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The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. The Stargate franchise is currently owned by Metro-Goldwin-Mayer. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.

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Camelopardalis

Chapter 2

Flight of the Angels

From Chapter 1

The Jaffa still felt eyes on his back. He swiftly turned to look to the rear and for just a moment he thought he saw a man like figure, standing in deep shadow watching the group. It stood on two legs, Teal'c was sure but it flickered and seemed to dissolve into the shadow before the Jaffa could identify it more clearly. He was sure of the legs and the man shaped body but it seemed to be smaller than an adult human. There was also something that moved behind it.

Teal'c spoke quietly into his com unit. "I believe I have seen our hidden watcher. It appeared to be humanoid but faded before I could see it clearly."

"Faded?" Dr. Jackson responded. "What do you mean faded, Teal'c?"

"It appeared to become part of the shadows under the trees." The Jaffa answered. "I believe that is the most appropriate way to describe the movement."

Chapter 2

Teal'c and SG-15 continued pushing their way through the jungle growth. The Jaffa was confident of his direction but it was confusing under the trees. The planet was silent with a sense of breathlessness that raised the hair on the big guy's arms. Teal'c and the team members were once again jacked back up into a state of strained watchfulness. The tension relieved by the run in with the little pig was back again in full force.

The forest with its emerald green light and purple tinged shadows refused to adjust to the footfalls of its alien invaders. The towering, vine shrouded trees somehow projected a warning. Teal'c and his people did not belong here. They should be gone and they should go before something powerful arrived and removed them from this sacred place by force. The mere presence of the team seemed to be defilement.

Finally they came to a clearing, a very large clearing. Teal'c looked down a field of smooth grass, basking in the sunlight. On either side of the cleared field buildings arose from the jungle and climbed into the sky.

Made of white, geometrically perfect blocks the buildings were in the shape of pyramids with flat tops. Ornately carved stairs ran up the steep sides all the way to the top where colonnaded rooms, perhaps temples, perhaps palaces, were exposed to the glory of the sky. The daytime deep space galaxies and suns hung like jewels in the firmament.

The faces of each of the hundred or so shallow steps were elaborately decorated with symbols, pictures of animals and grotesquely dressed men. Teal'c felt the flow of narrative. He knew these stairs told stories of the people who raised these glorious buildings to their Gods. The Jaffa knew his feelings were confirmed; this was a space sacred to someone. He carefully scanned the edges of the jungle, looking for the protectors of this place. There had to be someone who at the very least kept the jungle from invading the grassy field.

In his ear he heard the reverent huff of Daniel Jackson's whisper. "Mayan, these are Mayan temples. Tell the team to be very careful, Teal'c. I would suspect these buildings are a minimum of a thousand years old. Any of them could collapse at any minute. "

Teal'c once again looked carefully. "They seem to be very sturdy, Daniel Jackson. I believe collapse is quite unlikely." While speaking to Dr. Jackson Teal'c had focused on the furthest building. The other buildings lined the sides of the smooth, grassy field but at the very end of the cleared ground a large, imposing building defined that boundary of the sacred space. It was the tallest of all the alien temples and had three stairways, one center front and one on either end. The side stair steps created a toothed pattern against the green of the jungle.

"I know they look solid, Teal'c.' the archeologist said "but a lot of Mayan temples had interior passageways and hidden rooms. Don't let your guys go poking around. Jack would be pretty angry if he had to mount a rescue operation because some guys got nosey or maybe greedy. Watch the men. Some of them might believe the old stories about Mayan gold. "

"We will be most circumspect, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c was somewhat insulted. "SG-15 is not a gang of looters, I assure you."

"Sorry, Teal'c", Daniel replied. "I just don't need the military poking around those pyramids before the scientists get there. A place like this could be of incredible value in understanding our own history. The Mayan civilization was looted on earth and many of their books were burned by the Conquistadors and later the church. Much was lost. Perhaps this place has taken better care of its past. The place almost looks cared for."

"I am surprised you say so, Dr. Jackson.," Teal'c said. "It is the feeling that I have standing here. Someone is watching."

There was a bit of noisy discussion behind him and Teal'c turned to see what was going on. Several of the team were pointing at one of the temples and shouting. Something rose from the top of the nearest temple. It was what had attracted the men's attention. As it lifted higher into the sky it became more completely defined. It was white. It was obviously winged and it shrieked at them.

The silence of the world was broken. The shriek carried up into the sky and the creature lifted up then folded its wings and dove at the men. Someone, Teal'c made a note to find out who it was, broke and fired at the oncoming streak. It was a completely useless shot. The thing was moving far too fast, dropping like a hunting falcon straight at SG-15.

It swooped and extended its claws. One of the men screamed as those claws carved furrows in his scalp. The creature lifted off, turned and came back for a second run, ignoring the men gathered around trying to wave it away. It sunk its claws into the man's arm, which was protected by his jacket fortunately, and tried to lift the man into the air.

Finally Teal'c got a look at the beast. It appeared to be a giant, nasty, bat like creature with a four foot wing span and a bad attitude. Somehow the white color made it seem so much worse than a terrestrial bat. The man's blood was splattered on those white wings, making a horrible contrast. The bat shrieked again and opened its mouth. There were fangs, long, curved and tapering like needles. It had whiskers and blood red eyes. The body and wings were covered in white, glistening fur.

Someone managed to get in a solid hit with the butt of a rifle and the nightmare was knocked away. His teammates threw a jacket over the wounded man's head and hustled him away to the shelter of the trees. His blood was everywhere, leaving a gory trail behind him. Head wounds really did bleed like a bitch.

The bat was recovering quickly and so was SG-15. The bat lifted off and several guys took aim. They were immediately distracted however by the sounds of more shrieking coming from the pyramid structure. A dozen more of the bat creatures were pouring out of the colonnaded building on top and launching themselves into the air.

The men targeted the new arrivals and the air was full of rifle fire. A dozen shots managed only to wing one of the creatures, which fell back onto the top of the pyramid building. It immediately recovered and stood shrieking and waving its wings, one of which was obviously damaged. The rest of the flight wheeled in the air and readied an attack.

Teal'c' barked into the com unit, yelling into the air at the same time. "Retreat, retreat, move back under the trees. Move it." He had spotted movement at the top of three more pyramids. It looked like they had found the guards of this sacred place.

Yelling and pushing the men along, he also tried to get them to stop shooting. "Stop firing," the order went out. "You're only waking up more of them." Now they were all fleeing toward the semi-safety of the trees. Teal'c was stunned when other creatures appeared in his path.

Stepping forward out of the shadows two young boys stood in front of him. The larger of the two held the smaller boy in his arms. The taller one gestured at Teal'c to hurry forward. The boy was yelling "Athola, athola", and waving his free hand.

Teal'c had never heard the word before but he knew what hurry up looked like when he saw it. Behind him he could clearly hear the shrieking cries of more of the white bats. None of his men were firing now. They were all running for the presumed safety of the trees.

Just then the breathless stillness that had typified the day was explained when the crack of lightening split the sky. The wind picked up tremendously and thunder rolled over the world.

Teal'c glanced back and saw that the bats were, for the most part, fleeing back into the temples. Rain started pelting down, stinging like rocks instead of drops of water. He noticed another strange thing. There was lightening, normal lightening, striking the jungle but in addition, high in the sky there seemed to be lightening that glowed and did not stop. It was becoming brighter and brighter.

He had just reached the children and the older one grabbed his hand and pulled. "Athola!" the child yelled desperately then turned, stopped and stared into the Jaffa's face. The boy said, very clearly, "Angels."

He then turned to the jungle, still carrying the smaller boy and pulling Teal'c along. He was running as fast as he could with all his burdens weighting him down. It was then, in a flash of lightening that Teal'c realized these little boys had wings. The wings were tightly furled on the little one but the older boy seemed to be using his to push through the air, like he was rowing though water.

Once under the trees, their little group paused to catch their breath. Teal'c disentangled his hand and signaled for the older child to let Teal'c carry the little one. The number of expressions that rippled over the boy's face were most expressive. No words were needed. The child's face said, "What, no!." Then, with a glance back at the ever brightening sky and another crack of lightening, his face changed to "Maybe." When the wind hit the trees and the thunder roared again the boy simply handed the little one up to the Jaffa and they all began to run again, following the rest of SG-15 through the woods.

It was a long and difficult run, dodging through the trees, occasionally falling on the rain slicked ground. The Jaffa's first thought at every stumble was to keep the child in his arms from being hurt. He was holding the other boy's hand tightly and towing him along as quickly as the man's legs could carry them. He wondered if he should pick the other boy up also but couldn't spend the time to stop.

The strange light was growing steadily stronger behind them and the older boy was in a near panic trying to move as fast as he could go and still stay on his feet. Finally they burst out of the jungle and only had the long dash over a grassy field in the pounding rain to reach the already activated Star Gate.

Teal'c saw through the curtain of rain early arriving members of SG-15 slipping into the event horizon and through to safety. To his shock he also saw one of the bat creatures in relentless pursuit of the wounded man who was still in the grip of two of his teammates. They all disappeared into the blue rippling wall and the damn bat went with them.

Teal'c could hear the panting of the boy beside him. He held the boy's hand tightly and prepared for the dash over the muddy open field. Their only hope lay in arriving at the Gate before whatever was chasing them arrived.

The big man crouched, took several deep breathes and ran. Behind him he heard loud, jarring cries that pierced the vault of Heaven and vibrated the very teeth in his mouth. He knew the older boy was screaming but the sound the pursuers made drawn out the entire world, let alone a child's cries. The little one was screaming also. The child had his hands pressed against his ears and his nose was bleeding.

Teal'c hit the event horizon just as a blast of light struck the steps where his feet had been only moments before. He didn't break stride but threw himself and his small passengers through the Star Gate, praying for a safe landing.