Wahrhwrgh was the dinosaurian name of the Goa'uld who had come to this world, and Teal'c knew that this was not the actual name of this ruler. It was simply his role in this play, this strange ceremonial retelling of what had happened long ago. Of course, when the Goa'uld had actually been here and chosen his host, he had most likely done it in a manner very different from this.
The Goa'uld-dinosaur finished its speech, declaring that they would now face their destiny. The silvery chain surrounding the young predators was lifted away, and they marched out of the hall, lead by one of the Jaffa-armored dinosaurs.
Once they were gone, the second Jaffa-dinosaur, accompanied by a large group of other guards, approached the fencing where Teal'c was. Escorting him and all these other "lesser beings" offered them quite a challenge. Teal'c was surprised to see how docile the large herbivores were, walking ahead on leashes like over-sized horses. On the other hand, the Struthiomimus attempted all it could to run away, and the Deinonychus kept trying to claw at its keepers.
All this activity left Teal'c with plenty of time to think, but no matter how he thought, he could not come across a plan as to how he could escape. There were hundreds of the predatory dinosaurs in the hall. They would tear him to small pieces if he should try to run. Barney had to be somewhere among them, but he was only one solitary dinosaur, and he would probably face a dire fate if it tried to help Teal'c.
As he and the haphazard troupe of dinosaurs were lead down the lane, Teal'c thought of his friends again. Of Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson, still caught in the cage, in the pouring rain, anxious and unknowing of what was happening here... And he hoped against hope that Daniel Jackson had not been severely harmed by the Goa'uld hand device. No matter what would happen in this race, Teal'c would fight it and overcome it, and help his friends out of peril.
They walked out into the rain and onto the large opening where the transport rings were. Teal'c was at the tail of the procession. Ahead of him, the dinosaurs small enough to fit into the rings together with a guard were taken somewhere through them. The two that were too large were taken down a set of stairs at the other side of the roof.
Teal'c and his guards followed soon after the other small beings. They emerged in a hall about the size and shape of the throne room, but without the throne. Many of the other participants were there already--the Struthiomimus, the small shy creature, and five of the ruling predators.
One of the Jaffa-suited dinosaurs was in the room as well, and it shouted two commands: it told the guards to leave, and they all headed for the rings. Then, it said, "Start."
The young predators flashed into action--Teal'c witnessed two of them beginning to fight each other. One ran out of the room right away. The smallest one of them leaped on the small dinosaur, slaying it instantly. And the remaining one was staring right at Teal'c.
Obviously, the predators knew the goal of the game. Teal'c did not. Judging by what he saw here, it was to kill the others and survive. He wanted to avoid fighting these creatures, especially now that there were so many in the same place. His goal was not to fight, but to escape, and when his friends' life was at stake, he did not care for honor.
There were four doorways leading out of the room, one in each wall. He picked one at random and ran out. The dinosaur who had seemed to be about to attack Teal'c did not follow him, but ran after the Struthiomimus instead.
Teal'c found himself in a room just like the ones he had seen on the second floor: smooth walls and a doorway in each wall, except for one. But here, he saw no windows. The dim light in the room came from small lamps in the ceiling. He had to be in the basement, where Daniel Jackson and Colonel O'Neill had been earlier.
He thought he heard the sound of a dinosaur approaching the doorway through which he had just come, so he ran ahead into another, hoping to avoid an encounter and to gain some time to think. The next room was identical, with three doorways and smooth walls.
It was just as Teal'c had suspected: he was in the maze, and he was probably supposed to find his way--somewhere. His first thought was that he needed to get out. However, this ritual race was based on Goa'uld thinking, which Teal'c knew all too well, and somehow, out did not sound like the right direction.
The solutions dawned on him, so obvious that he was almost ashamed he had not thought of it right away. He was not supposed to leave the complex. He was supposed to find his way into the very center of it. Into the throne room. The center, the heart, the most important place of all, was where the ruler was.
The first step in getting there was to deduce where he was now. Teal'c did not know much of the layout of the basement, but he did know the approximate location of a set of stairs that would lead him right to the corridor outside the throne room. And he thought he also had an idea of his current position compared to it.
Teal'c stopped for a while to consider if he truly should go to the center. The race was a combination of a test in tracking and intelligence, finding one's way in the maze, and simple combat, the ability to survive when all participants were out to kill each other. Teal'c had no need to win, no willingness to gain glory from these Goa'uld-dinosaurs. He only wanted to get out and help his team. But he knew that the exits could be sealed, and it was likely that they were, to prevent competitors from escaping.
Perhaps winning was his only option. Proving to these dinosaurs that he represented, as Daniel Jackson had told them, the true chosen hosts of the Goa'uld. As much as he resented admitting it. It would be likely to create chaos and incertainty among the dinosaurs. Perhaps it would even convince them to stop worshiping the Goa'uld.
A growl echoed in the room behind him, but another voice soon replied it, and the sounds of combat followed. Teal'c felt relieved. The young predators were so eager to fight that they might finish off each other without him needing to engage in combat at all.
He set out running towards the direction he deemed correct. As nearly every room had a door in each wall, he had no trouble keeping it. It took him no more than ten minutes to reach the room with the familiar stairs leading all the way to the second floor, with the landing at ground level.
He'd just gotten into the room, when he once again heard a growl from behind, and a heavy weight landed on him, knocking him down. Claws sunk into his back. One of the host-type dinosaurs had made it out of the maze, surviving all fights, and he was about to become its next victim.
Teal'c struggled to get up, grimacing at the pain. The dinosaur let go and fell off him. Now that he was facing it alone, he had a chance. It was much lighter and smaller than he.
He had no need to fight elegantly or fairly, he only needed to finish this fast. He cast all his weight against the dinosaur and rammed it against a wall, crushing it. It was a heavy blow for the creature, and left it dazed for the fraction of a second. That was all it took for Teal'c to snap its neck.
Leaving the lifeless creature behind, Teal'c began ascending the stairs. He felt blood flowing down his back from the cuts he had received, but he could manage the pain. He had to. For his friends. As he climbed up, he spotted another predator dinosaur approaching him, making its way down the stairs from the second floor. They would meet on the landing. And, of course, they would also fight.
The dinosaur leaped down the last few stairs, attempting to land on Teal'c, like his previous attacker had done. But this time, Teal'c was expecting it, and was able to dodge. He caught the dinosaur off-balance, and sent a powerful kick at its midsection.
It was taken aback. It had clearly not thought it would meet any resistance. It returned the kick, and it was somewhat nastier than Teal'c's. He tried to block it with his hands, so the dinosaur's sharp claw tore a long cut into his arm.
He kicked at the dinosaur again, and felt his foot hit its snout with force. He didn't give it any time to recover, but pounced on it, forcing it to the ground, again taking advantage of his greater weight. He managed to place one foot on the dinosaur's long, snake-like neck, squishing it hard against the ground. It squirmed all it could, trying to get away, or to wound him badly enough that he would let go. It did scrape his legs, but he was so determined, so intent on winning, that he hardly noticed it. Finally, the dinosaur stopped struggling. It twitched once more, weakly, and then it was gone.
Teal'c stayed on the landing, leaning on the wall, listening, waiting to see if any more dinosaurs would come, if there were any more left to challenge him. None came. Teal'c had won.
He stepped away from the dead dinosaur, out of the room, into the corridor leading to the throne room. From afar, he saw that the two Jaffa-armored guards were waiting for the winner to arrive--and he knew the winner was not what they expected. He did not know how they would react. If they would attack him, he would face a fight he would not be able to win, alone against two dinosaurs, and already wounded.
They did not attack. As Teal'c entered the throne room, they gazed at each other and exchanged a few growled words--not in Goa'uld-dinosaurian, but in the tongue of their own that neither Teal'c nor Daniel understood.
One of them left instantly, using the rings again. The other ran to Teal'c, and addressed him in the Goa'uld dialect.
"I am a friend of your friend," it told him, and asked him to follow, to hurry, because the other guard had only left to ask for advice and would return soon.
A friend of Teal'c's friend--it could only mean Barney. Perhaps this was another dinosaur who had been opposed to SG-1's captivity. Teal'c saw no better course of action that to do as it told.
The dinosaur was holding a remote control of the sort that was used to operate the transport rings. Now, it waved its hand at a wall on the right side of the throne. A door opened in the wall, leading directly into a familiar-looking hall. Teal'c recognized it as the seemingly doorless hall he and Captain Carter had found when they had first explored the ground floor.
Teal'c was staggering, dizzy from the blood loss and the pain, but he kept going. They ran across the hall, back to the very first hall Teal'c had seen in these ruins. The one where the door had been sealed behind them. The door was still sealed, but the dinosaur waved the device at it, and it slid open silently.
The dinosaur spoke again, but this time, Teal'c did not understand all of it. It told him to go free. It also mentioned his friends--but what about them, that he could not figure out.
Before he got to ask again, the dinosaur ran back the way they had come. Teal'c ran as well, through the doorway, out into the rainforest. Into freedom--all alone and uncertain of what had happened to the rest of his team.
Author's Argh: I'm a net addict. Two days without it and I'm mad. Four, and I'll go nuts. Blergh. And no, it's not working yet. Uh.