Innocent Child

Chapter 3: The Training Ground

           "Looks like Sleeping Beauty's finally awake!"

          "Honestly Ozen," Emiss said glaring at him, "not the time." She joined Chayll in helping me up but waited until everything stopped moving before letting go.

           "What happened?" I asked. It was the next morning and I had no memory of the last eight hours, I estimated.

          Chayll watched me carefully for a moment to make sure I was steady, keeping his arm out in case I needed it. "You passed out after the amulet connected."

          "But why?"

          "The amulet changed you," Shameell answered without hesitation. It took a moment for her to realize we had all stopped and were staring at her in silence, waiting for her to explain. It appeared not even the other Guardians knew what she was talking about. "You inherited the gene that gives you the potential to become the Innocent Child from your mother, but it was the amulet who chose you when you were born. When you turned sixteen, the amulet became attracted to you and sought to bond. Now that it has, it has physically become a part of you. Your life energy is charged by the amulet and you feed the amulet in return. It's a reciprocal exchange of energy. The amulet needed to adjust your brain's impulses and needed your physical chemistry to adapt. Putting you to sleep makes the process easier." We all just stared at her. A subtle smile touched her lips. "You'd be surprised how much magic exists in the scientific world."

          It sounded crazy, but I had no other explanation to entertain. I did feel different and the dream I had had wasn't normal. It felt way too real.

          "I think the amulet gave me a dream."

          Emiss turned to Shameell, a look of concern on her face. "Is that possible?"

          "It could be," Shameell answered, "but Gwenellynn didn't warn me of anything like that. What was the dream about?"

          A shiver crept down my spine as I relived the dream. "I saw the Hagourns. Danorm was there and he was demanding I hand over the amulet. But when he threatened me," I looked up at Chayll and felt my throat tighten uncomfortably. "Chayll protected me and he was shot in the heart with an arrow. He was dying."

          Chayll stared at me silently, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. "It was just a dream, nothing more," he said shrugging it off, but his eyes betrayed his concern.

          Ozen clapped Chayll on the back, making him take a step forward. "He's right, it probably means nothing. Chayll could never go down that easily, unless I took a shot, of course."

          The three of them shook their heads and as Ozen took a swing at Chayll's head, Chayll ducked effortlessly out of the way and Ozen had to catch his footing so as not to trip over his own feet. And just like that, the mood lifted and shortly after, the dream was forgotten. We finished packing up and set off for the day.

          "So how come you guys don't actually know all that much about the amulet?" I asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

          Emiss looked at me sideways, "honestly?" I nodded. "Because no one knows."

          "Not even Gwenellynn?"

          "Not even Gwenellynn," Ozen confirmed.

          "But how? She created it?" Suddenly I felt a little apprehensive about the piece of jewelry I now sported prominently around my neck.

          "Do you remember a little over a year and a half ago when your Grandfather left on a trip for a few months?"

          "How do you know about that?" It had been the first trip he had taken in years after coming to live with us and something had changed in him once he returned.