Chapter Four
Signaling for the other three to be on the lookout in all directions, Major Lorne and the three Lieutenants followed the little girl. Not surprisingly, she led them toward the main hall in the center of town. Once there, however, she didn't lead them in the front doors. She motioned for them to go around to a virtually invisible side door that led into a large storage room. There, she fumbled in the darkness to open a hatch door that led to stone stairs worn smooth with centuries of use. Pulling out his flashlight, Lorne lit the way down the steps. At the bottom, there was a solid, heavy wood door with metal bands holding the boards together. As she reached up to the handle, the Major noticed that she was again trembling from head to foot, but said nothing. Motioning to the others to lower their weapons, he waited for the door to open.
Beyond the doorway was a dark hallway maybe fifteen feet long. It turned a corner that was just barely lit by the orange glow of a fire. From the far end of the hall, around that corner, he could hear voices. For a moment the girl seemed to just freeze, as if she didn't want to go on. Before he could say anything, though, she seemed to stiffen her resolve and marched forward. As expected, they turned the corner and found a large stone-walled room that likely had once been a cellar. There were maybe twenty people the Major could see all looking filthy, hungry, and scared.
The moment one of the men closest to the corridor spotted the girl, his face twisted in rage. He hadn't even spotted Lorne or the others behind her in the shadows when he lashed out.
"Just what the hell are you doing here?" he screamed, grabbing her by the neck.
Lorne froze in shock for a heartbeat as he saw the man grab the girl by the neck and lift her several inches off the ground to slam her into a wall. There was no thought involved for him. He was only surprised in that he hadn't broken the man's arm when he gripped and twisted. The girl fell to the floor choking and gasping while Lorne twisted the man's arm to the breaking point; only stopping when the man let out a scream and dropped to his knees. Behind him he heard his team stepping up with guns drawn. Just barely containing his rage, the Major flung the man away from him in disgust. By this point all eyes were on him and wide with fear as he knelt down to help the girl to her feet.
"I'm not going to ask what that was all about, but it will never happen again. Understand?" he told them simply, holding up the little girl when she stumbled.
"What's it to you? The little demon shouldn't be here, anyway! Ylyanna should have already burned in hell! We should have killed her, but—"
"Enough," Major Lorne cut the man off a little more gruffly than he intended as he moved the girl back toward his team. "My name is Major Lorne. I'm from Atlantis. What happened here? Where is everyone?"
"That demoness brought the other demons!" the man sputtered and screeched. "They came and took people off their farms in the night! Her family was the first, so we know it was them that summoned the demons!"
"Whoa, wait a minute. Are you talking about Wraith? You know, pasty pale, life sucking things that snatch people up in beams of light?"
"No! Didn't you hear me? I said demons!" the man shouted, obviously the spokesman at this point. "They're black as darkness itself, and come out of the shadows of the night. They steal away with the souls of the pure of heart. They've come because she called them."
Turning back toward the girl Lorne saw her cowering in a ball against the wall. He was fairly certain that if Keane hadn't been guarding the hallway she would have already bolted. Dangerous or not, he could see why she would have taken her chances out there with…whatever it was, than in here. Given what he was hearing, he wasn't too sure she wouldn't be safer out there.
"So, what you're telling me is that the better part of your entire city has been kidnapped by demons that come at night?" Lorne repeated, trying to make sense of all this.
"Yes."
"And she led them here?"
"Yes."
"And you're all that's left?"
Looking around the man seemed to slump. "Yes."
"Why didn't you leave? If they only come out at night, you could have gone to the Ancestral Ring. You could have called for help, or gone somewhere else."
"This is our home!" he man shouted, regaining some of his fire. "We will purify ourselves and purge this land of the demons. The Gods will help us!"
Uh huh, one of those. Lovely, Lorne thought to himself.
He never did understand religious fanaticism. But one thing his time in the Middle-East had taught him was never underestimate the insanity of fanaticism where religion was concerned. Already he classified these people as dangerous in his mind. Turning back toward his men so the locals wouldn't see, he gave them a familiar hand gesture that told them to be on their guard for the locals as well. Turning back, he sighed heavily feeling the exhaustion of the last few weeks.
"I was sent here to remind you of the trade agreement you had with Atlantis. Obviously that's not an issue at this point. What we're needing is for a team to come in here and figure out what's going on. Maybe we can help."
For a moment the man seemed about to argue, but then an idea struck him. "You are from the city of the Ancestors. You are not of the Unclean. If the Gods didn't want you here, you would not have survived the darkness. Perhaps you can help."
Surprised by how easy that had been, Major Lorne struggled to keep the surprise out of his expression. "Okay...In that case, how about you come with us to Atlantis temporarily while we figure this out? It would be safer—"
"No! We will not leave our city, our home!" the man shouted again, as if to squash any protest from the people watching behind him.
So much for that, Lorne thought with a mental sigh. It's never that easy. I don't know how, but this has got to be Sheppard's fault. He's the one that said it was going to be an easy day.
Trying to come up with a plan that would satisfy all of them, he eyed the thick boards above his head for a moment. Finally making a decision he nodded to himself.
"Then we'll bring back men and weapons, and we'll figure this out. Will you be safe here for another few hours while we get help?"
"Yes."
Something about the man's expression when he said that set off warning bells. But, with nothing more to go on, the Major had no choice but to let it go.
"Good. Then we'll be back in a few hours at most," he told them, eyeing the frightened little group.
Turning around, he motioned for Keane to lead the way out. He squatted just long enough to pick up the girl, not bothering to make her stand up. For a moment she went stiff as a board in his grip before he murmured something soothing that had her relaxing at least enough for him to hold on to her without hurting her. Struggling to keep his expression neutral, he closed the outer door behind himself with a boot, making it thump satisfyingly hard. Heaving a sigh to calm himself, he turned back to his team he gave them his plan.
"Keane, Shingleton, head to the gate. Radio Atlantis and request backup. Cayton, stay here just inside the door. Something seems…off, here, aside from the obvious. I'm going to take her and sit just inside the main entrance to the hall. Radio me with an update once you've reached the gate."
"Yes, sir," they snapped off smartly.
Orders given, he climbed the stairs behind them still carrying the little girl.
"Did I hear him call you Ylyanna?" Lorne asked as they stood in the doorway to the outside at the top of the stairs.
She nodded, keeping her eyes down.
"Is that your name?" he found himself asking, not sure if that had been some sort of demon name, insult, or something else altogether.
She nodded.
"That's a beautiful name," he told her sincerely, earning a startled look. "Well, Ylyanna, I don't feel safe leaving you down there with them. So I'm going to take you with me, and we're going to keep guard. I need to set you down so I can carry my gun, okay?"
She nodded.
"Can you walk?"
She seemed to think about it for a moment and then nodded.
"Good," he told her smiling proudly. Carefully he set her on her feet. "Are you dizzy?"
She shook her head.
"Good. Now we're going to go around to the front, and sit just inside the doors and wait for the…demons. I want you to stay hidden and don't get in the way, okay?"
She nodded.
"Good," he said again, giving her one last comforting smile and standing up.
Holding his P90 at the ready he stalked quietly around the building. Ylyanna followed making not so much as a whisper of sound with her bare feet.