In his dream, two wizards came to him.
Both were clad in robes of white, although the first one's were so shabby that they looked more like grey, while the second one had a silvery sheen about him. Topping the tangled hair of the shabby mage was a beaten, old hat - the silvery one had long, smooth, white hair. Looming behind him, vague as shadows, were two other figures, a beautiful red-haired lady in red and an intense-looking, raven-haired man in night-black robes.
He was certain that the two were mages, although he didn't know why. And no matter what the two white wizards looked like, he also knew for certain that the bedraggled man was the older one. The ageless, silvery figure was younger, and perhaps somehow answerable to the older mage.
"Daniel Jackson of the Tau'ri," the shabby wizard spoke in a surprisingly deep voice. It was not a question, but a statement - yet how could this strange old man know his name? They had certainly never met before. He did not dare to reply, but kept staring.
This had to be a dream. He couldn't even see where they were standing. Instead, it looked as if they were floating among clouds in a dark-blue, starless sky. Still, the people in front of him were amazingly real, and his mind was clear. He tried to tell himself to wake up, tried to pinch himself, but it didn't help.
***
"All right. So, we're basically surrounded by lizard men and our hands are feet are tied so we can hardly move. What can we do?" Jack begun sulkily.
They had went through the same conversation several times already. Jack would assure the strangers that he still didn't know anything of the "draconians", as they called the lizards, and that he didn't know why they attacked. Then Tanis and Sturm would tell that they had met draconians before, but that this behaviour was strange even from them. Jack would ask for any escape plans, and they would spend a moment in silence.
"I said it before - the first step on our way out of here is to get rid of these bindings," the half-elf declared. "If only we had something sharp - a knife, or a rock, anything!" But they didn't. The lizards had been extremely careful. All their weapons had been taken away, and the spot where they sat was covered with downtrodden grass.
Jack sighed and shook his head. "We're not getting anywhere here. I guess I'd better check on Daniel, he's been unusually quiet..."
***
An alarming thought woke up in Daniel's racing mind.
What if he was dead?
That would actually explain a lot, like the clouds surrounding him, and these strange ancient figures who knew his name, though didn't seem very talkative. Well, he could save them the trouble of speaking and ask for himself.
"Am I dead?" he uttered, his voice sounding weak and timid compared to the deep tone of the shabby mage.
"Of course not!" the grey wizard replied quickly, sounding rather irritated. "If you were dead, we would not bother talking to you."
"Umm... Well, you haven't been talking that much now, either..."
"We have been thinking, for what we are going ask of you, what we are going to offer, has never happened before," the silvery mage suddenly spoke up in a melodious voice. The two figures behind him nodded in accord.
"Fine... So, you know my name - won't you tell me yours?"
"You would not understand," the shimmering wizard replied. "It would mean nothing to you."
"Oh, my name? Sure, of course!" the mousy-grey mage begun, suddenly sounding a lot less pompous than before. "If only I could remember it! Fuzzbee- no, no, that's not it - Fur - uh, not quite. Frisbee!" he exclaimed, and turned to look at the other white-robe. "That's not it, is it? Frisbee? Dear son, you wouldn't happen to remember it?"
Once again, Daniel got the strongest feeling that he was certainly asleep. He definitely wasn't dead. This was way too absurd even for an afterlife.
The silvery wizard, serene as ever, nodded respectably to the older one. "Yes, father. Your name is Fizban. Fizban the Fabulous."
***
Those stinkin' lizard-aliens sure knew how to make life difficult!
Walking over to a friend who's lying on the ground and checking if he's okay, maybe shaking him a bit if he's not awake, now, that's not a hard thing to do. Doing the same thing with your wrists and ankles tightly bound, that's a lot harder. Though Jack had to admit that Daniel wasn't helping him a lot, either.
It had taken him a while to squirm his way to Daniel's side. It was easy enough to see in the pale morning light that the cuts weren't looking better, but worse, the skin around them clearly inflamed. The colonel shook his head to himself. This was definitely not good.
Daniel was still lying with his back turned towards the others and his face away from them. Jack didn't want to try and turn over the archaeologist, afraid that he'd just end up hurting him. Instead, the colonel had to continue on his awkward way, so he could get around the younger man. The lizard guards were stirring, casting really ugly glances at him, but he didn't care. Why would they kill them now, if they hadn't done it before? After all, they'd had plenty of chances.
"Daniel? Danny? You awake?" Jack called out. Of course, it was a pretty stupid question - he could see well enough that Daniel's eyes were closed. So, Jack tried prodding the linguist. Nothing. He tried the younger man's forehead with the back of his hand - it was burning hot, especially against his tied, cold-numb fingers.
"Daniel! Come on!" he tried again, this time so loudly that Tanis and Sturm raised their heads from their conversation and looked at him.
"Jack? Is there a problem?" the half-elf called out, worried.
***
"All right, then... What is it that you want of me?" Daniel uttered. If this really was a dream, or a hallucination, which it really had to be, then he could just as well play along.
"A great danger threatens our world, one that is already known to you - yet there are powers at work that you know nothing of, some of them even stronger than those that you have already met," Fizban the Fabulous replied mystically, now sounding quite solemn again.
"Since we are not allowed to battle against it, that task will fall upon you and those close to you. That is why you will be given a power to match that of the enemies. A force that comes from my siblings and I, by my father's permission. Such an honour has never before been bestowed on one not of Krynn," the silver-white mage continued.
"Alas! I suspect that you would need much time and guidance to learn to use it properly. I've had quite a bit of time, myself, and I still haven't quite mastered it. I always keep forgetting the words! But time is something you do not have, and something that we cannot give you. You will have to learn on your own. Trial and error, that has always been one of my favourite methods," Fizban added. He waved his hand, like saying good-bye, and the surroundings began to fade.
"No, wait! Wait! What power - what enemy? What do we need to do? And why did you pick me, anyway, why not one of the others?" Daniel tried to get out all those questions filling his head, but it was obviously too late. Fizban was finished with him.
"Daniel, come on!" someone was yelling persistently. Jack. It sounded like Jack. So, he had been asleep after all. Now that he thought of it, he did feel more than a bit drowsy - no, actually, his head was swimming, although he could feel that he was lying on the ground. Slowly, he opened his surprisingly heavy-feeling eyelids and peered at the hazy face floating above him. He could just make out two other faces farther away - the two mages! But no, that had been a dream. The two strangers? They had been captured with them!
"Way to go, Danny!" Jack declared victoriously. "How're you feeling?"
"All funny," Daniel replied, blinking. His voice came out strange, hoarse and weak. He tried to shake his head to clear his thoughts. Instead, the world shook with it to the opposite directions, adding a few extra hops and loops.
"You were saying pretty funny things, too, just a moment ago. About waiting, and powers, and enemies," Jack noted, his concern evident in his voice. "Quite a dream you had there?"
"Yup... Glad it was just a dream..." Daniel mumbled, and closed his eyes again.
Both were clad in robes of white, although the first one's were so shabby that they looked more like grey, while the second one had a silvery sheen about him. Topping the tangled hair of the shabby mage was a beaten, old hat - the silvery one had long, smooth, white hair. Looming behind him, vague as shadows, were two other figures, a beautiful red-haired lady in red and an intense-looking, raven-haired man in night-black robes.
He was certain that the two were mages, although he didn't know why. And no matter what the two white wizards looked like, he also knew for certain that the bedraggled man was the older one. The ageless, silvery figure was younger, and perhaps somehow answerable to the older mage.
"Daniel Jackson of the Tau'ri," the shabby wizard spoke in a surprisingly deep voice. It was not a question, but a statement - yet how could this strange old man know his name? They had certainly never met before. He did not dare to reply, but kept staring.
This had to be a dream. He couldn't even see where they were standing. Instead, it looked as if they were floating among clouds in a dark-blue, starless sky. Still, the people in front of him were amazingly real, and his mind was clear. He tried to tell himself to wake up, tried to pinch himself, but it didn't help.
***
"All right. So, we're basically surrounded by lizard men and our hands are feet are tied so we can hardly move. What can we do?" Jack begun sulkily.
They had went through the same conversation several times already. Jack would assure the strangers that he still didn't know anything of the "draconians", as they called the lizards, and that he didn't know why they attacked. Then Tanis and Sturm would tell that they had met draconians before, but that this behaviour was strange even from them. Jack would ask for any escape plans, and they would spend a moment in silence.
"I said it before - the first step on our way out of here is to get rid of these bindings," the half-elf declared. "If only we had something sharp - a knife, or a rock, anything!" But they didn't. The lizards had been extremely careful. All their weapons had been taken away, and the spot where they sat was covered with downtrodden grass.
Jack sighed and shook his head. "We're not getting anywhere here. I guess I'd better check on Daniel, he's been unusually quiet..."
***
An alarming thought woke up in Daniel's racing mind.
What if he was dead?
That would actually explain a lot, like the clouds surrounding him, and these strange ancient figures who knew his name, though didn't seem very talkative. Well, he could save them the trouble of speaking and ask for himself.
"Am I dead?" he uttered, his voice sounding weak and timid compared to the deep tone of the shabby mage.
"Of course not!" the grey wizard replied quickly, sounding rather irritated. "If you were dead, we would not bother talking to you."
"Umm... Well, you haven't been talking that much now, either..."
"We have been thinking, for what we are going ask of you, what we are going to offer, has never happened before," the silvery mage suddenly spoke up in a melodious voice. The two figures behind him nodded in accord.
"Fine... So, you know my name - won't you tell me yours?"
"You would not understand," the shimmering wizard replied. "It would mean nothing to you."
"Oh, my name? Sure, of course!" the mousy-grey mage begun, suddenly sounding a lot less pompous than before. "If only I could remember it! Fuzzbee- no, no, that's not it - Fur - uh, not quite. Frisbee!" he exclaimed, and turned to look at the other white-robe. "That's not it, is it? Frisbee? Dear son, you wouldn't happen to remember it?"
Once again, Daniel got the strongest feeling that he was certainly asleep. He definitely wasn't dead. This was way too absurd even for an afterlife.
The silvery wizard, serene as ever, nodded respectably to the older one. "Yes, father. Your name is Fizban. Fizban the Fabulous."
***
Those stinkin' lizard-aliens sure knew how to make life difficult!
Walking over to a friend who's lying on the ground and checking if he's okay, maybe shaking him a bit if he's not awake, now, that's not a hard thing to do. Doing the same thing with your wrists and ankles tightly bound, that's a lot harder. Though Jack had to admit that Daniel wasn't helping him a lot, either.
It had taken him a while to squirm his way to Daniel's side. It was easy enough to see in the pale morning light that the cuts weren't looking better, but worse, the skin around them clearly inflamed. The colonel shook his head to himself. This was definitely not good.
Daniel was still lying with his back turned towards the others and his face away from them. Jack didn't want to try and turn over the archaeologist, afraid that he'd just end up hurting him. Instead, the colonel had to continue on his awkward way, so he could get around the younger man. The lizard guards were stirring, casting really ugly glances at him, but he didn't care. Why would they kill them now, if they hadn't done it before? After all, they'd had plenty of chances.
"Daniel? Danny? You awake?" Jack called out. Of course, it was a pretty stupid question - he could see well enough that Daniel's eyes were closed. So, Jack tried prodding the linguist. Nothing. He tried the younger man's forehead with the back of his hand - it was burning hot, especially against his tied, cold-numb fingers.
"Daniel! Come on!" he tried again, this time so loudly that Tanis and Sturm raised their heads from their conversation and looked at him.
"Jack? Is there a problem?" the half-elf called out, worried.
***
"All right, then... What is it that you want of me?" Daniel uttered. If this really was a dream, or a hallucination, which it really had to be, then he could just as well play along.
"A great danger threatens our world, one that is already known to you - yet there are powers at work that you know nothing of, some of them even stronger than those that you have already met," Fizban the Fabulous replied mystically, now sounding quite solemn again.
"Since we are not allowed to battle against it, that task will fall upon you and those close to you. That is why you will be given a power to match that of the enemies. A force that comes from my siblings and I, by my father's permission. Such an honour has never before been bestowed on one not of Krynn," the silver-white mage continued.
"Alas! I suspect that you would need much time and guidance to learn to use it properly. I've had quite a bit of time, myself, and I still haven't quite mastered it. I always keep forgetting the words! But time is something you do not have, and something that we cannot give you. You will have to learn on your own. Trial and error, that has always been one of my favourite methods," Fizban added. He waved his hand, like saying good-bye, and the surroundings began to fade.
"No, wait! Wait! What power - what enemy? What do we need to do? And why did you pick me, anyway, why not one of the others?" Daniel tried to get out all those questions filling his head, but it was obviously too late. Fizban was finished with him.
"Daniel, come on!" someone was yelling persistently. Jack. It sounded like Jack. So, he had been asleep after all. Now that he thought of it, he did feel more than a bit drowsy - no, actually, his head was swimming, although he could feel that he was lying on the ground. Slowly, he opened his surprisingly heavy-feeling eyelids and peered at the hazy face floating above him. He could just make out two other faces farther away - the two mages! But no, that had been a dream. The two strangers? They had been captured with them!
"Way to go, Danny!" Jack declared victoriously. "How're you feeling?"
"All funny," Daniel replied, blinking. His voice came out strange, hoarse and weak. He tried to shake his head to clear his thoughts. Instead, the world shook with it to the opposite directions, adding a few extra hops and loops.
"You were saying pretty funny things, too, just a moment ago. About waiting, and powers, and enemies," Jack noted, his concern evident in his voice. "Quite a dream you had there?"
"Yup... Glad it was just a dream..." Daniel mumbled, and closed his eyes again.