Shandra Jerro was having a quiet day. Ever since the adventurers had saved her barn and negotiated with the lizard tribe, things had settled down. She had managed to hire a couple hands to help get her harvest into town to sell and made quite a tidy profit, which was not much of a surprise considering that virtually all the other farmers had been hit by the lizardlings or abandoned their property until things settled. Now it was a matter of preparing her property for the next growing season and Shandra was out repairing a fence when she heard a shout.
"There she is! Capture her! Zeeaire wants her alive!"
She turned and saw a group of the oddest looking people she had ever seen. They had grey-green skin and dull, cruel eyes. They were also carrying swords.
Shandra Jerro had been in dangerous situations before. She had even helped fight off attacking monsters raiding merchant caravans. But she had never faced danger alone. She had always had someone there to lead the fight, someone to rely on. Now there was just her and dozens of the strange, dull-skinned creatures. Worse, they all were carrying weapons and she was not.
So, she ran.
She could feel her heart pounding with each step, her fear of what was behind her growing even as she ran for the imagined safety of her farmhouse. A sudden thought came to her- Gods, what if they have archers?
She thought she heard a voice calling out for her, but she didn't hesitate for even a step. She bolted inside her house and slammed the door shut behind her. Now where was the sword her father had given her?
Suddenly, she heard bursts of some kind of a metallic whooshing sound followed by an explosion. Then there were horrible screams. She could hear the backdoor opening and shutting. They were inside. She heard a low gravelly voice call out to search the house.
She hadn't even had time to begin looking for where she had put her sword. Then there were several strange high pitched sounds, followed by the sound of muffled thumps. Frantically, Shandra looked around for something, anything, to use against her attackers. Then the door burst open and she spun around to face—
"You?" Shandra spluttered.
.
Jack O'Neal was the first one up the path to the farm. As soon as he got there he let out a curse. The farm girl Shandra Jerro was being chased by those grayish green-skinned creatures. Githyanki. At least she was keeping ahead of them.
Jack, Sam, and Daniel all pulled out their zats and started firing at the githyanki that were chasing the woman. Tamil tried to call out to her, but Shandra ran into the farm house without turning to see them. A blast from Teal'c's staff weapon brought down a pair of the creatures unlucky enough not to avoid the blast.
"The Kalach-cha!" one of the creatures exclaimed. "Things have turned out well for us, brothers. The girl and the Kalach-cha are both within our reach."
A small group of them turned off to head for the farm house. The rest turned to face the approaching group of adventurers. The ones who attacked the powerfully armed adventuring group were slaughtered first. The ones who chased the unarmed farm girl into the farm house lived a little longer.
The first group of githyanki were met with debilitating blasts from zat'nik'tel and an explosive boom from the ma'tok staff as well. The front ranks fell apart and those remaining behind were soon met head on by a nearly six foot tall holy warrior dressed from head to foot in solid plate mail armor and dispensing justice with every swing of his hammer. He was backed up by the lovely form of Tamil whose sword was singing through the air in time with her voice and a matching hum from the diminutive Grobnar.
When SG-1 and their adventuring companions burst through the back door, the githyanki were just setting themselves to search the house. A quick burst of the zats later, those creatures were on the ground as well. Tamil was the first through the door, followed directly by Jack.
"You?" came Shandra's shocked cry. There was a terrified look of distrust on her face. It was clear she was wondering if there was a connection between the githyanki and the appearance of the adventurers. "Don't come any closer!"
That was when the front door burst open in flame and an even larger team of githyanki poured into Shandra's home. SG-1 did not hesitate, but quickly trained their weapons on the intruders and began zatting them. In such close quarters with their targets bunched so closely together, the blasts of the gou'ald weapons couldn't help but hit. Teal'c, however, did not want to risk the integrity of the farm house with a staff blast so he joined Casavir, Neeshka, and Tamil in charging them and cutting them off from reaching Shandra.
As soon as the attackers were all zatted or slain, Colonel O'Neal took charge. "Sam, Teal'c! Go back and cover the rear entrance to the house. Daniel, you, Neeshka and the gnome take one of the front windows each. Don't let any of them get around to the sides."
"Okay, Jack. Quick reminder, keep behind cover when you're firing. If they can't get line of sight on you they can't target you with spells," Daniel volunteered as he moved into position.
"What's going on here?" Shandra demanded as the sounds of weapons fire once again began to fill the room.
"We're trying to save you," Tamil answered.
"Not that I'm not grateful, but why are you guys back here to save me again? And what happened with the dwarf and the elf?"
"It's kind of a long story, but basically these ugly berks want to capture both you and me. In my case, I guess it's either kill or capture, but it seems they want you alive. At least for now. Since you were running away from them, we figured you didn't care to take them up on their offer of being captured alive?"
"Not particularly fond of that idea, no."
"Then do not be afraid, Miss Shandra Jerro," interjected the deep voice of Casavir. "We will not allow any harm to come to you.
"Casavir is correct, Miss Jerro," chimed in the equally seriouis and baritone voice of the former Jaffa from Chulak. "We will succeed in delivering you from your assailants and they will be made to regret attacking an innocent person such as yourself." Teal'c then turned his attention to Jack. "Colonel O'Neal, it appears the githyanki have abandoned their attempts to enter the building from the rear entrance. However, I believe it is their intention to light the building on fire and force us to evacuate and be caught in an ambush."
"WHAT?" Shandra protested.
"Then let us take the fight to them! If the cowards are unwilling to come in to face us in honorable combat, then we must go out and meet them," Casavir pronounced boldly.
Jack looked at the paladin, "Laying it on pretty thick, aren't we?" While Casavir tried to make sense of Jack's response, the Earth soldier continued, "But he's right. If we wait until they succeed in setting the lady's house on fire we'll be at a tactical disadvantage when we do go out."
"Jack, I think I've got something that might give us the advantage," Daniel broke in. "Just hold them off long enough for Sam and I to get prepared and we should be able to make our exit a lot easier."
A couple minutes later, Teal'c returned from guarding the back entrance once more just as the group prepared to make their exit from the front. Casavir threw the door open, planning to take the brunt of any assault the githyanki had planned, but there was none forthcoming. Teal'c fired his weapon once, but then it was Daniel Jackson's turn to inflict some damage. Daniel concentrated, his lips giving voice to the arcane magic he had been studying, and then with a gesture, he hurled a ball of fire out towards a group of the oncoming attackers. The group of enemies exploded in screams of pain, and then everything just beyond the doorway went dark.
"What the...?" Colonel O'Neal was wondering aloud when Neeshka pushed him out the door.
"That was me, ya big dummy! Now let's get out the door before their archers start trying to shoot through the darkness!"
The group charged out, skirting behind the magical darkness. With the githyanki assault in disarray following the fireball and the sudden darkness, SG-1 got into perfect position to fire on the enemy. The raiders were taken completely by surprise and were quickly cut down by weapons fire and blade alike, for those few that actually managed to make it past the steady stream of energy discharge into melee range.
Then it was all over and the group was once again standing with Shandra Jerro on her farm surrounded by dead or unconscious enemies. After a quick discussion, the group convinced her to follow them back to Neverwinter. There was no telling how many more of the creatures there were.
.
Jack saw the trouble starting as soon as Daniel started trying to empathize with Shandra just as he typically did with anyone in need. It was just Daniel's nature to try to be reassuring and helpful to anyone who seemed emotionally vulnerable. And apparently, it was just Neeshka's nature to bite the head off of any female who got any attention from a man she was interested in, such as Daniel.
"Uh, Carter, you think Daniel realizes what's going on here?"
"I don't think he has a clue, Colonel. But when Neeshka saw Daniel put his hand on Shandra's shoulder when he was talking to her, I could swear the temperature on that boat went up ten degrees."
"I knew Neeshka could be annoying before, but now I can see why she has the horns and the tail!" Jack commented. Despite this, Colonel O'Neal had mostly positive feelings about the young tiefling. He had learned a lot from her, especially the two-weapon fighting style she favored. "So, do you think we should say something to Daniel?"
Samantha Carter gave her commanding officer an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? And miss all the fireworks when it all finally comes to a head?" Then the blond Air Force major flashed a mischievous smile at her long time friend, "Besides, I'm much more interested in what's going on between you and Tamil."
Jack opened his mouth for just a moment then closed it again before deciding on a proper comeback, "Nothing's happening between me and Tamil." Then Jack gave his own mischievous smile, "At least not yet. Besides, I've noticed the little looks you've been giving the knight in shining armor over there."
The tips of Sam's cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. For just a moment the two adventurers' eyes met and the feelings for each other surfaced, leaving the two of them with nothing either of them had the will to say. Abruptly, and with a few embarrassed excuses, the two decided to change the subject and pursue other urgent matters involving other places of the inn.
The Sunken Flagon was in a state of excitement. Ever since Tamil had arrived, the Flagon's income had been steadily increasing. While Duncan had never asked her to perform in return for allowing her and her friends to use his inn as their home in Neverwinter, the bard from West Harbor was all too happy to play any number of songs she had learned in front of a tavern audience. And she was far and away the best performer the inn had ever had, her voice alone enough to stir the souls of the occasional traveler or Neverwinter citizen seeking revelry away from their home in the docks.
When Grobnar joined the group of adventurers, the gnome's odd sense of humor and jovial spirit found its own place in the inn's entertainment. While Tamil Farlong was clearly the favored performer, Grobnar's humorous songs drew cheers and laughter of their own while Tamil took some rest or simply enjoyed herself in conversation among the patrons. The two bards even collaborated on some pieces. The reputation of the Flagon as a place for a good ale and great entertainment began attracting audiences from outside the docks district.
After the group returned to the Flagon and Tamil introduced Shandra to Duncan, the innkeeper became particularly generous, even offering a free round to everyone in the inn. This was followed by a short discussion of what the githyanki wanted from Shandra and promises to offer her protection through the City Watch. Whatever information she had about Ammon Jerro and the githyanki silver swords, it was clear the githyanki were determined to have it. After an exhausting day, Shandra was ready to turn in early.
"There's got to be more to this than a simple silver sword," Daniel Jackson began once Shandra was out of earshot. "From what I could see from the records, the location of Ammon Jerro's Haven was intentionally obscured, and there were indications that when Neverwinter sent agents to search for it, they ended up dead. If this were just about a sword they wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to distort the facts. There was also a reference to needing the blood of a Jerro to even be able to enter, so I think we should keep this information just among ourselves for now."
After discussing things a little further, the group decided it was time to get some sleep. Figuring out a way to get home without a Stargate would have to wait until after everyone was fully rested. They had some difficult decisions to make.