Free The Dragon and the Witch by K.T. Tomb Page B

his mother’s arms and as beautiful as that was, I saw my pregnant mother lead a group of witches into that cave on the other side of the mountain and kill the dragons while they slept.
    I felt my throat constrict, my mind awhirl with a devastation I’d never known before. I felt a new rage—an anger so intense that I wanted to kill every last witch that had harmed those peaceful dragons while they slept, even though the leader was my mother. And as they tied up the slain dragons and dragged them to the top of Crens Peak, I witnessed my mother double over in pain as she went into labor. With one hand wrapped around her stomach, she told her followers to proceed as she made her way to the very rock that I’d sat just a few minutes prior.
    The vision switched. Through Tolbalth’s eyes, I saw him enter the cave where he’d left his wife and son. I watched him place his long bony-clawed fingers into their blood and raise it to his nose. I saw the way his large body stumbled to the ground and how he sobbed relentlessly at the realization that his wife and child were dead.
    I wanted to run to him and tuck him in my arms the way he’d done for me so many times before. Who could be so ruthless and cruel—who would slay a child while being pregnant with their own? The vision continued.
    I watched Tolbalth take no prisoners that night. He slaughtered them all, one after another, enticed by rage and pain. I saw him stomp on the wooden bowls where the witches had planned to use the dragon’s blood and parts of their bodies for spells—powerful spells. I watched him cradle his slain family in his arms as he released a loud, echoing cry that carried for miles through the forest.
    My mother delivered me and my wails moved through the cave beneath Tolbalth. He heard me. He realized there was yet another witch that would pay for the destruction she’d caused. From my vision, I watched him jump from the top and land at the mouth of the cave where he prepared to destroy yet another.
    I knew the rest. I didn’t need to see any more. I pulled my hands from his, my sobs louder than I’d expected. He stepped back, his head hung low. My mother’s words chanted in my ears: Kill him , kill him, Zadie .
    Tolbalth cocked his head back, ready to do what he should have done eighteen years prior and destroy her, once and for all. But she was my mother and I remembered how much she’d loved me when she’d held me in her arms the night I was born. I saw it in her eyes—in the vision. I couldn’t let him harm her.
    I stepped between Tolbalth and my mother. My thoughts were spinning like a destructive tornado. Torn between two people—between a past that I had nothing to do with, I swallowed and sucked in a deep breath. “If you kill her, you’ll have to kill me first.” My voice shook with uncontrollable emotion. Confused, I stared into Tolbalth’s yellow slanted eyes. My heart ached. No more killing. I wanted it all to end.
    “I’ll never hurt you,” was all he could say.
    “Kill him, Zadie,” my mother said. “He took you from me. He stole you from my arms and locked me away. He’s not worthy to live.”
    I swung my head around and growled at my mother, “Shut up. I can’t think.” That outburst even shocked me. How could I stand by and watch the two people I loved destroy each other?
    “It’s the only way to break the spell, Zadie,” Mother whispered from behind me, still trapped in a ring of flames.
    My entire body was trembling. My eyes were a cascading waterfall of tears. “Do I have to kill you to free her? Can you break the spell with words?”
    Tolbalth shook his head. “I will never release her, Zadie. You saw what she did to my family. She deserves to die. She slaughtered my innocent child—my only son!”
    “Then I’d have to kill you to release my mother?” I asked, tears streaming down my face, my dagger in the grip of my hand at my side.
    He gave me one nod. “I’d rather die by your hand then ever