Somewhere between the last time that Josh had seen her and now, the girl had found a bow. She stood, another blue arrow drawn, her back straight, the arrow pulled back. Determination hardened her face.
Josh's heart stuttered, and this time, it wasn't from fear. Despite the dire situation and that she was a mysterious, armed girl who had been watching him earlier, he couldn't deny how hot she looked right then.
Mara! the voice shouted, relieved. Now you probably won't die.
Josh did his best to ignore that added 'probably' and studied the girl—Mara, if he was to believe the voice. He didn't see a quiver or anything else to hold extra bows. She did, however, have a leather belt, a forearm-length sheath resting on each hip, both holding what he could only guess were daggers. How had he not noticed those before, and how had she not been thrown out?
"Paladin," Darren spat. "I thought I sensed the boy fast enough I wouldn't have to deal with any of you pests."
She kept her gaze trained on Darren, but she spoke to Josh when she said, "I need you to come over to me."
He turned his attention to her arrows. Hot or not, she was a stranger with a weapon. How was he to know that she didn't plan on killing him as well?
Mara's on our side, the voice assured. She'll keep you safe.
"Now!" Mara barked.
Well, his choices were between the person the voice in his head trusted and a potentially demon-possessed bully... He gulped and went to move toward her.
"I don't think so." Darren placed a hand on Josh's shoulder and shoved down. Josh bit down a cry as the sudden force drove him to his knees. "And you..." Darren held out the darkness-surrounded hand to Mara. "I wouldn't release your arrow."
Mara glared down her arrow at him. "Why? You just made yourself a cleaner target."
"Very simple. We both know that a non-bonded human can't take magic very well. I mean, do you really want to risk killing this boy?" he asked with a gesture to himself.
"Then it's a good thing you're not a non-bonded human."
"If you believe that," Darren asked, words slow and smug, "why haven't you shot yet? Do I feel wrong, by chance?"
Mara frowned, her eyebrows drawing closer together. "It's true that you don't feel like a Shadow Knight, but..." She nodded to his hand. "Non-bonded humans can't use energy."
"Unless that human isn't the soul in charge."
Mara's face slackened in confusion for a moment, then her eyes widened and her face paled. "Liar!" she said. "Phoenix Dragons haven't taken control of humans in centuries."
"Is that so?" Darren challenged. "Shoot me, then, and stop me."
Josh sensed what was about to happen a moment before Darren did it. Josh tried to whack Darren's arm away, but he squeezed before Josh could. Fingers dug into his shoulder. The piercing agony froze in his escape attempt.
"Shoot me!" Darren cried at the same time as applying more pressure. Josh cried out and jerked away, but it only worsened the pain.
Mara flinched. Her pull on the string slackened as uncertainty flickered in her eyes. That was all Darren needed. He released Josh and launched forward. Mara shot the arrow almost immediately after, but the moment of hesitation gave Darren enough time to twist out of its path.
Josh didn't see where she pulled it from, but a moment later, she had another blue arrow in her hand. By the time she nocked it, Darren stood in front of her. He shoved her bow out of his way and delivered an uppercut to her stomach. Grimacing, she took the ice arrow from the string and stabbed it in Darren's direction. He danced out of her range before it could make contact.
She trained the arrow on him once more, but she didn't fire.
"You hesitated," Darren said. "Not just once with taking the shot, but when you went to stab me. Do you finally believe and are afraid you'll hurt this body, little Paladin?"
"Don't think this game will get you anywhere," Mara said. "I will find a way to take you down, and when I do, if you're truly a Phoenix Dragon, you'll regret possessing that body."
"Blah blah blah." Darren snorted, then started laughing. "That talk getting you anywhere?"
Darren's laughter came to an abrupt stop when a blue circle flickered to life around Mara's arrowhead.
"Same place laughing is getting you," she said, then released the arrow. It nicked Darren's arm before continuing its flight somewhere over Josh's head.
With a low hiss, Darren placed a hand against the new cut. "So, that's your plan?" he snarled. "Just going to keep grazing me and hope that'll be enough?"
Mara's face finally relaxed as she smiled. "You could say that."
A blue energy suddenly sprung to life around Darren's hand. Josh flinched, gawking as the energy solidified into ice then spread up his hand and arm.
While Darren attempted to combat the ice, Mara called, "When I say run, you run!"
Josh glanced over at Mara. She had already reloaded her bow with another arrow. Her mouth moved in words he couldn't hear, and then a misty ring appeared at the arrow tip.
"Think you're tricky, do you?" Darren asked as he struggled against the ice. It had reached his shoulders, and a black light shone beneath it. "The boy isn't going anywhere."
"Run!" Mara called.
She released the arrow. It struck the ground in front of Darren, then exploded in a cloud of mist. Although Josh could barely see around the cloud, he caught Mara running straight into it. A dagger had replaced her bow.
Josh scrambled away and onto his feet. He looked past Mara, out toward the rest of the store. When he'd tried to run that way before, he'd found himself trapped. She had entered through there, though, so was the wall gone?
Barriers let people in, but not out, and they usually cover a pretty big space, the voice said. If you can't run that way, try going the other way. You should be able to... maybe.
There were so many maybes involved in this situation, but Josh shoved his doubts down and started to turn around—
There was a loud thud, some muttering, something crashing. Josh froze, eyes locking on the mist. It occurred to him then what he was doing—running away, leaving Mara to fight.
She can handle it, just run, because you can't.
The voice was probably right. After all, she could sling around magic just as well as Darren could. But that didn't get rid of his feeling of wrongness. Was there no way he could help?
The voice groaned. Yes, by running, so—
A sharp cry broke through the other sounds of struggle, and a few moments later, Mara darted out of the mist. She almost barreled into Josh but came up short before they collided. Bits of hair had slipped out of her ponytail, and the starting of a bruise darkened her jaw. She still held on to the dagger she'd drawn, and the sight of it made Josh's blood run cold. Blood tainted one of its wicked edges red.
"Do you not understand what run means?" she demanded, forcing him to return his eyes to hers.
He doesn't seem to, the voice said, though Josh had no idea if she could hear him.
"I was worried about you," he admitted.
Her expression softened for only a moment, but something creaked from the mist, and she tensed again. "Admirable, but right now, I am the one keeping you safe. Now come on, let's get away from here."
She held out her free hand to him. He glanced at her other hand, the one holding the dagger, before sending one quick look over his shoulder. With a gulp, he nodded.
"Okay."
He placed his hand and hers, and they ran.
Fun fact: In a previous draft, Mara was actually named Luna. Yeah... Knowing old me, it's shocking she didn't have white hair.
We are really delving into the magic now, and isn't ice so much cooler (hah) than a random dark gauntlet? Mara may be out-cooling not-Darren, but even she can't chill out Josh's hot air 😅 Though it seems something's not going quite as it should with how she's reacting to Darren. So many mysteries yet to be solved 👀
Let me know your thoughts of the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed, don't forget to comment. Or even join my Patron, which can be found in my bio. The lowest tier only costs $1 a month and gives you access to my discord, where you can get chapter previews. All tiers also allow a chapter shout-out, so... Let's get to this chapter's shout-out!
Patron: WrennaStone, Book: VISION
Summary:
Evanescence Hale has a world inside her head - the alternate reality of Astraela, where Darkness and Corrupted beasts threaten the land. The product of her imagination has given her four books as an up-and-coming fantasy author, but when the same undead fiends appear on Earth for a rampant killing spree, Eva is caught in the crossfire between dreams and reality.
These monsters shouldn't exist outside the pages of her books... and neither should the hero of her story, who slips in from the shadows to tell her that Astraela is facing its ultimate destruction. With the fate of her own world at risk, Eva must choose between stepping up to the plate or watching every reality she's ever known crumble before her eyes.