The Dragon's Scale (COMPLETE, EDITING)

19.1 || Ghost Town

Josh swallowed and fought back a shudder. He would not let his own worries get to the kid.

Aside from the buildings, the rest of the area appeared bare. Perhaps the occasional scrap of wood and broken-down pillar, but nothing more than that.

"I don't like this," Mara murmured.

"Me neither," Cale said. "What did the book say about these dimensions?"

"Much of the dimension was crafted by the creators." Mara was behind Josh, but he could almost feel her eyes flicking toward Aharon. "They decide what is in here."

Josh gulped as he studied the buildings more closely. Then why was this here?

Despite the new weariness, nothing appeared by the time they reached the center of the city. The buildings here weren't as broken down and had lighter stone. The streets in front of them sloped to follow a steep incline with more better-kept buildings lining the edges.

Josh looked over his shoulder. Cale stared ahead, eyebrows drawn together. After a moment, he nodded toward the incline.

"That way. Better to have the high ground," he said.

Josh nodded and moved onward.

They reached the crest of the hill with no issues, and it was there the phantom city breathed its first hint of life.

From where Aharon had teleported them, they hadn't been able to tell that the city formed a broad crescent around a large oasis. The lack of sunlight made it hard to tell, but the water's reflective surface hinted at clear water. Palm trees shot high into the air, and spiky bushes sprouted from the grassy area around the oasis.

Like the city center behind them, the homes seemed to grow out of the hillside with few residing on the oasis' flat land. The houses were larger and lighter, like white marble despite being a similar rocky material to the others. Along with the size increase, the buildings had more decorations. High ceilings, long staircases with statues and vases, columned doorways.

The back half of the city may have held the same broken appearance signature to the area, but it felt like a whole other world.

"Wow." Josh gaped.

"Let's go down to the oasis," Mara said. "We may have found our source of food."

"But this is a desert," Josh said.

"And that is a source of water. It is possible for oases to have fish, and this city has to be here for a reason," she retorted.

She had a point. With a shrug of defeat, he continued forward.

He walked easier down the sloping street, no longer pressured by the weight of the city's gaze. Like the city, Aharon had come to life. He straightened on Josh's back, twisting each way.

"Remember anything?" Cale asked.

"I think I know this place." Aharon spoke slowly, uncertain, almost turning his statement into a question. "I get flashes of knowledge. Like there"—he pointed to a small section of buildings close to the oasis—"is where the elders lived. And people would have a market... or a festival... I'm not really sure which. Maybe it was both, but they would have it down there, by the water."

Josh pursed his lips. The little tidbits of information were nice, and they further proved this had to be the real Aharon who helped shape this place. However, it made his amnesia even more confusing.

Maybe similar thoughts plagued the others, because neither Cale nor Mara spoke up again.

Sand turned into grass as they stopped a couple of feet from the water. Mara crept past the group and kneeled at the edge. She peered into the dark depths. After a moment, she relaxed the pull on her bow and lowered it to rest on her thigh. Light illuminated her hand. Her ice magic still tainted the energy, so it cast a pale blue shine over the area.