across and they are not found they could take out the siege weapons and archers.” suddenly everyone looked at him, he paused and one shook his head

  “Any force we could spare wouldn’t have time to take out the archers and siege weapons before the army gets to them.” Tom smiled “Most wouldn’t, but if we send, say three cavalry units, four infantry units and my group, the cavalry could take out the siege weapons, all they would need to do is cut some ropes and kill some engineers, the regular infantry could take out the archers while my group holds back the army.”

  Another man begins to laugh “I know you think you group is good, but holding an army back? No single group of seventy five men could do that.” Tom looks right at him “Where were you during the battle?” the man replies “I was defending the banks of the river. Why?” Tom nodded and told him.

  “Well, on the bridge my group held the bridge for the entire battle. Only help was from some cavalry that would strike by my group opening a moment then closing behind them. Which brings me to the reason I came here.” he looks at the king

  “I need three more men. Two died in the battle and one was seriously wounded.” King Frederick nodded “Done. And I think Tom’s plan is coming to something. But the enemy could come from all around you during this battle you are suggesting.” Tom shakes his head

  “Their archers and siege weapons are inside their fort. If we could get into that my group would only need to block the entrance, which would be simple. Then without the support of archers and siege weapons the Ilemite army would fall quickly. If we take a unit or two of archers we could even attack from their own fort.” all the others in the room thought for a moment and soon they were arguing about details.

  After awhile they decided Alex would lead the troops, five units of cavalry and infantry, three units of archers and, of course, Tom’s unit, they would attack in a week.

  The next day the new men arrived at the training ground and began training with them. Tom pushed the men hard, but didn’t tell them why. The war council had decided to keep the attack as unknown as possible.

  Within a few days the Anvil was one of the best units in the entire army, almost no one could break their shield wall, cavalry broke against them, infantry got pushed back and archers were ineffective.

  After a few days Tom began having the Anvil train against multiple units in many combinations, he even had some ‘archers’ some people throwing padded rocks.

  Tom watched as a cavalry unit charged towards the shield wall along with another unit of infantry while others threw the padded rocks. He wanted to test a new maneuver and gave the order as the cavalry approached.

  The men made a hole that the cavalry rode through, unable to stop and stay in the lines they continued through and turned. The third line had turned and suddenly the cavalry and infantry were separated, while the Anvil only lost the support of the third line.

  Tom dove into the infantry lines and began fighting. Then the other unit commander saw him and started towards him, sword raised. Tom saw him coming and smiled, he quickly dropped his axe and pulled a smaller practice throwing axe from his belt.

  He drew it back and threw it at the other commander, hitting him in chest. Tom dropped, grabbed his axe and jumped out of the infantry unit and looked at his group. He hovered just above the enemy infantry, dodging the padded rocks.

  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 k
itchen 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.