Here we go: Chapter Three, the most violent one so far. But it's not /that/
bad, really.
Oh, and I'm afraid there's not much of the magic VS science stuff here - but there should be plenty in Chapter 4, when I get that done.
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The sight before them was depressing, almost overwhelming.
In the blood-red light of Lunitari, the surrounding ruins seemed to be teeming with dark shapes. It was impossible to tell how many there were, but it could well have been a whole regiment. Luckily, all the attackers seemed to be of the same breed, the smallest race of draconians.
"I don't understand!" Tanis whispered hurriedly to Raistlin. "Why are they attacking like this? If they're looking for the blue crystal staff... it just doesn't make sense!"
The mage shook his head to the half-elf. He didn't have any idea either. It really didn't make any sense. Draconians were not stupid, and randomly attacking people when it was no use to them was definitely not their way of doing things.
The two groups didn't even have the time to look for cover this time - besides, it would hardly have helped, because the draconians had already seen them all. Nevertheless, the Stargate team did seem to have some sort of a plan.
"Daniel, dial us home. We'll cover for you," Jack called out sharply, not caring whether the enemies heard or not.
The companions had no idea of what the four strangers were doing. Daniel approached a stand of some kind that was some distance away from the Stargate. The draconians had already reached it as well, but the rest of the Gate team begun firing at them with their strange weapons, driving them farther from it.
Since the four humans only seemed to be taking care of Daniel and whatever it was that he was doing, the companions were left on their own - in real trouble. There were draconians approaching from almost every direction. Tanis had stepped back a bit and grabbed his bow, trying to stop some of the enemies before they got near. Sturm had called his knight's salute, and had already felled two enemies, but it hardly seemed to make any difference. Flint was grumbling as he waved his axe, since Tas was hopping alongside him, using his hoopak as both a staff and a sling, and explaining something all the time.
Caramon stood in front of Raistlin, protecting him, waiting for him to begin his spell casting. For a passing moment, the mage hesitated. But then again, he really didn't have much choice. He closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate on his spell.
Daniel had finished dialing the address and was about to push the central orb to activate the Gate, when something hit his backpack with such force that he was flung aside. The pack was slit open, its contents falling to the ground. And then, before he had the time to defend himself, the claws struck again, this time ripping through jacket, shirt and skin. He couldn't help crying out, as he lurched forward.
"Daniel!" Jack called out. "Dammit! Carter, go to the DHD. I'll take care of him," he commanded, gun already pointed at the draconian that was standing over Daniel, who was prone on the ground.
The draconians had now literally surrounded the party. They had even stepped on the ramp, between the Stargate and the group. Tas and Flint were away from the sight of the others, somewhere among the mass of enemies. Tanis had grasped his sword and was fighting side to side with Sturm. The two were separated from Caramon and Raistlin, who were the nearest to the Gate.
Sam was standing at the DHD, but she was much more wary than Daniel as she punched the buttons - she kept stopping to glance around, and to fire at any enemies who had gotten too near despite Teal'c's continuous struggle to keep them away.
The draconian who had attacked Daniel was now lying next to the man, at some distance from the DHD, and Jack was standing next to him, trying to stop more draconians from coming near. But no matter how many lizard-men fell to the ground, there always seemed to be more to come.
All of a sudden, everyone and everything stopped and fell silent. Raistlin's spell took effect; a sticky web spread out to entangle a large number of the attacking beasts. In the exact same moment, there was a whooshing sound from the Gate, caused by a blue wave that surged out of the ring. The draconians that were caught in it vanished from sight, save for a few pairs of clawed feet.
The net had hardly had the time to fall all the way down when Raistlin fell to his knees, coughing and breathing hard. He didn't notice how the stone ring was now filled with a shimmering, liquid-like substance. But the mage had just understood something important: he knew what the draconians were after! Cursing his weakness, completely unable to speak, he nevertheless whisked away a worried Caramon.
"Carter, Teal'c! Go!" Jack yelled, gesturing at the Gate. Daniel was leaning heavily on him. They had tried to move away from the worst fighting, but instead had only placed themselves so far from Raistlin's web that they were still nearly surrounded by draconians. Carter and Teal'c, on the other hand, had a clear passage to the portal.
The woman and the jaffa ran towards the open Gate, but were stopped by Caramon. The tall man stood on the ramp, blocking the way. He was now carrying Raistlin, who had finally passed out, no matter how hard he had tried and wanted to stay awake.
"Where are you going?" Caramon rumbled at the two others, worried that they were just going to flee and leave the others behind.
"Back to our home world, so we can get help. We're not going to abandon Daniel and the colonel," Sam replied quickly. Teal'c pushed Caramon aside to reach the Gate - even the muscular warrior was unable to resist the strong jaffa. Carter followed him quickly.
"Now, just you wait! We're coming with you!" Caramon exclaimed, and ran after them, still carrying Raistlin. He didn't even stop when the two disappeared into the rippling, blue matter, but went in right behind them. They had just passed through, when the surface dissolved, leaving the stone ring empty and lifeless again.
"Where did they go?" Sturm uttered to Tanis. He was suspicious of anything that had to do with magic, so this odd portal appeared extremely dubious to him.
Tanis shook his head. "I don't know, but I hope they'll come back, and bring others." The half-elf looked towards where the two humans were standing. They were now completely surrounded by the beasts, so that he could only just see their heads. "If we keep fighting, we'll just get ourselves killed," he noted bitterly. Then Jack cast a glance at him, and as their eyes met, he knew that they were thinking the same thing. Tanis placed a hand on Sturm's shoulder. "Drop your sword, friend."
Both Jack and Tanis let their weapons fall and raised their hands in a gesture of surrender. To their surprise, the draconians stopped fighting almost instantly. They formed a circle around the four remaining defenders, and just stood there, glaring at the three humans and the half-elf with their cold eyes.
A draconian who was dressed as a cleric entered the circle. "Strange. I would have expected stronger resistance. Not something quite as... Haphazard as you," he hissed at the four. Then, he addressed the troops in their reptilian tongue. Apparently following his orders, several draconians stepped out of the circle to tie the feet and hands of their captives, and to carry them away from the Stargate.
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If you've made it this far, please do write a review! Even a short one will make me happy, though the longer, the better. ;-) And any suggestions and ideas on how to make the story better are of course welcome.
Oh, and I'm afraid there's not much of the magic VS science stuff here - but there should be plenty in Chapter 4, when I get that done.
***********************
The sight before them was depressing, almost overwhelming.
In the blood-red light of Lunitari, the surrounding ruins seemed to be teeming with dark shapes. It was impossible to tell how many there were, but it could well have been a whole regiment. Luckily, all the attackers seemed to be of the same breed, the smallest race of draconians.
"I don't understand!" Tanis whispered hurriedly to Raistlin. "Why are they attacking like this? If they're looking for the blue crystal staff... it just doesn't make sense!"
The mage shook his head to the half-elf. He didn't have any idea either. It really didn't make any sense. Draconians were not stupid, and randomly attacking people when it was no use to them was definitely not their way of doing things.
The two groups didn't even have the time to look for cover this time - besides, it would hardly have helped, because the draconians had already seen them all. Nevertheless, the Stargate team did seem to have some sort of a plan.
"Daniel, dial us home. We'll cover for you," Jack called out sharply, not caring whether the enemies heard or not.
The companions had no idea of what the four strangers were doing. Daniel approached a stand of some kind that was some distance away from the Stargate. The draconians had already reached it as well, but the rest of the Gate team begun firing at them with their strange weapons, driving them farther from it.
Since the four humans only seemed to be taking care of Daniel and whatever it was that he was doing, the companions were left on their own - in real trouble. There were draconians approaching from almost every direction. Tanis had stepped back a bit and grabbed his bow, trying to stop some of the enemies before they got near. Sturm had called his knight's salute, and had already felled two enemies, but it hardly seemed to make any difference. Flint was grumbling as he waved his axe, since Tas was hopping alongside him, using his hoopak as both a staff and a sling, and explaining something all the time.
Caramon stood in front of Raistlin, protecting him, waiting for him to begin his spell casting. For a passing moment, the mage hesitated. But then again, he really didn't have much choice. He closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate on his spell.
Daniel had finished dialing the address and was about to push the central orb to activate the Gate, when something hit his backpack with such force that he was flung aside. The pack was slit open, its contents falling to the ground. And then, before he had the time to defend himself, the claws struck again, this time ripping through jacket, shirt and skin. He couldn't help crying out, as he lurched forward.
"Daniel!" Jack called out. "Dammit! Carter, go to the DHD. I'll take care of him," he commanded, gun already pointed at the draconian that was standing over Daniel, who was prone on the ground.
The draconians had now literally surrounded the party. They had even stepped on the ramp, between the Stargate and the group. Tas and Flint were away from the sight of the others, somewhere among the mass of enemies. Tanis had grasped his sword and was fighting side to side with Sturm. The two were separated from Caramon and Raistlin, who were the nearest to the Gate.
Sam was standing at the DHD, but she was much more wary than Daniel as she punched the buttons - she kept stopping to glance around, and to fire at any enemies who had gotten too near despite Teal'c's continuous struggle to keep them away.
The draconian who had attacked Daniel was now lying next to the man, at some distance from the DHD, and Jack was standing next to him, trying to stop more draconians from coming near. But no matter how many lizard-men fell to the ground, there always seemed to be more to come.
All of a sudden, everyone and everything stopped and fell silent. Raistlin's spell took effect; a sticky web spread out to entangle a large number of the attacking beasts. In the exact same moment, there was a whooshing sound from the Gate, caused by a blue wave that surged out of the ring. The draconians that were caught in it vanished from sight, save for a few pairs of clawed feet.
The net had hardly had the time to fall all the way down when Raistlin fell to his knees, coughing and breathing hard. He didn't notice how the stone ring was now filled with a shimmering, liquid-like substance. But the mage had just understood something important: he knew what the draconians were after! Cursing his weakness, completely unable to speak, he nevertheless whisked away a worried Caramon.
"Carter, Teal'c! Go!" Jack yelled, gesturing at the Gate. Daniel was leaning heavily on him. They had tried to move away from the worst fighting, but instead had only placed themselves so far from Raistlin's web that they were still nearly surrounded by draconians. Carter and Teal'c, on the other hand, had a clear passage to the portal.
The woman and the jaffa ran towards the open Gate, but were stopped by Caramon. The tall man stood on the ramp, blocking the way. He was now carrying Raistlin, who had finally passed out, no matter how hard he had tried and wanted to stay awake.
"Where are you going?" Caramon rumbled at the two others, worried that they were just going to flee and leave the others behind.
"Back to our home world, so we can get help. We're not going to abandon Daniel and the colonel," Sam replied quickly. Teal'c pushed Caramon aside to reach the Gate - even the muscular warrior was unable to resist the strong jaffa. Carter followed him quickly.
"Now, just you wait! We're coming with you!" Caramon exclaimed, and ran after them, still carrying Raistlin. He didn't even stop when the two disappeared into the rippling, blue matter, but went in right behind them. They had just passed through, when the surface dissolved, leaving the stone ring empty and lifeless again.
"Where did they go?" Sturm uttered to Tanis. He was suspicious of anything that had to do with magic, so this odd portal appeared extremely dubious to him.
Tanis shook his head. "I don't know, but I hope they'll come back, and bring others." The half-elf looked towards where the two humans were standing. They were now completely surrounded by the beasts, so that he could only just see their heads. "If we keep fighting, we'll just get ourselves killed," he noted bitterly. Then Jack cast a glance at him, and as their eyes met, he knew that they were thinking the same thing. Tanis placed a hand on Sturm's shoulder. "Drop your sword, friend."
Both Jack and Tanis let their weapons fall and raised their hands in a gesture of surrender. To their surprise, the draconians stopped fighting almost instantly. They formed a circle around the four remaining defenders, and just stood there, glaring at the three humans and the half-elf with their cold eyes.
A draconian who was dressed as a cleric entered the circle. "Strange. I would have expected stronger resistance. Not something quite as... Haphazard as you," he hissed at the four. Then, he addressed the troops in their reptilian tongue. Apparently following his orders, several draconians stepped out of the circle to tie the feet and hands of their captives, and to carry them away from the Stargate.
***********************
If you've made it this far, please do write a review! Even a short one will make me happy, though the longer, the better. ;-) And any suggestions and ideas on how to make the story better are of course welcome.