Sam waited for the inevitable…but nothing happened. Well, not exactly nothing, but what happened wasn't exactly the something she had been preparing herself to experience. Instead of slamming into a building or the side of the mountain, she felt herself squeezed nearly in half by Tormic. Teal'c's insanely quick maneuvering had spared them from a sudden death, but it had also nearly thrown her into the canopy. Despite the rather clingy nature of her 'seatbelt,' Sam was exceedingly grateful that Tormic was holding onto her so tightly. She sucked in a hasty breath as they once more descended rapidly, but this time not straight into a building. Teal'c was aiming for the one, very small, open area available to them. It looked like some sort of a scenic overlook. It could have even been someone's front porch for all she knew. There wasn't much room to land there, but they were out of options. The Glider was faltering badly and the weather was, incredibly, still getting worse. They needed to get to some sort of shelter.

She couldn't believe it when, not thirty seconds later, they made their inglorious, but successful landing. For a moment, no one moved. Teal'c had brought it down so carefully that Sam didn't think he'd even gotten a scratch on it. Of course, the hail that was buffeting them would put a lot of dents into the Glider before too long. Sam peered through the canopy, looking for someplace to go. Thankfully, Tormic seemed to get the hint that he wasn't needed to hold her in place anymore and he released her waist.

"Teal'c?" Sam asked, noting a doorway about ten feet from them.

"I believe the doorway will be our best option, Major Carter. We must not remain here." Teal'c acknowledged. He had been looking the opposite direction and seen the lightning illuminate the dark sky. It was actually flashing so continuously that the world appeared lit in an eerie sort of daylight. The waves of driving rain continued, lashed with hail the size of oranges. They needed to move quickly.

After gathering everything they could carry between the three of them, Teal'c lowered the seats and instantly they were assaulted by the icy rain and ferocious wind. Teal'c was having a difficult time staying on his feet. Major Carter and Tormic were leaning against each other, attempting to help stay upright. With the wind blowing so hard, they made good time reaching the doorway. Teal'c actually had to push back from the wall to attempt to open the door. The door did not seem destined to open, however. It had no visible handle or lever and was of a heavy blue metal. Teal'c dug his fingers into the cracks around the door, but without success. He looked up at Major Carter whose hair was whipping her face.

"It will not open."

"We have to get in there! There isn't anywhere else to go!" Sam shouted back.

"Move away." Teal'c motioned. The others complied and he wished desperately for his staff weapon. He fired the zat at the door. Zats had a way of opening some electronically controlled doors and he was hoping that this might be one such door. Nothing. He fired again, then tried the door. Still no result. Feeling that hopeless feeling start to well up again, Teal'c fired several times in rapid succession. Even as he fired, he heard Major Carter cry out in pain as a piece of hail struck her on the arm. The hail was beginning to batter them and at the rate it was coming, and the size of the pieces, they could very easily die in a short amount of time.

Just as he was about to give up, he was certain he had heard a click. It was probably his imagination considering how loud the storm was, but he decided to try the door once more. With a sense of tremendous relief, Teal'c felt the door give. Pulling on it with all his strength, he finally was able to move it aside. The door suddenly slid into the wall, apparently having been released from the jam it had been in before he fired at it. Teal'c held the zat at the ready and wrestled for his flashlight. Shining it into the darkness beyond, he couldn't see any immediate threat and they really needed to get out of the weather.

"Major Carter!" He shouted and she immediately moved inside, with Tormic close on her heels, struggling with his load. Teal'c rushed in after them. He stepped to the right of the doorway and shined his light around. They were in what seemed to be an entryway of some nature. It was completely empty.

Major Carter had the flashlight on her P90 turned on and was surveying the left side of the room. The wind was howling through the open door and Teal'c turned back to attempt to close the door. No matter what he did, it didn't want to move. He had a feeling he might have destroyed the mechanism when he had repeatedly zatted the door. They needed to get out of the room. Teal'c heard a loud creaking from the other side of the room and turned to see a huge wooden door open. Major Carter was peering beyond the now open door. Tormic was waiting a few feet away, huddled against the wall.

Teal'c crossed the room and joined her.

"I think we have a way out." She looked at him with a smile, then headed through the doorway, P90 at the ready.

Teal'c indicated that Tormic should move through after her and he quickly did so. Teal'c took one look over his shoulder at the fury of the storm, and then followed them through the doorway. Once he had stepped away from the doorway, the door slid shut again. The noise of the storm was reduced considerably although the temperature remained very cold. Teal'c didn't normally find that temperature extremes affected him, but he was feeling decidedly chilly at present. He could hear Major Carter's teeth chattering and he knew they needed to find somewhere to warm up. Somewhere safe would be good.

"Teal'c, this hallway ends in a staircase." She shined her flashlight up and down. There was nothing in particular to be seen that close. She looked at him, "Which way do you think?"

"I do not believe it matters at this point. It seems we are at a high enough elevation to avoid flooding."

"Unless this storm gets even more surreal." Sam offered.

Teal'c inclined his head slightly.

"If Colonel O'Neil and Daniel made it here…they'd be down somewhere lower most likely. I think we should try down." She received a nod and started leading the way down the stairs. Besides her very logical reason for going down…it was simply easier. Coughing almost continually, Sam decided easier was absolutely the best idea at this point. First warm, secure place she found they were stopping. She glanced hurriedly at her watch. 1343. It had been a long day. And it wasn't over yet. Sam focused on the stairs, feeling herself get slightly lightheaded after the bout of coughing. After what seemed like a lifetime, the stairs finally opened up to a landing.

Pausing, Sam shined her light around. The stairs continued downward, but a wide room opened up before them. Again, it seemed completely deserted. Teal'c moved before her into the area and began surveying it carefully. Sam leaned against the wall and let him. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she realized there was actually a faint light visible in the room. A faint, intermittent light. Looking around, Sam noticed for the first time a set of ten variously shaped windows in the far wall. The windows appeared to be almost like stained glass, but out of some sort of a stone. The lightning from the storm was illuminating them. Even as she wondered if the windows would withstand the storm, Sam was struck with the thought of how beautiful the windows would surely look with full sunlight shining through them. It must be amazing, she thought.

Sunlight. What she wouldn't give to see the sun! They had been in a dismal, grey, stormy world for a week now and the desire to sit under the warmth of the sun was almost unbearable.

Sam coughed into her sleeve, then looked up as Teal'c walked over. "Major Carter, I believe I have found a place where we will be safe and may rest for a while."

Rest for a while. Boy, did that sound good! Sam was too tired to smile, and simply nodded, forcing her feet to move again. Tormic trailed along silently. Again, she felt bad for the poor guy. They at least went through the gate with the knowledge of the danger they could face. Tormic hadn't asked for any of this and here he was, trapped because of their inadvertent actions. She was grateful that he didn't seem to be particularly angry with them. Daniel had probably smoothed everything over when he'd spoken to him the night before. Sam frowned. She really needed to hear his voice, or Colonel O'Neil's voice. On a crazy world where there had been far too much danger already, being out of contact for this long was definitely disturbing.

"Here." Teal'c's voice broke her out of her reverie.

Sam looked up and could have cried. It looked like a furniture store. Her mind was too muddled to even attempt to come up with any kind of logical hypothesis for the room full of assorted couches and chairs. She didn't care. She just wanted to find a comfy couch and curl up on it. Teal'c was leading them to one side and she noticed a few couches set in a semi-circle around a large metal brazier. Teal'c knelt in front of it and finagled with it until it glowed a cheery orange. Sam dropped the supplies she'd been carrying next to an oversized blue couch nearest to the heater. Quickly taking off her pack, she sat down and leaned close to the fire. Tormic had also dumped his gear and circled around to stake his own couch.

Teal'c removed his pack, but did not sit down. "I will survey the area and return shortly, Major Carter."

Sam nodded, "Be careful Teal'c. Don't go far."
"I will not." He nodded and turned away.

Sam was almost giddy with their sudden good fortune. Her hands were almost painfully tingly as they warmed back up in front of the heater. Nothing else was warm yet, but it was a good start. She rubbed her arms, and then grabbed her radio. It was worth a chance, she thought. Thumbing the button, Sam called, "Colonel O'Neil? Daniel? Come in please."

Jack was startled out of his semi-sleeping state by a burst of static from his radio. It took him a moment to get reoriented to the here and now. He had only meant to sit for a moment at catch his breath; he hadn't meant to fall asleep…even if it had felt good to doze for a while. Not opening his eyes or moving from his slouched position on the couch, Jack hit the button on his radio, "Carter? Teal'c?"

He waited but got no response. After a few repeated attempts, he gave up. He wasn't even getting static now. It would have been great to hear their voices. He hated being out of contact for this long. Not that he didn't have the utmost confidence in Teal'c and Carter; but he knew they were both in rough shape and with an unknown person with them. Tormic hadn't struck Jack as a terrible guy, though he'd had a bad moment seeing the man's panicked eyes and his gun against Daniel's head back on the planet. Even so, Jack was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He just would have preferred to have everybody together again.

With a frustrated groan, Jack sat forward, leaned his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so completely exhausted. He sighed and lowered his hands and glanced at his watch. 1400. He'd dozed off for about twenty minutes at best. Sighing, Jack sat up and glanced at his left hand. The bandage had long ago fallen off, and he was able to get the best view of the wound that he'd had in a while. His hand was still numb, but the numbness was continuing to fade and he could actually move his hand and fingers. There was no more drainage, but the bite area was still a bright angry red. Since he'd been fairly out of it as of late, Jack wasn't sure if it looked better or not. Either way, he needed to clean it and he figured he should probably also check his leg wound. His leg was steadily throbbing and he knew he should get it elevated. First things first. Dragging his pack closer, Jack dug for what was left of the medical supplies. Not much. He skipped the last of the gauze, opting instead for a scrap of cloth from what they'd found at the bunker. Using the last of the water from his canteen to wet the cloth, Jack shook his head. He should have thought to refill his canteen when he had been over by the spring. His focus had been elsewhere at the time and he had to admit to himself that he wasn't thinking very clearly. He'd go back in a while and refill their canteens.

Cleaning the wound to his leg left him sweating and gritting his teeth. It had needed a lot of effort to clean out the accumulated blood and dirt. Tossing the cloth on the ground, he grabbed once more for the med kit. He skipped the Tylenol and headed for the next level up. He was the only able-bodied person around and needed his leg to cooperate with him. A careful recon of the area was still on his to-do list and he needed to be able to walk without shooting pain, if possible. Groaning, he leaned back again, not even bothering to lift his leg onto the little footstool next to the couch. He just needed to be still for a few more moments. Give the medication time to work.

So he let his head fall back against the couch, grateful that whatever aliens populated this forsaken world liked comfortable seating. Why weren't more worlds they visited populated with comfort-loving aliens? The Tok'ra liked sitting on rock. Of course, they were actually very hard-assed anyway. Jack snorted, knowing he was way over the edge if he was snickering at his own dumb jokes. But still. Were Earthlings the only people in the entire galaxy who liked to sit on something soft? What was up with that anyway? Rolling his head back and forth, trying to ease the tension from his neck, he glanced over at Daniel.

Daniel had been unconscious the moment his head hit the pillow; and he'd only been barely conscious before that. At least he finally seemed to have warmed up some, Jack thought. He wasn't shaking with the cold anymore. Cleaning all the blood off his face had taken some time and he honestly didn't look a lot better for it. Without the blood, all the bruises showed up better and looked even blacker against the pallor of his face. There wasn't much else to be done at this point. Jack decided it was probably the best thing for him just to rest for as long as possible. Their current setting seemed fairly secure and it was definitely warmer and more comfortable than the last few places they had been holed up. Jack wasn't convinced of their safety yet and he wouldn't be until he had a better look around. But that was just going to have to wait a bit. He allowed his eyes to slide shut.

Teal'c felt hesitant to leave Major Carter with Tormic. She did seem to be doing better than during the night; but she was far from well. She needed to rest and he needed to examine the area for dangers. So he left them. He would have loved being able to sit down and enter a long and much needed session of Kel'no'reem, but that would have to wait. The area they were in seemed secure and was surprisingly comfortable. As he walked down a long hall to the north of the sitting area, he realized he was in some sort of living quarters. It had the appearance of an apartment complex. All along the one side of the hallway were cubicles that contained bunks and other bedroom furniture. Each cubicle was about the size of his own quarters back at the SGC. The other side of the hall was decorated with floor to ceiling murals and decorative scrollwork. Even in the gloom, Teal'c could tell the artwork was beautiful. He refrained from taking the time to analyze the murals in detail. He still had higher priorities in mind. He reached the end of the hallway and found himself at the intersection of another hallway.

Glancing to the right and the left, he couldn't see anything of interest initially. But he did hear running water somewhere. Closing his eyes, he focused on the sound and it seemed to be coming from the left. Turning that direction, Teal'c headed down the hallway. A few yards down the hallway, the right side opened up to overlook a huge lake. Teal'c paused in appreciation for the beauty before him. Clearly the castle, and city, were carved right out of the mountain and the caves within the mountain. The lake glimmered a dark black in the darkness. In this room, as back in the area he had left the others, there were huge stones in the walls allowing light to filter in and illuminate the room somewhat. The lake flowed away into a river that disappeared on the far side of the room below. Nearer to where he stood, a small but beautiful waterfall cascaded down the side of the rock face into the lake below.

All along the edge where he stood ran an ornately carved stone barrier. Turning to the opposite direction, Teal'c found what appeared to be an eating area. It reminded him very much of the "food courts" that were such a key element of Tau'ri dining. There were several dozen scattered chairs and small tables around the area. Toward the back seemed to be a kitchen. Teal'c headed there. He was not surprised to find that the two food preparation areas were in a state of great disarray. There was every indication of panic and looting. Feeling somewhat disappointed, he started to turn away when he caught site of a large metal box in a back corner. It appeared to have been damaged in whatever chaos had occurred. But it also appeared to have withstood the damage.

It looked like an industrial refrigerator. Teal'c could hear a gentle hum from the box and felt hope stir. Perhaps this was one item that had not been looted. After checking it over carefully and finding no way to open the latch, Teal'c pulled out the zat. Four shots later and the latch gave. Opening the door, Teal'c felt great satisfaction in finding that it was indeed a refrigerator. And it still contained shelves and shelves of…well, he wasn't sure what yet, but it was some sort of food. They were extremely low on supplies, so whatever it was would have to do. Selecting several assorted packages at random, Teal'c stowed them in his pack. He closed the door again and felt the latch click into place. Turning back, Teal'c decided he should take a quick look in the opposite direction and then head back.

He hurried back in the opposite direction, past the original hallway and found himself at a dead end before long. To one side, he found facilities he knew would brighten Major Carter's day even more. Showers. And with hot water. He checked. Twice. Smiling, he almost wanted to stick his hand in the warm water again. It felt good. But that would have to wait. Teal'c turned to head back. He was about to turn down the hallway to head back when he realized the wall directly opposite the hall looked oddly like it was a sliding panel. He hadn't noticed it initially because he'd been focusing on the sound of the water. But now, he walked over to survey the area more closely. Sure enough, it looked like a part of the wall, but now he could see that there was actually a doorway inlaid with the beautiful stonework. He tried to force it, again without results. Zatting it, the door slid open into the wall. Teal'c peered inside. There wasn't much to see. It was a tiny room. Looked like a closet of some nature. With a puzzled frown, Teal'c turned back.

Sam was having a difficult time staying awake. Her weakened state, exhaustion, stress and now the cozy warmth flooding over her were a convincing combination. Blinking slowly, she tried to remind herself Tormic might be a danger and she really should stay alert. The flickering light from the heater illuminated Tormic's face across from her. He was staring into the glow, seemingly completely oblivious to everything. Sam thought she had a pretty good idea of what was going through his mind. Having been traveling through the gate for years now, Sam knew that look well. It was the lingering stunned look of someone whose entire worldview had just been shattered. Some people coped better with it than others did. There had been plenty examples of both sides of that fence over the past few years.

Her mind went instantly back to K'tau. That had been an example of people not really dealing with things very well. Actually, she corrected herself, most of the people had been dealing with things well. They just weren't dealing with things in the way she thought they should have been dealing with things. Many of the people had been calmly awaiting Ragnarök. While that was respectable, Sam still had trouble understanding why people wouldn't take an option when it was presented to them. She had nearly destroyed their world, but they had done everything in their power to rectify the situation and save the people who didn't seem to want to be saved. She knew Daniel had done all he could think of as well to convince the people. But in the end, he had been able to more or less accept their decision. She never would have and she knew Colonel O'Neill never would have either. Frowning, Sam found herself feeling more awake…and once more furious with herself.

At times like these, she found herself feeling like she had two very argumentative personalities in her brain. One personality was arguing that it wasn't her fault, how could she have known? The other was screaming that she hadn't taken enough precautions with the Gate…how did she even presume to know what she was doing. It was enough to give her a headache. Which she really didn't need. She rubbed her chest after coughing again. She couldn't hide the fact that she was smart; she didn't exactly flaunt it, but there it was. But being smart had its own unique complications and issues. No matter how she sliced it or rationalized it, she always came back around to blaming herself. Not that they all hadn't made plenty of serious mistakes through the years. But she'd nearly killed an entire planet. And two members of SG-6 had died.

Sam shook her head and stood up abruptly. She had to stop thinking. And talking to herself. She really could be her own worst enemy. Tormic glanced up at her with concern on his face. Forcing herself to calm down, Sam managed a small smile and waved him down. Walking around the area, she was able to focus her mind on their current situation and get back to the issues at hand rather than dwelling on the past. Surveying the area didn't really give her much more of an idea of what the place was, but it was a good distraction. Clearly, it had been some sort of a gathering place for whoever had lived here in the past. While the furniture was rather worn out in many cases, it didn't seem as old as she would have expected. Puzzled, Sam had almost completed her circuit of the area when she saw Teal'c returning.

He saw her and smiled.

Heading toward him, Sam said, "You look like you have good news."

"I have found several things that may be pleasing."

"I could go for pleasing. What?"

Teal'c set his pack down on a table. "I found what had once been an eating establishment. I have returned with various foods. Also, I have found some well equipped and functional facilities."

Sam paused, a box of who knew what in her hand. She looked up, "Facilities? As in..?"

Teal'c nodded slightly.

"With showers?" Sam barely dared to hope.

Again he nodded.

Only the congestion and pain in her chest and weariness kept her from jumping up and down right there. "I am so glad to hear that!" She managed. "Hot water?"

"Indeed."

"I'm heading there now."

"Would it not be wise to eat something? We have had very little today and you still need to regain your strength." Teal'c said gently, unpacking the rest of the food. Tormic had joined them by now and was hovering politely nearby.

Sam smiled, "I think you have some strength to regain yourself, Teal'c. But ok, eat and then I call the first shower."

"Agreed."

"So any idea what any of this is?"

"I merely selected several different packages in the hopes of finding acceptable foods."

"Good plan." She opened one box and nodded at Tormic when he motioned to a box of his own. The box consisted of several small biscuits. They were ice cold. Sam said, "I think we're going to have to warm this stuff up on the heater."

Teal'c nodded, unpacking a box that held a dozen…

"Twinkies?" Sam exclaimed, suddenly realizing how much she needed some chocolate or sugar.

They looked an awful lot like Twinkies. Teal'c held one out to her. They were about the same size as a thick hot dog or sausage but otherwise looked just like the cream filled goodie. Sam headed for the heater with what she could carry. The Twinkie was the first thing she was going to defrost.

The only thing that motivated Jack to move was the fact that the room was starting to get a pinch chilly and Daniel was starting to stir uncomfortably. He dragged himself off the couch with a grunt and hobbled over to the fireplace to throw a few more logs on the fire. The rest had helped, but he could have been very content to see how long he could keep the resting thing up. Jack would never have admitted it to anyone but he knew he wasn't at all at his best. The alien version of the flu had taken a lot out of him. Straightening up, he stretched and headed for the front door. A quick glance around outside showed him a silent ghost town. In all the time they'd been in the odd little house, he'd heard nothing but the crackling of the fire and the storm. Even though it was muted, the rage of the storm still could be heard inside the mountain. He tried his radio again.

"Carter? Teal'c. Come in." Not really expecting anything, he wasn't surprised. Frowning and allowing himself a moment of worry, he was about to try again when he was interrupted by a groan from behind him.

Turning, he headed over to Daniel's side and dropped down on the footstool. "Daniel?"

"Jack?"

Jack almost smiled. Over the years, he'd heard Daniel say his name about a million different times with a million different inflections and a million different subliminal messages embedded in that simple one-syllable name. The level and depth of conversation they could have merely by batting each other's name back and forth was a source of constant frustration to Carter...and somewhat legendary around the SGC. But that had to have been about the most utterly miserable and agonized pronunciation he'd ever heard. He lowered his voice, "Yeah."

"Make it stop."

"Make what stop?"

"Stop the spinning."

Daniel had his eyes squeezed shut and Jack saw now that he was gripping the bed with his left hand with a white-knuckled death grip. Jack frowned, "Are you dizzy?"

"Yes."

"I guess I'm not surprised. You hit your head hard."

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Just tell me. My head hurts too much to think."

Jack gave a brief synopsis of the past week. "Sound familiar?"

"No." He groaned and abruptly broke out into a sweat and rolled to his side, retching violently.

Putting out his arm quickly, Jack stopped him from rolling off the edge of the bed. "You haven't got anything left to throw up, trust me."

Of course, just because that was the truth didn't really do anything to reduce the nausea. Daniel was only peripherally aware of what Jack was saying, but he knew he meant well. Right at the moment, all he knew for sure was that his head was in the process of exploding. Never in his life had he been so nauseated. Not even when his appendix had inconveniently decided to do its own exploding had he felt quite this awful. Adding to his misery was the fact that he couldn't for the life of him even begin to remember how on earth he'd gotten into this mess in the first place.

Jack held onto Daniel's shoulder for a minute until he seemed like he wasn't going to be falling over the edge, then he reached out for the one canteen they still had some water in. Pouring it on the last clean scrap of cloth he had, Jack laid it against Daniel's neck. For several minutes, he just waited silently, knowing the last thing Daniel needed at present was an obnoxious voice. Finally, the retching eased and Daniel lay still, breathing raggedly, drenched in sweat.

Another five minutes passed before he seemed to recover somewhat. He brought his left hand up and pressed it against his head. Jack asked softly, "Gonna live?"

"Do I have to?" was the whispered response.

Jack smiled, "Yes. We were in the middle of a chess game before we shipped out for this trip. Besides, you owe me."

"Why?"

"Oh I have a list."

Daniel sighed and flopped over onto his back, hand still to his head. "You can have the Oreos in my office. Now, let me die."

"I don't think so." Jack snorted, "I'm willing to give you some leeway here as you were recently run over by a tornado, but that excuse only goes so far y'know. I expect you back on duty in the very near future."

"Where are we?"

Oh boy. Jack thought. There was either an echo in here or he had a case of severe short-term memory loss on his hands. Again, he briefly explained what had taken place. "I still haven't heard anything from Teal'c or Carter all day."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well." Jack rubbed his eyes. "To start with I need to get some more water. And I really want to do a bit more exploring. We seem fairly secure, but I didn't have a lot of time to look around." He glanced at his watch then looked back at Daniel. "Do you think you would be ok if I went exploring for a bit?"

He got a noncommittal grunt as a reply.

"Uhhuh." Jack muttered, "That didn't sound convincing."

"Go."

Jack shook his head. He didn't like it, not one tiny bit. But, as had become common on this trip, he had no choice. They needed water and they needed answers. He stared at the door and decided he had better just get a move on it. Faster he left, faster he got back…hopefully with answers. He turned as he felt a hand on his arm.

Daniel had his eyes open and was holding out his hand. "Give me a gun and go."

Jack reached for the Beretta and put it in his hand. "You gonna remember not to shoot me?"

Daniel smiled slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jack said. "Ok then." He pulled on his jacket and vest and picked up his P90. He touched his radio, then grabbed Daniel's off his vest. Testing the radios, he was relieved to actually have reception between the two of them. Good. So maybe the reception was just bad over longer distances. He laid the radio on Daniel's chest. "I don't know what the range is, but I'm telling you right now…I'm going to be frequently checking."

"Got it." Daniel acknowledged as his eyes slid shut.

Jack studied him for a moment, and then reached for their canteens.

Outside the city, the ferocious winds and torrential downpour continued unabated. It was as if the very fabric of nature had been rent. The few people and creatures out in the storm were struggling to remain alive. A weakened doorway of a lower level entrance to the castle suddenly shredded under the onslaught of terrified beasts slamming desperately against it. A rush of water flowed down the rickety wooden steps. The sha pack tumbled down the steps into the cellar. They had been running from the far north plains ever since the storm had began. Once inside the cellar, the sha immediately began searching for a way deeper into the safety of the city. Of course, long ago, the walls and barriers had been constructed with keeping such beasts out of the city. However, those walls and barriers had been constructed a very long time ago and had been subjected to storms the likes of which meteorologists could only have nightmares about. So it wasn't long before the pack did find their way out of the cellar and into the edge of the fine city of T'zabt.

Elsewhere in the fine city of T'zabt, something else was stirring…