Sam shook her head, trying to clear away the fog that had descended to cloud both her mind and her vision. She was mystified, but on the bright side didn't appear to be lost. They'd scouted the area on the way to the Marsi village so the landscape was familiar. Pausing, she glanced back in the direction from which she'd come.

That niggling paranoia of being followed continued to play with her conscious mind. It wasn't hostility the forest projected now, though she could still sense doubt. It was more like the feeling she had upon a new discovery. Was it actually possible for a place to be curious about those who entered it? She didn't know. For the moment it was a futile thought, and it didn't explain why she couldn't help looking behind herself every three or four steps.

Tightening her grip on the zat, the only weapon she'd managed to hold on to when.. what? Carter still couldn't recall what had happened. Everything until that moment had sharpened into crystal clarity within her mind's eye, then everything simply went dark.

She'd waken up in the forest, near a familiar rock formation, so she knew approximately where she was in reference to both the Marsi city and the Stargate. Judging by the state of her gear, the rips and simply missing bits of clothing - not to mention she was a bit singed overall, she guessed there was an explosion. That didn't make any sense, they were out in the middle of nowhere hunting for a 'monster' who by all appearances didn't exist. Then again, they hadn't been told exactly what to look for either. The Marsi had been so close mouthed on the subject. None of it made any sense, but Colonel O'Neill had just wanted to be gone from the company of that woman that they'd jumped on the task. They'd all been intrigued by the whole ordeal anyway. Twisting back around, she advanced down the path toward the city.

A low growl broke the silence of the woods and made her stop dead, alarm rising as she sought to locate the source of the sound. Sam couldn't pinpoint it directly; the soft threat echoed around her, baffling her senses. When her searching gaze had swept the entire area in a quick revolution and rested upon the path once more, she found it blocked.

The first thing she noticed was how sharp those teeth looked: the wolf's lips were pulled back in a fierce snarl and the pearly white surfaces of it's fangs could distinctly be seen. The sheer size of the creature didn't escape her notice by any means, and with the exactness that fear allotted, Carter's brain processed this information without delay. In those few precious moments that it took to understand the situation and to prepare to greet it, to begin raising the zat in defense, the wolf was gone.

---------------------

"SG-3 is preparing to travel to the planet."

"With all due respect, Sir, I think that's a mistake." Jack's tone wasn't argumentative, for a change, it was tired. The Colonel's face was drawn in pale, from the pain and stress of it all. He'd been back for almost four hours and they were no closer to understanding what had happened than they'd been upon his arrival. "We have no idea what's out there."

General Hammond frowned, his mind quickly conjuring up the memories of the Nem incident. He wondered now if both Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill were once more the victims of someone altering their memories and toying with their minds. Except that the Colonel wasn't suggesting that they not go back at all, just that they needed more information before heading back. How very cautious of him...

"Don't you think it would be worth revisiting the Marsi city to gather details on the monster they sent you to find?"

"I agree with O'Neill. It would be a mistake to return General Hammond."

"Why?"

"We didn't entirely trust those people to begin with, Sir." This was offered by Jack, as he recalled Daniel's reactions the nearly entire time he'd been in the presence of the Marsi called Renato. By the time they'd met the leader of the native people, all of SG-1 was feeling the same way.

"Are you saying you think they had something to do with what happened to you in the forest? That perhaps the story they gave you was false?" Hammond sighed, growing weary of the way the entire thing kept turning them in circles; allowing for no answers.

"Not entirely. Something killed off that Goa'uld, there's no doubting that."

"You said before that Doctor Jackson believed the creature responsible for Angitia's death to still be on the planet."

"Yeah, Daniel figured that this annual hunt was genuine and that the Marsi had seen their monster since the death of their 'goddess'." The scorn word held was not missed by the General.

"So where is it?"

-----------------------

Her heart had slowed down, although lasting traces of adrenaline still caused the edges of her vision to be indistinct. Sam was glad for the extra boost the adrenaline offered, exhaustion was setting in and her legs were shaking from the fatigue. In spite of the fact she needed to keep moving, she sat down on the fallen log she'd passed earlier and rested. It was either that or fall.

She'd abandoned the idea of returning to the city. After the episode with the wolf she'd originally meant to continue forward, except that a bird had convinced her otherwise by diving down at her. Instinctively Sam had used her arms to shield her eyes and by the time she'd dropped them to look around, the animal had vanished. Stepping forward on the same path, a shriek had pierced the air above her causing her to glance up toward the sky. Immediately she'd spotted the feathered stalker. It was circling above her, and as if to aid her in making the choice to retreat the way she'd come, it settled in a branch over the makeshift path.

It had followed her ever since. Now from her spot on the log, she found it watching her in a tree not too far away. It's amber eyes were unblinking, guarding the path to the city with a vengeance. Not that Sam was likely to try going back there now anyway. The new destination had been the Stargate, and thankfully she was almost there.