Elanee hurried down the path in a way that usually she would consider reckless. Her sharp senses and carefully honed survival instincts might allow her to avoid an orcish ambush, but if so that would be in spite of the group's pace, not because of proper caution. The group's natural leader, Tamil Farlong, was as worried as Elanee had ever seen her. So, the druidess rushed forward following the obvious signs of passage her quarry had left behind for the sake of the girl from West Harbor.
Elanee had watched over Tamil ever since before she was even born, a fact that had recently been revealed at Sky Mirror during the conversation with the druid elder. Initially, Elanee had been sent by the Circle of the Mere to observe the conflict there and report back the outcome. What she had seen was a strange battle involving frightful creatures and equally unnerving arcane magics. Then in an explosive climax, Elanee witnessed the death of Tamil's mother, who died shielding the child from the worst of the devastation.
Unfortunately, the child was not completely protected and was nearly fatally injured herself. Only the quick ministrations of the local priest of Lathandar as well as that of Daeghun Farlong, who would become Tamil's guardian, saved the child from an early death. Those actions of devotion and communal unity drew Elanee to the town of West Harbor time and time again, the young druidess spending as much time watching and observing the growth of the young woman as watching over the swamplands in the druid circle's care.
Now the young West Harbor bard was fearful that her lack of foresight might lead to death or disaster for others, and Elanee had no desire to see the young girl have to deal with that sort of emotional burden. So, she let the pace exceed what was normally prudent in the hopes of arriving before something could go amiss. When they reached an area that showed signs of a lot of traffic, she slowed the pace down and looked for signs where the other four members of their party might have turned to set up a camp. She wasn't disappointed and soon noticed a trail that few orcs could spot, but was simple enough for her to make out.
The camp was a fair distance from what was apparently the approach to a major orc lair, obscured by a break in the rocks. Elanee nodded approval of the location, easy enough to hide in, but not too easy to surround, and still defensible. Tamil was obviously relieved. The human sorceress, the gnome, and the powerfully built Jaffa were sitting together in front of a tent.
Those in the camp first heard Khelgar's approach which set them on their feet. Soon, though, they relaxed when they noticed it was the dwarf, elf, and bard returning. Despite their relief at the return of the rest of the party, there was still an odd feeling to the camp.
Tamil looked around the camp quizzically. "Where's Jack?"
A moment later, the Earth soldier emerged from the small tent. "Right here. Just taking a quick nap."
Elanee moved to examine Jack's wounds. His camouflage uniform had a tear over his right arm and a giant rent in both the back and front. However, the man himself apparently didn't have a single scratch on him.
"Yeah, I know. I'm fine. Thanks to Teal'c."
Teal'c turned to see Colonel O'Neal being impaled from behind by one of the orcs. A scream of denial was wrenched from his lips. "O'NEAL!"
Then he saw the colonel fall, just as a burst of flame spread outwards from the human girl. None of the orcs near her or by Jack survived the blast. But it was too late. Jack was already down.
There were still several of the pig snouted brutes standing, though, and Teal'c simply did not have time to stand around trading plasma blasts from his staff with them and their arrows. The big man dropped the Ma'tok staff weapon and swiveled the P-90 machine pistol he had strapped behind his back around to fire on those still standing. A primal scream of rage erupted from the former Jaffa as the report from the firearm burst like bottled thunder and an arc of lead flew out to cut the orcs to bloody messes.
Qara had seen the Gou'ald weapons firing before and hadn't been overly impressed. She could do that much damage and more with some of her spells. The FN P-90 was something else entirely. While the 5.7x28mm rounds individually were far less lethal than fireballs or plasma blasts, the fact that on full auto the weapons fired 15 rounds in a second was impressive. Teal'c rotated and shot the orcs in the other direction before they recovered enough from their shock to even be able to flee in terror. The sorceress viewed the weapons with much greater respect.
For Teal'c, though, there was no other thought other than getting to his friend's side. He sprinted over to the fallen soldier. What he saw only confirmed what he had seen earlier. Jack was bleeding from a wound that would surely leave him dead. Nothing short of a miracle would be able to save the man he had fought beside these past few years, the man who he had come to trust and think of as family.
In his anguish, Teal'c wanted nothing more than to find some way, any way, to make this not be true. The dark, gold-tinged jaffa looked up to the sky to demand an answer as to why this had to happen. In his anguish, he put a name to his importuning.
"Oh, Tyr, Even-handed! They say that you are a god of justice! That you are a champion of right!" Teal'c raised his hands up towards the heavens. "If this is so, if you are truly a god of justice, if you are truly good and not a false god, as my former masters were, then show me your justice! Save the life of this just man and I will know that you are a god worthy of serving!"
No sooner than Teal'c finished speaking than an answer of thunder rolled out across then cloudless sky, and then a brilliant column of light descended from the heavens. The Jaffa felt a presence penetrate though his mind and heart, an intellect that was vast and a will much greater than his own. He knew in that moment that all his thoughts and all his deeds were open to this power, that there was no way to hide anything from it. Then he heard its voice in his mind:
'Teal'c of the world of Chulak, of the world of Earth, I judge you worthy. You are worthy, but you are not yet pure. Is it the desire of your heart that I purify you?' He knew the answer in his heart to be yes, he could not deny it even if he had wished it. 'Then so be it.'
Teal'c was filled completely with light, illuminating every particle of his being. Then he felt a severing with something that was dark and impure. He was bathed in brilliant warmth.
Then the light was gone. But there was left a sense of wholeness and certainty, that he knew himself and the choices he would make. Most importantly, though, there was also left a very shaken, but very much alive Colonel Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neal. His wounds were fully healed.
"No, Colonel O'Neal," Teal'c corrected, "it was Tyr who saved you."
Jack shrugged and then deadpanned, "You, Tyr, some Ancient yet to reveal himself, or Puff the Magic Dragon. Not sure who is responsible, but one thing is certainly clear: I lead a charmed life."
Tamil grinned fully. "I'm totally jealous of Grobnar now. He was there to experience all the excitement firsthand. He's got to have come up with some amazing song based on what happened. I bet in his version, Tyr appears in the form of the Wendersnaven or something!"
The knowing smile that played on Grobnar's face was the closest the kindhearted gnome ever came to a smirk. Then he noticed something about Teal'c he had not seen before. "Um, Mr. Teal'c? Didn't you used to have gold markings on your head that looked something like rams horns surrounded by a circle?"
Teal'c nodded.
"Well, now the picture is different. Looks like a set of balancing scales on top of a giant hammer."
Teal'c turned towards the rest of the group for confirmation. It was true. Where once there had been the mark of Apophis's First Prime on Teal'c's shaven head, carved into the bone and filled with molten gold, now the symbol of Tyr, the Maimed God, appeared in its place. Teal'c raised his hand to his forehead to feel it. To his surprise, his forehead was completely smooth.
Jack came up to the towering man who let him inspect his head. Jack put his fingers over the mark and was surprised to feel a warmth to it. He could not feel where the Chulakian's natural skin ended and the mark on his head began. The mark was part of Teal'c's skin. "It's like, an incredibly, incredibly good tattoo."
Tamil shook her head. "That's no tattoo. It's the mark of a god." Tamil looked with wide, awe-filled eyes. "It's a mark that you are highly favored by Tyr."
Jack nodded. "Figures. Teal'c is one of the most experienced around at being chosen and favored by different gods."
Teal'c shook his head. "This is something different, O'Neal. When I threw off my enslavement to Apophis I vowed to never again serve another's will as I did then. But when I saw your life being taken and when I thought of the words of the priests of Tyr, I resolved that if Tyr really is a just being and could truly save you, then I would serve him." Teal'c paused. "A month ago I would have thought such a vow a betrayal of all I had fought for. Even as I decided that if I could save you by serving another, I would, I doubted if my course were right. But in the moment when Tyr touched me, while he was healing you, I could feel the rightness and justice of Tyr. Just as I know you and have faith in you, Colonel Jack O'Neal, I know and can have faith in Tyr."
Jack looked at his friend, "Well, I can tell you one thing. You sure traded up. And, that," Jack gestured to the mark on Teal'c's forehead, "looks totally badass."
"Thank you, O'Neal."
With that, the soldier pulled out a pair of binoculars. "Now, let's scout that cave out and figure out how to get in and find the emissary."