The Dragon and the Witch by K.T. Tomb Read Free Book Online Page A

together like an impossible jigsaw puzzle. I took careful steps out of respect, trying my best not to land on any of their bones as I maneuvered through the graveyard.
    The area was devoid of insects and animals. As if there were an unwritten rule that the land of death was off-limits to anyone or anything. Yet, I’d invaded that land without permission from the living or the dead.
    Each step was strategically planned as I glanced around the barren field. Where there was once a gully thriving with life, today it was a reminder of the battle between dragons and humans. But I sensed more. And that feeling in the pit of my gut threw me off-kilter.
    I glanced up at Piku. His back toward me, he continued to keep guard. And I continued to walk through the graveyard of massive bones. A constricting feeling clenched my throat and potent tears stung my eyes.
    “Tell me my gift. Show me my gift. Do something,” I yelled.
    In my careless anger, I tripped over a massive thighbone and stumbled forward, planting the palm of my hands against an erect rib bone, and impaling one hand near my wrist.
    “Oh, my God.”
    I dragged my hand from the bone as I watched my blood shimmer while it dripped down the length of the rib. Then as if the grave came to life, I stood in the middle of a thriving field of colorful dragons swooping down toward me, yet moving through me.
    Their massive bodies navigated the skies with colorful wings spread and their presence grand. Taking three steps back, I witnessed them intertwining in a dance that mesmerized me into a frozen statue watching the life around me. They weren’t just in the gully, they owned the land and commanded life in a way that I could have never imagined. And although they weren’t really there at that moment, I knew I was watching the past.
    A female dragon stood at the top of the gully, staring downward with her youngling tucked under her wing. She stared past me, past the gaping hole in the ground and I watched her carefully. She had spotted something—something disturbing. With a step backward, she cocked her head and then lunged her neck forward, bellowing fire into the air.
    It was a cry to be heard and it was the reason I turned at the same time as the other dragons to see what they saw. I gasped and covered my hand over my mouth. Along the ridge at the top of the trenches, thousands of men armed with every weapon known to man stood their ground. War paint on their faces, a sign that their time had come. And it was at that point when I knew I was standing in the middle of the epic battle between human and dragon—between life and death.
    As if gasping to catch my breath, I sucked in air and everything disappeared—my world and theirs grew dark, cold and lonely. Everything became nothing and that darkness consumed me. I fell to my knees and landed beside the bones that had shown me their colorful life, even if it was only for mere seconds. Finally, the curtain to my world of the past was closed and everything faded to nothing.

 
    Chapter Ten
     
    I wasn’t sure what brought me from the darkness back into the light, but Piku’s fur tickled my fingertips as my arm hung over the bed. Bed? Piku wasn’t allowed in my room, according to Father and so, those two words— room and Piku —forced my eyes to open. I squinted against the light coming through the window.
    Piku’s head lifted at my sudden movement and he stood, sniffing and licking my face with his huge, rough tongue.
    “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to push his face from mine.
    “Making sure you’re okay, of course,” he said.
    I glanced around the small one-room adobe-type hut, trying to find something that looked familiar. “Well, I’m okay now. But what happened to me?”
    “You fainted, I guess.” Piku sat down next to my bed and licked my hand.
    That was one thing about big cats, if they could find a way to clean you, they would. “Stop licking me, Piku.” I tried to determine where I was.
    “I