The Dragon's Scale (COMPLETE, EDITING)

||Chapter 26.2||

The room wasn't flooded with water—it was drowned in darkness.

Josh knew he should see light spilling from the door and into the room, but it just didn't. It stopped at the spot where the corridor ended and the room began.

Whatever caused the unending darkness must have had some weaknesses, otherwise the burning inferno in the left corner of the room wouldn't illuminate the area around it. Two Shadow Knights stood, their energy-produced fire blazing around them.

Josh studied them, and the ember of dislike for anything Shadow Knight related sparked into a burning anger. He recognized one of the flushed, sweating faces. Peter.

Cale's sharp intake of breath indicated he had seen him, too.

"Fourteen Shadow Knights," Mara whispered, words robotic yet strained. "Two seem to be too wounded to fight."

Josh scanned the crowd. As Mara said, fourteen Shadow Knights stood,weapons drawn, stances ready despite the way they huffed for breath. Two otherslay on the ground, unconscious. Large red and sickly yellow bumps covered theirexposed skin.

And seated on the ground in the back, those metal bands still clasped on his wrist, was Xander.

Alone.

The world froze, and the darkness of the room absorbed all the warmth from Josh like it did the light. It didn't make sense. Xander said he would protect Eli. His baby brother should be there by the Paladin leader.

Fighting to breathe through the terror crushing his chest, Josh searched the room again. He could only see as much as the fire lit, and there was no Eli in its area.

One of the Shadow Knights spotted them, but before she could alert the others, another Shadow Knight called, "There!"

A dog-sized thing darted into the light a mere second later. It had a mammal-like body with four legs and short, matted brown fur with a hard, mud-like shell covering its back and shoulders. Its head, however, was the pointed, large-eyed face of an insect with mandibles that clacked in a bite at the Shadow Knight that had yelled.

It reached forward with one of its forelegs, revealing a weird,pincer-like hand with four points. The Shadow Knight dodged again. A barb-ended tail darted from the creature'sback and sliced through the man's shoulder.

He backed away without a sound, eyes set, and swung his axe over his head. Water exploded from the weapon, creating an aura around it.  He slashed through the creature's head with a crunch.

"Moshe chose shi'raz. Of course he chose shi'raz," Aharon grumbled, but his smile gave away his amusement.

Cutting grips? Boomer said. Never heard of those things. And its English meaning is really lame.

Josh eyed the pincer as the last bit of the slain shi'raz vanished. I don't think I would want to deal with them. But without light, he had no idea how many hid in the darkness.

"There are Paladins here!" the Shadow Knight from before finally got to shout.

"That we are," Aharon said, but it seemed more to himself. Then, to Josh and the others, he continued, "I hope you've had long enough to examine the situation."

He held his hands to each side, palms up, and walked forward. Lightning surged from his hand, overflowing in torrents. It cast a yellow light on Aharon and the area around him.

Aharon was connected to lightning. Josh liked him even more, but what made him happier was seeing the lightning cut through the eternal darkness.

Josh summoned his own blue lightning to his weapons, surging more in his shield so it glowed. It could only light up about a foot around him, but it had to be enough.