Step out the front door like a ghost
into the fog
where no one notices the contrast of
white on white.
In between the moon and you
the angels get a better view
of the crumbling difference
between wrong and right.
Round Here
Counting Crows

When night fell and the guards once again appeared at his door, Daniel was dressed in the robe they had left for him, the wreath was sitting atop his short cut brown hair and he held the staff tightly in his hand. Even though he had spent the last six hours studying the text in the small book, Daniel was unsure if he was ready. Unsure if he would succeed or fail.

One large bon fire burned high into the descending night sky as the procession made its way toward the middle of the courtyard. The platform which had been there the day before was no longer, in its place stood a crude stone altar. Wooden risers much like those used for choirs, being long and having three separate levels to it, ran in an arc behind the altar. Several men, all donned in long robes like the one Daniel wore, stood on the platform and watched the proceedings going on below them. The town had turned out once again; all were sitting cross-legged on the grass in front of the altar, the men in front and the women in the rear. Slowly Daniel walked in the middle of the procession toward where Kanan stood tall and strong, showing no signs of his previous injury at all. Daniel wished that he were here at the start of this ritual but clearly, he had been called upon only when it was actually time for him to make his appearance. He was not to be a spectator at this event. As they made their way from the great doors toward the ritual area, Daniel looked around to see SG1 and the last member of SG3 standing in front of the men of the town but still in the gathering below. When the townspeople turned around to watch him walk down what could only be described as an aisle, Jack and the team turned as well. Jack raised a hand in the air in Daniel’s direction, Sam smiled at him and Teal’c nodded. In their own quiet way, Daniel supposed they were lending their version of moral support to him at this time.

Standing before in front of the altar the procession stopped and Daniel stood still.

“Why do you come here this night?” Intoned a man who not only looked the part of High Priest in his long flowing robes and dark salt-n-pepper hair, but actually was. The High Priest’s name was Marteen; he was a long time friend and confidante of Naganti Kanan. It had been Marteen who had bound Calla to Kanan so many years ago.

A group of women who were dressed in similar cream-colored robes brought Calla, clad in a dark green robe, forth from the side of the altar. They walked her up to him and in turn, he took her in arms and held her forward for Marteen’s inspection. “To have this woman removed from my side.” Kanan answered.

Can you hear me? Daniel asked inside his mind. There was no answer. Calla only stood there looking tired and dazed. Her green eyes were wide as they stared off into space but there was no sparkle to them. Calla? There was nothing, she did not even blink.

“Do you forget your vow?” The High Priest asked.

“No. There is one who will take her.” Kanan laid his Cha'Dech on the cold stone altar.

“Hei,” the High Priest agreed and picked up an object that had been resting by the top of her head. It was small and shiny, there was some type of crystal in the middle of it. Placing it first on the left and then on the right side of her neck it began to emit a low sucking sound as it glowed first white and then red in the priests’ hand. As he worked, Daniel was ushered up to a place behind the altar. Two of the lesser priests stepped from their place on the risers; Daniel’s eye followed them as they crossed to a smaller altar decorated with less than colorful flowers and candles. On it were three large syringes.

The High Priest put down the tool he had been working with and took a large knife from the stone altar. Holding it out in front of himself, he cut the shape of a pentacle into the air above her. Completing the circle around the star hanging in the air, the priest brought his arms down harshly. At first, Daniel thought he meant to stab Calla with it; he moved as if to stop him but stopped short as the knife fell from the man’s hand and implanted itself, hilt up, into the ground at his feet. Powdered incense was lit by one of the priests, he held the censer over Calla, allowing it to swing back and forth on the chain as he made his way from her head to her toes, as he worked he chanted; “Eh-Ei-He. Agla.” The scent of rosemary and sage came to him as he concentrated on the sounds the priest was chanting. Again and again, the man chanted as the smoke rose all around him, until Daniel felt he would lose his mind if he had to hear the words repeated one more time. “Eh-Ei-He. Agla.” Repeatedly until his tone reached a fevered pitch.

“Dark is the night as we gather here. Now is the time of death and of rebirth.” He intoned in a commanding voice as he stood over her frail body.

“Every beginning has an end, every end a beginning.” Another priest returned.

“Ebb and flow, this part of her journey has ended.” Came the echo of yet another robed man.

“Behold now, the death of one.” Marteen said solemnly as Kanan put an arm under Callas’ neck and brought her to a half upright position while one of the women came forward with a golden chalice. Kanan raised the cup was held to her lips and forced her to drink from it. The contents of the cup emptied down her gullet, Calla was laid back upon the cold unforgiving stone of the altar. “Who will breathe new life into this body?”

Hearing his cue, Daniel rose to his feet. “I am Daniel. I will take her from him.”

Trying to remember the text he read he stood silent by her side and watched as her eyelids fluttered closed, for one long moment, Daniel thought they really had killed her. She lay there still and silent, all color drained from her body. Her chest rose slow and steady.

The priest with the censer stepped to him and encased him in the sweet smelling smoke. It rose from the soles of his feet up to the top of his head as the priest worked and chanted softly, words that Daniel did not understand. When the priest finished smudging him, Daniel took the brass censer from his hand and turned to look down at her. Fearful that whatever had been in the cup would end her life if he did not stand up for her now, he hurried with the words he was to say.

Removing the simple robe he wore, Daniel now stood naked before the crowd and the members of his team below him. The only saving grace he had the moment was the fact that the altar was roughly the same height as his hips and it hid his manhood from view of the spectators. The priests raised Daniel left hand over his head and jabbed the needles under his armpits. The pain was almost intolerable but Daniel stood strong as they removed fluid from his body, it was little by comparison to the one that came next. The second syringe pierced his skin just above his right kidney. Daniel drew in a deep breath as the sharp object penetrated deep inside of him, he watched as the priest filled the syringe half way, drew it from his body a small distance and then filled it the rest of the way.

When they finished with their work, the priests placed the shining sharp instruments back upon the smaller altar and a woman stepped forward. This was a surprise to Daniel; it was obvious the women of this planet were subservient to the men here. Why was this one allowed to have an active part in the ritual, especially when Calla herself so obviously was not? His eyes followed her as she took the last and largest syringe from the altar and crossed to where he stood. The priest who had censed Calla earlier and another came forward to grasp Daniel by both hands. Holding him in a very firm grasp, they brought him down to his knees in front of her and pinned the palms of his hands to the stone altar floor. Soon the sting of the needle plunged into the back of his neck at the base of his spinal column. Daniel’s first instinct was to pull up and away from the sharp sting intruding into the nape of his neck, the hands of the priest clamped down roughly and held him in place. The needle pierced his skin, she turned it in an upward slant, and he could feel her actually turning it around inside of him, searching for the place where the last (well almost the last) of his bodily fluids were to be drawn from him. Strong muscles in his neck tightened, as did the hold of the holy men, now each not only held his hands in place, but also kept a firm grip on the top of his head and the nape of his neck just below the needles’ entry point. The woman probed and searched with the sharp object until finally, there was a popping sound inside his head and a small extra push of pressure felt as the needle punctured something within him and the fluid from inside extracted. It seemed to take forever before she finally withdrew the sharp object and the priests released him from their grasp. Shaking off the sting of the latest intrusion, Daniel rose once again to stand by Callas’ side.

“What token do you bring with which to bind her?” Marteen, the High Priest asked of him.

Before he could even begin, Daniel felt there was the possibility that he had already failed. He had nothing to give to her. His mind working hard on the question he looked down at her to see she wore nothing except a necklace made of three glimmering jewels which hung on a gold chain. Without thinking about it, his hand reached out and snatched the chain from her neck; he flung it at Kanan who caught it mid-air. Daniel took the silver chain, the one with the symbol of Ares upon it, and clasped it on her neck. “I give her the symbol of my birth.”

“Hei.” Marteen agreed and then took two steps away from the altar, with an open hand he motioned for Daniel to begin.

Standing facing the east and the crowd gathered below him, Daniel began to speak. “I am Daniel. I am your Lord.” The pendulum swung back and forth over her inside of his hand. “I am your life. Always will I provide the fire you sleep by. Mine is the only hand.” As he replaced the censing vessel back upon the altar, he meant to continue with the words he had read, however Daniel found that he could not say everything they wanted him to and certainly not in the way they wanted. With her life in his hands, Daniel decided to take the woman‘s advice and speak with his heart. “I will never raise it against you.” He whispered close to her head. The swift movement of Kanan rising to his feet did not escape Daniel’s attention, he rose just as swiftly to meet the challenge. “Mine,” he said to the tall dark man, “My Cha'Dech. “ Daniel hit his fingertips against his chest. “My rules. My way.”

Kanan sneered but returned to his seat. She was the white man’s problem now; let him deal with her in a way that he saw fit. He would learn, in time, the white man would learn.

The High Priest took the first syringe from the small altar and laid it in Daniel’s palm. The priest placed his hand on the side of her head and turned it to the left, revealing a small tattoo upon her neck, the mark of Ares. He nodded slightly at Daniel who placed the tip of the syringe in the middle of Ares’ mark, he pierced her skin and injected the fluid into her. With the syringe emptied into her, he reached out a tentative hand and caressed the mark that Kanan had left upon her cheek. “I will never raise it to you, I swear.”

Handing the silver syringe back to the priest, Daniel walked one quarter the way around the altar to stand at her head and face north. “I am Daniel. I am your Master.” He reached for a crystal bowl that lay upon the altar; it was filled with what he knew to be salt water. Dipping his fingertips into the liquid, he sprinkled it upon her “I am your heart. Always will I provide the food you eat. Mine is the only voice.” He brought her hands together over her flat stomach and laid the flower within them. “Keep in mind I’m not always right.” He smiled down at her as she lay on the altar below him. The priest turned her head to the right revealing the mark of Aphrodite. Once again, he pierced her skin with the sharp needle and injected his own fluids into her body. Bending close down near her head, “I’m not always right, you don’t have to do what I say.”

Daniel made his way one last quarter around the altar to face west and stand with his back to the crowd. No saving grace this time, his tight ass was hanging lose in the night breeze for all to see. Before he spoke he laid the staff in her hands. So far he had been able to interject his own will into the ritual and no one had seemed to care. Daniel ventured to take that one step further and renounce his claim to her soul. “I claim this woman, her heart, her body and her mind.” He ran a hand across her forehead. “I leave her spirit untouched. Her soul belongs to her.”

“Bind her.” Marteen hissed in a low tone.

“I won’t take her soul.”

“Bind her!” He repeated with a raised fist.

“Nin kassa!” Kanan hissed from his place on the side of the altar and spat upon the ground at his feet. “You are weak.”

“Co. Co kassa!” Daniel hissed back. “I am strong.”

“Then bind her.” Kanan dared. “You cannot leave her like that.”

“You speak English pretty damn well, Naganti Kanan.” Daniel remarked. “Too well.” This was true, so why had he used her to communicate with them? Why, if she was not to speak to any man other than her Master, had he allowed her to talk to them? Why had he not kept her locked up as seemed to be his custom where she was concerned, why allow her to see the white men at all? Had he tired of her? Did he want to let her go? Was this a way for Kanan to do just that and still save face for both he and Calla?

“Hei, I remember the words.” Kanan agreed. “You cannot do this to her. It is,” he paused for a moment as he reached for the right word, “cruel.”

“Bind her.” The High Priest demanded.

Not wanting to but knowing that he had to; Daniel took the staff from her and repeated the words he had read in the book earlier that day. “I am Daniel. I am your Sovereign. My will is your will. Always will I provide shelter for you. Your spirit belongs to me,” Daniel touched the center of her chest with the tip of the staff, Calla’s body jumped a little as she lay on the altar, an aura of white light emitted itself from her deep within her skin and was sucked into the staff Daniel held making it glow from tip to tip. The light settled deep into the wood, Calla's body lay still once more. Daniel’s eyes met first with the High Priest next to him and then with Kanan’s both men appeared to be more pleased than they had been a moment ago. Taking the crown of bay leaves from his head and placing it upon her own, Daniel uttered the words he did not want to; “your will belongs to me.” This time he was not handed a needle with which to inject her. Daniel supposed that ones will or soul was not something that could be contained in bodily fluids or a syringe. Only his words and the staff bound her essence to him. They were enough.

Daniel made the last turn to face south to stand at her feet. This was where things were going to get sticky. Repeatedly he had read the next passage attempting to make any sense out of it at all and could not. He looked at the third needle that now lay in the hands of the woman who had plunged it into his neck, she was holding it out to him. “I am Daniel. I am Lord. I am Master. The Lady Wakes only unto me.” His voice grew stronger with each word that he spoke. “I am Sa’Tan. I give you all that you need. Mine is the only hand. Mine is the only voice. I will defend you with my life. I am Daniel, I am Sa’Tan.” Stronger this time.

Between her breasts, under the flower he had laid in her hand was the mark of Zeus.

God forgive me.

Daniel brought the needle down, harsh and swift to penetrate the breastplate deep inside of her “I am Daniel and mine is the only hand.” He repeated softly. “Mine is the only voice.” Daniel put his arms beneath her and brought her lifeless body to a half sitting position. He took the silver chalice from the altar and raised it to her lips. “Drink, “he urged in a soft tone, “c’mon, Calla, drink. “ The warm red liquid spilled down her chin, Daniel tilted her head back so that it would slide down her throat. Working on its own, up and down, her slender gullet took the liquid into her body. Callas’ eyes fluttered open but still there was no sparkle. When it was empty, he replaced the cup upon the altar and laid her down once more. “I am Daniel, I am Sa’Tan, the Lady Wakes Only Unto Me. I claim this woman for my own.”

The sides of the dark woman’s mouth turned upward in a very slight smile. It was not over yet; there was one small thing left to do.

“Claim her, Daniel. Make your words true.” Marteen invited.

In return to his plea there was nothing from her. Callas’ eyes stared openly into space, Daniel could not even be sure that she was even seeing him as he lingered over her. Staring down into her eyes, Daniel thought that like her body, her mind, indeed her entire life was now open for him to pursue. All that she was, was dancing right in front of him. Images came flooding in to his head in rapid procession and they did not stop long enough for him to make sense of them. They were nothing more than snapshots really, the kind you might glue to the pages of a book, and someone was flipping the pages swiftly past his eyes. If they would just slow down he was sure he could make some sense out of it. They did not slow. The images of several people repeated as the pages flipped quickly by, a small girl, a tall dark haired man, a woman with long honey- blonde hair. From her there seemed to be an aura of warmth about these images, if he had to guess he would say that she liked looking at them. The girl grew before his eyes, with each swiftly passing page she grew from a small girl into a teenager. The feeling of warmth dissipated, the air in his lungs turned cold. The pages went even faster. Nothing more than a blur now, nothing that he could see at all, except the intermingled colors as they passed by.

Something very odd happened as he hung over her limp body, looking over the pages of her life and hesitant to take the next step. There was music in his head.

It’s a marvelous night for a moon dance. The words echoed softly inside his mind.

Questioning her only with his eyes, Daniel returned: With the stars up above in your eyes.

A....fan-tab-ulous night to make romance. The reply was distant but it was there. It was her.

Softly, he sang the words inside his own mind. ‘Neath the cover of October skies. Indeed the night was all of those things. The moon above was a full auburn globe hanging high in the dark night sky. Stars of every dimension glimmered as far as the eye could see in every direction. The air inside his lungs was cool, crisp and clean. Daniel climbed up onto the altar and swung one well-muscled leg over her splayed body. Can you hear me?

Nothing.

Still nothing.

The music in his mind stopped playing. Whoever had been flipping the pages in the photo album also ceased their task. The uncertain connection he had felt with her began to slip away. Stay with me. Calla, stay. Breathing in deep of the cool around him, Daniel bent his upper body and took her in his arms. You know the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush. His lips descended on hers, the tongue that she wanted to taste the night before, now freely slid inside her mouth. Stay. That strange feeling of being Connected to her returned to him, the music played freely once again. Behind his eyes, the snapshots resumed their hurried pace to the end of the book. The soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush. Slowly, so slow that at first he thought he was imaging it; her lips began to move under his. Stay. Stay with me. At his pleading, her lips became more insistent.

“Dark was the night as we gathered here. Witness now the rising of a new dawn.” Marteen, the High Priest, intoned.

“Every ending has a beginning, every beginning an end.” Another priest returned.

“Ebb and flow, this part of her journey has ended.” Came the echo of yet another robed man.

Marteen nodded with his eyes at Daniel. “Behold now, the birth of another.”

No longer taking note of the people around him or his place in this rite, he pulled her close and surrendered to the night. With his task still undone but becoming ever more enjoyable, Daniel entered her. There was one type of fluid left to give her before the ritual was complete.

“Whoa.” Jack cracked from the crowd in a low voice. “That’s my boy.” His tone was playful and not lacking in pride.

Sam held the laughter inside but her eyes sparkled at her commanding officer as she raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“Ok, we should probably all like look at the ground or something. Let Daniel do his thing with a little dignity, huh, people?” His voice had not lost that playful tone. Colonel O’Neill watched as the members of his team dropped their eyes from the sight of their friend, the Archeologist and all around Good-Guy Dr. Jackson, who was presently putting it to the pretty little red-haired woman lying almost unconscious beneath him. Their attempt at humility did not last long. O’Neill raised one eye to behold the sight going on in front of him, and noticed that while Major Carter’s head was bowed her eyes were raised. They caught sight of each other and passed a look between them that said Well, what are ya gonna do? Sam bit her lip and raised her eyebrow at her commanding officer. Looking around themselves, each noted that the rest of the townspeople did not appear to be having a problem with what was transpiring upon the altar in front of them, well with the possible exception of Kanan who was looking at Daniel like he’d like to cut a hole straight through him with a very dull and rusty knife. The rest of them were watching the scene. No, not watching, O’Neill understood that was not what they were doing. They were witnessing. In that moment, Colonel Jack O’Neill learned something that Doctor Daniel Jackson already knew; some times in life, some things that should be private, had to be made public so everyone was positive that they had actually been done.

End Chapter Eight
Daughter of the Gods: Every New Beginning
By Moon Mistress
Continue to
Chapter Nine

This story and all stories in the Kingdom of the Gods & Daughter of the Gods series are copyrighted to Lisa Beth Darling these stories may not be transferred outside of this URL in any fashion.