'Hmm…'
The colonel came over to join her, peeking over her shoulder as he peered down at the sand.
'What is it, m'gel?'
'Look at these tracks, sah, they seem to be looping towards Salamandastron and not in the direction that we are heading in, sah. Pretty odd, if I do say so myself'
Rapieratce got down beside her, scrutinizing the tracks as well.
'Hmm… That's true, captain. D'you think we should backtrack?'
Getting up, Daleria replied slowly, obviously reluctant to do the aforementioned.
'Mayhap we should send some scouts forward and see if this isn't a decoy, sah.'
The colonel got up after her, dusting sand off his tunic.
'Right, then.'
He called out two gallopers, Cosenet and Willow. They were both trustworthy, fast and reliable. He sent them forth with orders to scout the north and south, making a full circle of the surroundings. All they had to, and could do was wait.
***
Cosenet and Willow had found little to nothing in the north of the camp, so they did a sweeping loop towards Salamandastron, where the paw tracks led. They stopped for a short moment to catch their breath after the long run. Cosenet frowned, looking around her as she commented over to Willow.
'You know, old chap, I have this blinkin odd feeling that we're being watched…'
Willow, on the other hand, dismissed the thought with an idle wave of her paw as she took a quick swig from her water skin.
'How could we? There have been no single flippin sign of those blinkin vermin anywhere.'
Suddenly, two pairs of rough, strong paws grabbed them from behind, pulling them backwards before they could even lift a paw. Willow kicked out with her footpaws, writhing madly as she tried to make contact with her ambusher stomach while Cosenet struggled as much as she could, trying to elbow her own attacker. After a while, they realized that their strength was unequal, and had to give up. After they had subsided, a raspy, uncivilized voice spoke from behind them.
'Harr, are we by chance the "blinking vermin", me laddo?'
A blunt object struck both on the head, and as pain streaked out slowly, the world fogged up and slowly and painfully faded out.
***
Daleria was starting to worry. The scouts had been sent out just neigh noontide, and now the moon shone brilliantly at its peak. It was only supposed to be a short, fast sweep of the north and south area, which would only have taken until dusk, even by an inexperienced galloper. Something was most definitely wrong. Quietly, she swiftly left the camp area alone without alerting anybeast, and headed towards Salamandastron. There were large, towering sand dunes on either side of her, providing ample cover for the captain as she weaved her way towards the mountain for a quick scout. Then she saw it.
Light.
Blazing, red fire. Daleria saw it from atop a large sand dune. Dropping flat onto the cool sand and folding back her ears so as not to give away her presence should a sentry see her silhouette against the night sky, outlined by the moon, she peeked over the brink of the dune and summed up the affair. A relatively large vermin camp spread out before her, everything was laid for display for her to see. Her keen eyesight and good speculation sized up around a hundred vermin there, mostly swordfoxes with the occasional scattering of rats, weasels, stoats and foxes. Suddenly, her eye caught onto a large, crudely made wooden cage in the centre of it all. She could see five hares, and no less. She knew this was an incredibly bad turn.
Hostages.
Daleria had seen enough. Rolling down slightly, she crept back towards her camp, panic flowing through her veins and making her pound her footpaws continuously onto the hard sand, practically skimming across the sand as she rushed back. Moonlight showed only a blurry figure as she flew across the sand, like a fleeting shadow, without a sound. She knew that time was of the essence. Five lives were at stake. She reached the camp at record speed. She made her way over to the sleeping colonel. Dropping softly onto the ground, she shook him awake.
'Sah! Sah! Wake up, sah!'
After he had sufficiently arisen, Daleria hurriedly reported her find before voicing her opinion.
'I think we should head back to Salamandastron, sah. If we are caught out here, we stand no chance. But if we proceed back to the mountain, he will use the five to bargain. But at least we stand a chance to save them.'
'I agree, captain. But we have to be incredibly careful to avoid them.'
'We have to move now, sah, swift and silent, or else… What may happen, I do not want to find out.'
'I will rally the troops.'
Within a short period of time, the camp was packed, its fires cleared. It was like nobeast had ever set paw on the area. With a quick wave of a paw, the group moved off. Just at the crack of dawn, they arrived at Salamandastron. The colonel and Daleria rushed off towards the forge to report the happenings to Lady Consellariel, leaving the rest of the patrol behind at the entrance. Knocking at the door, they entered. Consellariel was shocked to see them, and knew that whatever they were possibly there for, it was definitely not good.
'What is it, colonel, captain?'
There was a hasty explanation as both watched the badger lady get more and more shocked, stunned and angry with every sentence. Daleria winced as they finished and the badger lady voiced her thoughts.
'What? 5 hare hostages?! At least two are ours?'
'Yes, marm.'
The colonel knew it was a very bad time, but her told the badger lady still.
'Marm, Silecy, Tehora and Mealiney have been reported missing in action.'
Consellariel whirled around and gripped Rapieratce by the shoulders so hard that he was lifted clear off the floor and it hurt his shoulders. Fury and anxiety were emblazed in her eyes, as she practically screamed out orders into his face.
'Order sentries at all openings, lookouts are not to leave the interior, all patrols cancelled, call in all ones already aboard, gather my officers!'
Nearly pushing Rapieratce out the door as she released him, she barked out a final command before stalking into the forge and proceeding hammering a poor piece of metal to leaf thinness in anger. In the midst of her pounding and rattling, she yelled back at the two.
'Dismissed!'
Backing out of the room, Daleria turned and ran straight into her dormitory, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving a stunned Rapieratce to recover alone in the corridor. Pausing for moment, he looked around and saw Captain Joseph pass by. Grabbing the captain's attention, he rapped out the orders before moving towards Daleria's dormitory.
Putting his ear to the door, he heard a faint sobbing noise coming from inside. Tentatively, he knocked on the door.
'Captain…?'
A sullen voice answered him.
'Go away, colonel.'
'Let me in, Daleria.'
'GO AWAY, Rapieratce.'
'Open the door.'
''ATCE!'
'Open up the door, Daleria.'
The was an obvious hateful silence from inside. Finally, a small voice said,
'It's unlocked.'
The dark wooden door opened slowly and the colonel saw Daleria curled up on her bed, back towards him. He quietly moved over and sat down next to her, not looking at her. They simply sat like that for a few moments, neither wanting to saw anything to the other. Finally, after the silence had dragged on for too long, Rapieratce spoke.
'It wasn't your fault, you know.'
Daleria's head was looking straight ahead, out of the window, where a brilliant sunrise was, blatantly refusing to look at the colonel. There was something in his eyes that made her crumble to dust, and thus she did not want to look anywhere near those green orbs of his. Still looking ahead, she answered softly.
'Yes it was. I was the one that wanted to go out after him. I got them into this…'
Rapieratce sat and looked at the sunrise as well. The golden brilliance spread out before them, rising high above the horizon and climbing higher and higher into the bleak sky. Without shifting his gaze from the shining rays, Rapieratce spoke quietly back in return.
'You didn't know this would happen.'
'I could have stopped it.'
Rapieratce looked intently at her figure, frustrated at her obstinate stubbornness. Daleria felt the hairs rise on her neck, but still refused to look at him. Rapieratce spoke.
'Look me in the eye, Daleria, and tell me you did it.'
She looked up very reluctantly, trying not to break down completely and just run away. Rapieratce's eyes were as calm as ever, patient, yet fiery and it gave her an odd feeling that he could see right through her as his bright, fathomless dark green eyes pierced through hers, as if telling her, daring her, to do it. Her own raven black ones glittered with guilt and spite for what she had done, yet she did not turn it down. Strong and violent stutters came out.
'I... I... did...'
The colonel did not shift his gaze, nor did his own stubborn and insistent emotion change.
'You did nothing.'
Daleria's head slumped back down, deflated and defeated. She put up a feeble argument.
'But look at Willow, Cosenet, Silecy, Tehora and Mealiney! Look at where my stubbornness got them!'
'They were on patrol, the vermin got them while they were not looking. You were not there, you cannot blame yourself.'
Daleria pulled her eyes away from his blazing glare. She could not stand it any more. It was sending shivers down her back.
'But...'
'Daleria, do I have to stay here until sunset to get you to understand?'
'No, sah... I just feel so guilty.'
'You simply need time. Dry your eyes, m'gel. It's not your bally fault.'
'I'm sorry sah, for yelling at you earlier on, I wasn't thinking.'
The colonel smiled gently at her.
'It's all right, old gel. As long as you understand.'
'Thank you, sah... It just feels so, strange, the way I'm getting everybeast into such trouble. I hate it. I don't want any other creatures to die just because of me. Why can't I just end it?'
Rapieratce immediately swung his gaze straight back at her. Daleria turned her head away. Rather sharply, he said.
'Don't you ever think that, m'gel. This is a problem that involves everybeast, not just you. You cannot take the blame on your shoulders. It would only make things worse.'
Barely in a whisper, Daleria said.
'But it all comes down to me.'
A sole tear trickled down her face, cutting a trail down her cheek. She could feel Rapieratce's green eyes on her.
He is going to be the death of me.
His paw wiped away the tear. He lowered his voice and softened his tone.
'Don't take the blame on your own bally shoulders, m'gel. Don't make things worse for yourself.'
That made Daleria break down completely. Her shoulders shook violently as a slow stream of tears cut down her face. She made no noise, simply crying without sound. It was almost frightening how she kept all her emotions so bottled up that when she did release them, she only released that small bit and never let it simply fade away and let go. Rapieratce put a paw on her shoulder.
'Don't do this to yourself, Dale, please!'
There was nearly a hint of desperation in Rapieratce's voice. To be truthful, he was desperate. He had never seen Daleria break down so badly before. It was scaring him.
'No. Why can't you see that I can't just let this affair slip away? Do you think that I don't want to? I can't just let this fade away, Rapieratce. I've already lost everything that I can possibly loose. What more worth is there now? I cannot just let it slip away like it never happened, 'Atce! It was my entire family, my entire life that went down that night. Then they came back another time and took away the single thing that I had left, just as I thought everything might work itself out and that peace would restore itself into my life. I can't just let them get away with all of that and think that it never happened!'
'Please Dale, don't say that. You haven't lost everything. Don't do this.'
Daleria let out a shaky laugh, but her voice was steady. It was as if she never even noticed that she was crying. It showed how much she did not care anymore.
'Haven't I? Then what do I still have?'
'You have your friends, Dale, you have a lot of things in this life worth living for. You just have to realize them.'
Daleria chose to ignore him.