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Sight Unseen
by Bekah See
Chapter 8 When she woke, it was still dark, but her wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, and her pain had reduced to a dull roar. She sat up carefully and probed her stomach through the material. There was some additional discomfort, but not a lot, and she decided their rescuer must have administered some sort of pain killer. The Krallik’s scratch on her arm had also been cleaned and bound. Sam looked to her left and saw that Janet’s head had been bandaged, and that the doctor seemed to be sleeping peacefully.The little house was empty but for her and Janet, and Sam busied herself for a few minutes looking around, and noted with interest that the house was very similar to Tessa’s. It was essentially a rounded square, with a single smaller room set off the main one. A fire burned merrily in a large hearth in the wall, giving a warm glow to the cozy space. Shelves of jars and urns and vials ran along two of the curving walls, some of them almost blending in with the reddish brown material that the place seemed to be made of, and a brightly woven circular rug occupied the middle of the room. Small feathered concoctions that looked for all the world like fishing lures dotted one of the walls in evenly spaced rows, making her think of Jack, and she smiled slightly. Animal traps and skinning knives occupied the opposite wall.A small table sat in a corner, and she could see a loaf of fresh bread sitting in the middle of it, along with what seemed to be a note. Taking a deep breath and bracing her ribs with her arm, Sam levered herself to her feet and walked carefully over to the table. Picking up the paper, she read, ‘Please, eat and refresh yourselves. I will be back soon. –Nemik’Sam sat down at the sturdy little table and tore off a small chunk of the bread. She smeared a bit of butter from a crockery onto the piece, and put it in her mouth, chewing carefully, not sure how her body would react to food after her ordeal. Thankfully, she felt no resistance from her stomach, and quickly finished her morsel and followed it with several more before slowing down. A pitcher of water sat on a nearby bench, along with cups, and she poured herself a measure, holding it to her nose more out of habit than suspicion. It was lightly flavored with something like mint, and she drank deeply, savoring the cooling affect it had on her throat. Everything just seemed to taste better on this planet. She was on her third cup when the door opened, and a man stepped inside, closing the door after himself. Sam stood, watching him closely.“Ah, you’re awake! Good. And I see you found my note. I trust you enjoyed the bread? It is an old family recipe, handed down to me from my father, who got it from his father, and so on…”“Uh, excuse me, but are you Nemik?” Sam asked warily. She only vaguely remembered what their rescuer had looked like, and wasn’t sure if this was the same man.“Yes, good, you remember. That is good. You have been asleep for a long time.”“I have? But it’s still dark out. Unless…”“I found you and your friend last night. You slept through the day, and now darkness has fallen again.”“Oh no,” Sam said. “We have to get back. People will be looking for us.”“You cannot go yet. Your friend has not yet awakened, and she needs to sleep for as long as she can. The wound in her head is not terrible, but it could be dangerous if she does not rest.”Sam knew this to be true, but as soon as Janet woke, they would have to be off. And she was not about to leave the doctor here alone. “Thank you,” she said simply. “You saved our lives out there.”“Pshah. It was nothing. You were doing fine on your own, but I thought you could use a little break.”“You were watching?” Sam’s anger began to bubble, but she pushed it away. “Why didn’t you come sooner?”Nemik shrugged and poked the fire, sending red and orange sparks whirling and crackling into the flue. “As I said, you were doing fine on your own, and I don’t make it a habit to reveal myself to just anyone.”“Really? And why is that?”He shrugged again. “I suppose I am what you would call a ‘hermit’. I live alone in these woods and keep watch over what goes on here.”“Uh-huh.” Sam didn’t believe it for a minute. There was something too cultured and easy about this man for him to be what he claimed. He was hiding something, and while she didn’t think he was dangerous, she knew that unknowns such as this one could easily get her—and Janet—killed. So she sat at the table and continued to watch the man as he bustled about the little house, tending to various jars and working busily at his bench. He moved with a grace that belied his ragged and patched clothing, and his short brown hair and face were clean and smooth. She’d always assumed hermits to have long unkempt hair and beards down to their waists, not being concerned with appearances.“So who are you really?” she asked into the silence.He glanced back at her. “I told you the truth,” he said, not offended by her question. “I live alone out here.”“That doesn’t tell me anything about who you are.”He sighed and turned to face her. “Alright, I suppose you could call me a healer. I work with plants and animals to make medicines and poultices for the people in the village, though they have never seen my face.”“Do you work with Tessa?”“I taught Tessa. Though she would never admit it. Being associated with me is not exactly complimentary to most people, and though she herself would not care, others would stop allowing her to help if they knew where she had acquired her knowledge.”Sam quirked an eyebrow at him. “You make yourself sound like a witch doctor,”“To them, I suppose I am.”“Wait a second. You say you taught Tessa? You can’t be more than forty years old! And Tessa is, well, a lot older than that.”Groaning sounded from across the room, and Sam jumped to her feet, biting down on a cry as the movement pulled at her wounds. She crossed the small space and knelt next to Janet, whose eyes were fluttering open.“Sam?”“I’m here, Janet. Rest easy, everything’s all right.”“Where are we?” the doctor tried to raise her head, but let it fall back again with a groan. She put a hand to her forehead. “Ow. What trampled on my skull?”Nemik chuckled as he pulled a jar from a shelf. “A Krallik, or very nearly. You are lucky to be alive, young lady.”“Janet, this is Nemik. He rescued us from the Krallik and brought us here.”“And ‘here’ would be….”“Not far from where you were,” Nemik answered, approaching with a cup in his hand. “Here, drink this.”“What is it?” Janet asked, making no move to take the cup.“Essence of jalla blossom for the pain, with a pinch of rind leaves to help with the dizziness.”“Did you strain out the heavy metal from the blossom?”Nemik smiled patiently. “Of course. I’ve no wish to kill you, Doctor.”Sam’s head snapped up as Janet took the cup and drank. “How did you know her title?”“The same way I know yours, Major Carter. As I said, I’ve been watching you, though for longer than you may think.”“Why?”“Because I believe you two are the key to defeating the Krallik once and for all.”“You do.” It was not a question.“Of course. Do you remember the story Tessa told the night before you were touched by the Krallik?”“Yes.”“The second to last line read thus: ‘And in that time, darkness will once again fall, unless warriors not of us can vanquish the beast.’ I believe you are those warriors.”“But that’s just an old legend,” Janet protested, sitting up as the pounding in her head began to recede. “You can’t really believe we’re destined to destroy the thing.”“The Krallik was also ‘just an old legend’, if you recall,” Nemik reminded them. “I do not know how or when it will be done, but you two will be the ones who will free us from this menace once and for all.”“Nemik,” Sam said, “do you know who it was that imprisoned the creature in the first place or how it came to be here?”Their host looked down at the floor, suddenly uncomfortable. “I do not.”“I think you do,” Sam narrowed her eyes. “Or at least you know more than you’re telling.”“I assure you, I know nothing. Less than nothing.”The major glanced at Janet, wordlessly telling the doctor to follow her lead, then looked back at Nemik. “Well, then, thank you very much for your hospitality, but we really should be going.” She rose and reached a hand down to help Janet to her feet. She came up slowly and swayed where she stood, holding tight to Sam for balance. Nemik looked alarmed. “But you cannot go yet—it is too dangerous. You must wait for morning when the creature sleeps.”“We can’t wait that long. People will be looking for us and they may not know the danger. We have to get back to the village.”“But the stargate is closer, why not go there?”“We can’t go through without our equipment,” Janet spoke up.“Hey,” Sam said suddenly, “you scared the thing off last night with that bright flash, whatever it was. Why don’t you come with us? We could use that.”Nemik shook his head adamantly. “No. I cannot help you. I can only frighten the beast out of self-defense. You must do this on your own.”“Why?” She glared at him. “Why can’t you help us? What are you hiding?”“I cannot interfere.”Janet’s eyes widened at the same time Sam’s did as everything clicked into place. “You’re the Ancient, aren’t you?” she breathed. “You’re the Light from the story!”The man looked stricken for a moment, then slumped, defeated. “Yes. I am the one who imprisoned the Krallik all those millennia ago.”“Whoa,” Sam breathed, shocked by the revelation. “Why are you still here?”“If I agree to tell you, will you sit and rest some more?”Both women nodded and resettled themselves on the floor, leaning against the earthen wall. The fire crackled in the hearth, throwing dancing shadows over the room, and making Nemik look older than he had a moment before.“Ten thousand years ago, the Goa’uld brought a group of humans to this planet to breed them as slaves. They did not know about the Krallik that hunted here, since the beasts only came out at night, and could not be seen with conventional sight. Soon, however, the slaves began to disappear, running into the forests, never to be heard from again. The Goa’uld sent their Jaffa out in droves, hunting the runaways, and eventually they too encountered the Krallik. The Goa’uld managed to kill many of the creatures, but there were a few that continually evaded their patrols.“Finally, the Goa’uld left, leaving the people to their fates, and for many years, the Krallik preyed on them, killing them off one by one.”Nemik stopped, shifting where he sat. “I was one of those taken by the beast, but at the moment of death, just as the creature was about to tear me in half, I saw a woman standing in a bright white light. She was beautiful. Her hair cascaded down her face in ringlets, and her eyes were like pools of molten coca.”Sam and Janet looked at each other. “Let me guess. Was her name Oma DeSala?” Sam asked dryly.Nemik looked surprised. “Yes! How did you know?”“We’ve met.”“You have? Then you know her purpose.”“You mean besides making trouble?” Janet asked, irked. “We know she helps people to ascend who might not have gotten there on their own.”“Yes, well that is what she did. She offered me a choice. Death or ascension. Of course I chose to live on, but I was unable to let go of my past life. I thought I had, or else I would never have gotten to go on, but then I saw the Krallik continuing to prey on my people, and now I had the power to do something about it! Oma warned me to leave it alone, that the Others would punish me for interfering. But I wouldn’t listen. I destroyed all but two of the creatures, a male and a female, reasoning that it wasn’t as bad if I didn’t remove the entire race from existence. I moved them to the other side of the planet, hoping they would learn to eat animals and breed their young to do the same.“But it didn’t work. The male killed his mate, and found his way back here to start the slaughter all over again.”He sighed heavily. “I had been warned about interfering. I knew I was not omniscient, even though I had all this power to work with. But my people were still dying. So in one final effort to do something without being completely destroyed by the Others, I built a prison for the creature, a stasis field that would keep it safely hidden until a way could be found by the people of this world to deal with it once and for all.“Needless to say, my plan worked, and for thousands of years, the Krallik has slept undisturbed. But I was punished for my actions, forced to retake human form again, and though I am still immortal and retain a small measure of my power, it is a bitter draught. I watched as, one by one, the people I cared for died, and everything changed. Until finally I fled to this place, where I could fulfill my assigned task of watching over the people, but could protect my heart by never getting too close.”“So what happened?” Sam asked. “How did the creature get out?”“After several millennia had passed, the stasis field began to degrade. You saw the stones surrounding the rings. I had buried them so they would not be seen in order to avoid questions and more interference. But over time, the soil began to erode, until one day the stones began to shift. The field finally collapsed when that wandering tinkerer picked one up. The creature was loose, and I no longer have the power to ensnare it. That is why your plan to catch the Krallik in the field did not work. There is not enough power to hold it.”“Could you kill it?” Janet asked.Nemik nodded. “I could, but I won’t. The Others wouldn’t allow it.”Sam blew out her breath, irritated. “Could someone please remind me why being ascended is such a wonderful thing? Because I’m just not seeing it.”Janet looked at her. “What are we going to do?”“We need to get our gear then go to the gate for some reinforcements.”“If you go to the village, the beast will follow you,” Nemik warned. “It has been denied its first meal in thousands of years, and will not give up easily.”“It’s been several hours,” Sam reminded him. “The Krallik has tasted your blood. It will have slept nearby and is watching us even now. You must stay here.”“And do what?” Sam snapped. “We can’t just sit here forever.”“Just wait for morning. Then you can go and get your things in safety.”A roar and a crash outside the hut answered this, and they all jumped. The wall buckled under an enormous pressure, cracks spidering over its surface as something large began to hammer on it from the outside.“Looks like our decision has been made for us,” Sam shouted over the din. “Time to move!” She grabbed Janet’s good arm, and they rushed out the door and into the darkness. “Go!” Nemik shouted. “I’ll hold it off as long as I can!”Sam didn’t argue. She took a second to get her bearings, then both women lurched off in the direction of the village, moving as fast as their wounds would allow.For a few minutes, they ran in silence, their ragged breathing and crashing footsteps the only sounds penetrating the stillness of the night. Branches whipped around them, stinging their faces and arms. Vines seemed to reach out for their stumbling feet, making them trip in the darkness. Janet’s dizziness returned, and the ground sway and spun away from her, hindering them further.Sam could hear the Krallik crashing around a ways behind, but didn’t look back, knowing she would not be able to see what chased them. But despite her caution, a large tree root caught her ankle, throwing her to the ground. She felt the gashes in her torso tear open and torrents of agony raced through her. Cries of pain ripped from her lips as she writhed.Janet dropped beside her. “How bad is it?” she asked, seeing the anguish on Sam’s face.“Bad,” Sam whispered, her arm wrapped around her ribs.“How far is the village?” Janet asked as they started moving again.“Too far. The gate’s closer.”“What good is that going to do us? We don’t have our GDO’s or radios.” Sam gritted her teeth and hissed, “We’ll dial home, and when nothing comes through, they’ll send a MALP to check it out. They’ll see us and we can go home and get help.”Janet nodded and helped Sam to her feet. They started moving again, but Carter’s injuries severely hampered their speed.The monster began to close in on them, and now Sam could hear its harsh snarl coming closer.“Cover your eyes!” Nemik called from their right. Both women threw their arms over their faces, and a flash of light split the darkness. The Krallik reeled in blindness and pain, roaring its fury. Sam and Janet hurried on, grateful for Nemik’s distraction.Twenty agonizing minutes later, the gate came into view, sitting serene and beautiful in its clearing. Moonlight cascaded down over it, making it shine and shimmer like a mirage. “Finally,” Sam gasped; her vision was beginning to telescope, and she knew she wasn’t going to last much longer. Janet wasn’t any better. She was moving drunkenly, her feet tangling on themselves and everything else they came into contact with. The two women hurried as fast as they could to the gate and collapsed by the DHD. Sam pulled herself up onto it, crying out as her wounds scraped the cold mineral. She started to dial Earth, then stopped when something caught her attention. Turning her head, she heard the crashing of the Krallik as it lumbered into the clearing, still totally invisible.“Oh come on!” she said, angry and frustrated. “Does this thing never give up?” Janet groaned as she laid curled ground. She had nothing left. Her head and arm sent pulsing waves of agony through her body, and she was close to losing consciousness. But Sam wasn’t done. Quickly she finished pushing the sequence of keys to home, but didn’t press the red activation circle. Instead she stooped and painfully helped Janet to her feet, propping her up against the DHD. “When I say go, press the circle,” she said harshly, her breaths coming in gasps. She turned and limped heavily toward the space between the approaching Krallik, who was no longer bothering to hide, and the Stargate. “Hey!” She called, waving the arm not clamped over her wounds. “Come and get me!”The Krallik roared and increased speed, coming at Sam fast enough to make her wince. “Oops, time to go!” she summoned the last of her strength and took off up the steps of the gate platform. “Now Janet!” she yelled.Janet watched, horrified, but pressed the circle as she’d been told. The event horizon formed and blew sideways—two milliseconds after Sam had hurled herself through the previously empty ring. The Krallik was right behind her and could not stop itself from rushing right into the unstable vortex. Then it was gone.Sam slammed into the ground on the other side of the platform and did not move. Janet watched and waited as the wormhole disengaged, then as it reformed and the MALP trundled down the steps, its camera moving back and forth on its stand.Moving slowly, she maneuvered herself around the DHD and then tried to walk the few yards between herself and the machine, but ended up on the ground, crawling as the world tilted. “General Hammond!” she gasped when she could reach the radio. “Major Carter and I require medical attention immediately. Please...” The last word passed through her lips as her vision began to go black. She lost her grip on the device and slipped to the ground, darkness taking her to where there was no pain. She thought she heard someone calling her name, then nothing.
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