December Desolation

Fevered Dreams

Mist rose in wisps from the frozen ground around him, steaming blood melting into the snow around him as he lay helplessly on his side next to the corpses of his brothers. He shivered helplessly as the cold seeped into his very bones, wet clothes sticking uncomfortably against his skin tacky with moisture and blood that was a mixture of his own and those around him. Slowly pushing himself to his knees he began crawling tiredly towards the shelter of the tree line, wary of the fact that the Savoyards could return at any moment to finish off the job. Before he had reached the comfort of the shaded cover a pair of large leather boots appeared in his path, tilting his head back he followed the brown breeches all the way upwards until his eyes rested upon his brother Jacques' face. He smiled weakly at the familiar face, until his eyes happened upon the blood dribbling thickly from the side of his mouth and the rapier protruding sickeningly from his chest.

"Jacques?" Aramis stuttered tearily, mind conjuring happy memories of sunny days spent at the Garrison, Jacques and Etienne laughing uproariously together as they entertained themselves with some card game or another. It pained him like a gunshot wound to the chest that he would never return to his brother, guilt like a physical kick to the gut as the rasping voice of his fellow soldier penetrated his fuzzy mind.

"Why didn't you save me Aramis?" Jacques accused in a gravelly voice, taking a shuffling step forwards "you could have saved me, think about poor Etienne he has no one else"

"I tried, please" Aramis cried scrambling backwards away from the accusatory ghost of his brother, voice shaking and eyes blurring with tears "I tried to save you"

He sobbed in distress as he continued to back away from his brother, a litany of apologies spilling from his lips until with a startled cry he collided with something solid. With dread he slowly turned to look, shuddering as his eyes landed on another pair of leather boots, these achingly more familiar than the last.

"Athos" Aramis whispered in terror, face paling dramatically as he tentatively met the eyes of his brother "you shouldn't be here!"

"But where else would I be Aramis?" Athos replied darkly "you do get everyone killed" he gestured with one glove clad hand over the battlefield, finger pointing out two familiar shapes nestled in the icy embrace of the snowy floor.

"NO" Aramis screamed, echoes bouncing off the desolate surroundings as he ran, tripping and stumbling over the frozen ground in his desperation, falling to his knees beside the bodies of Porthos and D'artagnan, their sightless eyes staring unseeing at the grey and stormy sky.

His sobbing increased in intensity as he held the cold hand of his brother and best friend, frantic prayers flowing from frozen lips as he began to rock back and forth for comfort.

"Do you see now Aramis?" Athos asked, "do you now understand that you are the reason they are dead and someday soon you'll kill them too. We're better off without you, you should have been the one to die here" With those final cutting words Athos spun neatly on his heels and strode off into the growing dark until not even a faint silhouette could be seen in the darkness.

"No please" Aramis whispered in anguish, hand outstretched desperately towards his disappearing brother "don't leave me here alone"

Silence fell once again on the battlefield as Aramis sat slumped beside the bodies of his only family, eyes staring unseeing into the middle distance as tears streamed silently down his cheeks.

Dr Lemay had been and gone a couple of hours previously, leaving behind some strange smelling salve and instructions to apply it to the bullet wound every three hours to stave off infection. He had assured the gathered men that the fever should break within the next day or two and thanks to the expert actions of Treville the bullet wound should cause no problems.

The release of tension in the room was palpable and made Athos almost dizzy with relief at the knowledge that their brother would pull through this latest misadventure. Not twenty seconds after he had allowed himself to relax and believe that everything would be alright, Aramis began tossing his head weakly and pleading with an invisible foe, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks as he sobbed in distress.

"Please Athos, don't leave me" he suddenly cried arm shooting out from underneath the covers and reaching out desperately.

Without stopping to think, Athos had gripped his brothers hand tightly, pressing it to his cheek in an attempt to reassure both himself and his brother that they were both there and alive. "I'm here Mis, i'm so sorry but i'm here" he whispered, tears trailing down his own cheeks in response to his brothers anguish.

"I know it's my fault that they're dead and that i'm going to kill you one day but I can't live without you so please, please don't leave me alone here" the fevered man begged, unaware of the pain etched on his brothers faces as they could only listen to the fevered ramblings and attempt to comfort the injured man.