Chapter Thirty-Eight

You got me where you want me
I ain't nothing but your fool
You treated me mean oh you treated me cruel
Chain of Fools
Joe Cocker

Sengul

General Jack O’Neill, Colonel Nicholas Jackson, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Ares God of War emerged from the Stargate on the other side only to find no one waiting for them.  What passed as a Gate Room here on Sengul was so quiet it was alarming.  “Where the hell is everyone?” Jack asked as he looked around cautiously and descended the stone steps.  The building was small to be sure made of well laid stone and it had been built after the discovery of the Stargate mainly to keep the wear of weather off of the strange artifact they’d found in the ground one day.  Making their way down the steps and to the door not fifteen yards away their footfalls echoed around them sending silent shivers through their watchful bodies.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder to see Ares behind him with his big mitt on the butt of the automatic weapon at his side. The damn thing looked like a toy in his hand it was nearly swallowed up by Ares’ palm.  Before they departed the SGC Jack presented Ares with a little gift; a uniform.  Ares balked, politely if indifferently thanking Jack for the gesture but he was sure it wouldn’t fit. Jack said he had it tailor made for the Big Guy and when Ares held out the fatigues it was clear Jack wasn’t lying.  So there he stood his usual hardened black battle leathers cast aside and in their place an SGC uniform.

“What?” Ares snarled.

“Looks good on you.” Daniel offered off-handedly and then followed Jack to the door.

“It does,” Nick agreed and then followed after them.

“I make anything look good.” Ares announced.

That was greeted by three quiet grunts.

There was one small window near the door in this room and Jack peered through the glass.  The city looked empty.  Not only did not see any people, he saw no animals, no chimney smoke, not even a bird flying by nor did he hear anything of the same. Something was very, very wrong.  Jack gestured to Nick who in turn opened the door slightly and looked out, a moment later he was walking out and motioning for the rest of them to follow.  The buildings looked all right, they were standing straight and tall. Nothing was charred by fire or weapons discharge, no bullet holes and most of all no bodies.  “Let’s look around.”

The found of them wandered around side by side in the eerie silence of the small deserted city.  The water fountain the town square was still running and Artuir Sera was offering all around a refreshing drink of cold spring water from his stone pitcher.  It babbled and splashed almost too loudly in the absence of voices or even breath other than their own.  Splitting up on the main street, Jack with Daniel and Ares with Nick they looked in shop windows and saw the remains of many dinners and drinks but nothing else.

“It’s like they just vanished,” Daniel marveled as he and Jack looked in the window of what had been a busy little café.

“Weird,” Jack agreed. Everyone had come through the Stargate pumped and ready for a confrontation this was quiet unexpected and throwing them all off their games.  He ventured inside the café. Many of the tables were overturned and dishes broken on the floor. There were deep gouges in the wood in a few places and some of the table cloths looked mauled. Jack touched a few of the plates to find the food cold. Some of it was growing mold and had become home to several varieties of insects.  Whatever happened here it wasn’t yesterday or the day before but some time ago. It really did appear as though they’d all decided to just get up and leave in one great big rush which overturned the tables as they ran.

Coming back together the group made their way toward Nibor’s Palace. No guards on duty and in fact the great doors stood open.  Taking a glance at one another they walked through the massive wrought iron gates and onto the blue stone path which led up to those doors hanging open like huge jaws just waiting to snatch them up.  Some of the flowers in the beds here looked as though they’d been trampled there was even a stray shoe near by. Who left it no one could say. Why they didn’t come back for it was another question.

No one stopped them as they walked through those hanging jaws and into the Palace.  More nothing. More empty.  More disarray.  Small items of furniture were overturned in the entryway and other small items such as nick-knacks were scattered on the floor. On the heavy dark wood table in the entryway there was visible layer of dust but not too deep, cobwebs hadn’t yet had the time to form in the corners of the high ceilings.  “Hello,” Daniel called out but not too loudly.

“Shhh,” Nick admonished, “what are you doing?”

“Seeing if anyone’s around.”

“Who do you expect to find?” Jack asked.

Daniel pursed his lips and huffed a sigh. “Dunno.” He replied stumped by their situation.

Ares continued his wandering but didn’t stray too far from the group as he looked around at the paintings gathering dust on the walls. “What could have happened to them?”  He’d seen many a ghost town in his long years but had never been to one that had been fairly bustling one day and four weeks later completely empty. Well, that was provided he hadn’t been the one to go storming through laying waste to everyone in his path.

Nick was just as perplexed as everyone else but he was even more disheartened. If they couldn’t find anyone, no one at all, then he’d never know what happened to him during his stay. “Let’s split up again,” he suggested. “This place is huge but if we each take a different direction we should cover it quickly. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not expecting to find anyone.”

No but they should look anyway at least take a quick walkthrough.  Even if they didn’t find another living soul they might find a clue or a body or something. So they split up, each taking a different direction and agreeing to meet back in the entryway in an hour and keep in touch by radio if they should happen to find anything interesting.

Jack’s path took him to the kitchen and then to the servant’s quarters.  In the kitchen the smell of burnt food still lingered. There were pots on the stove that had boiled over and then melted. It was a wonder the place didn’t catch fire but at some point, before that could happen, the wood fed stoves burned themselves out.  The cupboards were well stocked it didn’t look as though they’d taken any food with them. Did they expect to find a ready supply wherever they were going?  Jack also found more of those deep gouges in here, they were on the floor and the counter tops almost as though some big cat or other clawed animal had been let loose. He kept looking out the windows as he walked looking for any sign of life out there but all he ever caught a glimpse of was his the shadowy image of his own reflection.

Daniel’s path took him through the ballroom with its dusty wood floor and large stone hearth. There was a gigantic mirror that took up almost all of the right wall, it was framed heavily with gold in a fleur-di-lis pattern.  Those on the dance floor could watch themselves in the mirror as they whirled and twirled gracefully mindful of those around them. It didn’t look as though there’d been a ball held here in some time.  The place was drowning in loneliness and despair. Making his way through the room he noticed several dark splotches on the otherwise pristine floor. Daniel stooped down, they were dry now but they looked like blood to him.

 From the ballroom he went down a small corridor and found the library.  Three walls were nothing but floor to ceiling bookcases that were overstuffed with books.  On the floor in the middle of the hardwood floor was a rather pretty purple and gold carpet upon which sat two rugged but comfortable looking high-backed leather chairs upholstered in matching deep purple. The fourth wall was a window which looked out upon the palace gardens.  On the table between the two chairs was an open book. Daniel wandered over and picked it up out of curiosity. It took him a minute to understand that the weighty old book in his hands with its parchment paper and Gaelic writing was a copy of the bible. Daniel read the passage before him out loud; “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” A stark chill ran through him from the top of his head to soles of his feet in one icy rush.

Nick’s path took him through the main living area and into the dining room which seemed to him was also used as a gathering room as there was a board on the far wall and a mark on the floor. Nick recognized the game from the taverns in town it was very much like darts but the board was square instead of round.  The dining table had been ready for eight people to sit down and eat at any moment but dinner burned a long time ago and would never be served.  Now the table was a mangled mess, the table cloth was nearly off the table and it had taken many of the plates and silverware with it.

After the dining room he went back into the main parlor and then up the heavy wooden staircase to the second floor.  In every room and on every floor he found those religious statues made of Xerinium. Nick, Ares and Daniel had each endured an injection of concentrated compound just before leaving and Nick’s arm still hurt from the puncture.  It seemed to be working and the statues weren’t having an effect on him.  It didn’t take him long to find the room where his Grandfather bedded all those women the room still stunk of Ares, his sweat and his spunk.

Ares’ path lead him to the Throne Room which he was already acquainted with.  Ducking to get through the door he stood up and smiled wide.  There on her Throne was Nibor dead as doornail.  “Looks like somebody got you to you stupid old bitch,” he mumbled and reached for the radio on his shoulder. “Found something.” Ares said.

“Yeah, what is it?” Jack returned.

“Nibor,” Ares said as he wandered over to her with much interest gleaming in his onyx eyes.  The old woman sat there on the throne slumped over with a clump of vomit caked to her lower lip. It dried in a long stream down her chin, her neck and splattered onto her royal robes. On the table next to her lay her scepter, a saucer, and behind it a statue of white horse. Lying broken at her feet were the remains of a tea cup.

“Is she all right?”

Ares snickered as he stared at her and answered Jack. “As far as I’m concerned she’s perfect.”

“She’s dead.” Daniel interjected. “Where are you?”

“The Throne Room. No hurry, she isn’t going anywhere.”  He stepped back. There didn’t seem to be any signs of a struggle.  Other than the sight of the dead queen and the broken cup the room was in perfect order. The Old Bitch Queen sat there with her precious crown slightly askew and pushing her dyed hair over her open lifeless eyes.  Her saddle bag hips pushed forward on the grand throne and were covered with more splattered vomit as well as a darker spot.  Some time before she expired Queen Nibor shit herself and now she sat here on her throne forever caked in her mess.  Although he hadn’t had the pleasure of killing her himself Ares still felt vindicated and certain her death had been fitting and just.  Ares wandered away from her corpse to take a look around the room but he couldn’t help but come back to her and stand at the foot of her throne to gaze upon her in all of dead glory.  Perhaps it was a ray of light streaming in through the nearby arched windows that caused it but something drew his attention to the broken bits of porcelain on the floor. He tilted his head slightly and thought the broken bits almost looked like a 2. How odd.  Ares remembered the tea that had been offered to Calla during negotiations, tea which she drank and he did not.

“Ho!” Jack remarked heavily as he entered the room.  “Oh yeah she’s dead all right, that’s dead.”  He looked up at Ares. “Just for my own edification you didn’t…” he gestured toward the corpse, “I mean I wouldn’t blame you if you did but…you didn’t…”

“Go take a good look for yourself O’Neill get a good whiff and a hard look see how long she’s been dead. I haven’t touched her.”

Daniel and Nick met up at the entrance of the Throne Room and went in together. Neither of them could say they were filled with sorrow over the death of Queen Nibor, in fact, both of them quietly savored the same vindication Ares felt at seeing her up there.

“What’cha got, Danny?”  Jack asked as he got that closer look and hefty whiff. Oh yeah she’d been dead a while. A week at least.

“The Bible, I found it in the library.” He stammered and then took a long walk up through the room and up the stairs.  That chill went through him again but this time it didn’t make a straight line from his head to his feet but spread out through his whole body and Daniel had to fight the shudder.  Calla loved to watch crime dramas she could watch them day and night and never get bored. As such he watched a lot of crime dramas too and although he was no expert he thought he could see the staging in this scene.  Nibor died on her throne all right and just as she presented to the naked eye that was because someone poisoned her. The statue on the table next to her was so out of place as to be almost laughable. It was maybe 18^th century and he thought it was English. Daniel walked up to it and picked it up to be sure. Another thing Calla loved was yard sales, auctions and “RoadShow”. This was all right with him and gave him a deeper appreciation of things that would be considered quite new by his archeologist’s standards. The statue was smooth and well worn in several spots he thought it was made of soap stone which wasn’t native to Sengul. Someone left this here on purpose just as they’d arranged the broken bits of tea cup into a haphazard 2. “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

“What?”  It had been a long time since Jack O’Neill went to church but he still knew the Bible when it was quoted to him.

With trembling fingers Daniel opened the old Bible in his hands, scanned the first page quickly then the second and found what he was looking for; the publisher’s mark.  He recognized it instantly. This Bible had been published in the middle ages in Rome and probably carried into battle by a Roman soldier but more likely it was carried by a Roman Priest seeking to convert the local population and spreading the word by voice and sword. No matter who carried it, it originated on Earth and he didn’t think Guinevere had brought it with her. But just in case; “Guinevere,” he stammered feeling the dryness at the back of his throat, “was she a religious woman?”

Ares didn’t understand the question or why Jackson would ask.  “She was loyal to her Gods.”

“Her Gods? Not Christ.”

“She would not bend to Rome.” Ares said proudly and then understood. “That is not her Bible.”

So who brought it here?  The answer seemed so obvious.

“That’s from Earth?” Jack asked and moved to get a closer look at the book.

“It sure is.” Daniel remarked. “So is that statue.” He pointed at the white horse. “Someone poisoned her while she sat on her throne probably with the tea.”  Daniel tilted his head as he looked down at the 2 on the floor marked out in broken shards.  “A lying tongue.”  Before anyone could ask he recovered. “The seven deadly sins and the seven seals or at least the four horsemen,” he stammered, “Most people think the seven deadly sings are; pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth but originally….say still around the this book was written…they were; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes,” he stopped for a second wondering why Nibor didn’t get a 4 instead of a 2, “feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissention among brothers.”

“Heavy.  Very heavy.” Jack said slowly. “But that doesn’t tell us where everyone went or what happened to them.”

“Maybe it does,” Daniel countered softly, “They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Behind him Ares let out a proud sounding little snicker. Daniel turned to look at him. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

“I am not a horseman.”

“No, you’re the seal.”

“I can’t help what people write about,” Ares said easily, “I have no power over famine and plague.”

“As you once told me, history loves to exaggerate.  You do have power over the wild beasts.  God of Fire and All Things Wild and Free,” Daniel said the last in a remindful tone.  “We already know about the sword.”  Ares stood silent. “The passage mentions Hades by name.” Daniel stressed.

“All right!” Ares roared. “It’s me.”

“You made a deal with…with…God…the One God? To what, be His sword?”

“I never made such a deal,” Ares protested. “As I said I can’t help what people write about or how they fantasize.”

“What are you saying, Danny? That the woods just…what….just came alive and ate everyone?”

Rather than answer Daniel deferred to Ares by way of a cold glare.

“For me such a thing would be possible were we on Earth.” Ares admitted.  “I could command the animals to come and devour the town if I wanted.”

“And a descendant of yours?” Nick coached as the thought of those strange gouges in their long deep lines went through his head. They could have easily been left by some type of wild animal. Something along the size of Kodiak he imagined.

Ares turned his head toward his Grandson. “Might also have such a power.” He turned back to Daniel. “None of that means Wolfgar has been here and that is what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”

“You know it is.”

I am the Alpha and the Omega.

Blood! Blood! He was bathed in it. Soaked with it! Lightning… thunder…the man, so frightened when the demon entered him and drew Excalibur across his throat!  Another man…dark…cold…crazy eyes, he chanted, he chanted, he chanted, he read from the Book of Shadows. The demon within overtook the man without and his power became great as his body was bathed in the blood of an innocent man.

Well there was one way to prove it. “We have to find Arthur’s body.”  If Excalibur and the Book of Shadows were with Arthur then chances were good that Wolfgar had not been here and the details which he’d overlooked in Calla’s dream weren’t true. If the sword and the book weren’t there…oh if they weren’t.

“How would he get here?” Jack asked.

“He’s a friggin’ Olympian…with no soul.  I don’t think travel is a big issue with him.” Daniel retorted.  “He really believes he’s the Anti-Christ and that he can bring about the end of the world.”

“Sounds like a hell of an ego.” Jack mumbled and then gave Ares a glare. “Comes by it naturally, huh?”

“I don’t think you’re very funny, O’Neill.”

“Aw, c’mon, I’m a riot.” Jack said and smiled. “I can’t help it if you don’t appreciate my humor.”

Nick just stood there taking it all in.  Had his Son been responsible for this? Had Wolfgar blown into town like a fevered tornado and laid waste to an entire village? It was true that Nicholas had no love of the Sengul people with but that didn’t mean he wanted to see them all dead or would ever approve of such a thing. If Wolfgar could do this here then what would he do to Altair Ain and to Earth?

Without further words the four of them turned to leave the Throne Room but Jack looked back. “What do you want to do about her?”

“Leave her,” Daniel said flatly, “she’s right where she belongs.”  Dangerous as it was, it seemed Wolfgar also had a perverse, yet fitting, sense of humor and Justice.

Walking out of the palace and back out into the fading light of the Sengul sun they made their way further down the main street to the museum where Arthur was to lay in state until he was awoken.  They should find everything they were looking for with him. Daniel tried to tell himself that it was all there, they’d find everything neatly arranged and displayed and that would dispel and thoughts weighing heavily in his heart about his Grandson.

The Sengul church stood square in the middle of the town, in fact it was in the middle of the street and as such the street branched off in two around it.  It was a simple structure like most of the buildings here and had a bell tower on top of which stood a Celtic cross. Daniel looked up, the sun was in his eyes and he used the flat of his hand to shade his eyes. “Look up there,” he pointed toward the tower where a body hung out of the archway.  The woman had fallen halfway out of the arch on her back, her hand still outstretched and holding on to thick rope which rang the massive bell, her head hung down and long strands of blonde hair blew absently with the breeze. Her face was almost gone and looked as though she’d been pecked to death as she rang the bell warning the town of the danger at hand.  Deep jellied holes made homes in cheeks and her lips were gone giving her the appearance of an insane clown with overly rosy checks and too much lips stick before a sinister smile.

Perhaps the citizens had tried to take refuge in the church.  The four of them went up the stone steps with much trepidation.  These heavy doors did not stand open on their hinges but were shut tightly. Daniel thought if he was going to find D’Sila anywhere it would be in here. Like the palace the church was empty its sole resident hanging listlessly from the bell tower above.

Further down the road there were more empty shops. More empty houses. Most of the doors stood open and the closer they got to the outskirts of the town the more windows that were broken. Whether it was because they tried to get out by breaking the glass or because something broke in Ares wasn’t sure but figured it was the latter since most of the glittering glass didn’t greet his eyes when he looked down at the ground beneath the shattered windows.  That meant the glass fell inward because something or someone broke in.  Past the homes going off towards the woods and deep forest were trails in the deep grass, hundreds of them.  The animals came, they attacked and they carried off their prey to be eaten in peace.

Right near the end of the main street they came to the museum. It was a newer structure having been built as almost an after thought and some time after the main village had been constructed.  It had one floor and sprawled out to a grand total of 3,000 square feet. There were houses back on Earth that were bigger but it seemed to serve the Sengul purpose well enough.  Or it should have anyway.

Now it was little more than a burned out shell and all that remained of it were its outer stone walls.  Even if the sword and the book were in there chances were they’d gone up in flames right along with Arthur—that news wasn’t going to make Morgan happy in the slightest.  Daniel ventured up the steps first and cautiously made his way inside. While the fire and even the embers were gone the acrid scent of smoke remained it assaulted his nostrils and made his eyes want to tear.  The outer rooms were blackened and their contents charred beyond repair. With Jack behind him they went deep inside the small structure to the middle room where Arthur was to rest until woken.  The deeper they went the blacker the walls and the more damage they came across.  The room which had contained the body of Arthur Pendragon was completely destroyed.  “Looks like it started here,” Daniel mumbled and looked around. The walls were completely black and the fire had been so hot that stone began to melt leaving the remaining walls with a strange drippy appearance.  The display which had once held Arthur was now nothing more than a hardened puddle of melted glass with a few burnt bones hardened in for decoration.  It looked to them as though the flames had been so intense they might well have melted Excalibur back to ore and, most assuredly, the Book of Shadows hadn’t lasted long.

Then again, if the sword had melted, wouldn’t there be some sign of it remaining?  The hilt was thick and heavy it would have taken a very long time for that to melt through. What about the rubies and emeralds that encrusted it?  Something of them should remain. Looking around carefully on the floor neither Daniel nor Jack could find any sign that either item had been in the room at the time of the fire.  Strange, though, how this was the only building in the town that had been burnt, so then, perhaps, like the Bible, the horse and the teacup this was nicely set up.  They were supposed to believe Excalibur and the Book of Shadows perished in the fire.

Although it seemed moot now, there was one more stop to make before they called this mission a bust and headed back for the Gate; the hospital.  If they had been making Olympian test-tube babies perhaps they would find some sign of it and why.  Surely they weren’t going to find any living pregnant women hanging around and none of them looked as though they cared to venture off into the woods away from town to look for survivors.  With the sun fading swiftly in the sky they felt it best to hurry.

The hospital was the only clinic and/or doctor’s office for many miles around.  It consisted of two floors and roughly 100 beds along with assorted examination rooms and laboratories.  Here the scene that greeted their tired disbelieving eyes was not as serene as it had been throughout the remainder of the town.  The people here had been sick, they hadn’t been able to run for their lives and as such there were great smears of blood on the walls and sweeping down the halls.  The animals dragged them through here, chomping and chewing along the way. There were thick tufts of human hair here and there most with the skin still attached. Bits of flesh littered the hall.  The small team of four adult men could almost hear the patients here screaming as they were mauled and eaten alive.

“Do you want to split up again?” Nick asked as they wandered deeper into the hospital.

“No,” Jack said in an authoritative voice. “We stay together now.” He nodded toward the nearest broken window to show them the setting sun.  “I got a feeling we don’t want to be separated when night falls.”

“Let’s hope we get out of here before that happens.” Nick mumbled.

“Yeah, no more than forty-five minutes in here, Danny, you got that?”

“Got it.”

“Follow me,” Nick said, “I know where the lab is.”  He led the way down the corridor to the left. He’d been here when they let him out of jail and remembered his way to where Annie had been working with the Sengul doctors in their lab.

It wasn’t much of a lab especially by Earth and inter-galactic standards. It was basic and almost crude but did the trick.  Today it was also trashed to hell.  Everything was smashed and broken whether the animals had done it during their rampage or someone—Wolfgar perhaps—had deliberately destroyed everything in here in an attempt to cover their tracks.  The cabinet doors had been torn off their hinges and the supplies within; medications, bandages, syringes and the like were spilled onto the floor and then trampled upon.  The items on the long tables; burners, test tubes, small equipment were equally battered and broken.

“Uh.”

The sound froze all in their tracks.  Ears pricked up and breath stopped.

“Uh.”

Jack pointed silently to an inner office much like Daniel’s back at the SGC. It was cut off from the rest of the lab by two glass walls.  Nick raised his gun and steered toward the right side of the office into the blind spot to peer through the glass.  He saw a pair of feet sticking out from beneath the desk and nodded to indicate someone was in there then he raised a single finger to indicate the number. Daniel went to the door but Ares pushed him aside, he looked through the glass door at the disarray inside and then went in. He walked to the desk and stood before that pair of feet. “Come out of there.”

Not exactly; we’re here to help, Daniel thought and went into the office.  “It’s all right, we’re friends.” Well, not really, but under the circumstances it couldn’t hurt offer a little assistance to whoever was under there.

Ares wasn’t in the mood to be friendly and he reached down, grabbed a hold of the ankles, and pulled the occupant out from their hiding spot.  “Vedic D’Sila, how nice to see you again.” He chuckled. “Though I see you cannot see me.”  No, she couldn’t see him, her eyes had been plucked out.  Blood trickled down her cheeks and dried there long ago as it had done on her chin and her priestly robes.  “Cat got your tongue?” Ares stepped back and laughed.

Daniel didn’t see the humor in the situation and went to her side where he knelt only to realize that not only had someone taken her eyes they’d cut out her tongue as well.  On her cheek beneath that crusted dried blood they’d carved the number 4. “D’Sila, it’s Daniel Jackson, can you hear me?” He asked as he brushed the matted bloody hair away from her face. “Just nod if you can hear me.”

D’Sila, her robes torn and bloody, her body battered and bruised and her mind completely gone just lay upon the floor trembling.  In her arms she was clutching something tightly to her nearly exposed bosom which bored the marks of her encounter with one of the wild beasts.

“I’m going to help you.” Daniel said in a kind voice.

“Don’t bother.” Ares said in a voice that was no where near as kind.

“What…” Daniel stopped and followed the line to where Ares was pointing. A dagger had been plunged deep into to D’Silas’ back and her robe was completely soaked with her own blood.  With that type of blood loss it was amazing she’d lived this long.  “Who did this?” Daniel asked hoping she could give some kind of an answer even if she couldn’t speak.  “What happened here?”

Yes, what happened here, D’Sila thought as she tried to focus on the sound of Daniel’s voice. How had it all gone so completely wrong?  She didn’t know. She’d been inseminated with Ares’ seed that had been taken from the back door of the girl he’d left it in and when she was sure she was pregnant with the next exalted ruler of Sengul she put her plan into action.  Rasputin came to them, he made the Elixir for them she watched him do it but then the bastard stole the book and the sword!  Why he would do such a thing was completely baffling to her. After all, wasn’t it Rasputin who’d brought her the book which would solve the UPs problem to begin with? Wasn’t it he who told her to reach out to them again even though they’d been earlier betrayed by David Jackson?  Yes, it had been.  She’d gone along. How could he do that after all she’d done for him? She’d administered the drug to Queen Calla just as Rasputin wanted, why he should want the little Queen dead was of no concern to her so long as she was getting what she wanted out of it.  Calla hadn’t died and Rasputin was not happy about that fact. Although D’Sila was angry at his betrayal she was not deterred. She still had the Elixir and perhaps she could wake Arthur on her own even without the spell. Yes, of course she could, after all she was Religious and Spiritual Leader of this world there was nothing she couldn’t do.

While it would be best to rule with Arthur she could rule on her own until her Son could take the Throne. Even without the Book of Shadows and Excalibur the first thing to be done was to get Nibor off the throne and herself put upon it.  With their weak leader gone it would be easy to convince the people it was time to put a religious leader on the Throne especially one who’d become pregnant without ever having intercourse. They would believe she was pregnant with the Second Coming of The Great King and, in her mind she was so that was only right and just. To that end she’d poisoned Nibor’s after dinner tea and watched as the old feeble minded bitch convulsed and vomited on herself before finally shitting herself and being kind enough to expire. She slipped out of the Throne Room and waited for the body to be discovered at which time she was act appropriately surprised, dismayed, and filled with grievous sorrow. 

When the dark descended the woods came alive and all hell broke loose. People running, yelling, screaming in pain and in horror as the church bell rang out the warning.  The village was full of wild beasts, every where they turned and tried to run there was a snarling animal waiting to pounce and drag them off into the night.  The real carnage took place on the first night but for several nights after people could be heard screaming in the distance until one night no voices rang out.  The Vedic watched the museum burn from her residence high over the village. That was the second night. She’d seen a man there, she’d seen him standing on the steps and the wild beats were gathered around him as though he was their master. Fire appeared in his hand, a great glowing ball of it and he sauntered up the museum steps with the beasts at his side and behind him.  The next thing she knew the museum was engulfed in flames and the man, nothing more than a lighted silhouette, left the building with his animals.  She saw him several more times at nightfall during those first few days he wandered around the village as though he owned the place and helped to himself to whatever he wanted always with at least two wild beasts at his side guarding their master.

All day and all night as she sat in her high tower looking out upon the gruesome scene the animals kept watch on her. They prowled around the building ceaselessly and stared up at her but never once ventured inside.

On the fourth night there was nothing but silence and D’Sila knew that everyone was gone. The woman who would be queen was left completely alone. Not even the man who commanded the animals was seen. Two days of nothing but deafening silence and D’Sila could take it no more, without a thought for the small life growing within her she left her high tower and opened the door expecting, indeed wanting, the animals to attack her so she wouldn’t have to suffer this loneliness any longer.  Yet all they did was to stare at her and bare their teeth. For two more days she wandered around the dead town wondering why the animals didn’t attack her. She could walk right by them or sit near them and they would look at her but they would not come near her.

One night she became brave enough to walk all the way down to the hospital, the animals shadowed her every move but didn’t come within striking distance of her.  With no one left to take care of the day to day tasks of running the village the electricity had gone out days ago and she was concerned about her little experiment in the laboratory. D’Sila had only her most trusted scientists working on creating and freezing the new embryos for later dissemination among the general population.  Now the hope she’d held for the future of this planet and to restore its luster was melting away. Upon reaching the lab she found it destroyed, the embryos were gone, no longer snug in their frozen home.  With despair filling her heart she turned to leave and there was the man, a boy really, standing in the doorway.

“Who are you?” D’Sila asked as she clutched at her robes and the Elixir of Life that she kept hidden in an inside pocket.  “Why have you done this to us?”

“You are a wicked people,” the boy/man said as he walked into the room with two wild cats.  Chimera they were called here and they were roughly the size of a jaguar but had tusks with which to spear as well as teeth with which to tear.  “You are weak minded and conceive of plans which should not concern you.” He said in a warning voice and then walked inside. “Most of all, D’Sila, you are a wicked woman who will do and say anything to get her way. You wouldn’t hesitate to turn friend against friend or brother against brother if it suited your purposes.”  The boy whispered something to the beasts who then sprang at her.

D’Sila raised let go of her robes and raised her arms to shield her face as the big cats with their great tusks pounced upon her knocking her to the ground and tearing her royal robes to shreds.  The Vedic didn’t remember very much after that, it was all a blur after she lost the first eye to a sharp tusk and then the other to the same.  At some point the boy called the cats off, he’d cut out her tongue and plunged his dagger into her back.  She felt something being slipped into the crook of her arm. “You keep it.” He’d said.  “Die well if you can.”  Then there was silence.

How long ago that was she didn’t know.  The Vedic tried to raise her eyes but they didn’t exist anymore she tilted her head as though she were looking up at Daniel who was bending over her. She tried to speak but just moving her mouth caused the flap of flesh that had once been her tongue to break out into gushing streams of blood.  In an attempt to tell Daniel Jackson she was sorrow for what she’d done to his family she choked on her clotting blood.  Daniel sat her up to clear her throat but perhaps he brought her up to swiftly, she was going to die anyway.  With the upward motion the dagger in her back shifted. It had merely been resting next to her heart now the sharp edge bit into the barely beating organ nicking the artery and filling her insides with warm liquid. D’Sila grabbed at her chest, the book she’d been clutching so tightly fell to the floor and her robes let out a little tink-sound as they fell away from her.  Blood oozed out of the open sockets of her eyes and trickled from her nose and poured from her mouth.  With a few hitches and struggles for breath the Vedic expired on the floor.

“Holy shit,” Daniel muttered and laid her down gently.  Remember the sound he rummaged around until he found a hard object inside the robe.  Reaching inside he pulled out a small vial of blue liquid. 

Ares reached down for the book. His dark eyes scanned the pages of the leather bound book and began to fume.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“Bacchus’ note book.”

“Are you kidding me?” Daniel asked as he sprang to his feet and grabbed the small book away.  Sure enough, his eyes were met with very neat script written in ancient Greek. There were illustrations for wine making equipment in the beginning of the book and instructions and notes for making the finest of several varieties of the wine including his special recipe used for the Blood Moon Ritual and other festive occasions where who town orgies were called for.  Nearer the back the notes were no longer on wine but fertility.  They’d been looking for this book since Bacchus died and couldn’t find it, they figured either Raven or Tula must have grabbed it and taken it with them.  “He was here.”  Perhaps other things were coincidence or could otherwise be explained away but this couldn’t.  “They instigated the whole thing. We gotta get back.”

On that count no one would disagree.  The sun was only a sliver left in the sky but the small building which housed the Stargate wasn’t very far away, only a quarter mile or so. They felt they would make it there in plenty of time just to be sure they made their way at a quick pace.  With the setting of the sun the woods seemed to be coming alive. There were sounds off in the distance now. The breaking of twigs and rustling in the tall grass.  They could almost feel the feral eyes upon them.  It would be very good to get out of here and none too soon to boot.  Coming around the next corner the small building came into view.

There was a young man on the steps.  He had been sitting there as though he was waiting for them and as they approached he stood up and gave a slight wave before disappearing into the building.

Nick knew he was face to face with his Son. “Wolfgar!” He shouted but the young man didn’t respond. The four of them broke out into a run as the glowing of the open Stargate met their eyes through the one small window and crack below the wooden door. 

As the wind raced past their faces Ares caught a whiff of something he didn’t like.  To his left was Daniel and to his right Jack and then Nicholas, no time to grab all of them.  “Stop!” Ares roared, grabbed a hold of Daniel’s wrist and flung him around like a baseball bat until he crashed into Jack and Nick knocking them to the ground.

The event horizon shut down, the blue light went away.

BOOM!

The small building exploded to kingdom come raining down bits of stone, glass, wood and Stargate upon them.  They were trapped here and night was falling.

End of Chapter Thirty-Eight of
Golden Years
by Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling
Go to
Chapter Thirty-Nine