The ancient city of the Light Ones was far larger than Mitchell had expected it to be. As she was carried over it by Kale – presumably he was looking for a good place to drop her – she wondered how many of them lived there before their Sundering.

Thousands, I'd bet, Talon said. Melony could feel his own shock at the size and scope of the place.

From above they could see that very few of the ruined buildings still had roofs on them – although there were a few, and some were in the process of falling in. The city stretched out through a valley not far from the place that Melony and the others had first met the Light Ones on their last trip through the gate, and it stretched as far as she could see – which was at least ten or twenty miles, before the buildings were covered by foliage that she couldn't see through, so she couldn't see if they continued on into the forest or if they stopped.

Kale gave a piercing cry of warning, and they were suddenly going lower, making a descent. Apparently he must have found a spot to put her. She looked below her, and saw nothing but stone and dirt – no place soft enough to be a good landing site as far as she was concerned. The Light One/ bird gave another cry of warning, and Mitchell found her feet just brushing against one of the few solid looking roofs, and realized he intended to set her down on one of them. It was as good a place as any, and hopefully better than others.

She reached up, touching one of his talons to let him know she knew what he wanted, and a moment later the huge bird back-winged sharply, slowing his speed considerably. At the same moment, he released her, and she fell about two feet to the stone roof, landing in a tumble but coming up unscathed.

The bird landed on the grass next to the building she was on, and a moment later Kale himself was standing there, looking up at her.

"Are you uninjured?" He called.

She nodded, looking down.

"I'm fine, Kale. It was a perfect drop."

Now, how was she going to get off the building without falling on her head? It was probably only 20 feet up, but there wasn't anything to land on but him. Not even a tree close at hand to climb down.

"Jump and I will catch you."

She shook her head, and lowered herself to the ceiling, hooking her fingers along the edge of the roof and swinging her legs over. Hanging from her hands, she allowed herself to fall, figuring it was only going to be twelve feet or so to drop, and was immediately caught up in strong arms and held close against a bare chest for a moment before she was lowered to the ground.

"Thanks," she told him, smiling.

"I would not want a repeat of the injuries you received last time you were here," Kale said. "Your people might not appreciate that."

"Plus you'd have to worry about giving me the big wolf to lean on all the time, right?" She asked with a smile.

He grinned.

"I don't mind. You're hardly a burden, after all."

He looked around the area they were standing in, his expression just as curious as Melony's.

"You've never been here before, either, have you?" Mitchell asked, remembering that Lora had said they stayed away from the city.

"It is my first time," he confirmed. "The Sundering took place centuries before I was born, and I have not had a reason to come here – no more so than any of my people have."

"How old are you now?" She asked, curiously.

"Almost two hundred years."

"Really?"

He smiled at her shock.

"How old are you?"

"33."

"You're just an infant," Talon said, surprised.

Melony snorted, and grinned.

"I'm fully grown, Kale. My people just don't live as long as yours."

Show him your-

Hush.

Kale nodded, shaking his head.

"How old is Major Sheppard?"

"Somewhere around my age, I imagine..."

"He's fully mature, as well, then..."

"Oh yes."

"He must be..." Kale said, looking around again. "Where shall we go first?"

Mitchell shrugged.

"I haven't been here, either, remember?" She told him. "Why don't we start at this end, and work our way down the valley, poking around, looking into buildings and see what we can find?"

"There should be a few central buildings," Kale told her as they started by walking towards the last buildings in the area – he'd set her down at almost the end of the city so that was a good plan. "Like our Council and eating room, and trysting rooms. There should be places where the ancient Light Ones used to gather. Those will be the places that hold the Stargate addresses we might use."

Melony nodded, and they poked their heads into the first of the buildings. This was obviously not one of the gathering places. It was too small to hold more than a few of the Light Ones at any given time. There were ruined wall hangings but nothing she could read or that Kale recognized as anything they could use. They left that building and headed for the next.

"What did you mean when you said Major Sheppard must be fully mature?" She asked him, walking through the doorway to the next building – which looked similar to the one they'd just left. Since there was no danger of any Dark Ones coming upon them here in the city, she felt it was safe enough to chat a little – and the way he'd phrased that particular statement had made her curious.

Kale turned to her.

"He fathered the offspring that Aron now carries," the Light One answered. "He must be a mature male in order for her to have used his seed to impregnate herself."

Melony stopped so quickly Kale actually walked into her.

"What?"