Part Three
The figure dropped what was in its hand and raced forward, throwing its arms around Teyla's waist.
'Teyla!' The child cried, her voice full of relief.
'How did you know?' Ronon asked, confused.
'This is Mya,' Teyla explained. 'She is the daughter of the village healer. The children of the village use stones such as these to knock fruit down from the highest branches in the woods. Mya, is anyone else with you?'
The little girl looked up at Teyla, relieved to have found a friendly face at last. She considered the questions for a moment, glancing back at those who accompanied Teyla doubtfully before responding. 'John,' was all she said, her face growing worried as she grabbed Teyla's hand and led the way deeper into the cave.
They didn't have to go far before they reached their destination. 'Colonel Sheppard,' Teyla exclaimed as she hurried towards the figure propped up against the far wall. 'Are you injured?'
There was no response, but Mya joined Teyla and pulled up the Colonel's t-shirt to reveal a bandage on his side, blood still seeping through.
'Did you do this?' Teyla asked. Mya nodded. 'Is he hurt anywhere else?' This time a shake of the head.
'Major, we need to get him back to Atlantis as quickly as possible,' Teyla turned round to speak to Lorne.
'I've got one of the jumpers landing as close to here as it can get, but we're still going to need to carry him a fair distance,' Lorne told her. 'How bad is it?'
'He has lost a lot of blood,' Teyla told him. 'He is also unconscious.'
'What about her?' Lorne indicated Mya who was now standing directly in front of him, staring up at him.
'I have not had chance to check her yet,' Teyla told him, turning round to look at the little girl. 'Perhaps you should ask her – she seems to like you.' Mya had begun to pat the Major's pockets as though she were looking for something.
'Are you hurt Mya?' Lorne asked, attempting to stop her. 'You should be careful, you might get hurt.' Mya returned her gaze to his face briefly before she resumed her search, carefully replacing several items back in their pockets before she found what she was searching for. Tearing the cellophane wrapper open, Mya began to munch on one of the power bars she had found.
'I believe she has already been through the Colonel's pockets,' Teyla smiled, indicating a pile of items set to one side. 'She used his med kit to clean and bandage his wound.'
'She looks a little young to be carrying out first aid,' Lorne said doubtfully.
'She is eight I believe, though she is small for her age.' Teyla said. 'She has learnt much from watching her father at work.'
Finishing her snack, Mya returned to staring up at Lorne curiously, tapping him on the chest. 'Why does she keep doing that?' Lorne asked nervously.
'She wants to know your name,' Teyla informed him.
'I'm Major Lorne,' he told the child. She looked confused for a moment, before pointing at the two other people she knew.
'John. Teyla.' She said, looking up at him and patting his chest once more.
'Try your first name,' Teyla suggested.
'Marcus,' Lorne told her.
'Marcus,' Mya repeated, beaming at him trustingly, taking his hand and leading him to the Colonel. 'John?' There was a question in her voice.
'We're going to help him,' Lorne told her before being distracted as his radio crackled into life. He listened carefully then turned to Teyla and Ronon. 'It looks like we were followed here, there are more of the raiders outside. Teyla, keep an eye on things in here, Ronon, you're with me.'
Mya, sensing that all was not well, looked up at Lorne with fear in her eyes and clutched his hand tightly, unwilling to let go until Teyla came to the rescue.
'Mya, we need to tend to Colonel Sheppard,' Teyla told her. Reluctantly Mya released Lorne's hand and knelt down beside John to begin checking the dressing. Nodding his thanks, Lorne quickly followed Ronon to the cave opening.
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Teyla sat beside Mya, an arm around her to try to provide some measure of reassurance. The sounds of shouting and gunfire echoed around the cave as the fight with the enemy intruders continued, Mya cowering against her only source of comfort, hands covering both ears in an attempt to block out the worst of the noise.
Ten minutes after the fight began, Teyla nudged Mya and pointed at Colonel Sheppard who had just opened his eyes and was looking around in bewilderment. Instantly forgetting the noise outside, Mya focussed on the patient, crouching down in front of him and searching his face for an indication as to how he was feeling.
'What's going on?' John's voice was harsh and dry as he looked around him.
'Here,' Teyla handed him her canteen of water, Mya taking it from her instead and helping him to drink from it, refusing to allow him to do anything for himself.
'Thanks,' John's face twisted into a grimace as he shifted position slightly and he was reminded of his injury. 'How am I?'
'The injury is not too severe, but you have lost a considerable amount of blood,' Teyla informed him. 'You will be fine once we return to Atlantis.'
'And how long's that going to take? Sounds like there's a bit of a battle going on out there.'
'Soon,' Teyla assured him. 'Major Lorne is here with several teams. We have already encountered a number of the enemy before we found you and Major Lorne will call on the 'jumpers for additional support if the situation requires it.'
'That's good,' John's voice grew quiet as his eyes closed and he lost consciousness once more.
'John?' Mya looked quizzically at Teyla.
'He will be fine,' Teyla smiled at the little girl. 'It is better that he rests, he is very tired. Perhaps it would be a good idea to put John's possessions in here so we will be ready to leave as soon as the others return.' Teyla handed over her pack and Mya went over to the pile of neatly stacked equipment and began to pack it away carefully.
Teyla moved towards the cave entrance to determine how things were progressing only to realise the sounds of gunfire were getting closer, the echoes telling her that the fighting was now taking place within the caves themselves. Acting almost without thought, Teyla turned to tell Mya to join John but her words died on her lips as her attention was caught by debris falling from a newly-formed crack on the ceiling of the cave, debris that was rapidly turning into small rocks immediately in front of John.
Glancing from Mya, who was now crouching behind a large rock too terrified to move, to John, Teyla instinctively knew who needed her help most at that moment and threw herself at the unconscious Sheppard just as a whole section of the ceiling gave way, raining down rocks and raising a cloud of dust that completely enveloped the whole section of the cave.
To be continued…