The Dragon's Scale [COMPLETE]

6.1 || Finding Sanctuary

"SHADOW KNIGHTS?"

Instead of answering Josh, Cale hurried toward the dining room. "Samara, protect the door and windows in here."

"On it."

Josh glanced between the two before following Mara to the door. "What are Shadow Knights? Isn't that what you thought Darren was?"

Mara nodded as she dropped down in front of the door. She placed her hand at the bottom, her brows knit together. "Asa praetimus," she murmured, and blue energy surrounded her hand. She stood slowly, trailing her hand across the door. A thick layer of ice spread out from where she touched. After she covered the entire door, she started toward the window.

"Caleb was about to explain them. Almost a week after Isabel and Elohim bonded, the Mighty Dragons found out that Sheol had also bonded with a human."

They stopped in front of the large window looking out over the street. Josh glanced around, but he didn't see anybody. "And that human was the first Shadow Knight?" he guessed.

"Right."

"And they're coming after us?"

"Right again."

Josh flexed his fists, still searching the night outside for movement. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

Mara placed her hand at the bottom of the window with a chuckle. "Last time I tried to tell you what to do, you didn't listen," she said before repeating the same process she had done for the door.

The house groaned as something crashed on the other side of the house. Josh jerked toward the noise, but Mara grabbed his arm with her free hand before he could run off.

"Don't worry. It's just Caleb putting up a wall," she said without looking up from her task. "Earth is noisier than ice."

Another crash came from where Cale put up barriers, and someone screamed from upstairs.

"Are they here?"

Josh gaped at his dad as he came down the steps, his mom following. While she guided a crying Eli, his dad held a sheathed sword in each hand. When he was younger, Josh would scour the house searching for Christmas presents. How had he never found swords if they were in his house?

"Caleb is putting up earth barriers," Mara explained again. She stepped away from the ice-covered window and inspected her work. "My guess is we have another few minutes before the Shadow Knights arrive."

Josh's mom walked over to him. "Could you stay with Eli please?"

"Yeah, sure." At least it was something to do besides focusing on the pent-up desire to help in some way. He glanced down at Eli. Silent tears slid down his cheeks and he looked pale, but he pressed his lips into a thin line.

His mom eyed the ice over the window as she said, "Hand me a sword, Micah." She took the one his dad handed to her, then nodded to the window. "So we don't plan on running?"

"I contacted Jodas," Cale said, appearing in the doorway from the dining room. "He will open a portal to the Sanctuary soon. The protections are just a precaution."

So portals were a real thing. He could guess how they worked because he had seen them in games often enough, but they made him wonder just how much more information he needed to get from everyone.

"The Sanctuary, huh?" his dad said. "Didn't think we would ever go there again."

Josh twitched at the reminder that his parents, unlike him, knew a lot about everything going on. "What's the Sanctuary?" he asked.