Disclaimer: Kingdom's of Old are ours, but John, Elizabeth, Rodney, Ronon and Teyla aren't.
A/N Tinuviel Undomiel: Finally we have updated, yeah we know, we know. Not a lot of Shweir, but some good Spanky.
A/N Nerwen Aldarion: Most of this chapter was mine and it was fun to write, my favorite review was when someone said, "I didn't expect Teyla to betray THAT way." I thought it would be an interesting way for the traitor to choose the right side. This chapter is an amazing confrontation and I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 5: The Pieces Fall Together
When the sun began to peek over the horizon and kiss the waters of the river with its beautiful light Ronon awoke. To his disappointment he saw that he was alone, he had hoped that Teyla would be fine with what had happened but he wasn't at all surprised. He figured that he would have to reassure her that everything would be fine.
He joined John, Rodney and Elizabeth outside, "Have any of you seen Teyla?"
They shook their head, "No," Elizabeth said, "In fact I checked her room, I don't think she even slept in it."
"Maybe we should…" Ronon began but a voice behind them interrupted.
"She is gone." Tylas spoke Raciella at his side.
"Gone?" Elizabeth asked.
"She left last night, she headed west." He explained, "She left fast, as if the Wraith Queen was after her."
"Why would she leave?" John asked confused.
Raciella answered that question, "She is a traitor, and her betrayal has begun."
Ronon refused to believe that, "No, she wouldn't betray us, I know her."
"Yes very well indeed," Tylas said giving Ronon an amused look.
"What does that mean?" Rodney asked all of them looking at Ronon who was obviously uncomfortable.
John began to have an idea of what was going on, "Ronon, what exactly happened between you and Teyla last night?"
"Nothing," Ronon told them looking away.
Elizabeth smiled, "He lies."
Now John was grinning, "Ronon, and in the city of the Elves. Isn't that a sin or something?"
Only Rodney didn't understand, "Am I missing something here?"
"I'll put this in simple terms," John began, "The reason Teyla didn't sleep in her room last night, was because she was in Ronon's."
"Why was she in…?" And then it dawned on him, "Oh!"
"I do believe we are all forgetting something," Elizabeth pointed out, "Teyla has left."
"You must go after her," Raciella told them, "Do not leave each other. The four of you must stay together and find her, or the Kingdoms of Old will fall."
"We don't even know where to look." John said.
Raciella smiled, "Do not look, listen."
Elizabeth understood, "You want me to talk to the trees, they can tell me where she is going."
"Well then we better hurry," John said, "Or she'll get to far ahead."
"You must hurry," Raciella told them, "Or he'll get to her first."
"Who?"
"That matters not," Tylas said, "What matters now is that you must find her. I will have supplies sent down for you, as well as an Elvin guide."
"No brother," Raciella said, "They must go alone."
"I'm not letting my daughter…"
"As long as she stays with them she will be fine," Raciella said, "Emerwyn will be much needed when the confrontation occurs. She must go."
"We'll take care of her, your majesty," John assured him.
Tylas nodded, he didn't like sending his only child on this quest, but he understood that Fate is fragile and all the pieces must fit together perfectly for it to work.
A little less than an hour later, John, Rodney and Ronon were waiting for Elizabeth. The gold sword of Marcutia slipped from John's hands and clattered loudly to the floor when he saw her. The Elves had given her a set of sturdy traveling clothes that were much more suitable than the dress she wore before. The green tunic tapered to her waist accenting it. The brown breeches revealed her long, slender legs and showed off her curves nicely. Temptation had been bad before; now John wasn't sure how he was going to live with it.
"Are we ready to head out?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah," John stammered out and bent down to pick up his fallen sword.
Tylas walked over and hugged his daughter, "Be safe, Emerwyn."
"I will, father."
"You have the blessings of the Elves upon you," He said to all of them, "The Fates lie upon your shoulders, go and complete your destiny."
Tylas and Raciella watched as four of the five from the great prophecy, "I pray that this trial they face will not be hard," Tylas said.
"Not on them all," Raciella said, "But to the traitor, her worst fears shall seem to come true."
Teyla was exhausted when she finally reached her destination nevertheless she smiled when she saw The Ruins Of Old. Built by the Ancestors they were a place of sanctuary a place to meditate and find peace. Peace is what she needed, she needed to discover who she was traveling with the others had caused her wonder what her place in this world was. She needed to think about what to do and what she had done, hopefully here her thoughts would be clear and she wouldn't think about him so much or that one night they were together.
An hour later she knelt before the alter in the middle of the ruins, the fire she had started blazed brightly.
"Please tell me what to do." She begged the silent Ancestors from above, "I have forsaken the sacred vows I took and yet I feel no shame, why do I feel that I should turn away from my master's command? But if I do I know he will come for me and destroy me. Give me guidance I beg of you."
Tears were spilling down her cheeks as she uttered these words. Suddenly the fire blazed upwards and her master appeared, not an apparition this time but in the flesh. "You foolish ignorant wretch of a girl, I gave you orders and you disobey them and worse you throw in your lot with him like some common tavern whore!"
"I am not what you speak," She told him, her courage suddenly rising.
"Don't deny it you harlot, I saw you lie with him." He spat out at her, "You were supposed to bring them to me, not break your vows and spread your thighs so easily."
"And what would you have done with them?" She asked, "They are four from the prophecy, we must let them continue so they can find the last one."
"You are even more foolish than I believed," He laughed, "Even after all of this you did not understand. I wanted you to bring them to me because then I would have had all from the prophecy."
She looked at him in shock, "What?"
"It is you who is the fifth person from the prophecy, you are the traitor who had to choose, and choose you did when you gave yourself to him you betrayed me!" His eyes darkened with anger.
"I…I chose?" She said aloud still in denial.
"Yes my apprentice, and as for the question you asked I would have destroyed them and afterwards I would have taught you everything, you would have fulfilled my greatest desire."
"You…you used me to get to them and if I hadn't met him…" She realized, "I would have let you kill them."
"Yes, your ignorance from the truth would have been their undoing." He told her, "You see, I cannot let this prophecy take place for it would destroy my allies."
"Allies?" She asked, "The Wraith, you serve the Wraith!"
He smiled evilly, "Once the Wraith take over the other kingdoms the Pagans will have free reign that is our agreement, once I destroy your friends."
"I won't let you do that!" She said her anger flowing.
"It's too late," He laughed cruelly, "You underestimated their loyalty, they will be here with in a few moments."
"You lie," She shouted not wanting to believe that she could have unwittingly led them into danger.
But her friends did appear rushing from the tree line and stopping at the base of the ruins. "Teyla," Ronon began.
John interrupted, "Who is he?"
"Please go now," She told them ignoring the question, "please listen to me."
"What is going on?" Rodney asked.
"They will not listen to you, Teyla." Thomias said with a smile, "Why should they? No one trusts a traitor."
"Traitor?" John asked, "It's true?"
"It's not what you think…" Teyla began earnestly.
"Let me explain for my apprentice." Thomias told them.
"Apprentice?" Ronon asked confused.
"Yes, I am Thomias, Head Master of the Witches Guild and Teyla is my apprentice," He said evilly, "And I sent her on a very important quest, she was supposed to bring you to me, all of you."
"Don't listen to him!" Teyla tried to explain.
"Do you deny that was your quest?" Thomias asked grinning cruelly.
Teyla looked down to the ground in shame and spoke softly, "No."
The answer was like a terrible sound to their ears, all eyes were on Teyla and doubt of her loyalty was on their minds.
"You…you were going to let him kill us?" Ronon asked a mixture of anger and disbelief.
Tears filled her eyes when she heard him speak; the last person she wanted to hurt was him, "Ronon…I…" But there was nothing that she could say that could wipe the anger and hurt from his eyes.
Unfortunately her master answered Ronon's question for her, "Yes, she was. She was a part of this the entire time; it has always been her wish to do the Wraith's bidding."
"That's not true!" Teyla shouted at her master, "I hate the Wraith almost as much as I hate you!"
Her master only laughed, "Perhaps wretch, but the truth is you have done as I bid you to do. You led them right to me and now I will have my way with them."
"Hydun opli ungir tyrfik." And with a wave of his hand Teyla's friends were out cold. He raised his hand to bring on another spell but a wave of magic pushed him aside.
He turned to see his apprentice one of her arms raised the other hand and the hilt of her sword. "I won't let you hurt them." She told him calmly.
He merely smiled; he reached into the fire and pulled out a flame. She watched as the flame fashioned into a sword that crackled with an evil glow. When their swords met a shower of sparks exploded the air around them, illuminating the features of Teyla's face, features that were set in anger.
Teyla knew this was a battle that would be hard to win, under normal circumstances she would have walked away, but this was different. She had to defend her friends or die trying, which was a big possibility.
This battle was more than just a test of mere sword play; this was a battle of wills and a war of magic. While not only having to block her master's parries she also had to ward off the balls of flames he hurled her way.
It was when she had to block a piece of the old ruin that Thomias found a way through her attack. She cried out in pain when the flaming sword seared the skin of her sword arm, the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Teyla's sword clattered to the ground and she fell to her knees holding her wounded arm.
Thomias's sword fizzled away like mist and master and apprentice glared at each other for a moment.
"Go ahead," Teyla said through gritted teeth, "kill me."
"As much as I would enjoy doing just that, I would much rather watch you suffer without your friends as you watch them die." He told her, "But I'm not above dolling out punishment."
He raised his hand and streaks of white lightning raced towards Teyla and she began to understand what agony really was. She twisted in pain as her master tortured her endlessly; she smelt her scorching skin and singed clothing. Death was the only respite but he wouldn't allow that but her body found another one, she found relief in the blackness of her mind.
But Thomias wasn't above torturing her unconscious form; lighting still flowed to her now still body. That is until an arrow embedded itself in his hand.
He looked to see Ronon and John both holding bows, the arrow coming from Ronon. He glared at them and was ready to knock them out again but he was drained from fighting his apprentice and torturing her. He cursed himself for his lack of patience and turned an angry eye to them.
"It appears I will have to find all of you again, but mark my words I will hunt you down and you will beg for death by the time I'm finished with you!" And with a burst of flame he was gone.
Elizabeth hurried over to Teyla's form and turned her over. Her fingers traced the wound and immediately it sealed.
"Hurry," She said, "The Ruins of Old are filled with power; we must get away from here." She tried to lift Teyla, but was unable to accomplish it. Elizabeth snapped at John, "Don't just stand there, help me!"
John pointed his bow equipped with an arrow at Teyla, "Why?"
Her jaw dropped a bit in shock, but she clenched it closed, "She's our friend!"
"She betrayed us!"
"So you would believe the word of the enemy over your ally?" She questioned, "Your father would be ashamed."
"My father is not here," John hissed, "And she was his apprentice for years, do you really trust her now?"
"Well I'm certainly not going to dump her here without hearing her side of the story."
"But we did hear her side," Rodney pointed out, "She said she was on a mission to kill us."
"And she just saved our lives," Elizabeth said, "I think that merits an explanation. There is something about the five of us that is important, Raciella said that we cannot separate or all the kingdoms will fall. We have to keep her with us."
Ronon had been staring at Teyla's still form the entire time, a mixture of anger and confusion on his face. He didn't understand what to believe anymore and when Teyla had admitted what her mission had been it had torn into his heart, if she had been anyone else he wouldn't have hesitated killing her. But a part of him hoped that there was another explanation and he wasn't going to give up on that hope.
He walked over to Teyla and gently picked her up, she was so still he was afraid for a moment there that she wasn't breathing but the slight movement of her chest suggested otherwise. He threw a look at John and Rodney, "Let's go." He told them before heading away from the ruins.
Teyla awoke when the rays of the sun kissed her face, she opened her eyes but the glare of the sun forced her to close them. She moved to place her hands over her eyes and every muscle screamed in pain. She groaned and tried to get up but that only made things worse.
"Don't move," Elizabeth warned, "I could heal the wound, but your pains are beyond my healing powers."
Teyla was shocked to hear Elizabeth's voice, "You stayed behind to help me?"
Elizabeth smiled, "No, we all took you out of there."
"All?" Teyla asked surprised and sat up like a shot ignoring the pain. She tried to prop herself up but her arms were so weak and shaking that she about fell back down until Elizabeth helped her stay up. To her amazement Teyla did see all of them, John, Rodney and Ronon. Her eyes lingered on Ronon the longest seeing the look of disappointment and anger on his face, and suddenly the pain was no longer in her limbs but in her heart.
"I thought you would…" Teyla began but John interrupted.
"Believe me if it weren't for Pixie we would have left you there. So why don't you start giving us reasons why we shouldn't leave you now."
"John!" Elizabeth said warningly.
"It's alright," Teyla told her, "All of you deserve to know the truth." She took a deep breath before beginning, "My master did send me on a mission, but it wasn't to bring all of you, I was only supposed to bring Ronon to him." She glanced at Ronon before continuing, "It wasn't until later that he told me to bring all of you, and I speak the truth when I say that I had no idea that he was planning to kill you."
"Why does he even care about us?" John asked.
"Because," Teyla began explained, "We are the five of the prophecy, all of us. Rodney is the coward, John the prince, Elizabeth is the half-blood, I'm the traitor and Ronon…you are the key."
"I'm not a coward!" Rodney proclaimed.
John gave him a look, "Yes you are."
"What's the key?" Ronon asked.
"I don't know," Teyla admitted, "but I'm certain Thomias does."
"One more thing," John said, "You admitted you were a traitor…"
"But not to you," Teyla interrupted, "I couldn't bring any of you to him not when I didn't know what he was going to do. I betrayed him and the Witches Guild when I gave myself to Ronon."
"Interesting betrayal," John mumbled.
"That's it then," Elizabeth said, "we must continue with our journey."
"To where?" Rodney asked, "where would we go even if we are this so called prophecy we don't know what to do."
"Yes we do," Teyla said firmly, "We must go to the Witches Guild."
"I'm not going there!" Rodney exclaimed.
"We must! Thomias is the only one who knows what the key is and we must find out of all of this will be for nothing!"
"Well then, to the Guild we must go." Elizabeth agreed.
"Has anyone noticed that she is saying we have to go to the place she was going to take us to be killed?" John asked.
"Does this look like I want you killed!" Teyla asked angrily and with vengeance stood up but her legs gave way and she fell. She sighed, "I'm not saying any of you have to trust me, all I ask is that you listen to me." She looked at each one of them in the eye, "Please?"
John sighed in exasperation, "Once you can walk lead the way."
A/N: Well what did you guys think? Next chapter we learn more about Ronon andTeyla's origins and meet Thomias again.