Chapter 17: Truth Revealed

Jonas was shivering. The icy pain was back in his chest again and he swallowed the sick feeling forcing its way past his throat and sighed uncomfortably, wincing as chill gripped his chest.

He was vaguely aware of damp beneath him and darkness around him as he lifted his eyelids. He was also aware of another presence nearby although, he couldn't pinpoint where.

Shuffling to his left, he turned his head and squinted into the darkness. Coris appeared from the dark, illuminating the area in and eerie gold light. She had her hair down and it fell past her shoulders in auburn curls, her deep blue to violet eyes glittered in the gold and she smiled.

Jonas regarded her curiously, she looked different, older perhaps but, there was no doubt it was her. She straightened her light-blue dress that swept about her ankles and knelt next to Jonas.

"Coris?" Jonas croaked meekly, his throat feeling parched and lungs feeling constricted.

His visitor nodded silently and reached a gentle hand out to touch his cheek.

Jonas flinched away from it uncomfortably and gasped as his lungs turned cold yet again.

"Are you cold Jonas?" Coris asked, her childlike melody still present.

"Freezing." Jonas stated and wrapped his arms around himself to keep heat in.

"Your job isn't done yet."

"What do you mean?"

"My village is still destroyed, or rather, it was destroyed, and you couldn't help to stop it."

"It was destroyed?"

Coris nodded and her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Everyone, gone."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to stop it."

"It probably couldn't have been stopped anyway."

"Then why are we still here? Where is here?" Jonas wondered.

"How am I supposed to know? I just came along for the ride." Coris replied.

OOO

Colonel O'Neill became aware of voices from nearby, familiar voices and he turned his head to face them.

The gold illumination was back, as was the cold, not to mention the dark, he squinted into it, and was able to make out the shapes of two people. One was laying on the ground, the other kneeling next to the first.

Jonas was on the ground, he knew that much. The other one...she looked so familiar. He pushed himself to sit and shivered in the chill and wet.

"Surely there's something more you can do." The woman was saying softly.

"I don't see what while we're here, wherever here is." Jonas spoke.

Jack shakily pushed himself to his feet, he still felt awful, but he pushed it aside as best as he could and walked into the light.

OOO

Jonas heard grunting and shuffling coming toward him, and turned to face a very pale looking Colonel O'Neill as he moved towards them.

Jonas sat up quickly, regretting it as nausea overtook him and he fought for control over himself. Control came, slowly, but it did come and he was glad when it did.

"Colonel, you look awful." Jonas voiced, just above a whisper.

"However I look, I can guarantee I feel ten times worse. You shouldn't be talkin' anyway, you aren't the walking picture of health yourself." O'Neill replied, slowly lowering himself to the ground to sit.

Coris watched the exchange between the two men silently until O'Neill turned to her and yelled out.

"Hey, woah! What're you doing here?" Jack exclaimed, immediately recognizing the woman as the one from the forest, the first night they were there.

"Colonel, you know her." Jonas told him carefully.

"Yeah I know her! She's the psycho who tried to attack you that I shot! Okay, so I tried to shoot, it went through her." Jack replied, his voice rising.

Coris backed up suddenly at O'Neill's outburst and her violet eyes began to glitter menacingly.
"No, no! Colonel it's Coris." Jonas exclaimed. Then he looked to her and saw the glint in her eyes and his face twisted into that of shock, and puzzlement.

"It's your fault my village was destroyed!" She yelled.

"You said it was your fault and you wanted our help to stop it!" Jack yelled.

The temperature around them plummeted suddenly, and both O'Neill and Quinn began shivering violently as the chill bit into them. A fierce wind began to howl, making it that much colder and the gold light from Coris turned bright crimson.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you? I didn't need help to stop the disaster, I needed help to cause it and you provided me with that. That green light you saw it was my doing, I caused it to destroy my village.

"It needs fuel to grow and spread and you two are providing it. Ever wonder why you began to feel sick every time you neared the forest? It's the light, it's living and it feeds off of heat and in doing so throws other systems off balance, that's why you felt that way every time you neared the forest." Coris was shouting now and the wind had picked up considerably.

The Colonel and Jonas were backing away, shivering against the wind. Only hours ago, Coris had been an innocent child, pleading for help.

"See what you get for helping people, Jonas?" Jack yelled above the wind.

Jonas looked at him in alarm, "Remind me to never do it again." He called.

"Consider it done. Now I suggest we get the hell outta here! If there is a way out!" O'Neill yelled back.

The two men clambered to their feet and took off in no particular direction, they just wanted to get away. Behind them they could hear shouts of agony and rage from Coris as she pursued them.

The thought dawned on the two members of SG-1 that at the rate they were going, and the way they felt, they may not get out of this in one piece. If they did manage to get out, who knew what kinds of miracles Dr. Fraser would have to perform.

Jonas slowed as the familiar feeling of an ice spear being shoved through him once again became present and yanked his energy, what he had left anyway away from him.

He stumbled over nothing in particular and would've fallen if O'Neill hadn't seen the move and moved in to catch him.

"C'mon Jonas, move!" Jack ordered. He tugged the younger man to his feet and practically dragged him along.

Ahead of them, Jack caught glimpse of a small building, glowing in white, and adjusted his course to head there, pulling a weakened Jonas with him.

Whether it was safe or not, it was the only choice they had as of now, unless they wanted to become fuel for a weapon of mass destruction.

Jonas struggled to help as much as he could, amidst the shooting pain he was feeling and pushed himself to help the Colonel.

"Jonas!" Jack yelled, frustration eminent in his voice as he felt Jonas sag beneath him.

Images flashed through his head, images of dark, of water, of fire. Jonas felt the cold, he felt the wind and he felt the water. His lungs froze and left him gasping, he coughed against it and pain coursed through him.

His legs began weakening, and his knees would no longer hold his weight as he felt himself falling and being held up.

"Jonas!" A frustrated O'Neill yelled.

'I'm sorry, colonel. I can't help it, I'm trying, really I am.' Jonas thought helplessly.

Jack heard Jonas gasp and begin to cough. He lifted him onto his back. The cabin was close now, he stopped in front of the door, falling against it to open it, and he and Jonas landed in a heap on the other side.

He rolled Jonas onto his back and saw he had lost consciousness.

'Damn!' O'Neill thought.

O'Neill got to his feet and forced the wooden door shut, slivers lodging into his hand as he did so.

"They really should sand a wooden door if someone's going to force it shut!" O'Neill yelled aloud, then he realized how stupid that had just sounded and dismissed it as he sank to the floor next to Jonas to await the young man's waking.

"Great, now what?" He asked the walls around him.

Out of nowhere, the sound of tortured screaming from what sounded like hundreds, surrounded him and he cried out in alarm as the sounds grew louder, and that could only mean one thing, they were also getting closer...