Chapter: 7 - Teyla

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The attack was sudden and violent as they often were, but this group were different. They attacked in a planned precise way that Teyla was pretty sure had been instigated by the leader of their group who stood watching the fight. His face was lined with vertical scars which he had painted over with red clay. He looked like he had been clawed down his face though she had to wonder whether the scars had been self inflicted. That was the only thought she could spare the leader for the fight was on and it was perhaps the worst she and John had come up against so far.

These men fought with clear skill that told her they had been properly trained, most likely before they found themselves on this world. What was also different from most of those they fought was that they appeared to want to capture them rather than simply to kill them. That had given her and John a slight advantage.

She felt the breeze behind her back as John swung out and she heard the man attacking him grunt and hit the dry ground behind her. She lashed out at her closest attacker with her knife cutting into the muscles of the man's arms as he reached for her, blood spurted out and he fell back away from her screaming. His friend stepped in immediately unfazed by the blood pouring from the other man. He struck out at Teyla, but she blocked his arm with her forearm and sliced out at him from beneath their locked arms. He pulled himself back just enough to avoid her slash but she stepped closer to him and buried her other knife into his side.

Behind her she heard similar sounds of pain, but knew none of them came from John. He was grunting with the effort though, small angry cries escaping him as he fought the six men who were trying to over power him. Teyla dropped the last man who tried to grab her arm and she moved to assist John, who they appeared to be focusing most of their attack upon. A sudden sharp pain impacted her left thigh startling her and her weight went out from under her. She cried out in fury as her knee hit the ground and she looked down to see a makeshift arrow sticking out of her outer thigh.

"Teyla?" John screamed over the cries of the man who staggered away from John clutching at his bleeding shoulder.

"A flesh wound." She reported, hoping that that was true, as she looked in the direction the arrow had come and found herself watching the leader and one of his lackeys rushing forward towards her.

She got her legs under her, but she had lost one knife. She could see their intent in their eyes; they were planning to try and drag her away as John continued to fend off the remaining three men. She gripped the knife hilt backwards, the blade lying along her forearm and swung out at the leader's lackey as he reached her. He swung at her with what had been the bow that had fired the arrow now a resident in her body. She used her forearms to block his wild swings with the thin wooden bow. She pushed against one side of it which exposed him from behind it and she struck out with the knife, slicing out at him and cut a deep wound through one of his cheeks. The leader struck out then, reaching out under his man to pull the arrow out from her thigh.

The pain blazoned so intensely that she couldn't help falling down towards the ground again as she cried out. Her vision blurred and her breathing caught as the pain crested, but then drained away enough for her to breathe and look up. The leader launched him self at her, knocking her fully to the ground, pinning her under his heavy weight. She had lost her knife so instead punched hard into his side, but she was blocked from hitting higher at his head. She twisted her body, kneeing up at his legs and he buckled slightly as she did, which opened up some space to free one of her hands and she slammed it up under his chin.

He smiled viciously as he resisted her attempt to force his neck back to breaking point, the thick cords of his neck holding his head in place. He laughed at her and twisted his legs to separate hers under him and caught her other wrist squeezing and pressed it to the ground, squeezing the bones together. She cried out and released her push against his chin and as his head headed back down towards her she head butted him. Her impact was just off and she didn't succeed in breaking his nose, but she heard him yell out in pain. Then his hand was on her thigh and his palm pressed against her open wound.

The pain laced through her again and her vision dimmed for a moment, through which she saw a tunnelled view of the man leering down at her. Before she heard John's furious shout and watched the leader's head snap round to a forcefully unnatural position and he slumped forward over her.

John reached down and with a grunt of disgust helped her shove the leader's body off her. She took John's outstretched hand and let him haul her to her feet and he trapped her against his side as he pulled her along with him away from the site of the fight.

He had been injured as well she realised judging by the bruises across his forearms, though she couldn't see any flowing blood, but her thigh was bleeding, leaving a trail as they struggled to get away from the piles of groaning men they had managed to overpower. Those that were still alive would follow them soon enough, especially once they realised their leader was dead.

She studied her thigh as best as she could as they hurried on; the bleeding had slowed and the pain had also lessened. The bow that had fired the arrow had looked weak and she suspected the arrow had not embedded too deeply into her and it was her outer thigh; nothing vital had been hit. She clung onto John's back from her position up against his side and looked over their shoulders and saw the hunters were hot on their trail and there were at least six of them still able to fight and they did not look happy.

They made it to the ridge before the hunter's shouts made it clear they were not going to be able to run any further; all they could do was choose the ground on which they faced them. She pointed to the area to the right where the ridge rose up that would protect their backs and they ran on as best as they could to the place, turning towards the bloodied angry hunters.

She stumbled as she turned and John reached out and shoved her behind him as he literally growled at the men that were fanning out to encircle them. She leant part of her weight against John's back to stabilise herself, using him as support as she pulled out her remaining knife and watched the men, angling her body around John as much as she could. John backed up some more and she steered him by the back of his belt around a rock as they moved into the best defensive position they could against the wall of the ridge.

So, this was it. They had survived the impossible; falling through that anomaly, survived the fall to the planet and then had wandered wildly through this dangerous world for what had most likely been many months and now this was it. They were bruised, tired and outnumbered.

She lifted the knife and prepared herself for what was to come.

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TBC