A.N. Well here's the lastest chapter (sorry for the long wait again) but like chapter 9 this chapter hasn't been corrected by my beta yet... So all the mistakes are mine, hopefully there aren't too many of them. Thank you all of you who took the time to write a review :) Please let me know what you think and Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it. :D
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 10
Ahriman leaned against the windowsill and looked at the view before him. The thick trees stood nearby, their leaves glistening in the sunlight. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky overhead, he figured it was around midday.
He felt his lips curl into a smirk as he thought about the recent events. Everything was running perfectly; his plan was working out even better than he had hoped for. It must have been the wishes of the ancestors for the two foolish travelers to fall into his hands. When he had slyly arranged for Xerxes to be in the midst the thick of the previous battle he had been a little, not much, worried his fellow villagers would blame him for their leader's severe injuries. If Xerxes hadn't changed his mind about continuing the war Ahriman wouldn't have tried to gain leadership.
Ahriman shook his head fondly at the thought of his past chief, remembering the earlier years when Xerxes still firmly believed in the war. He did like the man but thought he was too forgiving. It was the other village's fault for the whole situation and who gave them the right to decide what traditions to practice? The other village simply did not understand they were fighting to maintain their way of life and also partly because they were superior to them. With the leadership in his hands and no one questioning him Ahriman could continue the war.
His smirk grew more evil as he thought about his plan with the travelers. There would be no use to send them back to their own now that he had a purpose for them. He knew there were a few of his people that suspected him in Xerxes' death. Was there a better way to persuade them than to place the blame on the two travelers? He did not think so. The ancestors surely must have been smiling down on him for he had feared the healer would have the skills to heal Xerxes. He had been thankful that even with the healer's skills Xerxes had still died.
Sighing in content, he thought over his plan. It was prefect; all he had to do was to get the two travelers to confess to killing Xerxes. Leaving his post by the window he began to pace the room. Both travelers were extremely stubborn, it would be a true blessing from the ancestors if he managed to get them to admit to the crime. How could he get them to confess to a crime they did not commit? Suddenly it came to him, he grinned; it would work for sure. He had no doubt in his mind about it. Walking to the door he threw it open, barking out to a guard standing by the door.
"Send for the prisoners!"
"At once my Lord."
As the guard hurried away as Ahriman retreated back into the room. Soon his plan would be completed and he would have the full support of his people.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John stared at the room in disbelief. No one was there. The room only contained a few chairs and a small table. How could this be? Rodney and Carson were suppose to be here! He looked around franticly, hoping for see another door but didn't see one. He wanted nothing more than this nightmare to be over.
"Major."
He looked over to his left at Teyla.
"I believe no one has been in this building in many months. This table is covered in dust," she said looking at the dust on her hand.
John closed his eyes in frustration. He had been hoping they had just picked the wrong building but now thinking back to how silent the village had been there was a very good chance it had been deserted for a while.
"Okay. Let's check the other buildings before heading back to Uma and Talos."
He led his team toward the door again. Before exiting he turned to them, "Keep your eyes out for any villagers."
They all nodded and were soon stealthily checking out the village for any occupants.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All six remaining buildings were also empty in the village. The forest around them remained silent as they walked back to Uma and Talos.
"I trust you did not find them?" asked Talos.
John gave him a hard glare as if to say "you think?" Talos became visibly skittish under John's stare.
"We will most likely find your friends at the second village site." Uma said quickly, hoping to avoid any conflicts.
"How far exactly is this second location?" John asked wearily.
He was beginning to lose his patience with the whole situation. The siblings exchanged a nervous glance, not a very good sign, before Uma spoke again.
"About another day's journey from here, I believe."
"You believe?"
"Neither of us has been to the actual site and it is in the opposite direction from this location."
"Fine just lead the way. The sooner we find them the better."
"Very well, it should be this way."
"Wait should be?"
"Yes, if the village is not located at the next place we are heading to. I'm afraid we really have no idea where they might be…"
Uma's voice trailed off as John let out an annoyed sigh.
"Fine, just show us where you think the other village might be."
Uma nodded, leading them back towards the cave and hopefully closer towards the two missing doctors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After being poked and blinded by Carson's medical examination Rodney sat on the ground against the wall glaring at the doctor. If looks could kill, Rodney figured Carson would have died at least five times by now.
"May I ask what I did to offend you this time Rodney?" Carson asked from his position across the room.
Instead of answering Rodney continued to glare at him. He scorned at his friend, as if the Doctor didn't know what he did! With neither of them being willing to speak the room fell silent. Seconds dragged onto minutes as the silence remained. Unnerved at being stared at for so long Carson finally broke the silence.
"You're being childish."
"No I'm not!"
"You are."
"No I'm not!"
"Then why are you glaring at me instead of telling me what I did to upset you?"
"As if you don't know what you did."
"If I knew would I be asking?"
There was a pause as Rodney comprehended those words. It actually did make sense that Carson didn't know what he did but that would be he was wrong and Rodney hated being wrong.
"Stop moving off topic."
Carson gave him an annoyed look.
"Did you really have to use the penlight? I could see fine both you blinded me with that light. Now I keep seeing these dark dots everywhere. You know how much I hate that offensive object!"
"The penlight?"
"No your watch! Yes the penlight!"
"Calm down Rodney."
"Calm down? Like that's easy to do when you're being held against your will by some manic dictator who wants to blame you and your friend for his chief's death!"
Carson sighed and rubbed a weary hand over his eyes, finally realizing what Rodney was getting so worked up about.
"Rodney, its okay to be a wee bit scared. There's no reason to be ashamed of it."
"I'm not scared! It's just…just that the incompetent scientists I left unsupervised might have destroyed half my lab already!"
Seeing the disbelief on Carson's face, he mumbled softly.
"Okay, maybe just a little."
Standing up he started to pace around the room nervously, mumbling under his breath.
"Rodney?"
Instead of answering he continued to mumble incoherently to himself.
"Rodney?" Carson asked again, becoming more and more concerned.
"We need to get out of here. We can't stay any longer!"
"Rodney…"
"You're disagreeing with me even after you were beaten up for telling the truth? How…"
"I wasn't disagreeing with you. It's just that if we do get out, where would we go? What direction? We have no idea where the stargate is from here. We'll most likely be walking around in endless circles."
"It's better to be lost than being someone's punching bag!"
"No! You mustn't leave. If you do your lives will be at risk!" Delano stood up and looked ready to fling himself in front of the door to prevent the two doctors from leaving the room.
"They already are if you haven't noticed," retorted Rodney, eyeing the teen with annoyance.
"There are many guards throughout the village you will not get very far before you are caught. They will not hesitate to use excessive force. Please both of you must stay in this room. If you attempt to escape I am most certain Ahriman would have you both executed on the spot."
"We might if we don't leave soon! Look at Carson here, how much more do you think he can take?"
"I'm fine Rodney!"
"Sure you are. You can barely keep your eyes open, not to mention the pained expression you have on your face."
"So you're a doctor now?"
"I wouldn't say doctor but I've seen and received enough of your voodoo practices to know you've not very well off. If we were home and I was in your situation I would be in the infirmary!"
"Its medicine not voodoo Rodney, for the last time!"
"It's the same thing. They both involve someone, mostly me, being jabbed by a needle."
"You wouldn't be subjected to a needle if you stopped getting injured."
"Hey! I don't get…"
His remark was interrupted by the door slamming open, revealing Ahriman and a group of fierce guards.
"Both of you will come now," barked Ahriman.
"And what if we decide not to?" asked Rodney, not really wanting to leave with them. Who in their right mind would?
"Then I'm afraid some force will be used."
Ahriman then simply nodded to the guards. Two of the guards strolled over to Carson and without a word grabbed him by his arms, pulling him up painfully. While the other guards grabbed Rodney before he could prevent Carson from being moved. Ignoring Carson's cries of protest and feeble attempts to free himself, they dragged him toward the door.
"Stop! Can't you see you're hurting him?" Rodney yelled while he tried to free himself from the guard's grasps.
A strong jab to his back stopped his struggles. Without wasting anymore time they were dragged out of the door by the guards and down the hall but as Delano tried to follow he was stopped by Ahriman's arm.
"Your presence is no longer needed. Go report to Sandor, you will be sent for when you are needed again."
The teen nodded solemnly. He watched as Carson and Rodney were dragged further down the hall until the darkness swallowed them up. Delano stood there looking down the dark hallway, trying to push aside the ominous feelings he felt before heading out to fulfill the task given to him but was unable to. He hoped the two travelers, whom he had begun to like, would survive another meeting with Ahriman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glancing backwards as they were being dragged down the hall, Rodney could see the concern in Delano's face. He winced as he was roughed pushed down the hall; he was definitely going to have bruises from this trip. Not wanting to risk angering Ahriman again and indirectly causing Carson more pain he decided to keep his mouth shut, at least for the time being. The light the hall was minimal, only allowing him to see Carson's solid form being dragged, literally, by the guards. The poor Doctor looked like a broken rag doll being dragged by two henchmen. They really needed to get back to Atlantis soon. He didn't think the Doctor could take much more abuse from their captors.
Relatively soon, they were pushed through a doorframe into a familiar room. Feeling his heart rate speed up, Rodney tried to calm himself but couldn't shake off the ominous feelings he was getting. The last visit to this particular room was far from painless. His attention was brought back to his friend as Carson let out a small cry of pain as he was dropped on the ground. He rushed forward to help Carson up only to find himself held back by the guards. Unable to do anything else he watched, with immense displeasure, Ahriman stand over the prone Doctor with a hard glare on his face.
"You will answer my questions truthfully this time or else you will have to bare with the consequences!"
"I have been telling you the truth," Carson said exasperatedly.
"Very well."
Ahriman turned to the guards and gave them a pointed look. Rodney shared a confused look with Carson before an unexpected punch to his abdomen left him hunched over and out of breath.
"Leave him alone! What do you want me from? I've been telling you the truth."
Ahriman seemed to think over what was said before looking at the guards again. Another punch to his abdomen brought Rodney to his knees.
"Stop! Please. You got to believe me. I didn't kill Xerxes. There was nothing I could have done from him here. Please just let us go."
"Enough with your lies, I'm tired of listening to you spin stories with your lies. I want the truth!"
"I have been."
Ahriman's eyes narrowed as he glared at Carson.
"I see we are going to do this the hard way once again," shaking his head he added; "I had thought you already learned your lesson during our last meeting."
"I've told you the truth!"
Before Carson could say anything else Ahriman whipped out a knife and held it against Rodney's throat. Both Carson's and Rodney's eyes widen in fear.
"No!"
"I am going to ask you once more. If you do not answer I am afraid your assistant here will have to bare the consequences, that is if he lives."
"I…"
"How hard can it be? Just tell me the truth. Who put you up to the murderous act of killing Xerxes?"
"I…"
"Answer!"
"I…"
Without a second thought Ahriman pressed the knife closer to Rodney's throat causing the scientist's eyes to widen even further in fear, he really didn't want to die.
"CONFESS NOW OR YOUR FRIEND DIES THIS VERY SECOND!"
Carson swallowed before mumbling.
"What was that?"
"I…I did. I killed him but…Rodney had nothing to do with it." Carson closed his eyes for a second before speaking again, "Please let him go, he's innocent. If you want to punish someone let it me."
Rodney looked at the Scottish Doctor with disbelief at what he was hearing; he had never known Carson to lie before but sighed in relief when the knife against his throat was lowered.
Ahriman grinned.
"I am truly pleased you have decided to tell the truth." He turned to the guards and barked, "Take the prisoners to the cells. They shall both be executed at dawn, tomorrow."
"No, wait. You said if I confessed you wouldn't kill him."
"It seems you misunderstood me. I said I would kill him now if you did not. Now that you have you both shall pay the price for your crimes. While I believe your confession I do not believe your lies. You truly must think I am a fool. I know your assistant was in on your plan. Guards get them out of my sight this instant!"
Ahriman watched the guards drag out the protesting prisoners. As the door shut, leaving him alone in the room, he smiled an absolutely scary expression to see on his face. Everything was going according to his plan. Once the travelers had been dealt with, he could control the village without any problems and crush the other village once and for all. Tomorrow was going to be a glorious day.