The Dragon and the Witch Read Online Free PDF

older I became. “Father, what am I?”

 
    Chapter Six
     
    It didn’t take me long to understand that he wasn’t ready to discuss everything at once. The revelation of what he’d just told me took an emotional toll on him. But when he answered my question with, “Today, you’re my daughter but tomorrow, we will talk about your heritage.” I knew that he’d told me enough stories for one day.
    He turned and took my hands into his. “You see, Zadie, if those hunters that you saved happen to return, there will be no way for you to stop them. They murder first and think about it later.”
    “But I think Piku and I took care of that. I’m hoping they’ll use their camera footage to help them remember what happened out here.”
    “You are my daughter,” his eyes narrowed and he gripped my hands firmly. “But, don’t defy me again. I won’t lose you the way I lost all of them.” He pointed toward the ravine. “I will not concede to man, nor will I let them enslave me again.”
    “Yes, Father.” I stared into his wise eyes marked with wisdom lines around the outer corners. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. A foreign emotion he’d rarely used.
    Out of nowhere, his hand swung toward my neck and I ducked. “Now, we train.” He spun into a fighting stance and I naturally squatted into mine.
    “A little warning would be nice.” My heart raced.
    “Hunters don’t give warnings when they shoot. Neither do witches.”
    “Neither do witches what?” I narrowed my eyes as we circled each other. The statement was so bizarre and yet, I knew that my father would have a story about that as well. He was reflective today and when he felt reflective, he fed me with the knowledge of his elder soul.
    “They don’t give warnings, Zadie. They just act upon their desires and take what they think is theirs.”
    My father and I had never talked much about witches, although he had once mentioned that they ruled our part of the forest. But to entangle a conversation about witches with hunters into a single sentence made little sense to me. I was confused. Disoriented even. That wouldn’t stop me from practicing with my massive guardian. “A little random. Don’t ya think?”
    “No, Zadie.” He kicked his leg out, sweeping it counterclockwise to take my legs out from under me. I jumped over his feet. “Tomorrow, on your birthday, you’ll understand everything.”
    “I’m understanding more, now that you showed me this.” I ran toward him and jumped through the air with a thrust punch that flew past his head and missed his face. Falling forward, he pushed at my back and I stumbled toward the ground. “Damn it.”
    “Think, Zadie. Take your time and think. Protecting yourself isn’t a race. It’s about concentration and anticipating your attacker’s next move.”
    Father came at me with his fist flying toward my face one after another. I dodged them repeatedly, using my hands to help thwart his punches into opposite directions of my face. Then I ducked and slammed my open palms into his diaphragm, causing him to lose balance and stumble backward.
    He chuckled. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. You’re quite the fighter, my darling. It pleases me to know that you can take care of yourself.”
    I smiled and bowed. “Thank you. Thank you. You’ve been quite the teacher.”
    He bowed back at me. “Remember, expect the unexpected and don’t rely on your eyes. Your eyes will play tricks on you. You must use all your senses as one.”
    “Of course.” I hesitated and glanced back at the gully.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    I reached into my pocket and rolled the bullet from the lion around in my pocket. There was a desperate need to tell him how I’d been changing, but I remembered how he acted when I’d told him about my dream earlier that morning and I wasn’t in the mood to defend myself again.
    “Well?” he asked.
    “It’s nothing, really.”
    “Zadie?” he crossed his arms over his