By the time they'd spent two days on A-035, all of them were wishing for a little rain. The sun was hot. And even through the trees that they wandered through occasionally it beat down on them mercilessly.

"It has to rain," Mitchell said, crossly, walking beside Jack as they set out early the third morning from the spot they'd camped at the night before. Since the weather was so mild, they had decided they didn't need to stay by the Jumper – and that gave them more traveling room to explore and hopefully come across the Wraith. "If it didn't rain, then the trees wouldn't be so green. Not this far from that river."

"I don't care about the trees," he said, scowling up at the hot sun, although he couldn't see much through the canopy of leaves they were under just then. "I just don't want bake to death."

She smiled.

"It's not that bad, Jack."

"It could be…"

"It's not."

"That's because you have Talon to keep you cool…"

"I was cool long before I blended with Talon. Ask anyone."

O'Neill snorted, and started to say something, but was suddenly interrupted by a loud screech above them. They both looked up – as did Sheppard, Teal'c and Teyla, who were walking behind the two.

"That was Kale," Mitchell said, pulling her P90 from the position it had been in on her shoulder.

They all took a more defensive stance – not like the ragged formation they'd been walking in – and waited for another screech from above.

A moment later, however, Kale appeared in front of them, now in wolf form, emerging from the brush without a sound – which was almost spooky given the great size of him. He reverted to human form immediately, and turned to Jack.

"There are Wraith here," he told them all.

"Where?"

"I spotted a dart flying towards the mountain area – that direction," he said, gesturing the way they had been going. "It was joined by another only minutes later – and another coming from the other way."

"Are they looking for us?" Sheppard asked, looking up as if he expected a dart to appear any minute.

"They can't know we're here," Jack said. He looked at Teyla. "You can sense Teal'c's symbiote, right?"

"And Colonel Mitchell's, yes."

"From how far away?"

"Several hundred feet."

"So the Wraith probably have to be that close, too, then."

"Perhaps not. They are probably more sensitive to the life forces of those around them, since it is what they eat," Teal'c said.

"True," Mitchell agreed.

"But they probably don't sense Melony and Teal'c from where they are…" Jack said.

"No. Probably not," Teyla concurred.

"Then let's see if we can find them before they find us – and maybe we can use Melony and Teal'c as bait…"

"Bait?" Teyla asked, confused.

Melony just smiled. She was more than willing to be bait. She'd been bait before, after all.

"Teal'c and I'll take point, then, Jack."

The Jaffa nodded his agreement, moving up to stand beside Mitchell.

"Good," Jack said. "We'll cover you from the rear and sides, if we can, and Kale, you go back into the air and give us a good scream if you see any of them getting close – then get the hell out of the way so they don't start taking potshots at you."

The Light One nodded and transformed back into wolf form. The trees were too thick here for him to get into the air, but there was a clearing close by he could use. As silently as he'd appeared, he'd vanished once more.

"I wish we had about a dozen more of them with us," Jack muttered.

Melony smiled at the change of heart, and clicked off the safety on her machine gun, looking at Teal'c.

"Ready?"

"Indeed."

The two of them headed out, and once they were just barely out of sight, the others followed them.

OOOOOOOO

The attack came so quickly they almost weren't ready for it. Even as there was a piercing scream from above, there were several movements in the trees around them, drawing Teal'c's attention.

"Those aren't there," Mitchell called to him, drawing his gaze back to her – although he looked the other way once or twice more. She – and Teyla – had already given them the information they needed about how the Wraith used mind tricks to confuse and frighten their prey before they attacked. Probably it added to the appeal of the prize, since the adrenaline might make for a better meal. It was a gruesome thought, but one that Talon had decided was probably fairly accurate. "Watch the front…"

That was where she was sure the attack was going to come from, and sure enough, that was where they were. One minute the clearing they had just entered was empty, and the next there were more than a dozen Wraith standing there, all holding weapons and watching Teal'c and Mitchell with hunger in their eyes – as well as curiosity.

Mitchell pointed her zat towards them, even as Teal'c levered his staff weapon at the closest, and both stopped.

"What are you?" The Wraith closest to them asked. He was fully intending to feed off them – which was why none of the Wraith had fired at them, since they needed to be alive – but before he did, he wanted to know what they were, and where they could find more.

Teal'c was watching the Wraith just as intently as they were watching him. Like Talon, he'd always believed the Wraith to be a myth – tales told to frighten young children into obedience – and even though he'd seen the videos taken of the captured Wraith that Sheppard had told them of, he was still amazed to be face to face with one. Well, several. Not so amazed that he was frozen, but it was nonetheless Mitchell, who stepped forward, even as Talon took control.

"I am Talon. System Lord of this region and Goa'uld. What are you?"

Of course they knew what they were, but it was better to feign ignorance – because it would put the Wraith off guard if they thought the people they were speaking to didn't realize the danger they were in.

"Goa'uld?" The leader repeated, clearly startled. "The Goa'uld are a myth!"

Where have I heard that before? Talon asked, sarcastically. It was the exact dame thing the last patrol had said.

"Indeed, we are quite real," Teal'c said, his voice calm as he fired the staff weapon, knocking the leader of the Wraith off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground several feet away, where he lay motionless.

Then all hell broke loose.