CHAPTER SEVEN: THE AXE

Rodney wasn't sure how many turns he'd taken, or how many hallways and rooms he stumbled through, all he knew was that it felt more and more like he was going in circles. Plus, he was trying his best not to freak out about the fact that he hadn't heard from the major since he'd heard him ask that question about believing in ghosts.

Not to mention that the damn fog seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

He was beginning to hate the color green.

He looked behind him again for the mist as he hobbled into another new room, his breath an invisible cloud before his face. He knew it was cold; he didn't need the reminder. Still, it would be nice to see something other than black, stone and slime.

Sensing the size of the room he had managed to end up in, he decided it was time to see if the light system in this place still worked, despite the earthquake they'd caused. Coughing again, he dug into his belt and pulled out the matches, shining his light along the walls of this new chamber for a sconce. It didn't take long.

Limping over, he struck it and tossed it in.

Fire burst out of the sconce, blinding him for a second, and, in moments, fires shot up out of sconce after sconce along the wall.

McKay's eyes widened as he took in the size of the room...and the shape.

It was oval...and big. Circular patterns of different colored stones lined the floor, and more bas relief marbles adorned the walls. But that wasn't all.

"Wow," he whispered, limping forward to one end of the room. A raised dais stood floated at the far end, and on it a small alter like table.

And hanging on the wall behind it...a large, doubled headed battle axe.

The firelight flickered off the metal, and dark green feathers, still amazingly intact, hung from the hilt in adornment. They moved as hot air from the sconces rippled past. No lichen or moss or any other kind of growth covered it, or even came near the weapon. The metal was not even rusty, which was amazing. And the edges looked very sharp.

Rodney couldn't help himself. Pulling himself up onto the dais, he rounded the table and reached out to touch the handle. For a moment, he felt a slight pressure against his hand, like a strong wind, but it faded as quickly as it had come. By the time his fingers wrapped around the leather bound hilt, the back of his hand being tickled by the green feathers, he was sure he had imagined it.

A moment later, he had lifted it off the wall, holding it in two hands, hefting it and surprised by the fact that it didn't feel as heavy as it looked. It was at least four feet in length, with a spearheaded spike at one end, and the two metal heads were each at least nine inches deep—it should have weighed a ton.

"Now that's an axe," Sheppard's voice echoed through the hall.

McKay looked up, surprised...the grinned.

"Major!"

The major nodded, standing in a doorway on the opposite side from the one Rodney had entered by. He was leaning in the frame, a pleased smile on his own face, "Hey, answer man. Thanks for lighting the way."

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Sheppard grimaced, getting increasingly frustrated. He had no idea where he was, how deep underground they were, or if he was even someplace different than he had been five minutes ago.

At least he hadn't seen that damn lichen light stuff for a while.

He had decided Rodney was right (no big surprise there). They were both seeing things. The lichen or moss or whatever it was obviously bioluminescent, and the idea that it had been "chasing" him was utter nonsense. Of course, it had occurred to him, as well, that had they been back on Earth...it would have been around October 31 by now.....

Which was a silly, ridiculous thought. Earth's calendar had absolutely nothing to do with anything out here.

Still....Maybe that was what was throwing him off.

Swallowing, he looked around with his flashlight at yet another unremarkable corridor, trying to determine if he'd seen it before.

And that was when he smelled the gas.

He ducked instinctively, his first reaction to cover up....

Then found himself smiling as the sconces on the right side of the wall burst into life. He turned, watching as they continued to light down the hallway behind him, until they reached a corner at the bottom.

"Yes!" he whispered, "Way to go McKay!"

With a lighter step, he moved quickly in the direction that the lights had come from, moving faster when he saw a doorway ahead of him that looked like it opened into a largish room.

The green fog was completely forgotten as he hit the threshold...and saw McKay standing on a dais at the far end, lifting a large, double headed axe down from the wall. As the doctor turned around, hefting it in his hands, Sheppard almost laughed at the sight.

"Now," he said, unable to resist, "that's an axe!"

McKay's surprise, then grin at the sight of him, was all Sheppard needed to feel like things would be okay now.

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"Isn't it amazing?" McKay asked, limping down off the dais and heading towards the major.

"How come it's not covered in plant stuff?" Sheppard replied, letting the P90 down and allowing himself to cradle his arm for the first time, massaging the muscles and the throbbing wrist a little. "The rest of the walls are covered in it, why not the dais and that thing?"

"I don't know," the scientist shrugged, holding it for the major to see more clearly. "But I had no trouble taking it down, so there wasn't an obvious shield covering it. Maybe the metal on this planet....oh God...."

Sheppard looked up from the axe to McKay's face, to find the scientist looking in terror over his shoulder. Fumbling for his weapon again, Sheppard whipped around and backed up next to McKay.

The green cloud was thicker than ever before, and the firelight only seemed to accentuate it.

"There's real light here," the major hissed, pointing the machine gun at it, "how can we still see it?"

"I...." McKay shook his head, "I don't know. I don't know what it is. But if we're both seeing it...."

"Then its not a hallucination," Sheppard finished.

Get out! Get OUT! GET OUT!

"I think it wants us to leave," McKay stammered.

"You mean you heard that?"

"I wish I hadn't," came the tremulous reply.

"Then we're definitely not staying," Sheppard looked around, and his eyes saw another doorway leading off from near the dais. "Over there."

McKay was already off and moving, still holding onto the axe. Sheppard didn't notice the tight grip the scientist had on it until they were almost to the door.

"Hey, leave that behind! It'll only slow us down!"

"What?" McKay looked down, "Oh, I...but...."

"Leave it behind!"

"Okay, okay!" McKay turned, intending to go put it back where he had found it. And found himself slamming into the wall as the green vapor suddenly came to life and jetted towards him, growing as it did so. "Help!"

"Just drop it and run!"

"I can't!....Christ!" McKay ducked down, staring up terrified at the creatures forming inside the cloud as they swirled around him. Instead of one set of black eyes, he saw three...no four...more...and teeth...claws...."MAJOR!"

Sheppard let out a spray of bullets, straight through the mist.

When they did nothing more than etch a few ugly holes in the wall on the far side, he grimaced.

"Well, it was worth a try," he muttered.

The Major backed up as the half of the green cloud turned to face him ("face him?" he thought, where did that idea come from?) and moved in his direction, "Awwww, nuts." He hefted the machine gun again, backing up some more, but not willing to get too far from Rodney. His bad arm throbbed unmercifully, and his head began to hurt as well as the mist swirled all around him, touching his face, the voices getting stronger and stronger inside his head....

McKay had curled into a ball, the axe gripped before him. He wasn't holding it threateningly, but he did hold it before him, as if he could hide behind it. He had shut his eyes, mumbling "please, please, please..." under his breath.

After a moment, he realized that nothing was happening. The creatures inside the mist weren't doing anything to him.

Peeking out from under one eyelid, he looked for the cloud. It was still there, but it was halfway across the room now. From this distance, it seemed less threatening, and he risked opening both eyes to look out. Turning his head, he looked towards where he had last seen the major.

"No," he whispered.

Sheppard was lying on the ground on his side about three feet away, out cold.

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TBC

Happy Halloween Everyone!