Authors Note – The second part of the series is finally here, sorry it took so long, I had some problems in RL and my muse decided to run away but better late than never. The link to the trailer for this story is on my profile page for anyone who's interested and thanks for sticking with me.

The Electus Series – Part 2 – Shadows of Darkness

Chapter 1

Arios wasn't the most prosperous planet but the market was always busy, not so full of people that it was impossible to move around but there were areas that required some skilled dodging and weaving. Stalls lined the streets; the merchandise on many of them sprawled out across additional tables and along the floor, nobody really stuck to their assigned areas. Fish was the most prominent smell, the harbour was less than a mile away and fishermen would come here to sell whatever they had caught.

Andrew Maclan handed over his money to the stall owner, receiving the gold ring in exchange, the shinning metal twisting around a sparkling crystal. He nodded his approval and walked away from the store, closing the velvet ring box and tucking it deep into his pocket for safe keeping. He ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair, his blue eyes betraying his nerves as he weaved his way through the crowd.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the man beside him questioned, amusement obvious in his voice. "There's still time to back out."

"I've never been more sure of anything," Andrew replied, glancing at his friend. Jerome was by no means a small man, he was tall and muscular, with dark hair that framed his face and crept along his chin. An intimidating man to say the least but one that Andrew would trust with his life, having been friends since they were kids it was Jerome that had kept the school bullies at bay when they were kids and Andrew had been somewhat of a geek. The years had changed that, he'd grown out of his awkward phase and was more than capable of taking care of himself, not that having Jerome around didn't make him feel a whole lot better.

"She's a great girl, you'd do well not to lose her," Jerome stated and Andrew nodded his in agreement.

"I just have to hope she says yes," Andrew replied, his nerves worsening. He had it all planned out, candlelight dinner and her favourite music, a cliché scene but one that he felt could not be more perfect.

"Of course she'll say yes," Jerome reassured, slapping his large hand on his back and almost knocking the wind out of Andrew.

The crowd thinned out as they approached the edge of the market, the scenery moving from stalls and crowds to apartment blocks. Andrew rested his hand on his pocket as though he wanted to reassure himself the ring was still there, it would be rather embarrassing to lose it. Shouting from the alleyway beside them caught their attention, a scream soon followed the sound, reverberating through the mostly empty street, the market far enough and busy enough to not have heard it.

Glancing at Jerome they followed the sound, if someone was in trouble and they could do something then they had to at least try. They turned the corner, the alleyway as grimy as every other, a broken down car that had been stripped of anything useful sitting between large dumpsters and black plastic bags full of rubbish. There was a fire escape leading up the wall on one side, the main route of escape for the apartment block it was attached to.

There were three youths, probably about nineteen scattered around, they'd obviously been up to no good, the half spray painted swear word on the wall and discarded can of spray paint being a big give away. All of their eyes were fixed on something further down the alley, looks of pure terror on all of the faces and Andrew followed their gaze to the dead body. A young man, the same age as the others, dark coloured hair, nose and eyebrow piercings, a lost soul who had just lost his life as well.

It wasn't until then that he noticed what the three young people were really staring at, it looked like a shadow except it was standing alone, not being cast by any object. It had the rough shape of a person but the edges seemed jagged and the eyes were nothing more than blank white slits in the otherwise complete blackness.

Andrew took a step back in fear, beside him he heard Jerome shouting for the kids to run. They all obeyed the command, two of them running out of the alley but the third never made it, the shadow advanced on him, wisps of blackness enveloping him, the young man seemed to be in pain but Andrew couldn't see how the creature was hurting him. He looked at Andrew and Jerome in terror, his eyes pleading with them for help but before either man could do anything the kid was dead. The shadow released him, allowing his body to fall to the floor, lifeless eyes still fixed on Andrew.

He felt Jerome grab his arm, was vaguely aware that they were running out of the alley and then toward the market but it felt like he was watching everything from outside his body. The only clear thing in his mind was the image of the nineteen year olds terrified yet lifeless eyes.

The sound of gunfire was broken only by the explosions and shouts, the dirt being rained down on them almost as much as the bullets. The air was humid, rain was on its way and after several hours of this endless fighting it would be nice to be out of there before the downpour arrived. As unlikely as it was Elizabeth continued to cling to the possibility, her clothes were already covered in mud, the ground not completely dry from the rain that had been there shortly before her arrival, she didn't want to add a tonne of water to them.

The Alliance had the upper hand here, there were more of them, a lot more but the Vernai were persistent if nothing else. They wouldn't give up unless their commanding officer ordered them too and that was highly unlikely. The Vernai commander probably wasn't even on the ground; he or she was probably sitting in a comfortable chair on one of their ships in orbit. Hopefully the Alliance ships were making that position almost as uncomfortable as the trench she'd been stuck in for over an hour now.

There was an increase in gunfire, a sure sign that someone on one side has broken cover and she was about to stick her head out of her hole in the ground when someone slipped into it beside her. A few of the military officers in the hole raised their weapons, lowering them again once they realised it wasn't a Vernai.

John took a moment to catch his breath after his mad dash from one of the other trenches. He looked about as bad as she did, his clothes and parts of his skin were covered in dirt, his hair hadn't faired much better but it still defiantly stuck up in various directions. She hadn't seen him since shortly after their arrival, they'd both been thrown straight into the battle and until that moment she'd had no idea if he was alive or dead.

"We found a gap," John told her "It'll be risky but we think we can get a few people behind them. We've got some volunteers but the commander wants both of us to go, he thinks it'll increase our chances if there are two agents with them."

"What are we supposed to do when we get to the other side?" Elizabeth questioned, she didn't see how having a few people on the opposite side of the Vernai would make that much of a difference and in all likelihood they'd all get shot before they made it anyway.

"Drop a few grenades on their heads," John replied, his tone matter of fact as he stuck his head out of the hole to see what the sudden increase in gunfire and explosions was about. He was met with a few bullets that skimmed the ground near his head and he quickly dropped back down to the relative safety of the trench. "Diminish their numbers so the guys in front can finish the job."

"Fair enough," Elizabeth said gripping her automatic tighter and clutching it against her side. She turned around to the officers in the hole with her, they all looked tired but if this worked it would be over soon, if it didn't... well it would be over for her. "Cover us."

"Alright, follow me," John instructed and Elizabeth nodded, both of them moved to the edge of the hole, getting their footing so they could spring out of the hole quickly and hopefully make it to the safety of another trench without getting killed. John counted down, the word 'one' barely making it out of his mouth before they pushed themselves out of the trench. The officer's behind them fired their weapons, covering them as much as they could as the enemy increased their gunfire, aiming it at John and Elizabeth.

The bullets were almost on target, if the two Agents hadn't been running so fast they would have been hit already. Dirt was thrown up in the air slightly every time a bullet hit the ground by her feet and she sighed in relief when they both dropped down into another ditch, ignoring the weapons that were momentarily pointed at them. She followed John through the narrow trench until they found Commander Adams; he was shouting orders, trying to be heard above all the noise. He turned tired brown eyes on them and stopped shouting long enough to speak to them.

"There's five going plus you two, when you get to the other side take out as many as you can, we'll take care of the rest, good luck," the commander said, directing his attention back to his men. John walked over to a small group, four men and one woman, all of them wearing the Alliance military uniform and looking as tired as Elizabeth felt.

"Anyone wants to change their mind, now's their last chance," John stated and when no one voiced a desire to stay here he nodded his head. "We only get one chance at this, stay low and move as fast as you can, don't fire unless you absolutely have to; we need to get passed unnoticed."

John stepped up to the edge of the ditch and pulled himself out, Elizabeth held her breath for a moment but there was no increase in the gunfire, he hadn't been seen. Taking a deep breath 

Elizabeth followed him out of the hole, relieved when she didn't immediately get shot. John was already making his way across the battle field, keeping so low he was almost crawling and Elizabeth followed his example as well as him. It felt like forever before John stopped and turned to the group, glancing behind her Elizabeth could see the Vernai trenches, the Alliance ones looked small from where she was now standing.

John communicated silently, gesturing with hands signals and the five military officers nodded their head in understanding before the group spilt, half heading left and the other half right. Elizabeth reached to her belt, there were three grenades attached to it and she was going to have to make all of them count without getting shot in the process. The military officer split off from her and John heading toward the trenches and a few moments later Elizabeth did the same leaving John to take on the edge of the Vernai line.

She took each step with care; she couldn't afford to alert the Vernai to her presence until she was dropping a grenade into their hole. She managed to get within a couple of meters of the ditch before the first explosion ripped through the air, the Vernai in the trench in front of her trying to figure out what was going on, why that explosion had sounded so close. Without much thought Elizabeth pulled the first grenade from her belt, pulling out the metal pin and tossing the round explosive into the hole. She ran across the trench, reaching for another grenade and repeating the task before the Vernai could register what was going on.

They had her figured out then and the gunfire was turned her way, she had one more grenade to throw though and she pulled the pin, throwing it into the hole beside her before changing the direction of her run, moving a way from the trench instead of alongside it. The explosion happened quicker than she'd expected it to and she was hit by a wave of heat and pressure that threw her forward, knocking her to the ground.

Everything seemed quiet, the sounds of gunfire and shouting were muffled and even the explosions seemed small. She turned around, lifting herself from the ground slightly so that she could see what was going on behind her, the explosions had stopped and the Alliance troops were pressing forward, no longer pinned down by the constant fire of the Vernai. The sounds slowly started to focus more and she could make out the sound of footsteps beside her coming closer. She turned to face whatever was coming, her hand gripping her weapon but she relaxed once she saw John.

"Are you alright?" he asked her as dropped down next to her, his voice was still slightly muffled but the words were easy to make out now.

"Nothing a long, hot bath and an even longer nap won't fix," she replied, her eyes going back to the battle in front of her as she got up from the floor. The Alliance had won this fight; it was just a matter of clearing out the last few Vernai, she could only hope the battle in orbit had gone as well as it had down here.

The shuttle finally landed on Atlantis, the two day trip back to Alliance headquarters had not been a pleasant one. The Alliance ships had taken some pretty serious damage in the battle for Lentar, despite having been the victors. The Vernai ships had looked a lot worse, the few remaining ones had limped away from the battle and the Alliance had been in no condition to follow. John 

unbuckled the belt that had held him in place and walked off the shuttle, ready for a hot shower – not the barely warm ones he'd been stuck with on the return journey – and a good meal.

Elizabeth was beside him, looking better than she had on the planet but just as tired, sleep was definitely in order once they'd finished with the showers and meals. The docking bay was abuzz with activity, more shuttles coming in for landing and others heading to the space station in orbit, taking more materials and personnel to help fix the damaged ships.

"Oh no," John said when he spotted the young man making his way towards them, a council aide with his eyes fixed on them, there went any plans for relaxing for a few hours.

"Agent Sheppard, Agent Weir," the young man greeted, his tone lifeless and unenthusiastic and John had to wonder if the Council trained that into their aides, they were all rather dull personalities. "The council requests to see you immediately."

The young man walked away without another word and John took a deep breath, letting it out with an over dramatic sigh. He looked at Elizabeth whose only response was a shrug before she began to make her way through the busy docking bay and John had no choice but to follow.

"You'd think they'd at least let us have an hour's break," John stated as the two of them made their way through the bland corridors of the Alliance Headquarters. They smiled and nodded to the few people they passed, taking their time in reaching the doors to the council chamber. Neither guard said a word, just glanced at the two Agents and opened the doors.

The Councillors were already convened, sitting around their semi circular table in the large and mostly empty room. John and Elizabeth stood in the middle, both of them waiting to be told why they were here while the Councillors took their time, pausing as if for dramatic effect.

"First of all, your performances on Lentar were exemplary as always, well done," the lead Councillor began and John had a feeling he wasn't going to like this, they always said something nice before they told you something unpleasant. "We have grave news though."

"The two of you were not made fully aware of the prophesy," another Councillor stated and John resisted the urge to sigh, ignoring the annoyance that ran through him. He looked at Elizabeth who had visibly stiffened; they had both though that was over with now. It had been six months since Elizabeth and Teyla had destroyed the cloud, what more could there possibly be?

"The cloud was not destroyed, merely shattered," the lead Councillor continued, his low, flat tone giving nothing away. "It formed what the prophesy calls Shadow Warriors, they do not have the destructive potential the cloud has but are just as lethal to humans."

"In the last few weeks we have been receiving reports of attacks by shadow like creatures, we are now certain that the Shadow Warriors are responsible but like the cloud we have no way to track them, we can only follow the path of their attacks and the discrepancies they create in sensor readings," a female councillor told them, her aging face looked worried, the most emotion they had seen on any council members face.

"What does that have to do with me?" Elizabeth questioned her voice calm and strong but John could tell she was nervous. She didn't want to go back to this anymore than he did but they had their duty and Elizabeth had her destiny and if this was part of it they would just have to accept it.

"You are the Electus," another Councillor reminded her, as if she actually needed the reminder. "You and Teyla Emmagan are the only people with the ability to destroy them. Together you can defeat these creatures, though this time you have no control over them."

"Teyla is in jail," Elizabeth replied, her turn to remind the council.

"You are to go to her and convince her to help you destroy the shadow warriors," the lead Councillor informed them and John tried not to roll his eyes, did the council really believe it was going to be that simple?

"She has been in jail for six months," John stated, speaking up for the first time since entering the room and it seemed as though the councillors had only just remembered he was there. "She may not want to help."

"It is up to the two of you to convince her," the female councillor said "You will leave for the prison in the morning, dismissed."

Though John wanted to argue and it seemed Elizabeth did as well they both kept their mouths shut and left the council chamber. There were too many thoughts running through his head in that moment, the first being that this was not as done with as he'd thought and Elizabeth was going to have to deal with her destiny all over again. The second being that they didn't really know anything, only that creatures that looked like shadows were attacking people and Elizabeth and Teyla had to destroy them.

"What are you thinking?" John questioned when Elizabeth didn't say anything, she had that look on her face though, the one she got when she was deep in thought about something she didn't like.

"Too much to list," Elizabeth replied "Mostly about seeing Teyla again though, she's been in that prison for six months; it's going to be weird."

"Think she'll help?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know."

TBC