Disclaimer as ever not mine.
Thanks to CT for making sure there were no large oranges in the text
Hope you enjoy the trip..
==================
Cassie led Jonas back to the infirmary, holding his hand in support.
General Hammond spoke first, concern rounding his words, "son, we can continue this tomorrow, there's no need to carry on today."
Jonas looked into the faces of his team mates and sighed the weight off his heart, "General, sir, we don't have much time. You have to realise that this is not just a Goa'uld you are taking on. Ragnarok and Anubis's actions have given more power to the shadows in the universe."
"Okay, Jonas, I'll bite," Jack replied.
An understanding spread across Daniel's face, "it's the balance thing, again."
It was Jack's turn to sigh. "Yeah, well, I've heard that before, still no clearer here Daniel."
Daniel smiled slightly and rubbed his eyebrow, "Jack, if there are those ascended." He began.
"Then there have to be those who have, descended?" Sam finished.
"Like demons and stuff?" O'Neill added.
Jonas worked the back of his neck and sat down. He picked up Janet's discarded pen and began to toy with it as he thought, heavily, on his next words. "Colonel, we all have a darkness in our souls, a small voice that whispers sinister deeds in the background of our thoughts, which most of us choose to ignore. But when the universal balance has been tipped, the shadows get hungrier and the voice becomes a little louder in us all. An ancient 'evil', born with the universe, feeds on this and is using Ragnarok and Anubis as its tool to grow stronger."
Sam walked to where Jonas was sitting and pulled up a stool next to the Kelownan, "the little girl, Mia?"
He looked at her for a second and then turned his gaze away, "that was not my sister. Just a," he looked toward Jack for inspiration, " 'demon' feeding on my sorrow, using my insecurities to weaken what Olmec passed on." He looked at Sam, again, to explain, "I was meant to be looking after her, she ran off into the crowd to get the balloon, I couldn't keep up."
Sam laid a comforting hand on his arm, "it wasn't your fault Jonas."
The Kelownan shrugged.
"Jonas", General Hammond asked, "if we destroy Ragnarok and Anubis will it stop this, this 'shadow'?"
Jonas gave the older man a gentle smile, "it can only help sir."
"Do you think you can continue?" Hammond looked at the Kelownan, noticing a small amount of blood fall from his nose, "Doctor?"
Janet went over to Jonas while the others milled around the infirmary. "You know Jonas, you can give it a rest for today," she said.
"I'm fine," he replied, moving her hand away to stop the examination.
"Jonas stop pushing me away, I'm still your doctor if not your friend," she pleaded.
A guilty look crossed his face and he massaged his temples, "I'm sorry," he said softly, taking her hand in his, "you'll always be my friend, Janet."
"I know," she whispered her heart stretching a little in her chest, "it's just that."
"I know," he smiled, squeezing her hand, the peace between them mended, "General I'm ready," he said more to the room than the commanding man perched in the corner.
"Doctor?" Hammond looked toward Janet.
She smiled and nodded her approval.
"Okay, Mr Quinn." The General handed the proceedings over.
"Daniel, have you the stone Olmec gave you?"
Daniel nodded and brought it to the Kelownan, "thank you," he said and moved his hand across the pebble smiling, "Cassie."
The young woman placed her hand on top of his while their free hands touched palm-to-palm and as they connected, their eyes glazed over white.
A funnel of light opened from between them, like a bleached sunbeam and dancing in its centre was an array of ancient symbols.
"Daniel, place your hand into the light," Jonas requested.
Daniel studied the swirling text that doubled in his glasses, "me? Why me?"
"Because Olmec entrusted you with the stone."
Daniel looked towards Jack who shrugged and he placed his hand into mix.
The symbols eddied between his fingers, like water over rocks, stuttering for a few moments as they fell into his palm before the current of light took them back. This continued until one stayed upon his opened hand and began to pull others to its nucleus.
Daniel examined the letters in his grasp and found they had formed a word, "Niflhelm," he whispered and as the last syllable skipped from his lips the light folded into a glowing sphere that hovered above his hand.
"Nifhelm?" General Hammond enquired.
"It means 'house of mists'. According to Norse mythology it's a region of icy fogs and mist, situated at the lowest level of the universe. Helheim, the realm of death, is apart of this, this region as well as Nastrond, um, 'the shore of corpses'," Daniel offered, his eyes still drawn to the mass pulsating in his hand.
"Nice," Jack replied, "so warm clothing and holy water required, folks, anything else we need to know Daniel?"
"There's, there's also meant to be a dragon, Nidhogg, which eats the corpses of the dead."
"Right, so let's not forget the dragon slaying equipment, shall we?"
"Colonel," Sam said, "it is only a myth."
"I'll remind you, that you said that when we come face to face with old Nig, Nid, whatever."
"Yes sir," she said smiling.
Daniel handed the light to Jonas who told them, "this is where Olmec hid the key to the city."
"In the land of corpses! Hey, great hiding place there, ain't no way I'd every think of looking there." O'Neill said sarcastically then, "General, with your permission."
Hammond nodded.
=====
SG1 waited patiently as Cassandra manipulated the orb of light until it expanded into a doorway.
"Okay, let's do this," O'Neill said stepping into the light, "dragons beware," he continued with a quick wink in Carter's direction.
Teal'c and Sam followed with Daniel and Jonas taking up the rear.
Jack stepped out into a mausoleum of ice. Vast, irregular, glacier formations cast imposing shadows across the glistening floor. The air was still and hung with a haze of blue mist that captured the pattern of breath from his body. An eerie glow emanated from the walls of the cavern reflecting on the statues that littered the floor.
Jack turned, his ice shoes gripping the polished floor and watched the remaining members of his team come through the portal. He checked they were all present and correct before nodding to Jonas. The Kelownan spread his hand before the doorway and encapsulated it in his palm, putting the orb, it created, into his pocket for safekeeping.
Daniel gazed at the ceiling noticing a spread of vein like tendrils splitting its way though the tomb of ice. "The roots of Yggdrasil," he said softly, following their path along the walls to the ground.
Jack followed Daniel's gaze, "Ygg..."
"The great ash tree." Jonas said his words twisting in front of him, "whose branches spread all over the world and sky."
"Oh," Jack replied non the wiser, "okay, Daniel, Jonas do your thing, find this 'key'. Carter, Teal'c stay focused we don't want any surprises, large serpents, dragons, menacing dwarf or Orcs.
Daniel raised his eyebrows and Jack shrugged almost apologetically, "yeah, I saw the film, small guys, big feet, ring."
Sam shook her head and Teal'c nodded in agreement, "I will keep a special lookout for Orcs O'Neill," he said dryly.
"Jonas any ideas?" Daniel asked as he studied every icy crevasse.
"No, I'm sorry I can only sense an, an emptiness."
"What about the statues?" Jack said gesturing to the lifeless forms idly posturing around them.
Sam looked closer at one of the figures covered in incandescent hoar. "Sir," she said brushing the build-up of frost away with a gloved hand, "sir, this isn't a statue."
They all watched her work through the layers of rime until she revealed light, blue, flesh, "it's Jaffa," she said in astonishment as she exposed a bronze tattoo on its forehead.
"What could have done such a thing?" Asked Teal'c noticing there were no wounds on the warrior, just as the ground began to shake.
"You had to go and ask, T," O'Neill said, steadying himself as the floor started to fracture.
Carter took several, uneven, steps backwards as the ice split under her feet, "earthquake?" She asked above the noise of the tremors.
"No," came Jonas's hushed reply as he, too, began to retreat, "Nidhogg."
A large serpent uncoiled from a sizeable fissure ahead of them. Its broad, meandering, body shimmered with frost and luminescent pearl scales as it lifted its crested, dragon-like head to tower above them.
It took a deep, echoing, breath through its nostrils and looked down at SG1 through glowing crocodile eyes. Its mouth crooked menacingly, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth dripping with drool that fell as shards of glass to the floor.
"See, Carter, I told you so," Jack reiterated aiming his P90 at the 'dragon's' head.
Nidhogg eyed them cautiously before swaying back in one very fluid movement.
"Sir," Jonas said swallowing the lump caught in his throat, "its gonna."
Before he could finish the creature threw itself forward blowing a cloud of freezing, yellow, vapour from its mouth.
SG1 scattered as the harsh mist shattered on the floor before Teal'c missing its mark.
Both Jack and Daniel took cover behind a semi-fallen crystal pillar, Teal'c, taking Jonas with him, dived in the other direction finding shelter behind a massive root, and Sam for all her effort, lost her footing and fell, back toward the dragon.
Jack fired a few rounds at the beast, to distract it from Carter, but they just ricocheted off its scales and smashed into the cavern walls.
Nidhogg recoiled back getting ready to strike at the flailing figure of Sam.
"Shit," cried O'Neill just as Jonas ran from behind the root to help his fallen comrade.
"What the hell? Jonas," Jack cried, getting to his feet as both he and Teal'c simultaneously fired on the creature.
Jonas slid to where Sam was, pulling her to her feet with all his strengthen, just as the dragon-snake blew another pall of freezing breath.
The Kelownan put himself between Sam and the approaching haze and with his free hand protected them with a shield of light.
The creature's vapour surrounded Jonas and Sam but instead of freezing them, like the others, it congealed on the buffer of light and encased them in a dome of ice.
"Damn it," O'Neill said firing another round, "any ideas on how to destroy this thing, Daniel?" He shouted watching the dragon pick up, shake and then swallow a frozen corpse. "I don't want to end up a dragon's Popsicle," he reiterated.
Daniel looked around the room, again, "fire?" He guessed, thinking out loud and then he noticed something, odd.
"Cover me Jack," he said as he leapt to his feet.
"With what? I don't know if you've noticed." But Daniel was already running to the far end of the chamber.
"Teal'c," O'Neill shouted as they both commenced firing again.
Daniel halted by a frozen figure that was Japanese in appearance. The man was kneeling in the opposite direction to all the others as if he was unaware of his impending doom, as if he was drawn to something more important. His still, outstretched, hand hovered above the floor, reaching for something that he would never hold.
Daniel followed the dead man's reach and saw what had cost him his life. He knelt down and started to burrow through the loose, powdery, ice, with his hands, until he had freed the slender object. He stood up and held it aloft, feeling a slight tingle run through him.
The sword was like no other he had seen. Its metal was fluid and red like glowing fire and its hilt was a rough-cut crystal that filtered the weak light into a landscape rainbow; Daniel was mesmerized.
"Hey Daniel, Daniel!" Jack cried, trying to get the younger man's attention, "what you got there?"
"Fire, Jack, fire," he whispered, turning the weapon in his hand.
"What?" O'Neill shouted.
Daniel shook off the hypnotic effects of the sword as Jack's voice brought him back, "um, I think I've found something guys," he said running back toward them.
"Good, do you think that'll kill old, what's-his-face?" Jack asked.
Daniel threw himself down by the Jaffa as Nidhogg moved towards them, taking a head off another cadaver with a sickening crunch.
Teal'c examined the sword, "it is indeed a magnificent weapon, Daniel Jackson," he remarked.
"Yes but will it kill the you-know-what," Jack shouted across to them.
"I don't know, Jack, but what other options have we got?" Daniel replied.
"Okay, I'll distract it, Teal'c?"
"I will slay the beast, O'Neill," the Jaffa said with a slight nod of his head.
"Right, on." But before he could finish the pillar protecting them started to crumble as Nidhogg knocked it with its head causing Jack to throw himself out into the open.
"Oh crap," the Colonel said, looking up at the poised body of the dragon.
The creature breathed in, Jack raised his weapon, their eyes locking momentarily and as Nidhogg started to exhale Teal'c thrust the sword into its body.
There was a great gush of steam as the blade forged itself in the creature's body, throwing Teal'c from his feet.
The creature flicked its head down to where the sword was lodged in an effort to remove it. The Jaffa sprang back up, pulling the sword from its resting place just as the dragon's jaws snapped at the empty wound.
The beast backed away keeping both O'Neill and Teal'c in its sights and prepared to unleash another cloud of ice.
As it drew breath, Teal'c went to strike again but the beast was ready for the attack and caught him in the coils of its tail that had unravelled from the breaking ice. The creature tightened its grip, slowly crushing the Jaffa, squeezing the air from his body. Teal'c fought against the pressure and in his struggle let go of the sword. It then released a vapour cloud in O'Neill's direction but the Colonel saw it coming and dived behind the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas.
Daniel ran out into the open to pick up the fallen sword but Nidhogg noticed his movement and brought his head down clipping Daniel's shoulder. The force of the blow caused him to roll across the ice into a shallow crevasse not far from O'Neill. A hot pain shot through his arm as put his weight on it, in an effort to stand, and he fell back into the hollow.
"Jack," he shouted and with his good arm threw the sword across the floor to the Colonel.
O'Neill collected the sword and hurled it towards the dragon's neck as the creature dipped down to find Daniel. The tip penetrated the armour of scales surrounding its throat but it hung loosely, where it had connected, doing little damage.
"Damn," O'Neill spat.
The beast instinctively lifted its tail to brush the object away forgetting that Teal'c was still held there. The Jaffa saw his opportunity and grabbed the crystal hilt of the sword and pushed it forcefully into the dragon's gullet. A powerful spray of life fluid escaped from the fatal gash expelling the sword to the ground below. The beast's great head thrashed backward as it writhed in agony loosening its grip on Teal'c and dropping him to the floor.
The Jaffa picked himself up and quickly ran out of the way as the dragon sank, unceremoniously, to the floor.
The creature closed its eyes as the last breath fell from its body in a thick, dramatic gurgle and all around a clear, gelatinous, liquid pooled, oozing from its neck.
Teal'c helped Daniel, carefully, out of the hole before picking up the fallen weapon that was lying on the ice. He noticed it had changed, the metal had become solid and the fire had turned into a pattern on its blade.
Jack joined him and patted Teal'c on the back, "you okay T?" he enquired.
"I am fine O'Neill," he nodded, "but I think Dr Jackson is in need of some attention."
Jack turned to younger man sat on the lip of an icy hollow, "Daniel?"
Daniel held his good hand up, "I think I've dislocated my shoulder," he winced.
Jack made a face in sympathy and then turned to the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas. He knocked it with his fist, "its rock solid," he said.
"Try this O'Neill," Teal'c said, handing him the sword.
Jack looked down at the weapon, shrugged and then tapped the sword lightly on the crust of the dome. The rime crumbled into fine particles revealing two icy figures huddled together for warmth.
"Hey Carter," Jack said softly, as he wiped the fragments of frost from her shivering form, "we've killed you a dragon."
"Sir," she coughed, getting to her feet with help from the Colonel.
"Jonas?" Jack enquired, watching Teal'c help the Kelownan to stand.
"I'm fine, sir," he replied shuddering with cold.
"You know, you could have been killed?" Jack chided.
"I, I." Jonas began to stutter but Jack gave him a quick grin and the younger man relaxed into a smile that faded quickly.
"Hey Jonas?" O'Neill asked, concerned, as a shaft of light, stemming from the dragon, hit the Kelownan's body.
Jonas's eyes glazed over and the sword, which O'Neill had discarded, flew into his hand. He walked, in a trance, over to the creature's carcass and stabbed its body once more.
"Hey Jonas, its okay, the thing's dead," Jack told him.
Where the sword had pieced the skin, the body started to freeze and rupture in a spread of spider web cracks until the whole carcass shattered like a great cathedral window.
Jonas stepped into Nidhogg's remains and picked something out from the debris and handed it to Jack, "Olmec's key," he whispered returning to normal.
O'Neill looked at him and then at the large, glittering, diamond in his hand. It was as big as a baseball, flawless and shaped in a 'Round Brilliant' cut, except the culet (tip), which instead of being pointed, was squared off. "Wow," he said handing it to Sam, "this doesn't mean we're engaged or anything, Carter" he added.
She took the stone and held it, high, in her hand watching the light transform off its polished surface.
"Wow," Daniel echoed as the colours swarmed and danced like crazy ants.
"I need to get the portal ready," Jonas said stepping away from them into the shadows.
========
Jonas walked away from the others and found a secluded spot. He felt Olmec knowledge wash over his body and he began the ancient rite it had set.
He looked at the sword in his hand and raised it before him cutting through the mist in the chamber. A soft breeze swirled around the weapon carrying a small amount of vapour into its crystal hilt where it became trapped, "air," Jonas said softly.
The haze weaved its way along the flames embedded in the metal making them glow with a temperate heat. "Fire", he whispered.
Jonas ran the blade, gently, through one of the smaller roots of the Word Tree that clung to the wall beside him. A dusty deposit smeared the brilliance of the metal, melting into the blade, staining it bronze, "earth."
He then knelt on the floor and coated the sword, evenly, in the glutinous residue that had seeped from the dragon, "water."
Jonas closed his eyes and gripped the cold crystal hilt with both hands, pointing the sword out in front of him. He felt the four elements charge, surging through him as they drew on each other's energy. Several snakes of lightening discharged from his inner being and struck the tip of the blade, transforming the metal into a white energy.
Jonas freed one hand and held the sword above him as it slowly diminished into quivering particles of light that disappeared into his palm.
======
More to come...
Thanks to CT for making sure there were no large oranges in the text
Hope you enjoy the trip..
==================
Cassie led Jonas back to the infirmary, holding his hand in support.
General Hammond spoke first, concern rounding his words, "son, we can continue this tomorrow, there's no need to carry on today."
Jonas looked into the faces of his team mates and sighed the weight off his heart, "General, sir, we don't have much time. You have to realise that this is not just a Goa'uld you are taking on. Ragnarok and Anubis's actions have given more power to the shadows in the universe."
"Okay, Jonas, I'll bite," Jack replied.
An understanding spread across Daniel's face, "it's the balance thing, again."
It was Jack's turn to sigh. "Yeah, well, I've heard that before, still no clearer here Daniel."
Daniel smiled slightly and rubbed his eyebrow, "Jack, if there are those ascended." He began.
"Then there have to be those who have, descended?" Sam finished.
"Like demons and stuff?" O'Neill added.
Jonas worked the back of his neck and sat down. He picked up Janet's discarded pen and began to toy with it as he thought, heavily, on his next words. "Colonel, we all have a darkness in our souls, a small voice that whispers sinister deeds in the background of our thoughts, which most of us choose to ignore. But when the universal balance has been tipped, the shadows get hungrier and the voice becomes a little louder in us all. An ancient 'evil', born with the universe, feeds on this and is using Ragnarok and Anubis as its tool to grow stronger."
Sam walked to where Jonas was sitting and pulled up a stool next to the Kelownan, "the little girl, Mia?"
He looked at her for a second and then turned his gaze away, "that was not my sister. Just a," he looked toward Jack for inspiration, " 'demon' feeding on my sorrow, using my insecurities to weaken what Olmec passed on." He looked at Sam, again, to explain, "I was meant to be looking after her, she ran off into the crowd to get the balloon, I couldn't keep up."
Sam laid a comforting hand on his arm, "it wasn't your fault Jonas."
The Kelownan shrugged.
"Jonas", General Hammond asked, "if we destroy Ragnarok and Anubis will it stop this, this 'shadow'?"
Jonas gave the older man a gentle smile, "it can only help sir."
"Do you think you can continue?" Hammond looked at the Kelownan, noticing a small amount of blood fall from his nose, "Doctor?"
Janet went over to Jonas while the others milled around the infirmary. "You know Jonas, you can give it a rest for today," she said.
"I'm fine," he replied, moving her hand away to stop the examination.
"Jonas stop pushing me away, I'm still your doctor if not your friend," she pleaded.
A guilty look crossed his face and he massaged his temples, "I'm sorry," he said softly, taking her hand in his, "you'll always be my friend, Janet."
"I know," she whispered her heart stretching a little in her chest, "it's just that."
"I know," he smiled, squeezing her hand, the peace between them mended, "General I'm ready," he said more to the room than the commanding man perched in the corner.
"Doctor?" Hammond looked toward Janet.
She smiled and nodded her approval.
"Okay, Mr Quinn." The General handed the proceedings over.
"Daniel, have you the stone Olmec gave you?"
Daniel nodded and brought it to the Kelownan, "thank you," he said and moved his hand across the pebble smiling, "Cassie."
The young woman placed her hand on top of his while their free hands touched palm-to-palm and as they connected, their eyes glazed over white.
A funnel of light opened from between them, like a bleached sunbeam and dancing in its centre was an array of ancient symbols.
"Daniel, place your hand into the light," Jonas requested.
Daniel studied the swirling text that doubled in his glasses, "me? Why me?"
"Because Olmec entrusted you with the stone."
Daniel looked towards Jack who shrugged and he placed his hand into mix.
The symbols eddied between his fingers, like water over rocks, stuttering for a few moments as they fell into his palm before the current of light took them back. This continued until one stayed upon his opened hand and began to pull others to its nucleus.
Daniel examined the letters in his grasp and found they had formed a word, "Niflhelm," he whispered and as the last syllable skipped from his lips the light folded into a glowing sphere that hovered above his hand.
"Nifhelm?" General Hammond enquired.
"It means 'house of mists'. According to Norse mythology it's a region of icy fogs and mist, situated at the lowest level of the universe. Helheim, the realm of death, is apart of this, this region as well as Nastrond, um, 'the shore of corpses'," Daniel offered, his eyes still drawn to the mass pulsating in his hand.
"Nice," Jack replied, "so warm clothing and holy water required, folks, anything else we need to know Daniel?"
"There's, there's also meant to be a dragon, Nidhogg, which eats the corpses of the dead."
"Right, so let's not forget the dragon slaying equipment, shall we?"
"Colonel," Sam said, "it is only a myth."
"I'll remind you, that you said that when we come face to face with old Nig, Nid, whatever."
"Yes sir," she said smiling.
Daniel handed the light to Jonas who told them, "this is where Olmec hid the key to the city."
"In the land of corpses! Hey, great hiding place there, ain't no way I'd every think of looking there." O'Neill said sarcastically then, "General, with your permission."
Hammond nodded.
=====
SG1 waited patiently as Cassandra manipulated the orb of light until it expanded into a doorway.
"Okay, let's do this," O'Neill said stepping into the light, "dragons beware," he continued with a quick wink in Carter's direction.
Teal'c and Sam followed with Daniel and Jonas taking up the rear.
Jack stepped out into a mausoleum of ice. Vast, irregular, glacier formations cast imposing shadows across the glistening floor. The air was still and hung with a haze of blue mist that captured the pattern of breath from his body. An eerie glow emanated from the walls of the cavern reflecting on the statues that littered the floor.
Jack turned, his ice shoes gripping the polished floor and watched the remaining members of his team come through the portal. He checked they were all present and correct before nodding to Jonas. The Kelownan spread his hand before the doorway and encapsulated it in his palm, putting the orb, it created, into his pocket for safekeeping.
Daniel gazed at the ceiling noticing a spread of vein like tendrils splitting its way though the tomb of ice. "The roots of Yggdrasil," he said softly, following their path along the walls to the ground.
Jack followed Daniel's gaze, "Ygg..."
"The great ash tree." Jonas said his words twisting in front of him, "whose branches spread all over the world and sky."
"Oh," Jack replied non the wiser, "okay, Daniel, Jonas do your thing, find this 'key'. Carter, Teal'c stay focused we don't want any surprises, large serpents, dragons, menacing dwarf or Orcs.
Daniel raised his eyebrows and Jack shrugged almost apologetically, "yeah, I saw the film, small guys, big feet, ring."
Sam shook her head and Teal'c nodded in agreement, "I will keep a special lookout for Orcs O'Neill," he said dryly.
"Jonas any ideas?" Daniel asked as he studied every icy crevasse.
"No, I'm sorry I can only sense an, an emptiness."
"What about the statues?" Jack said gesturing to the lifeless forms idly posturing around them.
Sam looked closer at one of the figures covered in incandescent hoar. "Sir," she said brushing the build-up of frost away with a gloved hand, "sir, this isn't a statue."
They all watched her work through the layers of rime until she revealed light, blue, flesh, "it's Jaffa," she said in astonishment as she exposed a bronze tattoo on its forehead.
"What could have done such a thing?" Asked Teal'c noticing there were no wounds on the warrior, just as the ground began to shake.
"You had to go and ask, T," O'Neill said, steadying himself as the floor started to fracture.
Carter took several, uneven, steps backwards as the ice split under her feet, "earthquake?" She asked above the noise of the tremors.
"No," came Jonas's hushed reply as he, too, began to retreat, "Nidhogg."
A large serpent uncoiled from a sizeable fissure ahead of them. Its broad, meandering, body shimmered with frost and luminescent pearl scales as it lifted its crested, dragon-like head to tower above them.
It took a deep, echoing, breath through its nostrils and looked down at SG1 through glowing crocodile eyes. Its mouth crooked menacingly, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth dripping with drool that fell as shards of glass to the floor.
"See, Carter, I told you so," Jack reiterated aiming his P90 at the 'dragon's' head.
Nidhogg eyed them cautiously before swaying back in one very fluid movement.
"Sir," Jonas said swallowing the lump caught in his throat, "its gonna."
Before he could finish the creature threw itself forward blowing a cloud of freezing, yellow, vapour from its mouth.
SG1 scattered as the harsh mist shattered on the floor before Teal'c missing its mark.
Both Jack and Daniel took cover behind a semi-fallen crystal pillar, Teal'c, taking Jonas with him, dived in the other direction finding shelter behind a massive root, and Sam for all her effort, lost her footing and fell, back toward the dragon.
Jack fired a few rounds at the beast, to distract it from Carter, but they just ricocheted off its scales and smashed into the cavern walls.
Nidhogg recoiled back getting ready to strike at the flailing figure of Sam.
"Shit," cried O'Neill just as Jonas ran from behind the root to help his fallen comrade.
"What the hell? Jonas," Jack cried, getting to his feet as both he and Teal'c simultaneously fired on the creature.
Jonas slid to where Sam was, pulling her to her feet with all his strengthen, just as the dragon-snake blew another pall of freezing breath.
The Kelownan put himself between Sam and the approaching haze and with his free hand protected them with a shield of light.
The creature's vapour surrounded Jonas and Sam but instead of freezing them, like the others, it congealed on the buffer of light and encased them in a dome of ice.
"Damn it," O'Neill said firing another round, "any ideas on how to destroy this thing, Daniel?" He shouted watching the dragon pick up, shake and then swallow a frozen corpse. "I don't want to end up a dragon's Popsicle," he reiterated.
Daniel looked around the room, again, "fire?" He guessed, thinking out loud and then he noticed something, odd.
"Cover me Jack," he said as he leapt to his feet.
"With what? I don't know if you've noticed." But Daniel was already running to the far end of the chamber.
"Teal'c," O'Neill shouted as they both commenced firing again.
Daniel halted by a frozen figure that was Japanese in appearance. The man was kneeling in the opposite direction to all the others as if he was unaware of his impending doom, as if he was drawn to something more important. His still, outstretched, hand hovered above the floor, reaching for something that he would never hold.
Daniel followed the dead man's reach and saw what had cost him his life. He knelt down and started to burrow through the loose, powdery, ice, with his hands, until he had freed the slender object. He stood up and held it aloft, feeling a slight tingle run through him.
The sword was like no other he had seen. Its metal was fluid and red like glowing fire and its hilt was a rough-cut crystal that filtered the weak light into a landscape rainbow; Daniel was mesmerized.
"Hey Daniel, Daniel!" Jack cried, trying to get the younger man's attention, "what you got there?"
"Fire, Jack, fire," he whispered, turning the weapon in his hand.
"What?" O'Neill shouted.
Daniel shook off the hypnotic effects of the sword as Jack's voice brought him back, "um, I think I've found something guys," he said running back toward them.
"Good, do you think that'll kill old, what's-his-face?" Jack asked.
Daniel threw himself down by the Jaffa as Nidhogg moved towards them, taking a head off another cadaver with a sickening crunch.
Teal'c examined the sword, "it is indeed a magnificent weapon, Daniel Jackson," he remarked.
"Yes but will it kill the you-know-what," Jack shouted across to them.
"I don't know, Jack, but what other options have we got?" Daniel replied.
"Okay, I'll distract it, Teal'c?"
"I will slay the beast, O'Neill," the Jaffa said with a slight nod of his head.
"Right, on." But before he could finish the pillar protecting them started to crumble as Nidhogg knocked it with its head causing Jack to throw himself out into the open.
"Oh crap," the Colonel said, looking up at the poised body of the dragon.
The creature breathed in, Jack raised his weapon, their eyes locking momentarily and as Nidhogg started to exhale Teal'c thrust the sword into its body.
There was a great gush of steam as the blade forged itself in the creature's body, throwing Teal'c from his feet.
The creature flicked its head down to where the sword was lodged in an effort to remove it. The Jaffa sprang back up, pulling the sword from its resting place just as the dragon's jaws snapped at the empty wound.
The beast backed away keeping both O'Neill and Teal'c in its sights and prepared to unleash another cloud of ice.
As it drew breath, Teal'c went to strike again but the beast was ready for the attack and caught him in the coils of its tail that had unravelled from the breaking ice. The creature tightened its grip, slowly crushing the Jaffa, squeezing the air from his body. Teal'c fought against the pressure and in his struggle let go of the sword. It then released a vapour cloud in O'Neill's direction but the Colonel saw it coming and dived behind the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas.
Daniel ran out into the open to pick up the fallen sword but Nidhogg noticed his movement and brought his head down clipping Daniel's shoulder. The force of the blow caused him to roll across the ice into a shallow crevasse not far from O'Neill. A hot pain shot through his arm as put his weight on it, in an effort to stand, and he fell back into the hollow.
"Jack," he shouted and with his good arm threw the sword across the floor to the Colonel.
O'Neill collected the sword and hurled it towards the dragon's neck as the creature dipped down to find Daniel. The tip penetrated the armour of scales surrounding its throat but it hung loosely, where it had connected, doing little damage.
"Damn," O'Neill spat.
The beast instinctively lifted its tail to brush the object away forgetting that Teal'c was still held there. The Jaffa saw his opportunity and grabbed the crystal hilt of the sword and pushed it forcefully into the dragon's gullet. A powerful spray of life fluid escaped from the fatal gash expelling the sword to the ground below. The beast's great head thrashed backward as it writhed in agony loosening its grip on Teal'c and dropping him to the floor.
The Jaffa picked himself up and quickly ran out of the way as the dragon sank, unceremoniously, to the floor.
The creature closed its eyes as the last breath fell from its body in a thick, dramatic gurgle and all around a clear, gelatinous, liquid pooled, oozing from its neck.
Teal'c helped Daniel, carefully, out of the hole before picking up the fallen weapon that was lying on the ice. He noticed it had changed, the metal had become solid and the fire had turned into a pattern on its blade.
Jack joined him and patted Teal'c on the back, "you okay T?" he enquired.
"I am fine O'Neill," he nodded, "but I think Dr Jackson is in need of some attention."
Jack turned to younger man sat on the lip of an icy hollow, "Daniel?"
Daniel held his good hand up, "I think I've dislocated my shoulder," he winced.
Jack made a face in sympathy and then turned to the dome of ice that held Sam and Jonas. He knocked it with his fist, "its rock solid," he said.
"Try this O'Neill," Teal'c said, handing him the sword.
Jack looked down at the weapon, shrugged and then tapped the sword lightly on the crust of the dome. The rime crumbled into fine particles revealing two icy figures huddled together for warmth.
"Hey Carter," Jack said softly, as he wiped the fragments of frost from her shivering form, "we've killed you a dragon."
"Sir," she coughed, getting to her feet with help from the Colonel.
"Jonas?" Jack enquired, watching Teal'c help the Kelownan to stand.
"I'm fine, sir," he replied shuddering with cold.
"You know, you could have been killed?" Jack chided.
"I, I." Jonas began to stutter but Jack gave him a quick grin and the younger man relaxed into a smile that faded quickly.
"Hey Jonas?" O'Neill asked, concerned, as a shaft of light, stemming from the dragon, hit the Kelownan's body.
Jonas's eyes glazed over and the sword, which O'Neill had discarded, flew into his hand. He walked, in a trance, over to the creature's carcass and stabbed its body once more.
"Hey Jonas, its okay, the thing's dead," Jack told him.
Where the sword had pieced the skin, the body started to freeze and rupture in a spread of spider web cracks until the whole carcass shattered like a great cathedral window.
Jonas stepped into Nidhogg's remains and picked something out from the debris and handed it to Jack, "Olmec's key," he whispered returning to normal.
O'Neill looked at him and then at the large, glittering, diamond in his hand. It was as big as a baseball, flawless and shaped in a 'Round Brilliant' cut, except the culet (tip), which instead of being pointed, was squared off. "Wow," he said handing it to Sam, "this doesn't mean we're engaged or anything, Carter" he added.
She took the stone and held it, high, in her hand watching the light transform off its polished surface.
"Wow," Daniel echoed as the colours swarmed and danced like crazy ants.
"I need to get the portal ready," Jonas said stepping away from them into the shadows.
========
Jonas walked away from the others and found a secluded spot. He felt Olmec knowledge wash over his body and he began the ancient rite it had set.
He looked at the sword in his hand and raised it before him cutting through the mist in the chamber. A soft breeze swirled around the weapon carrying a small amount of vapour into its crystal hilt where it became trapped, "air," Jonas said softly.
The haze weaved its way along the flames embedded in the metal making them glow with a temperate heat. "Fire", he whispered.
Jonas ran the blade, gently, through one of the smaller roots of the Word Tree that clung to the wall beside him. A dusty deposit smeared the brilliance of the metal, melting into the blade, staining it bronze, "earth."
He then knelt on the floor and coated the sword, evenly, in the glutinous residue that had seeped from the dragon, "water."
Jonas closed his eyes and gripped the cold crystal hilt with both hands, pointing the sword out in front of him. He felt the four elements charge, surging through him as they drew on each other's energy. Several snakes of lightening discharged from his inner being and struck the tip of the blade, transforming the metal into a white energy.
Jonas freed one hand and held the sword above him as it slowly diminished into quivering particles of light that disappeared into his palm.
======
More to come...
