The Anvil (31 page)

The
rest
of
the
day
passed
slowly
for
Tom
.
The
next
day
Steve
came
downstairs
to
do
a
final
check
on
Tom
.
He
said
“
You
can
go
,
Tom
.
But
take
it
easy
,
tell
Alex
that
too
.”
Tom
gathered
his
things
and
left
the
building
glad
to
finally
be
outside
and
moving
again
.

He
walked
to
his
house
without
much
pain
.
He
walked
in
the
door
and
ate
some
food
.
He
lifted
his
shirt
a
little
and
looked
at
the
scars
.
The
next
day
Alex
came
into
the
kitchen
as
he
ate
breakfast
.
He
looked
at
Tom
“
Are
you
feeling
good
enough
to
go
back
to
Hilltop
Lake
?”
he
asked
. “
I
can
go
,
but
I
will
probably
need
breaks
and
I
have
to
take
it
easy
Steve
said
.”
Tom
answered
.
Alex
nodded
“
We
will
leave
after
lunch
.”
and
he
walked
out
.
Tom
sat
back
in
his
chair
.
I
have
been
his
apprentice
for
nearly
a
year
he
thought
then
he
got
up
to
pack
and
say
bye
.

Packing
was
easy
because
he
had
barely
unpacked
anything
,
but
saying
bye
took
a
long
time
.
As
he
walked
towards
Bryn
he
realized
this
could
easily
be
the
last
time
they
saw
each
other
.
They
had
only
known
each
other
for
a
few
days
,
but
had
already
been
in
a
battle
and
flown
together
,
he
had
never
carried
anyone
flying
before
her
.

He
returned
to
his
house
and
ate
lunch
.
Alex
came
and
got
him
and
they
left
.
It
took
about
four
hours
to
get
to
Hilltop
Lake
.
He
saw
Zack
,
Dejoni
,
John
and
Masdifi
,
John
'
s
wyvern
who
was
named
after
the
Aminac
goddess
of
victory
and
war
,
flying
around
the
island
.
He
wanted
to
fly
and
join
them
,
but
because
of
his
injury
he
couldn
'
t
fly
very
much

A
few
days
later
Tom
was
completely
better
.
Alex
walked
into
the
living
room
where
Tom
was
sitting
making
water
fly
around
him
.
Tom
set
the
water
back
in
the
bucket
and
looked
at
Alex
. “
It
'
s
time
for
your
final
lesson
on
basic
water
magic
.
Follow
me
.”
Alex
said
.

Tom
got
up
and
followed
him
excited
.
They
got
out
of
the
cabin
and
flew
off
.
They
followed
a
stream
for
a
few
miles
.
They
landed
and
the
lesson
began
. “
What
makes
the
air
feel
thick
in
some
places
?”
Alex
asked
.
Tom
shrugged
“
I
don
'
t
know
.”
Alex
nodded
“
I
doubted
you
would
,
but
the
answer
is
water
.
Water
is
everywhere
.
This
lesson
will
be
of
harnessing
the
small
amounts
of
water
in
the
air
and
of
some
of
the
hardest
water
spells
.”
Alex
taught
Tom
to
gather
the
small
amounts
of
water
from
the
air
around
him
.
After
a
little
practice
he
had
figured
it
out
.
Suddenly
Alex
said
“
Now
let
'
s
see
what
you
can
do
with
water
!”
and
he
launched
a
spike
of
water
that
froze
on
the
way
towards
Tom
.

Tom
magically
won
control
of
the
ice
and
sent
it
in
tiny
pieces
back
at
Alex
,
while
he
also
sent
gallons
of
water
at
him
from
behind
.
Alex
made
a
shield
of
ice
from
the
air
and
blocked
the
tiny
shards
of
ice
.
The
other
attack
splashed
down
on
him
and
instantly
froze
.
Alex
eventually
broke
the
ice
and
panted
. “
That
'
s
good
,
but
the
spells
I
am
going
to
teach
you
are
even
better
.”
he
said
after
gathering
his
breath
.
Alex
taught
Tom
how
to
control
giant
amounts
of
water
at
once
,
change
the
water
into
something
else
and
to
use
stillwater
to
view
other
places
and
people
.

Two
weeks
later
Alex
again
took
Tom
out
into
the
forest
.
This
time
they
fought
using
plant
magic
.
The
fight
ended
with
Tom
'
s
body
encased
in
wood
.
Alex
taught
Tom
how
to
make
plants
grow
faster
,
harden
plants
,
hide
himself
in
trees
and
make
the
trees
and
plants
turn
into
wooden
creatures
.