The Dragon's Scale (COMPLETE, EDITING)

20.1 || Bloodied Waters

WHOEVER CREATED THE pocket dimension should have included curtains in the homes. Instead, when the sun rose, Josh found his eyes fluttering open at every noise.

First it was the gust of wind, then Aharon tossing and turning in his bed. Mara hummed a song quietly to herself, and the very noise that woke him lulled him back to sleep. The start of deeper sleep pulled at him moments before Mara padded toward the door.

Perhaps noticing his eyes open, she kneeled beside him and brushed a kiss across his cheek. "I'll be back. Get your sleep."

He closed his eyes to her walking out the door and opened them soon after to Cale leaving through it as well. Josh's lips twitched in the barest of frowns, but then darkness claimed him once more.

And finally his dreams started back up, with him flying above the water with a blue-green dragon beside him, one he knew was supposed to be Nizar despite never meeting her. He flew with undisturbed bliss—

"Cale!"

Josh's eyes snapped open. He was on his feet in mere seconds, hands reaching for his equipment. A freezing unease shocked his body awake in a way cold water never could.

Mara had sounded terrified, and even worse, she hadn't said Caleb, but Cale.

Something was horribly wrong.

"What's going on?" Aharon sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes as he turned toward Josh.

He paused, gaze darting between the boy and the door. Leaving Aharon alone could be dangerous, but staying behind with him wasn't an option.

With a mental plea this wouldn't screw things up, Josh said, "Follow me, but don't get too close," and sprinted out the door.

He stumbled the moment he saw the oasis, then forced himself to keep going.

The once clear water ran the deep red of blood. Even more frightening than the lake were the creatures that crawled out of its depth. They shared most of their characteristics with frogs, but they stood as tall as humans despite the hunch in their back. Claws jutted out of their webbed hands, and jagged fangs flashed as they croaked a battle cry. Light glinted off the crimson, gem-like material covering what should be leathery skin.

And they swarmed Mara.

Despite their stone-like covering, her daggers sliced through the frogs with ease, and any ice she shot their way felled them instantly. These creatures weren't strong, but ten more had risen from the water by the time Josh made it halfway down the hill.

Mara killed five in that amount of time.

Boomer, Josh called. Boomer! Boomer! Boomer!

A presence stirred. What in the—frog? Boomer stared through Josh's eyes for a moment, then energy rippled through the bond. Can't you guys go a full day being safe?

Very funny. Know anything besides hack and slash to murder? As he asked, Josh watched Mara gut one of the frog creatures. It slumped to the ground.

Boomer's wince could be felt through the bond. Gyenrae. Gem frogs in your language. They, uh, don't like electricity.

Electricity. That thing he had yet learned to channel. Great.

Josh reached the oasis' flat land and drove his blade through the first gem frog he saw. At its dying wail, Mara jerked in their direction. Even through the mob of frogs—both living and dead—their eyes met.

First worry, then hope, flashed through her expression.

"Caleb!" she called, cutting off with a grunt to drive an ice spike into a monster that rammed into her. "They took him under the water!"