The Dragon's Scale [COMPLETE]

4.4 || To Protect a Life

The voice had been right that there was no invisible wall blocking the back of the toy aisle. Instead, there was a physical wall since this section of the store was located in the back left corner. The rest of the store lay off to their right, easy enough to see from here. There must have been a barrier wall there—or this mysterious girl wasn't really to be trusted—because Mara led him to the left.

They ran past six aisles and had almost reached the end before she yanked him down an aisle. She spun on her heel when they made it midway through, dragging Josh behind her, and turned to face the direction from which they had come.

Josh paused for a moment, but when he heard a crash from Darren's direction, he whispered, "So, we safe enough for you to explain what in the world is going on?"

Mara glanced over her shoulder at him, her nose scrunched in a thoughtful frown. If not for the circumstances, the expression would be adorable.

"Do you trust me?"

Josh blinked. "What?"

"I asked if you trust me," she repeated. Despite the frown on her face—adorable despite the situation, he decided—her eyes held fast, sincerity lacing them and her words.

"Not sure if I should," Josh said slowly, "but considering it's between you and the guy trying to kill me..." He gulped, then nodded. "Yeah, I trust you."

Mara's lip twitched, and for a second, he thought she was going to smile, but another crash pulled her lips back down. "Then I'm going to need you to trust that I know what I'm doing and that I'll explain everything later. Right now, we need to focus on you surviving."

Josh winced. Surviving. That word felt like a punch in the gut. "So, what do you need me to do?"

She shot him a quick glare. "I need you to stay out of the way. And I need to figure out how to do this." The second part came out as a whisper, one he was sure she didn't mean for him.

Maybe trusting her hadn't been the wisest decision.

Don't worry, the voice assured. Mara won't let anything happen to you.

Josh rolled his eyes. Thanks for the reassurance, random voi—

Another loud smash cut him off, then Darren called, "You're going to regret this, Paladin!"

"Does that idiot want to bring everyone running?" Josh grumbled.

Except they'd been loud this entire time. More than Mara should have appeared. He twisted to look out toward the rest of the store. As he watched, a few people walked around, but none spared the toys even the quickest of glances.

"Is nobody noticing this?"

"The barrier is keeping them away, now quiet please," Mara muttered. "Trying to focus."

Yes, of course, the barrier. That mystical force field or whatever it was that the voice in his head kept mentioning. Maybe he should try talking to the voice in his head. He was out of danger now. At least, he was for the moment.

Something flashed in front of Mara before Josh had the chance to reach out. He shifted to get a better look, and his eyes widened. Mara had sheathed her knife and lifted her hands up. Between them wavered a ball of pale blue light with a core darker than the rest of it.

"You trying to hide now? No amount of time will make me go away."

Josh tensed, and Mara muttered under her breath. The energy flickered out of life as she reached for her dagger. Darren's voice had been close.