Disclaimer: Nothing except the other characters are mine, and Lady Consellariel belongs to htenywg. All the other stuff is Brian Jacque's.
A/N: Sorry for not uploading! But I've been preoccupied in the LotR section *guilty grin*. This chapter's a bit dark, but nothing serious.
*
Daleria's dreamless slumber did not last long, however. The black background 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 fathom less 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 agonizing silence, and though she tried to scream, nothing came out, just silence. Daleria tried to wake up, but the dream was like a prison, entrapping her, refusing to let go...
*
That's strange... Daleria has never been late for her drills before...
Rapieratce was severely worried. He thought he had already put the matter behind him, but it seemed as if Daleria wasn't out of her black hole just as yet. Shooting a troubled look at Consellariel, who had came down to over look the tight training that day, he walked over to the badger, who was still fuming.
'Marm?'
Consellariel looked sharply at the colonel and very nearly snapped back 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 into the lady's ears, so as not to attract too much attention.
'Lady Consellariel, Daleria, she's not down, 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 evident in her voice.
'What? Were is the captain 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 from the exercise, 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. 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. 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 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, yanking out shards of glass wordlessly. Job done, she stood up, her face grim. Rapieratce, however, was by her side, looking very worried. Lady Consellariel's voice was concerned, worried, grim and anxious all at the same time.
'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.
'Marm! 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... Take her to the infirmary, get Taremin to give her a sleeping potion. 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. Daleria gripped her paw tightly, refusing 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...
