Valin (Book 3 of the White Lily Trilogy)- first draft

Chapter 26- Two Voices

      Dakelo couldn't help but yell out loud, his arms and legs flailed around him from the plunge into darkness as he reached for anything to hold onto to stop the fall. It took him many moments to realise his hand had gripped the grass, his fingertips embedded and his feet dug deep into the mud. He felt he was his back was flat on his back, but his stomach still felt like it had fallen through the ground and left his body far behind. As his eyes snapped open at first all he saw was swirling colours; greens, white and a light shade of blue, coupled with the red edges, a result of his increasingly rapid braething and lack of air to his lungs because of it.

"..kelo..." a voice mumbled at the far edges of his hearing. "eep aths."

Eep aths, what's an eep aths? He thought to himself, but he felt something touch upon his shoulder. The swirling colours started to knit back together and settle in place. He saw a bright, colourfill sky. The edges of the trees' finger-tip branches, swayed back and forth in a rather hypnotic dance in the breeze that passed by.

"Dakelo, take deep breaths, deep and slow." He finally heard Thiryqa say. So that was what eep aths was. He did as instructed. Filling his lungs with the cold,biting air. Each deep breath helpepd to steady his vision better. Eventually several faces appeared on the edge of his vision, most hidden in shadow from the sunlight above them.

"There we go, that was a bit rough, wasn't it?" Thiryqa asked. He could hear that there was a low rasp in the creature's throat as his words emitted out as a croak. He sounded very tired by how monotoned his sentences sounded and Dakelo couldn't blame him for it.

He slowly sat up and let out a small grunt of pain as his leg muscles had cramped up from the spasms. He spent a few minutes just flexing his legs back and forth till his muscles accepted the full range of motion without him retracting and limb back with a sharp yell. It wasn't until after the pain edged away that he realised he forgot something important.

"Isi!" He spun around on the spot to see who had her. She was resting on Froyza's lap, her head against the thick white fur of Froyza's sash. It was unclear from her angle if she was actually awake yet. He crawled his way over and reached for her face. His fingers gently touched upon her cheek, as if he was trying to delicately stroke a butterfly wing. His breath caught in his throat when her eyes flickered open.

"Isi?" He tried again to get her attention. Her eyes continued to stare blankly at the sky for a moment, before then rolling off to the side and looking at Dakelo. Dakelo couldn't help but feel his heart swell, the relief crashing over him as he reached down and hugged her. She let out a painful scream from being touched, which almost caused Dakelo to drop her in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled quickly, settling her down on the ground. "How are you feeling, do you want a drink? Something to eat?" He began to spew out the questions.

"Dakelo, give her space, and time." Xnifo tried to haul Dakelo in.

"Time is one thing we don't have," he growled. "We best get moving. Though I'm not sure the direction of the lake from here."

Thiryqa rolled onto his feet with a groan, then raised his wings to fly above the trees. It didn't take long before he landed and pointed off . "That way?"

"How?" Dakelo said.

"Judging by the placement of the sun and my knowledge of the layout of this wood. It's easier to do so when its night and I can guide by stars."

"Are you all right to travel?" Froyza asked him. Thiryqa stretched out, both with limbs and his wings to test himself.

"Yes, I've had sufficient rest." He nodded to them. "I know we are all still most likely tired, but we have our orders, and for all we know, the humans are now on the move to intercept us."