The Dragon's Scale [COMPLETE]

27.1 || Rest

REALITY CAME BACK slowly. His senses trickled through the block first. A soft object supported his body while an itchy, yet warming, material covered him. Wherever he was, chemicals gave it the "too clean" smell that tickled some memory in the back of his mind. His mouth was empty, but it felt and tasted like he'd just eaten a container of cotton. Dull light irritated his closed eyes.

"Josh?" A voice. Familiar, but too far away to reach.

Josh lulled back into a deeper sleep. Every time he resurfaced, his awareness sharpened. A bed. He lay in a bed. The smell was so familiar because it reminded him of a hospital. He'd been in hospitals a lot. Never because he needed them, he remembered, but because he went to see his mom while she was at work.

His mom. There was something important he needed to remember about her.

Remember. So much he needed to remember.

The gradual trickle became a flood as the dam caved. Charging into aportal to another dimension. A desert and city intent on murdering him and theothers. A trap-filled temple. The reapers. The Shadow Knights.

Aharon.

Aharon's head snapping back.

Lightning. Pain.

Josh gasped, eyes flying open. His breath caught as the sudden action sent throbs through his body. He placed a hand over his chest. No cloth, but also no blood.

Pressing his lips firmly together, Josh dragged his head to the side.

He didn't recognize the room. He lay on a cot, with one other across from him and two more on the other side of the room. To his right, a closed door blocked him from everything else. On the opposite wall was a desk surrounded by shelves covered in books, vials, and containers filled with herbs.

An infirmary. And, based on the familiar silvery walls, the Sanctuary.

How had he gotten from the temple floor to the Sanctuary infirmary?

Despite the wave of pangs and aches, Josh pushed into a sitting position. He glanced around once more. He was alone. That had to be a good thing. It meant nobody else had needed the other cots.

Because they were healthy enough not to, not something worse.

He slipped his legs over the edge, moving as slowly as he could. Regardless, when he tried to stand, he flopped straight back down on the bed. New muscles he hadn't realized hurt screamed their annoyance at him.

"Ouch." He stared up at the ceiling. Once he stopped seeing double of every panel, he glared. "I feel like I just ran a race while people were throwing rocks at me. It sucks."

Josh?

Josh jumped, jarring his muscles. The ceiling watched him. Silent, because a ceiling couldn't speak.

But a certain dragon could.

He reached out for the bond. A pressure lifted from his shoulders at howclose it felt. No alternate dimension distanced them. Josh beamed.

Boomer, he said.

You're awake! Boomer pressed up against him through the bond, his presence wrapping around Josh. I've tried to talk to you so many times, but you just kept falling back to sleep. But... Even if not really there, Boomer's presence put a weight on Josh's chest. You're awake. You're okay.

Josh closed his eyes, mentally placing a hand on Boomer's forehead. He willed the image to form, seeing himself in the forest with his dragon. Soon, when his body would allow it.