Dakelo. (Book 2 of the White Lily Trilogy)

Chapter 33- A little secret.

Short chapter this week, but this is a major hint and important plot piece for later *evil grin*  

“Dakelo? Dakelo can you hear us?”

    “I think he is starting to come to,” a second voice pointed out.

    “Dakelo?” the first voice asked again, much louder this time. He flinched at the noise. All the voices were ringing out too loud, and it was making his head throb, especially the back of his head. He couldn’t even distinguish whose voices were even trying to talk to him. What had happened? How did he get here? His nose twitched as he smelt around. Silvermoon was here, so was Froyza and the head-healer, Pocam. They must have been the source of the shouting voices. He groaned and opened his eyes.  It took moments for his eyes to focus; even then, there were still colourful flashes in his vision. He didn’t know where he was.

    “Dakelo?” Silvermoon asked again. Now he realised she was the source of the first voice he heard.

    “What is it?” He asked irritably.

    “He’s conscious,” she told them. He winced and tried raised up his hands to shield his face, from the bright candlelight to his right side.

     “Don't shout, my head hurts,” he grumbled. Something thudded on his chest.

    “Of course it would, you hit it very hard,” Pocam explained.

    “I...did?” It would explain the thumping, although he still had no idea what just happened.  He slowly tried to sit up and rest against the wall behind him. Pocam quickly jumped up and Silvermoon helped him into position. He looked at her and saw he eyes were wide with worry.

    “Hello,” he said lazily.

    “Are you ok Dakelo, you’ve been unconscious for a long time.”

    “How long?” he asked.

    “A least three days,” Silvermoon whispered. 

   “Three days? How was that possible, what happened?” Pocam, who was sitting on his lap now, purred.

   “Well, putting it simply, you fainted,” he explained.

   “I fainted?” he said, horrified. “That can't be right; I couldn’t have been unconscious for three days because I merely fainted.”

    “No that wasn’t the reason. The main reason is simple. You smashed your head into the ground when you fell.”

     “Did I?”

   “It was horrible; I thought it had killed you. You just, keeled over on the spot,” Silvermoon squeaked, clearly traumatised. He reached up and stroked her cheek, trying to comfort her.

       “I'm sorry.” Then he sighed, “Three days? Has there been any news?” Froyza, who was sat on the floor at the base of his bed, shook his head.

    “Nothing has changed. There have been no new rogue sightings. No news from Her Highness, it’s too early for that.” Dakelo exhale noisily.

     “So I haven’t missed much,” he stated.  Froyza fluffed up the fur around his neck.

    “I have to tell the other wolves you are awake now, everyone has been anxious about your tumble, even Norv.”

     “I bet they are all laughing that I fainted,” he muttered, grinding his teeth.

     “Don't worry, Dakelo; I left out that little detail.”

    “Thank you, Froyza.” Froyza padded up to the door, head butted it open and slipped through the crack. Pocam yawned, extending and retracting his claws. Dakelo desperately tried to remember what happened. He remembered he was walking down the corridor with Silvermoon, and then he felt like something hard struck him in the chest. The locket! He pulled out his shirt and looked down, realising it wasn’t there.

    “Dakelo what are you looking for?” Silvermoon asked him.

    “Where was that locket I was wearing?” he asked looking around.

    “This one?” She reached down beside her and held it up. The stone was still red. Was that the cause of the blackout? Silvermoon dropped it into his open hand.

    “Dakelo what is that? From the way you are staring at it, I can deter that is no ordinary necklace.” Pocam asked, trotting over to look. He had his hackles raised and his ears fluffed up, like he was ready to attack something. He knew there was something strange about it, so there was no sense in lying.

    “It is a hamyo stone.”

     Pocam spat.

   “Who gave that to you?” he demanded.

    “Isi did, I mean Her Highness. She left it in her room for me to find. She left a note explaining what it was, although I didn’t really understand.”

    “It shocked you didn’t it?” he stated.

   “Yes, how did you know?”

   “Hamyo stones alert the wearing if the bonded person is in distress, such as when they get attacked. However, effects can be different based on the blood of the person in the stone. The stronger the creature bound to the stone, especially those possessing magic abilities, the bigger the effect. In this case, since it’s Her Highness, there are few that can compare, and it explains why you were knocked unconscious rather than weekly struck. It obviously wasn’t anything too threatening, for the stone is still red, but next time there is always a chance the shock could kill you.”

    “Dakelo, you mustn’t wear that.”  Silvermoon told him.

    “No!” he said firmly. “This is the only way I will be able to know she is safe. If something goes horribly wrong it’s the only way any of us will know.” Pocam’s small, pink nose twitched. He obviously didn’t like the idea of him wearing it, but he also knew it was folly to keep demanding that he’d remove it.”

    “Fine, but just be careful wearing that. There has been tales of people being shocked to death via those things. I don’t know how her Highness found out about those, but I wish she would have mentioned it to someone first, or at least me.”  Dakelo gulped. Pocam flicked his tail as he got up and started to leave. “If you get the slightest tingle from that, take it off immediately. It could help reduce the effects”

    “I will.” And with that, Pocam left. When the door shut, Silvermoon stared at him in silence, long enough to make him feel uncomfortable, so he looked down at the locket in his hand. For a brief moment, Isi was in danger. What could have happened? He noticed Silvermoon still staring at him.

     “Stare all you want, Silvermoon, but I'm not taking it off. I will be careful, I promise.” She must have known that it was foolish to keep arguing too.”

    “Promise?” she simply asked.  He swung his legs over and slowly stood up, ignoring the burst of flashing pain in the back of his head.

    “I promise.” He rolled his eyes.