The Anvil (77 page)

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
.