'Then tell me, Rapieratce, why is it that there isn't a major by the name of Clandestine behind that door?! And tell me again, why isn't it that there isn't a family somewhere over in the western plains that I can call my own? And tell me, why is it that I am still standing here when I should be somewhere else where I can actually stop this madness?'
Rapieratce looked at her with pleading eyes.
'Don't do this, Dale. You know that whatever happened, it happened, and that nobeast can help that any more.'
Daleria looked at him, tears still streaming down her face.
'Then what will help me?'
Daleria put her back against the wall and slid down slowly, savouring the support as her knees gradually gave way beneath her, unable to take the stress she was going through. She threw her head back and left it there, her eyes closed, but the tears not stopping as sobs racked her body. Daleria shook helplessly, too overcome by the situation to do anything else.
Rapieratce felt completely helpless, for the first time in a long time. He could only watch as the strong willed hare that he had come to know broke down in front of him, withering into a helpless creature right before him. When it came to Daleria, there was never really anything that he could usually do to help her. The hare captain rarely accepted help from anybeast, least of all from him of all the hares on the mountain. Desperate, he dropped to his knees and tried to pull her up.
'Dale! Please! Don't do this to yourself!'
Daleria lifted her head momentarily and looked at him. Rapieratce nearly shuddered at her gaze, had it not been for his self control. It was hopeless, there was nothing in her eyes that showed that she would even consider going on.
'Then what am I supposed to do, 'Atce? What? I can't find anything. Nothing. It's empty.'
Rapieratce pulled her up and literally dragged her into the late Clandestine's room and shut the door quietly behind them. Daleria simply stood there, letting her eyes roam the empty room. Everything. From the bed, as neat as it ever was, the spare sheathe on the wall, an abandoned quarter staff that stood silent in the corner, even the neat sheaf of papers in a corner on the wooden table that stood in a corner with a bottle of ink and a quill standing beside it waiting. It was as if the major had never left it. The room seemed, felt, even smelt like Clandestine. Another tear dripped down and landed on the floor. Daleria dropped to her knees. Rapieratce tried to pull her up.
'Daleria! You can't do this to yourself! There are more things that you have now that can make up for what you have already lost, I swear. Look around you. Look at all your friends that are always there when you fall, ever ready to pull you back up. Look at Dallaw, Longrunn, me even! We're all here for you whenever you need us. You know that we will be.'
Daleria refused to stand, only kneeling there, crying soundlessly for a while longer. When she spoke, her voice was barely able to be heard. It was like a whisper in the leaves that was there but could not be heard. It was as if she was dead.
'So you all are now. But will you be here later? What would happen if I somehow got you killed as well, like I have for so many others? What if that should ever happen? What would I do then? I have brought doom to too many already. I don't want to bring it to any more.'
Rapieratce dropped down beside her.
'That won't happen, Dale. We are as capable of surviving as you are. You know we are.'
Daleria's shoulders shook. She looked up at the taller Rapieratce, desperation and sorrow in her eyes. She whispered slowly.
'But I'm just so scared.'
Then she simply collasped, straight back into Rapieratce, weeping. The colonel managed to catch her in time. She could not stop her crying, though. The colonel was trying frantically to get her to cease her tears, but she simply could not. It was as if it were taking over her completely and wholly, and she was giving herself up. Rapieratce was at loss of what to do but simply try and comfort her. After several moments, she calmed down enough to choke out several sentences.
'It's all been taken away! Time and again, each and every time. It won't stop! It will only keep coming back. It haunts me, can you not see? It follows me day and night, plauging me, 'Atce. It won't go away, it never has. It has already taken my family. I'm empty. There's nothing I can go up to any more. I don't know what is going to happen, and it scares me, sah, it scares me more than anything else I've ever been frightened of. I don't know what is going to happen to me. I cannot control anything. What if...? They say that I'm too young to take this. I don't know anymore. Fate does not seem to care. It keeps on coming back. Why can't I just stop it? Why?'
Rapieratce took a long look into her eyes. What he saw was not the ever persistent, mature hare that never needed telling nor help that he usually encountered daily, not by far. It was a frightened, lost young hare that had simply grown up too fast and was losing track of things, and was simply looking out for a guiding light to help her find her way again. He immediately felt a pity for her that he had never felt before.
'I cannot answer your questions, Dale, all I know is that as long as you believe, there will be something there to help you find your way out of this. This affair cannot last forever. It will go away soon enough. You simply have to last it out, and no matter what comes, you will find a way.'
Daleria looked up at him again. This time, Rapieratce found something there. Hope had been rekindled. Relief flooded through him like an immense tidal wave. Daleria got up shakily after that, blood having returned to her footpaws, returning her ability to stand and walk. Giving him a short, wavering smile, she said.
'Thank you, Rapieratce. Thank you for helping me.'
Rapieratce got up as well, shaking his head.
'You only needed a bit of guidence, that was all. Now go get some sleep, you've been up since dawn yesterday without a bally wink.'
Daleria instinctively retorted back.
'Speak for yourself.'
'Haven't lost your old self entirely, have you, eh?'
Daleria grinned, but she had to admit that the colonel was right. She was tired.
'Fine, fine, I'll go.'
'Good on you. I need to attend to some blinkin matters, but never mind about me. Go and get some sleep. A chap would think you bally well needed some.'
With that, he strode out, leaving Daleria to walk back to her room and ponder over his advice in silence. When she thought about it long enough, she slowly came to realise that Rapieratce was right. There were things in life that were truly worth living for. Maybe some of them were not definite, but they were there, nevertheless. She would cross the bridge when she came to it, and, one way or another, she knew that somehow, she would pull herself through this. She fully appreciated, and at that moment, truly was thankful for all that her friends had already done for her. Without them... Soon, however, weariness took over her, and she gradually slipped into a blissful, dreamless slumber, at least for a while. Daleria's dreamless slumber did not last for very long, however. The black background contorted and became speckled, and Daleria looked onto a morbid scene of the night she had lost her sister. The one final shimmer of the blade, the fall of Clandestine, the howling and the pale moon, reflecting in the fathomless, unknown place where nightmares dwell, repeating, over and over, until it drove her to the edges of insanity, yet never pulling her over, just dragging her back, moving her towards torture that she could not ward off. It continued in an agonizing silence, and though she tried repeatedly to scream, nothing came out, just silence. Daleria tried to wake up, but the dream was like an unyielding prison, entrapping her, refusing to let her go...
*
That's strange... Daleria has never been late for her drills before... She could not have...
Rapieratce was severely worried. He thought he had already put the matter behind him, but it seemed as if Daleria was not out of her own minituature black hole just as yet. Shooting a troubled look at Longrunn, who was also looking rather disturbed and puzzled, he set out towards Consellariel, who had came down to over look the tight training that day. He walked stiffly over to the badger lady, who was still fuming slightly over the mountain's current pridicament. Tentatively, he spoke.
'Marm?'
Consellariel looked sharply at the colonel and very nearly snapped back to him in answer.
'What is it, colonel?'
Slightly taken aback by the rude edge to the usually calm badger's voice, but hiding it all the same, Rapieratce leaned closed and whispered quietly over to her, so as not to attract too much attention.
'Lady Consellariel, captain Daleria, she is not down for training, not yet at any rate, wot. Something must be bally wrong. She has never been late, wot, not even after the passing of Major Clandestine, marm.'
Consellariel turned around abruptly, concern was clearly evident in her deep voice as she spoke.
'What? Where is the captain now, then?'
'The last time I saw her was in her dormitory, wot.'
'Leave the training to Remora. Come with me.'
'Yes marm.'
Quietly signalling to the Brigadier with his paws to continue the exercise without him, the colonel silently slipped away after the fast paced badger lady to the second storey dormitories where the officers slept. Falling in step with Consellariel, Rapieratce followed her until they came to a stop outside Daleria's dormitory door. The badger lady knocked once, waited for a while, but nobeast answered from inside to her call. Then she knocked twice. Still no response. The two gave up waiting. Bursting in, the sight they saw was not a nice one.
The captain was on the floor, a broken glass next to her, twitching in her sleep, or if it could even be called sleep. It was as if Daleria was sub-conscious, as she jerked unnaturally, shards of glass in her arm. She was bleeding heavily The colonel paled considerably from seeing the sight. He feared what Daleria had come to. Consellariel rushed forward, and shook her by the shoulders.
'Captain! Captain! Wake up!'
Daleria shuddered violently, her eyelids fluttered, eyes rolling back into her head, then went limp. Just as soon as she blacked out, she revived herself, slowly pushing herself upwards, then shaking her head several times. By then, the badger lady's paws were red from the blood that seeped from the cuts. Gently backing the hare captain against the wall of her dormitory, Consellariel asked,
'Daleria? Captain? Are you alright?'
Daleria threw her head against the wall, earning herself a hard crack, then closed her eyes. A choked answer came out, barely eligible,
'Take it away, take it away! I don't want... No... Argh! What happened? Ouch.'
Consellariel checked her over without answering the question, wordlessly yanking out shards of glass from Daleria's arm. Job done, she stood up, her face grim and unsettled. Rapieratce, however, was by the captain's side, looking very worried. Lady Consellariel's voice was concerned, worried, grim and anxious all at the same time, all combined into a frown.
'What happened, captain? You didn't come for drills today, so we came up to check for you, and found you like this. Only you know what truly happened.'
Daleria shuddered violently, and something that resembled a whimper came out of her. Rapieratce nearly rammed his head into the wall when he heard it. Daleria almost never showed a moment of weakness like that. Never since he had made acquaintance with her, at least. She took a deep breath, and tried to put what had happened into words.
'It, it was being replayed, again and again... That night, the same thing, over and over, and I could not wake up, nothing, just silence, and the blade... The major, the moon, the black, it would not go away, it stayed, I could not wake up, the silence, the scene, the light... I can't, no! I could not scream, it took me over, I don't know what else happened. I felt something pierce my arm, and hard ground, but it still stayed! It did not stop, it just went on and on, no! Take it away, I cannot see it! I mustn't! It is too much, I can't! No!'
Daleria started twitching again, and sweat sheening on her brow. The colonel was really worried by then. Worried for the sake of the captain that he had grown to know. He knew that she would not manage to hold on if things continued like this.
'My lady! She won't survive like this!'
'I know, colonel, but I do not know what else to do. We cannot save her from her dreams... That is something that is most obviously beyong all of us. There is nothing much that we can do for her now. Take her to the infirmary, get Taremin to give her a sleeping potion of some sort or something in that manner. It is the most we can do now... Daleria, Daleria... What have you done to deserve this?'
Consellariel knelt down, slowly shaking the captain again to prevent her from falling asleep. Daleria gripped her paw tightly, refusing to let go.
'Don't let it, marm! I can't!'
'Shh.. Calm down, captain. Nothing is happening to you. Please, hang on, we will try to do something...'
This time, Daleria really did whimper, collapsing back onto Rapieratce, twitching and spasming uncontrollably, and the blood was not stopping either. Gathering her up in his arms, the colonel rushed to the infirmary, praying that it would turn out well... If Daleria gave up hope now, there would be no turning back. He hoped that she would keep his words in her head long enough to survive.
*
Daleria woke up, head throbbing, arms and paws on fire, and mind reeling dangerously. The room focused, blurred, then refocused again, but nothing really registered in her mind until a voice broke through the thin shell that blocked the way from sub consciousness to awakening. A familiar voice broke the transparent layer, and the captain fluttered her eyelids blankly for a moment, slightly disorientated.
'Dale? Dale! You're awake!'
Daleria slowly pushed herself up against her pillow, her head hammering away like no tomorrow, and in a shaky tone asked,
'Tare? Taremin? What am I doing here? What happened?'
Daleria got a heavy, tired sigh in response to that question. Taremin looked up from stirring a thick poultice, setting the bowl onto a nearby table, she sat onto the bed in weariness. Casting a knowing look over Daleria's weak form, Taremin shook her head sadly.
'Dale... You already hold my record as the hare that has visited my infirmary more times than any other, and you've just added another injury to your name. You must have somehow been hallucinating or sommat like that, and knocked over your glass of water on the table... The glass shattered, you fell off your bed, somehow rammed your head against the floor, earning a hard knock there, without waking up, then the glass shared the aftermath...'
'I really did it this time didn't I...'
'Not really, actually... You've seen worse, much worse. I should know... Anyhow, put this poultice on, it'll help the cuts. You lost a considerable lot of blood that day. Those shards of glass did surprising damage to you. You've been in here for over two days and nights. The colonel and Lady Consellariel aren't too happy about it, I can tell you.'
Daleria winced at the thought.
'Lady Consellariel is probably going to kill me for this. Same goes for the colonel... Especially Rapieratce, in fact. I've worried them more times than I care to remember. Well, enough to get Rapieratce to give me a good long talk.'
Pushing herself up properly into a sitting position, she applied the cool poultice, wincing at the deep gashes and cuts on her arms that burned and tingled as she did so. She tried to rest her head against the head board, but it hurt the second she lay it on anything hard, courtesy of the ramming against the walls and floors it had been exposed to. Daleria decided it would be better to keep her mind of her injuries at the moment.
'What about those... dreams?'
Taremin gazed at Daleria with something akin to pity alight in her grey eyes.
'Sorry Dale, but giving you something to sleep is the most I can do... I don't know wot's causing it, my best guess is the stress you're under. Give yourself sometime, Dale... Nothing is totally your fault.'
Daleria nodded quietly as if in agreement, but inside, her personal thoughts knew that the way she acted reflected what Taremin had said like a perfect mirror image.
Wise words, Taremin... I only wish I could knock enough sense into myself heed them... But I fear that I am already far too deep into this situation to back out of it now. The fault lies heavy on my shoulders, and you know that, I know you do. I wish I could admit it to my own heart, but it will not accept it... It is so hard to know what you are doing wrong yet not correct yourself. I do not know why I do it, I just simply do. Maybe I am too stubborn for my own good, but I cannot help it... For some odd reason, I cannot help it...
Before Daleria could sink any further into her own fantasy land of thoughts and contemplation, the colonel strode quickly in, closely followed by the Lady, and finally her own patrol. The usual ensemble that came to visit her whenever she landed up in the bally infirmary, which had to be pretty often. Daleria inclined her head in respect, and kept it there, shading her eyes. She found no purpose in looking up. Daleria had just slipped into her reserved and silent mode, much to the slight panic and distress to all in company. They knew that pulling her out of that kind of emotional storm would be quite difficult, if they were dealing with the same Daleria they had been dealing with for a long time already. Lady Consellariel walked straight up to the bed, while the rest sat down. She looked down at the hare captain with her soft brown eyes, which were looking at her in corncern.
'Daleria? How have you been?'
Daleria, still not looking up, simply answered silently, keeping her eyes focused on the bedsheets.
'Very well, marm, nothing I cannot handle.'
'You will be fine, then?'
'Yes, yes, I suppose so.'
'The dreams, hallucinations?'
'They have kept at bay, my lady, most probably because I was unconscious.'
Daleria just did not seem to want to come out of her reserved, withdrawn mode. Consellariel looked at her with a slight frown on her face.
'Daleria, I am going to put this very frankly, so listen to me. Please, stop it.'
Finally looking up, Daleria asked,
'Stop what, marm?'
'Stop taking matters onto your own shoulders, captain, stop thinking that everything is entirely your fault. It is not a particularly healthy habit, as far as I'm concerned. Learn to level things up, Daleria, don't keep throwing yourself back into the throng the minute you get out of it. It will only make things worse for you.
'I do not do all of that, marm. Honestly, what else am I meant to stop..? I cannot seem to find something that will help me out of this...'
The colonel stood up suddenly, his temper abruptly letting loose all of a sudden, and his composure finally broke under the obsitnate actions of the hare captain.
'Stop what, captain? Stop this, wot! You are jolly well hurting yourself for absoballylutely no reason whatsoever, m'gel! Stop it! You are worrying us to no bally end, for no reason at all wot! You need not do this! Leave the bally matter at rest, and let others handle it for once, wot! You need not worry your bally head off for no reason!'
Daleria flared up too, after hearing what the colonel had to say. Struggling against the covers and blankets that trapped her in the bed, she snapped back at him.
'Sah! Who are you to tell me what to do at a time like this? You have never been through what I have! You have never lost your own family, not in front of your eyes, and you have never been through this tirade of vermin and evil like I have! You don't know how it feels in my position. I cannot help what is happening, but I know I CAN stop it! You know you will not be able to stop me, colonel. You have all tried to stop me, and all failed. I am not stopping now, not after what I have had to do. I have nothing to lose anymore!'
Colonel Rapieratce was positively quivering in anger by then.
'Captain! All we are doing these bally things for is for you, wot! Do you think that we bally well don't care about how you jolly well feel? We know, captain! We know! We are just jolly well trying to help you, nothing bally more! You simply do not bally understand! You are young, m'gel, so do not abuse that! We are just trying to help you through this confounded escapade! Take not the whole bally blame! You are not the only blinkin' hare in the Long Patrol! There are the other lot of us too! We are here to help and bally well aid, so realize it, me gel, before it is too late! We have been through this blinkin situation before already, so do not make me repeat my bally self!'
There was so much tension in the infirmary, anybeast would have though the roof would fall in. The was fire inbetween Daleria and Rapieratce, and Lady Consellariel was not happy either with the situation. The others watched in bated breath, hardly daring to breathe as the two battled it out with harsh words.
'Do not push it with me, m'gel. We are just trying to help you out of your predicament, like we have been doing for so long already.'
Rapieratce's voice was strained with anger, and it was clear that he was trying not to shout out loud at Daleria. Daleria just sat there, fuming, but knowing that she could not disrespect him. Her eyes were blazing, and one could almost see smoke pouring out of her ears. It was not a very pleasant conversation. Finally, Consellariel grew tired of the heated bickering and screamed for a stop.
'Stop it at once! We are all on the same side here! There is not point bickering over something as small as this issue. What matters now is that the safety of these shores are under threat, and we need to resolve that, nothing more. You cannot be personal here, Daleria, and the same goes for you, colonel. When we have to sacrifice, we have to sacrifice, and this is one of those times. I cannot let Daleria out of this mountain, even if I have to chain her here! Do you not realize, that even if she does throw herself away, that Seppak will stop at nothing? It is not only her that he wants! It is Salamandastron! Come to your senses, both of you!'
The small speech somehow or another managed to calm both the hares enough to knock sense into them, and Daleria settled back down while Rapieratce regained his composure and returned to his seat. Sighing out loud, Consellariel leaned back into her own.
'This is a very touchy matter, I know, to both sides. You must all realize this fully. So please, do not make things even more complicated as they already are, because that is the last thing that I want at the moment. I cannot allow one hare to go gallavanting off and threating the rest of us, nor can I let my hares break out of discipline, so I seek cooperation, if that is too much to ask of sensible hares such as yourselves. Moving on to other matters, if you are well enough, Daleria, you may rejoin training today.'
Daleria nodded silently, her eyes closed in stress, ears folded back.
'Do not put everything on your own shoulders, captain, it will soon be over.'
Daleria nodded again, still not opening her eyes. Consellariel sighed again.
'You have always been stubborn about this, and I know it very well, Captain. Take in consideration I will go to any costs to stop you now, Daleria, and that I will not hold back like I have for so long. I cannot afford for you to get yourself hurt again, not at the rate that you are going. I know that when it comes to matters like this that you will no longer listen to me, badger lady or no, and that you will do only what is right in your eyes, as you always have done, sacrificing yourself simply for others. You forget that we all can survive equally as well as you can, my dear. You cannot stop everything, you cannot effect everything, you cannot change everything. I will not let you out of this mountain, not even if you kick and scream, do you understand that?'
There was a muffled "yes marm" from the hare captain, but still Daleria did not look up.
'Fine then, I will see you all later. Colonel, I want to see you in the forge now, and as for the rest of you, dismissed.'
Consellariel then left the rock hewn infirmary to Daleria's patrol and Taremin. Rapieratce strode out after her silently. After she was out of sight, Sergeant Longrunn sighed in irritation, his eyes flashing slightly, speaking in frustration to the still silent Daleria.
'You don't blinkin well care about what the Lady said about making sure to stop you, do you, Daleria? Listen, old gel, this won't get you anywhere. Just stay here, there's nothing bally else that you can do now. I just don't want you to get hurt, old gel. Take it easier, and you'll jolly well see that there's something else to this than giving yourself up. That's all I can say to you, captain. What will happen lies now in your own paws, wot.'
Corporal Fitirel shook his head at her, knowing full well the wisdom on Longrunn's side and the obsinate and unmoving stubborness on Daleria's side was not the best concution for success or willing cooperation on Daleria's side, having been in her patrol, as well as Major Clandestine's for long enough. The rest of the company was silent, having all their thoughts already voiced by those who spoke. Shaking his head, Longrunn stood and left, closely followed by everyone else. Taremin knew that any other talk would be pointless, so went about her own work, leaving Daleria to her own ways.
*
Colonel Rapieratce stood at attention in the forge, Lady Consellariel looking him over. Signalling for him to sit down in a chair in front of her table, she sighed wearily.
'Seppak's force is very near, Rapieratce. In two days they will be approaching these very shores, with their hostages intact, of that I am very sure. Our scouts say that a lone vermin messenger will be arriving in an hour or so, no doubt with some sort of a treaty asking for Daleria or something in that inane matter. I want you to watch over her as closely as you can, Rapieratce, do not let her out of your sight. I will be asking Remora to take over training in this case. If you see that she is going to run, I want you to take desperate measures this time, colonel.'
Rapieratce looked up at her from his seat.
'What kind of measures, lady?'
Consellariel handed him a small key in response, and he gasped softly in shock when he looked at it.
'Surely you are joking, marm!'
A dead serious reply came striaght back at him.
'I am not, colonel. If she shows any one indication of running, I want you to put her in a cell. Leave her in the prison cellars below for as long as it takes, colonel. I told her that I would not be holding back, and I most definitely will not. Do not hesitate, colonel. Hesitation could mean death. And that is one thing I want to avoid at all costs.'
Rapieratce looked up from the cell key to Consellariel, eyeing the badger lady as if she were crazy. He did not believe his ears enough to say that he heard truly what she had said. Lock Daleria up? Never, and there was a great emphasis on never, had there been a case of a hare being locked in one of the prison cells down below, at least in his knowledge of Salamandastron history, which was quite through. The colonel started to voice his doubts aloud.
'Surely you have ta be joking, marm? We can't just lock the poor gel up! The prison cells have never bally well been used for so many blinkin seasons that I can't jolly remember when they were occupied! This would be injustice towards the young captain!'
Consellariel faced him, her eyes boring directly into the now standing colonel's. Her voice was deadly quiet, and one could sense the danger seething off of her.
'You will do it if she tries, colonel, and that is final. You are under my command, and I am telling you this as a leader is to a follower. You have no right whatsoever to do anything against my orders, and you know that, so do not push matters, colonel!'
Rapieratce was burning up, but he could not say anything to oppose to the Lady's instructions and direct orders. The lady's word was law in the mountain, and he knew he could not do anything against it, lest be deranked or something in that unpleasent manner. Forcing his head down in a curt nod, Rapieratce slipped the key into his tunic pocket, remaining standing at attention for dismissal. In the deep recesses of his mind, he silently apologized in advance to the unknowing captain, hoping feverently that she would understand his motives for this. Consellariel nodded at him, turning him away with a wave of her large paw.
'Dismissed, colonel.'
Turning around shortly, he saluted and left the forge, heart torn in two, but his head commanding him to follow Consellariel's orders.
Why did this task have to come unto my hands? I can't just do that to the captain... Dale...
*
Daleria lay in silent turmoil on the infirmary bed, not wanting to return to her dormitory or anywhere else just as yet, enjoying the solitary comfort of the infirmary. Her drilling was still two, blissful, hours away, but she was meant to be down at the lunch mess at the moment. Sighing, she forced herself to act on military impulse and pulled her weary body off the bed, betraying the feeling as if all her limbs were made of lead, she dragged herself down to the mess, forcing herself to lighten her step and keep her head high. Upon reaching the mess though, she saw Consellariel heading toward the main entrance with Captain Joseph, the very same hare who introduced her to the mountain so long ago, on her tail. That meant only one thing, and she knew it verily well.
There was a messenger outside.
Daleria slipped around the corner, hiding in the shadows, she silently followed the pair outside into the entrance, curious to find out what was going on. Little did she know that she was being closely followed by a seriously worried colonel. Hiding behind a rock hewn pillar that provided ample cover from the badger lady's or Joseph's sight, she saw a lone vermin messenger talking to Consellariel. She heard snatches of the conversation that floated her way.
'What do you want with us, vermin?'
'Seppak the Black demands that you hand over the lowly scum Daleria Windbind, the very one who murdered his sister.'
'Never. She belongs in Salamandastron, and nowhere else. Go back to where you came from while you still can, vermin!'
'You will hand her over, stripedog, or our horde will come and storm your mountain to the ground!'
'Never!'
'Fine! So expect our force in three days!'
It was then that Daleria stood up straight, ears up in slight panic and worry. The thought of running away came into her mind in that instant, and she quickly whirled around. However, she was stopped by a firm paw. It was the colonel.
'You are not going anywhere, captain. I have been asked to place you in the cellars until this has faded off.'
Daleria started struggling madly against his strong paw, knowing full well that if she let the colonel take her that she most definitely would not be going anywhere in the near future.
'Let me go, Rapieratce! Let me go!'
'Sorry old gel. I have to.'
With that, the colonel, who had superior strength compared to Daleria, twisted her paw around behind her back, grabbed her other arm and held the two together. Taking advantage of her stunned posture, he pulled her down the nearby staircase, yanking her until it hurt. Emerging in the cellars, he unlocked the door to one of the cells, shoved her in, and locked it with a quick click of a key.
'Sorry, m'gel, but I had to. I hope you understand... I never wanted it to come down to this.'
Before the angered Daleria could even get up or retort back at him, the colonel was gone.
*
Daleria got up from the damp cell floor in a dizzy daze, dearly hoping that whatever had happened did not really happen. Blinking a few times to clear the stars from her slightly blurred vision, she realized that she was truly in the cells below grounds, which had not been used for as long as she could remember, and that she did not have anything with her at all. No sabre, no key, not even a light to see by. Her wrists hurt, and she had slammed her head onto the cell floor relatively hard while she was being shoved in. Daleria winced at the memory at exactly whom had shoved her in.
What was happening to the world?
She was being thrown into a cell
by a fellow Long Patrol hare, a senior officer and a close friend even,
under orders by the same badger lady that she was serving under. This was
insanity. But somehow, Daleria felt that it would have come down to this
one way or another, as she had repeated herself enough times for Consellariel
to know perfectly well what she was about to do, and was nimble enough
to set a fellow hare, the colonel in fact, on her tail to make sure that
she did not place a single footpaw out the doors of Salamandastron.
Daleria knew the lady had told her
that she would not be holding back in the measures that she would be taking
to keep her in the mountain, but Daleria never expected Consellariel to
stoop as low as this to prevent her from doing so. Mentally cursing herself
for being to obstinate when it came to badgers, she realized that she had
more contact and closeness with the badger lady than many other hares that
had been in the mountain thrice as long as herself. It finally dawned on
the captain that she was beginning to forget how powerful Consellariel
really could be when she wanted to, angry or no, as this occasion clearly
proved.
Knowing that it would be no use trying to yell her lungs out to the colonel to let her out, Daleria crumpled back down into a small heap, knowing fully well that the matter was out of her hands, and that she could do nothing about it. So it was that the matter that her own family, or more specifically herself, had started was not finished, and that it had to be wrestled out of her hands. Why didn't they just let her go? Giving herself would be twenty times easier for everybeast on the mountain.
Stop it, Daleria, you know that even if you throw yourself out there willingly that there's not going to be one chance from here to Sampetra that the vermin are going to back away. Not now, not ever. Vermin will be vermin, mindless, battle intent, gruesome vermin. Nothing more, only less.
Bringing her head down to her knees, Daleria shivered slightly, unused to the unnatural cold in the cellars. She felt so useless, locked away down there, unable to do anything at all that could possibly help, even in the tiniest ways. So alone. And this matter was all her fault. It all started, so long ago, with so many lives lost, just because of her, and that accursed white vixen of Vaxial's. A silent tear rolled down her cheek, and the realization of everything that happened, and the harsh reality of it all crashed down on her. So long had she tried to live without thinking of what had happened before, but now, she could not escape the past, not when she was trapped in a corner where it could catch up with her and prey on her mind at its will.
She needed to get it out of her head, she could not take it very much longer...
*
The colonel practically stumbled and crashed up the narrow staircase, refusing to think of what he had just done so short a time ago. The bright and deceptively cheery sunlight was almost blinding, even though he had only been in the dank cellars for barely a few seconds, he still had to blink a few times to clear his muddled sight. Steadying his step as much as he could, he made his way to the forge, of which he was meant to report to after he had fulfilled his job, thinking of the consequences he was going to face when the captain was going to be let out from the dark abyss below grounds. Rapieratce's usually emotionless face contorted at the very thought of that. Daleria was probably going to firstly give him the cold shoulder for three seasons, then yell her head off at him for doing that for a further two seasons, attempt to throw him off the mountain when the Lady wasn't looking, then attempt to severe his head off after doing all of that before repeating the process all over again.
The small key in his pocket seemed to grow in weight with every step up that he took, as if willing him to just simply turn around, unlock the cell, and leave his troubled conscience clear. Forcing his eyes shut for a moment, the colonel took another step forward, knowing fully that in whatever direction he now turned, he would end up not stopping until he got either Daleria out, or the Lady Consellariel the key. Either way, he would be facing the wrath of either one of the two. Neither was a pleasant thing to go through, as he had learnt over the past few seasons. Forcing another step in the direction of the forge room, he told himself over and over again that after all this riff-raff was over, he could apologize as profusely to the captain as he pleased and get the matter over with, but at the moment, Consellariel's orders ruled supreme over all other issues, especially personal ones such as his. He hoped with all his heart that the captain would understand what he was doing this for. However, a nagging little voice that was not his came from the deep recesses in his head started going off,
'Of course DALERIA would understand WHY you THREW her into the cellars that have never held a hare for so long that they most probably have never been used. I'm suuuuuuuree that she'll understand just why you simply shoved her into a cell and just left her there without voicing ANY reason whatsoever. Riiiiiiight. You are only talking about the most hot-headed, obstinate, unmoving, stubborn, single tracked, short-tempered captain in the ENTIRE Long Patrol here, 'Atce. You are in for it now...'
As much as he did not want to, Rapieratce knew that his conscience was right. The colonel was going crazy over his mental battle over self conscience and duty. Clenching his jaw in determination, he walked briskly forward, putting his eye on the now visible forge door, refusing to turn around. Half walking, half running, he screeched to a halt outside the massive wooden door, knocking half heartedly onto it.
'Enter, colonel. Yes, I know that it's you.'
The annoying voice chose then to make a reappearance.
There's no turning back now, 'atce. Daleria is going to skin you alive after this.
Forcing the thoughts out of his head, the colonel entered the forge, albeit more stiffly than usual, removed the key, which now seemed like a dead weight to him, and near slammed it down onto the table in front of him. The lady Consellariel nodded, raising an eyebrow.
'So it is done, Rapieratce?'
The colonel's conscience was complaining loudly at that point in time, but in the end, he had to force his head down in a curt nod in front of the ruler of Salamandastron.
There was nothing he could do now. The matter was beyond his reach, highest ranking hare or no.
The Colonel watched as Consellariel slowly picked up the tiny bronze key, fingering it before slipping it into her tunic pocket, as if purposely teasing him. Rapieratce's annoying voice that was his conscience perking up again.
That is it, 'Atce. There goes your last hope of ever getting Daleria out of there until this whole event has blown over. Good for you. I'll see you in the afterlife, shall I?
Strongly and angrily willing the voice to simply disappear in the ways that voices in one's head disappear, the colonel raised an eyebrow at the badger lady, asking as calmly as he could ask right then, thanking his years of training as his voice came out steadily enough, what she was going to do with the captive captain.
'So when are you going to let the blinkin gel out of there, marm?'
Consellariel looked him over again, this time rather shrewdly, as if pondering over something related to him that she could not quite put her paw on. The colonel stiffened slightly, but did not show any other signs of tenseness. Seasons of training had made him cover over that area, and being the colonel was not a task that let emotions get into the way easily. This was one of the times that emotions did decided to place it's annoying head into, therefore resulting in this mayhem that had ensued. Consellariel shook her large head slowly, letting out a grim and humourless chuckle, her eyes still on his unmoving figure.
'You wish that it was not you who had to do that, didn't you, colonel? You wish that it was not you that was placed upon this errand? I see it all to clearly. You have always been a hare acting on righteousness, haven't you, Rapieratce? You follow my orders, but anything under your power, you make sure gets carried out in a way that is morally correct, am I right? I have never, ever seen you do anything that resulted in any single one of your fellow Long Patrollers getting into trouble if they did not deserve it. You have reported a fair share of feisty youngsters, I know, but when it came down to those few certain situations that toyed on the brink of emotion, the very affairs that dealt with the heart, you gave in, did you not? Your heart has always gone out to those less fortunate than yourself, those who were confused, lost, or simply felt strange in this environment. Yet you know and understand that this is a situation that results in sacrifices, do you not? Was is not what you were brought up to believe, straight back from when you were only a patroller?'
Rapieratce nodded stiffly, eyes ahead in strict military fashion, not looking at the badger lady at all. He refused to, knowing that every word coming out of her mouth was true. Which made matters even more difficult for him. He hated the way the badger lady could read him so clearing as that of an open book unlike so many others.
'You know that at times like this when all is at risk that sacrificed have to be made, don't you? Well right now, we cannot let Daleria endanger us all by leaving the mountain. It would give the vermin at our doorstep another reason to attack, another victory to their side. They already have 5 hostages. All ours. We need not make that number six. Daleria is going to stay in there until this WHOLE thing has blown over, colonel. You may not like it, I may not like it, Daleria may not like it for all I care. All I know is that matters that involve anybeast else beyond Daleria, especially a whole mountain, will directly come into my hands, whether any other beast on this mountain likes it or not. I cannot shun from this duty, and you cannot shun your orders from me, do I make that clear?'
Still keeping his eyes ahead, the colonel nodded soundlessly again.
'You that if anything that gets Daleria out of those cellars involves you, consequences will apply, you know that very well. I will not be holding back on that either. You know what would happen, colonel, so do not make it happen. I know you understand this. I know very well. You just do not like giving others no chance in changing. Do not think that you can escape me knowing you after so many seasons under my service, colonel! Daleria will not change, not unless she has been forced to the edge. Even then she would never give up without a fight. She is a fighter, in more ways than one, so do not try to change that. You can attempt it as much as you want, Rapieratce, but I suggest that you refrain from doing so in this kind of situation.'
Rapieratce did not say anything, only nodding silently again, his jaw clenched tight. Consellariel looked at him again, before waving her paw.
'At ease, colonel. If you stand like that any longer, I swear you will start rooting to the ground.'
Taking up a more comfortable standing position, he waited as Consellariel went on with a heavy sigh as she dropped down onto the ledge seat.
'I am not usually like this, you know. Of course you know, you've been in this mountain quite long enough. This is just one of the rare times that I have to push my authority. Too much is at stake here to lose in a careless move or act. It must be stopped, at all costs. The ongoings between Daleria's family and her life is almost too far gone with her. She is on the edge. Who knows what she would do if let loose? You have seen her fight at those times, colonel. You know that she goes into a mad rage unless stopped. She must not be let to be able to hurt herself. This is simply to make sure that she cannot do any silly thing such as throwing herself away again. I care for every single hare on this mountain, and Daleria is no exception. I only hope that she understands... She is hot headed, verily so, almost to the point where she does not listen to advice, not mine, and only rarely yours. But she is not fool, not in the least. She will come to her senses in time... But how long will this take?'
Silently, Rapieratce thought to himself.
I wish we both knew the answers to that blinkin question, marm. If we only did...
Burying her head in her paw, the badger lady of Salamandastron looked in great distress.
'I simply do not want to hurt her...'
'Nobeast wants to willingly hurt another beast that is not in the wrong, marm.'
'I suppose that you are right... But Daleria is so strikingly different from nearly everybeast that I have ever encountered before. They way she thinks, the way she holds herself... She takes life head on, never caring on what may happen to herself. She only cares to get her objective done, and beyond that, never gives thought to anything else, no matter the cost. Everything has gone by so quickly for her, yet she still handles it like she would any other. She simply will not let herself be conquered by anything, even if it kills herself. She always wants to appear so brave, and does so well at it that she hides her true self away, and never lets anybeast get to it. I know not how to approach her, she just seems to block herself off at all possible angles. She hides herself behind some sort of defence, which she had built up so well over the seasons. Yet she crumbles when it comes to some small matter or another. What am I to do to help her? Her emotions get rather tangled, and the wounds she has taken are still raw. I fear the I am doing nothing but rubbing salt into them...'
'You only do the thing that seems jolly well right, marm, and this is no blinkin exception. She will come to terms with it.'
Shaking her head wearily, Consellariel waved her free paw at Rapieratce, allowing him leave.
'I have kept you long enough. The next drilling is in three hours. Remora is taking a break from this one. You take over. But I still want you to keep a eye on Daleria. I do not want her already frail condition to worsen any more than it has to.
Rapieratce nodded silently before saluting and taking his leave. He too was hoping dearly that Daleria would come to terms with the idea that she was only in the cellars for her own good. But he felt that, somehow or another, she never really had ever come to terms with anything that she didn't want to. And this would not make an exception at all. Far from it. This was the root of her very problem. Sighing, he turned to go to his own dormitories to prepare for the training, and maybe a visit to her down below.
*
Daleria had just about enough. She had been in the small, dark, cold cell for almost a full day without anybeast even poking their head down the stairwell. Not even the lady had come to give her a rational explanation. It was madness. She highly doubted that any other beast in the mountain besides Rapieratce and Consellariel knew that she was stuck in here, for reasons even she did not know.
Let me out! Please, just let me out of here...
Daleria wanted so badly to get out. Daleria needed to get out. The longer she was in here, the more time she had to reflect on all that had happened in her life, and the amount of misery and bitterness it had brought to so many others beside her. It was sticking in her head, and she had nothing to occupy her. Sleep was wandering in the faraway lands that nobeast goes to, and it did not show any intention of coming back any time in the near future. It was driving her crazy. Already slight hallucinations had begun to return, and she saw the flash of the blade again, and again, and again. Only now, it was worse. Daleria could just pick up the tiniest faint trace of a scream of pain in the background, no doubt Clandestine's.
Major Clandestine.
Daleria winced at her memory. She needed to get it out of her head, before her head got to her. It drove her beyond pain. Pain would be helpful here, just to take away the pain going on in her heart.
Let me out... Let me out, oh please just let me out! I don't know how long I will last down here. Throw me onto a battlefield and I would survive longer...
Cursing herself for not looking around when she had snuck out to investigate, the captain stood up and kicked the rusty cell door, browned with age and creaky through lack of use. The metal clanged and shuddered, but the framework remained true to Salamandastron standards and held firm, not even budging an inch from it's fixture on the wall. It was too dark to find any other alternative way out, so Daleria could only continue trying to kick the door open, even if her actions were in vain. At least they kept her thoughts away from Clandestine, away from Rapieratce's words, away from Seppak, away from what had happened, and away from what could happen.
*
Muscles aching, Rapieratce sheathed his rapier as he strode silently out of the training hall, absent mindedly making his way up to the third floor where his dormitory was. He had just sent out the sentries for duty, given the plans for the next day, and completed all his many basic duties and orders. The sun had already set, dipping down below the horizon, and the last rays were now vanishing, throwing everything into a very dim atmosphere. The hares on lighting duty had already put up lamps all over the mountain, keeping the place well illuminated.
He had barely even managed to concentrate on training that day, as his mind was so obviously elsewhere at the time. He had simply practised with his rapier, his paws doing the work rather than his mind, having been so well versed in his actions that he did it out of pure reflex rather than working. He was reflecting on what Consellariel had said, and what his conscience was telling him. He was also pondering on how long Daleria would possibly survive locked down in the damp and dark cellars. She needed only some time to reflect, but the things she would be reflecting on would no be at all pleasant. Her emotions might cause her to break down and send her into a fit again, and goodness knows what she might do if she did. She was in as much danger below as above, and the colonel was beginning to have second thoughts about whether listening to the lady's orders that time was such a good idea. Daleria was most definitely what he was most concerned about. His mind, however, was forcing his conscience to back off, telling him that he had to listen to Consellariel.
Every was so confusing, and so immersed in his own thoughts was Rapieratce, that he did not even notice that his footpaws had brought him to his dormitory door at all. Setting his rapier, sheathe and all down on his table, completely oblivious to the paperwork he was meant to do, he went over to his bed and lay down deep in thought.
The rest of my day is free now, lest it be that Consellariel needs me again, which is doubtful. I had better make a reappearance down below, then. Mossflower knows what Daleria might have done to herself down there. She needs food too. The last thing one wants is a hare to starve down there due to neglect of food.
Shaking his head out of grimness, the colonel got up again and went down to the kitchens, grabbing a plateful of scones and a flask of water, then made his way downstairs. An awful racket met his ears.
'Clang! Creak! Crack!'
Not breaking his stride, the colonel lit a lamp that he had brought down with him, setting it onto a hook on the wall, and calmly stating to Daleria, who had chosen to ignore his presence by bashing the door twice as hard as before, venting her stress and anger on the unmoving steel cage.
'Kindly do not try to break down the blinkin door, m'gel. It will not be getting you bally anywhere.'
Giving the stubborn door one final, hard kick, Daleria stalked to the edge of the bunk in her cell, gazing in anger at the colonel before her. Her voice rose dangerously as she spoke.
'Get me out of here, colonel! Why on Mossflower am I here in the first place? Let me out!'
Rapieratce shook his head as he slipped the foodstuff under the bars of the cell, speaking softly but firmly.
'You know I cannot do that, m'gel. It is beyond my power now. Only the Lady can say when you'll bally well get out of here. As for the blinkin reasons, it is simply for your own bally safe being, and you jolly well know it.'
'What do you mean my safe being? There is a vermin army coming in no less than two more days up there with five hostages in their hands! And who is the cause of it? I am! So let me out and I can go out there and hopefully solve this problem.'
'You know I cannot, wot. And you know that you jolly well also cannot get the blinkin key. I will talk to the bally Lady, but I cannot promise anything. Take the food, you'll bally well starve if you don't.'
'I cannot eat, not at this time.'
'You've always been the blinkin stubborn one, haven't you, captain?'
'Yes, sah.'
'Well, I cannot jolly well force the food down your throat, so if you do not want it, leave it.'
With those words, the colonel simply turned and left, leaving Daleria in the relative dimness of the lamp light, which would go out soon enough. Daleria thought to herself,
Why on earth did he just walk out like that? Something must be going on here...
What on Mossflower was that rude colonel thinking, just walking out like that?! Does he even realized that he simply *threw* me into this dank cellar and left without a single word, and now he stalks away again as if I am a pest? Who does he think he is? He is nothing more than a cold hearted pest, that is what he is! The confounded hare deserves to be kicked off the mountain two hundred times into the sea to be fed to the hungry sharks right about now!
Thinking incredibly furious thoughts, Daleria slammed her footpaw into the gate again, resulting in a clang that must have been loud enough to be heard on the third floor. Muttering angrily under her breath, the stared at the food for a second before taking it up and throwing it against the wall. She was not hungry. Simply and frankly irritated and angry at the colonel. If Daleria could get her hands on him now, Rapieratce would have been hanging on the top of the mountain being pushed off. Kicking the metal grate again, Daleria cursed under her breath again and searched for something to vent her anger on. There was nothing. Kicking in frustration and through pent up anger at the moss growing beneath her feet, something small, and untarnished silver, clinked out from the damp growth on the floor. Bending down curiously, Daleria examined the object carefully. After identifying it, she nearly dropped it back down again in shock. Steadying her paw instead, she scrambled madly up in a rushed flurry of moss, as if expecting the light from the lamp to go out at any time and leave her in the dark.
It cannot be! It is not possible, not by the stars, it cannot be!
*
The colonel walked out of the cells, heavy hearted.
Why can't Daleria just see that I am not doing this to her out of spite? I only wish for her to be safe, nothing more.
He headed towards the forge to report to Consellariel on the positions of the vermin army as through the latest sentry updates, as well as ask for permission to inform Daleria's patrol about her current... Dilemma.
Daleria is most obviously not happy with you right now, 'Atce. First you threw her in, now you simply walk in, then go out again barely exchanging more than a hello. What is wrong with you? She is probably kicking the door again, no doubts.
As if on cue, a loud clang came from the cellars. Rapieratce winced as if in pain. Quickening his pace so as to get as far away from the cell where Daleria was, he thought.
There was nothing I could jolly well do! If I did talk bally long enough to her, no doubt my defence would slip, wot, and I would end up doing some blinkin impossible things! The captain has a blinkin way with words, and I have fallen for it too many bally times before! I cannot, I must not let the lady down again, lest I want to get myself blinkin well killed.
You have already got yourself a meeting with death, 'Atce. You threw her into the cellars.
So?! I was only doing my bally job! There was nothing I could do!
There is something you could do. You know where the lady keeps the keys...
NO! Absoballylutely NO! If I did that, not only would the blinkin captain kill me, the lady would be jolly well after my blood as well! By Mossflower, the thought is simply bally preposterous, by Mossflower!
You know the lady would never find out...
Yes she would! Why am I even blinkin talking to myself?!
Because you are not yourself now, 'Atce.
Yes I am! I am just following orders! ORDERS! If I did not, then I would not blinkin well be here!
Orders are meant to be overruled.
Orders are meant to be followed. Nothing more.
Uprightness and orderliness cannot last forever. You need a mess to clean up, just as you need to see black before you know white.
I cannot do anything!
Yes you can...
I am not in the blinkin position to do so! If I were, I would have already bally well done so! I cannot help anything, though I bally wish I could!
Sighing in outright confusion and frustration, Rapieratce was nearly to the forge when a loud commotion behind him caused him to turn around abruptly and run towards the scene.
*
A key? THE key? Surely not?
Tentatively, the surprised captain approached the door lock, inserting the key and twisting. With a near inaudible click, the door swung open at her feet, surprising her to no end.
What on Mossflower?
Nearly not believing what had just happened, Daleria stepped out in surprise and blinked. The reality finally settled in, and she dashed out of the cell, tripping and stumbling, up the staircase, where she bumped into none other than Captain Joseph, who knew that she was supposed to be in the cellars. It resulted in a large squabble between the two, and raised voices attracted the attention of quite a few hares that were hanging around after training.
'You should not be up here, captain!'
'I should not be down there either, captain!'
'You are a danger to yourself and to everyone else up here, Daleria!'
'I am a danger to myself and to everyone else down there, Joseph!'
'You cannot be serious! You are a fool to think that! How did you even get out?'
'You cannot be serious! You are obstinate to think that! Why did I even get thrown in?'
'The Lady Consellariel commanded it!'
'I am not listening to the lady right about now!'
'You have no right not to!'
'You have no right to tell me not to!'
'I cannot let you out of there, and you know it, captain!'
'I will not let you get me in there, and you know it, captain!'
Joseph lunged at Daleria, who nimbly side-stepped and sent a kick to his head, flooring him. The other captain got up, trying to trip her, but Daleria was quicker, and jumped up before his footpaw could get to her. But somehow Joseph's footpaw managed to hook onto her, sending her crashing down as well.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the colonel leapt in, prying Daleria off her fellow captain, while Longrunn, who was also nearby, grabbed at Joseph, who was nearly snarling in anger. The colonel signalled to the sergeant to take the captain elsewhere, while he fought with the furiously struggling captain, who was very near yelling in rage at him.
'Let me go, Rapieratce! Right this instant!'
'I cannot!'
'Yes you can! Drop me at one!'
'You know that I bally well cannot!'
The captain decided that brute force was going to be the only way out, and managed to get the key to graze a long scratch across his shoulder, the tiny piece of metal dealing out surprising damage. The colonel reacted by kicking her footpaws away from beneath him, sending her crashing onto the floor. Lunging down, his head only got to make contact with her flying fist, while his footpaw sent her plummeting across the corridor into the wall. Taking advantage of her on the floor, he made a mad grab forward again, but Daleria rolled away, sending her footpaw connecting with his chest instead. That was her one mistake. The colonel managed to grab her footpaw before it made contact, swinging her across the floor with the momentum, while catching her paws with his other free hand, wrestling the key away from her and twisting them behind her back in brute force.
'LET ME GO!'
Not listening, he struck her across the face as she kneed him, earning a hurt glance. It was as good as Daleria stabbing him in the heart with his own rapier. Trying his very best to ignore her, he dragged her down again and flung her back in, slamming shut the grate and taking the spare key with him.
What on earth am I even doing? Slapping the captain?
His annoying conscience put in sarcastically.
Your job.
Limping slightly, the colonel looked back at Daleria with pleading and to his own surprise, slightly desperate eyes, who also was home to several injuries herself.
'Dale... Please, try to understand. I don't want to do this to you, honestly! Please, don't do this to me. You know that I did not want to do that, m'gel. I never wanted to do any flippin thing to you in the first place. Just try to understand, m'gel...'
Daleria glared at Rapieratce with fiery hateful eyes, and near spat back at him.
'I have nothing more to understand than you are an uncaring fool who doesn't know a single thing at all. Be gone, colonel. You disgust me.'
With those words, Daleria stalked into the furthest corners of her cell, as far in the shadows as possible, leaving the colonel no choice but to back out of the cellars in retreat.
Sighing heavily, Rapieratce limped slowly over to the infirmary, wishing dearly that that had never, ever happened. Daleria had hurt him considerably with her words. Entering, Taremin looked him over.
'Not good, sah. A broken jaw, two split lips, long and rather deep gash across the shoulders. There's also two bruised ribs and a bruise on the back of your head. Daleria bashed you up rather well today, I see.'
Groaning slightly at the ache in his head, he looked over at the other captain, who had calmed down considerably after Longrunn had taken him away.
'What about you, Joseph?'
Looking at the colonel, the battered captain answered.
'Two bruises on the head, a sprained wrist and a strained muscle in the ankle.'
Taremin glared at the two injured hares in her infirmary.
'Two hares getting bashed up by one captain? I can barely believe it. You two are off training for the next day or so. The corridor floor is hard rock. I am going down to the cells to see to Daleria.'
Moving out of the infirmary, Taremin went down to Daleria, who was still sitting away from the door, fuming silently in anger. Unlocking the cell door, entering then locking it again, Taremin struck flint and lighted up an oil lamp, illuminated the room. Daleria looked up, but made no other move aside from that. Taremin sighed again after looking the silent hare captain over. Shaking her head, Taremin knelt down beside her.
'Will you ever stop getting injured, Dale?'
'No.'
'Obstinate as ever, I see. Looks like the four times you've bashed your head against the floor did not throw any more sense into you. Three head bruises, an open lip and a twisted wrist. You did it again, Dale.'
'Thank you.'
'How scathing. Let me bandage the wrist.'
After wrapping the twisted wrist of Daleria's in a tight wrap, Taremin stood up with the lamp and took her leave. But before she walked up the stair well, she turned and told the captain, hoping that her piece of advise would counsel her well.
'You know that the colonel could not do anything. He was only following commands. Rapieratce would never do anything to willingly hurt a fellow hare. You know it Dale. You cannot blame him. He is quite fond of you, you know. He is battling a loosing battle against himself right now. Spare him the pain. You cannot blame him.'
*
Confounded conscience, go away!
No way.
Why not?
Because you still have not sorted your mind out properly. Go talk to the lady. Maybe it would it help you slightly.
There is nothing I can do.
There is. There always it something you can do. You only have to find out what.
I cannot.
You have one more day, 'Atce. One. Single. Day.
Rapieratce finally made up his mind. Getting up, he slipped the key into his tunic pocket. Nobeast was going to find out about that one. Instead, he moved to the forge to talk to the Lady Consellariel, hoping that he could sway her into letting Daleria out.
*
'What are you talking about, colonel?'
'I am only saying, marm, that Daleria needs to get out of the cells.'
'You know that if I let her out, chaos will ensue. Look at yourself.'
'I use myself only as an example. The gel is going insane down there.
'She is not.'
'The blinkin hare is crazy enough to maul both me and Captain Joseph after being flung to the floor numerous times. She is going crazy.'
'She must not be let out.'
'If we do not, she will get out herself.'
'Let her try, colonel, she will never succeed.'
'She is still a living hare, marm. She needs to stay sane.'
'Your request is crazy, colonel. I forbid it.'
'Daleria will not survive down there...'
'She will. You shall see.'
*
That infuriating hare!
Twice I would kill him, thrice I would maul him, four times I could chuck him off this mountain. He thinks that just because he is a colonel that he can do anything he wants to! I should have hit him harder. He must be insane, shoving me back in here again. I am going insane! I must get my mind off all of this.
I must.
I must.
I must.
I must.
One day... Only one more day. One confounded, short day before Seppak's forces arrive, and I am stuck in here. The world is perfect.
*
They had woken up at the brink of dawn, heads throbbing, and paws tightly bound by stiff rope behind their backs. The two gallopers, Cosenet and Willow, were in a very, very bad position. And they were not alone. Beside them were three others from a patrol, Silecy, Tehora and Mealiney, also captured by the vermin foxes not long ago. Willow shook her head, hoping to clear it of her dizziness, and looked around. They were smack in the middle of a vermin camp, and foxes were everywhere, silently going past, doing duties and such. They were most definitely not in a very good position to do anything at all. There were various sentries around, and the camp seemed to be very well run, not like the vermin armies that were usually scattered and disorganized. This was so surprisingly different, it was near scary.
Willow was brought back to reality by a slight cough. Tehora was looking at her, almost idly.
'I see one of the two have awoken. We are in a fix, aren't we, wot?'
Nodding, Willow looked around again,
'How long have you three been here?'
'Not more than a day before you. We are stuck.'
A groan from beside Willow signalled that Cosenet had woken as well.
'What's going on?'
Before any of the other four could answer, a midnight black fox with a sword and a scabbard strode into their little circle of hares, interrupting their little talk. Not even talking, he walked up to the unsuspecting galloper that had first reawaken, and kicked her hard in the ribs, sending her sprawling backwards onto the sands. There was an audible crack as his footpaw made contact against her, and a sharp scream echoed as three of Willow's ribs broke under the hard kick. The black fox snarled,
'Silence is something that will save your life. But if you wish to die here and now, I welcome your request.'
Willow whimpered, crawling pitifully and painfully back to her previous position, her lip bleeding. Every move sent a searing pain down her back bone, and the pain threatened to overwhelm her. The black fox turned to the rest and spoke again.
'You know the one called Daleria, do you not?'
Cosenet braved an answer, boldly and obviously rebelling.
'So what if we do?'
Snarling, the fox turned.
'If you do, I promise you that you will tell me of her, even if I have to force it out of your bare throat, rabbit.'
A glint in his eyes told all that what ever he had said, he meant. Still, Cosenet shut her mouth and talked not. The fox narrowed his eyes, and slowly withdrew his blade, grabbing Cosenet by the scruff of her neck and lifting her clear off the ground.
'You will tell me, you insolent hare, unless you wish for pain beyond your wildest nightmares.'
Cosenet still refused to talk, glaring at the black furred villain in front of her in silent spite and disgust.
'Fine then.'
A bright flash shined across her shoulder, and a slight scream sounded out from the very depth of her throat. The fox dropped her carelessly onto the sand, a long, deep gash leaking blood trailing from the top of her arm all the way down to her wrist was apparently going to drain her near to death, but not killing her. However, the blade had cut past a vital nerve in Cosenet's arm, which meant only one thing. Cosenet would painfully loose use her left arm completely, if she even survived the ordeal. Satisfied that he had punished her well enough, the black fox stalked away.
So they had met Seppak the Cruel,
black fox of the underworld, villainous beyond thought and cruel with intention.
First blood had spilt.