The Anvil (4 page)

Once
he
finished
he
lay
on
his
bed
when
Alex
came
in
and
said
“
If
you
are
done
laying
around
I
am
going
to
teach
you
how
to
canoe
on
your
own
.”
Alex
walked
away
and
Tom
quickly
got
up
to
follow
.
They
went
down
to
the
dock
and
Alex
taught
him
strokes
and
how
to
balance
the
canoe
.
Then
he
had
Tom
canoe
around
the
island
three
times
then
to
the
dock
on
the
other
shore
and
back
.

Once
he
was
done
he
was
sweating
and
Alex
said
“
Wash
up
and
then
it
is
time
for
dinner
.”
After
Tom
washed
up
he
went
to
the
kitchen
to
find
Alex
waiting
for
him
.
Alex
looked
at
Tom
and
asked
“
Do
you
know
how
to
cook
?”
Tom
just
shook
his
head
.
Alex
laughed
and
told
him
“
Well
it
is
time
for
you
to
learn
.”
Alex
taught
Tom
how
to
make
a
simple
stew
and
some
biscuits
.

Once
the
food
was
done
they
ate
,
then
went
to
the
living
room
and
sat
in
front
of
a
fire
.
Alex
suddenly
broke
the
silence
and
asked
“
Do
you
play
an
instrument
or
sing
?”
Tom
replied
“
Yes
,
I
sing
”.
Alex
nodded
approvingly
and
said
“
Well
then
sing
a
song
for
me
.”
Tom
looked
nervous
but
started
singing
a
foreign
song
.
After
a
few
songs
Alex
said
“
It
'
s
time
for
you
to
go
to
bed
tomorrow
we
start
your
training
.”
Tom
got
up
and
went
to
bed
.
Tom
woke
up
with
sunlight
streaming
in
from
the
window
.

He
got
up
and
changed
then
went
to
find
Alex
.
Alex
was
sitting
in
the
living
room
when
Tom
walked
in
he
got
up
and
said
to
Tom
“
Today
you
start
your
training
to
become
a
Guardian
Dragon
.”
Alex
led
him
out
to
the
beach
and
said
“
First
you
will
choose
your
weapons
to
master
first
.”
He
had
Tom
follow
him
to
two
racks
of
weapons
.
On
one
there
was
swords
,
axes
,
shields
and
other
close
combat
weapons
,
on
the
other
were
all
kinds
of
bows
,
crossbows
,
throwing
knifes
and
other
long
range
weapons
.

Tom
went
over
the
the
first
rack
and
looked
at
the
weapons
he
grabbed
a
one
-
handed
battle
axe
and
a
round
shield
.
He
swung
the
axe
experimentally
then
nodded
he
said
to
Alex
“
I
think
I
will
start
with
these
”.
He
then
walked
to
the
second
rack
and
took
a
longbow
and
an
arrow
and
shot
at
a
tree
,
the
arrow
missed
then
he
decided
not
the
bow
and
grabbed
a
crossbow
then
said
“
I
will
also
start
with
this
.”
Alex
nodded
and
said
“
Well
then
let
’
s
get
started
”.

Chapter
3

             
Getting
started
meant
running
around
the
island
five
times
in
chain
-
mail
armor
and
all
weapons
.
The
armor
was
made
of
high
quality
steel
,
Tom
could
tell
that
the
craftsmanship
of
the
armor
and
axe
was
extremely
fine
as
he
was
the
son
of
a
blacksmith
.
After
the
run
he
rested
for
a
minute
then
swam
around
the
island
.

Then
Alex
had
him
do
push
ups
.
After
that
he
got
a
five
minute
break
,
then
went
canoeing
around
the
island
five
times
during
which
he
had
to
jump
out
and
get
back
in
every
twenty
strokes
.
Then
it
was
lunch
,
after
lunch
it
was
archery
where
he
had
to
learn
how
to
use
the
crossbow
.
After
archery
he
trained
with
the
axe
and
shield
,
in
chain
-
mail
armor
.

Finally
he
went
inside
and
learned
about
history
,
math
,
geography
and
map
reading
.
He
had
a
free
hour
after
that
then
dinner
,
that
he
made
.
He
was
so
sore
he
could
barely
move
.
He
did
that
every
day
except
Sunday
.
The
days
blended
together
for
two
weeks
,
until
one
day
Alex
said
“
Today
instead
of
the
usual
you
will
practice
magic
.
You
will
practice
and
learn
all
day
only
stopping
to
eat
.
There
will
be
one
day
for
magic
a
week
until
I
figure
out
a
new
schedule
for
you
.”
Those
magic
days
he
spent
the
time
before
lunch
learning
of
history
,
safety
and
things
like
that
.
Then
spend
the
time
until
dinner
practicing
,
first
he
learned
water
magic
.