Title: Elvenpath
Author: Neferlue
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season 4, and the Eddings’ Elenium/Tamuli Series’. Set after the Tamuli and after Divide and Conquer.
Season: 4 ish
Genre: Crossover, Romance, AU/Reality,
Summary: SG-1 go through the gate, there’s an energy spike, and they end up in the world of the Elenium/Tamuli (Eddings). Set after the Tamuli ends. While trying to figure out how to get home, certain people start to re-evaluate how they feel about certain things….
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything, TPTB do. Any characters not belonging to either Eddings or the Stargate world, I do own, unless they are references. And yes, I have taken some liberties with the characters, but they need coaxing! Song copyright to Nightwish.
Author’s Note: This idea hit me while listening to Elvenpath, and the Sparhawk reference came up, as I looked at my Stargate screenback… and click! The idea just came together. For David and Leigh Eddings, the best Fantasy authors ever in my opinion, and the people who taught me to speak High Style, as well as challenge my teachers with questions like “What does it mean when it’s said in here that ‘Silk’s depredations were broadly ecumenical?’”. R.I.P. Your work lives on! (And there’s no ant people or Garion either!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the sheltering shade of the forest
Calling calming silence
Accompanied only by the full moon
The howling of a night wolf
And the path under my bare feet...
...The Elvenpath
Hearing music from the deepest forest
Songs as a seduction of sirens
The elf-folk is calling me
Tapio, Bear-king, Ruler of the forest
Mielikki, Bluecloak, Healer of the ill and sad
Open the gate and let me follow the uncarven path
-Chorus-
The way to the lands
Where as a hero I stand
The path where Beauty met the Beast
Elvenpath
It's the honesty of these worlds
Ruled by magic and mighty swords
That makes my soul long for the past
Elvenpath
The moonwitch took me to a ride on a broomstick
Introduced me to her old friend home gnome
Told me to keep the sauna warm for him
At the grove I met the rest - the folk of my fantasies
Bilbo, Sparhawk, goblins and pixies
Snowman, Willow, trolls and the seven dwarves
The path goes forever on
-Chorus-
Long ago
In the early years of the Second Age
Great elven smiths forged rings of power
As I return to my room
And as sleep takes me by my hand
Madrigals from the woods
Carry me to neverland
In this spellbound night
The world's an elvish sight
In this spellbound night
The world's an elvish sight
But then
The Dark Lord learned the craft of ringmaking
And made the master ring
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General George Hammond watched as the final chevron on the Stargate locked into place, and the kawoosh settled back into the glowing and undulating blue puddle. He looked down at the team waiting below him. “SG-1, you have a go.”
Colonel O’Neill tossed off a wave, as he and his team, stepped through the ‘gate, disappearing into the blue puddle of the event horizon.
“Sir!”
Hammond turned to Walter, who had a confused expression on his face. “There’s an energy spike, I-”
The ‘gate shut off.
“I don’t know what happened, Sir. Everything checked out fine, until...”
“Did they make it to the other side?”
Walter tapped at his keyboard a few times. “I don’t know, Sir. There’s no way to tell.”
“I want some answers, and I want them soon!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SG-1 tumbled to the ground near some woods. As they sat up, they looked around, and saw no Stargate. “What the…” Jack O’Neill breathed.
“No Stargate.” Daniel Jackson said. “How is this possible?”
Everyone turned to look at Samantha Carter. “Why are you all looking at me? I have no clue either!”
Looking around, they saw a building nearby, clearly illuminated in the light of a full moon.
“Perhaps we should go see if the inhabitants of this place know anything.” Teal’c suggested.
“Good idea Teal’c. Ok, move out, and be careful. For all we know, they could be hostile.” O’Neill stated. His team nodded, as they made their way to the blocky looking building.
As they got closer, they saw it had steep walls, and… a drawbridge? This was looking a bit… weird. They could also see what looked like a large city nearby, also walled. As they stood around, two people on horseback approached. One was wearing black armour, with a shield in one hand, the other appeared to be wearing clothes more suited to a peasant.
“Hey!” O’Neill called out as they got closer.
“Who’s there?” The man on horseback demanded, his hand reaching under his cloak.
“We mean you no harm! We’re just a... little lost.” Daniel called out.
The two men rode closer, and they could see the one in armour’s shield had a design on it, a hawk grasping a spear in its talons. Teal’c drew a breath.
“Forgive my asking, but are you at all familiar with the name of ‘Sparhawk’?” Teal’c asked.
“And why would you want to know, neighbour?”
“Because your shield bears the crest of the house of Sparhawk.”
“You recognise it?” Carter asked.
“Yes. I have read about it.”
“Where?”
“In some books I have been reading as of late. Sparhawk is responsible for the death of two evil gods. Once using a jewel known as Bhelliom, the second as it’s champion, where he was given the powers of a God. He is also known as Anakha.”
“How do you know the name “Anakha”?” The man with the shield demanded, his hand now viewable on the hilt of a silver-bound sword.
“As I said, I have read about it. In a series of books.”
Daniel stepped in at this point. “As I said, we mean you no harm. We’re a little lost. Um, do you know what happened to the Stargate, by any chance?”
He received a blank look. The peasant looked at the man with him, and said, “I think this is one of those things we need to speak with Sephrenia about.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “Sparhawk, use your eyes. I don’t think they belong here. And Sephrenia and Aphrael might know what to do. I may only be a peasant, but I can still see what’s in front of me.”
“Khalad, will you ever lose your class prejudices?”
“Not anytime soon, My Lord, if I have anything to do with it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A short while later, in a tower room with a large fire going in a fireplace with a tea kettle bubbling away over it, SG-1 were sitting in chairs talking with Sephrenia. Sephrenia was a tiny woman, with long dark hair in a white robe. She had a sort of serene perfection about her. An auburn haired man sat by her side, also in a white robe, but with the bearing of a warrior.
After hearing their tale, Sephrenia pursed her lips. “I think we need to talk to Aphrael about this.” She finally said. “This sort of magic is far beyond me. In fact, I can barely comprehend it. The only conclusion I can come to is you are from another world. Aphrael may know how to send you back.” Her voice had a slight lilt to it.
“Who’s ‘Aphrael’?” Daniel asked. “Are they your leader, or something?”
“Aphrael is a goddess.”
Everyone turned to look at Teal’c.
“Well, seein’ as you know so much about this place, why don’t you tell us all about it, then?” O’Neill drawled.
“Very well. Aphrael is the child goddess of Styricum. Sephrenia is her high priestess, and if I am not mistaken, you are Vanion, her husband, and former preceptor of the Pandion Knights, of whom’s chapterhouse we are now sitting in.” He inclined his head towards the auburn haired man.
The man nodded.
“Former preceptor?”
“He…retired… and Sparhawk took over the position.”
“Somedays I wish I hadn’t.” Sparhawk muttered under his breath.
“But he barely looks over twenty!”
“Sephrenia herself is close to one thousand years old, O’Neill. Also, the Bhelliom restored his youth to him, as a parting gift.”
O’Neill opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of a flute. “What the?”
Sephrenia smiled a mysterious smile. “I think you had better open the door, dear one,” she said to Sparhawk.
Almost automatically, it seemed, Sparhawk got up and opened the door. A small child was standing just outside it, playing a set of many chambered pipes. The two guards just outside the door seemed oblivious to her presence. She lowered her pipes and smiled at Sparhawk, reaching up her arms to him. He picked her up, kissed her on the cheek and brought her inside.
“This is Aphrael.”
Aphrael grinned impishly at everyone, before blowing a little trill on her pipes. As Sparhawk sat down again, she walked over and climbed in his lap.
“This is a goddess? She looks like a child!” O’Neill exclaimed.
“She only appears as a child, O’Neill,” Teal’c corrected. “It has something to do with her love of hugs and kisses, if I recall correctly.”
Aphrael grinned at him and nodded.
O’Neill cleared his throat. “So, we’ve been told you might be able to help us get home?”
Aphrael climbed off of Sparhawk’s lap, and pursed her lips. “I can’t say for certain. All Sephrenia said is that I was needed here. I can tell you’re from another world, but I don’t know which.”
O’Neill raised an eyebrow.
“Aphrael and Sephrenia are linked, O’Neill.” Teal’c informed him.
“So, tell me, exactly, what happened? How did you get here?”
It was Carter who spoke up. “We use a device called a ‘Stargate’ to travel, almost instantaneously, via a wormhole in space.”
Aphrael looked interested. “A wormhole? What a silly way of describing such travel. I take it, it folds space and time to form this ‘wormhole’?”
“Yes. See, the Stargate is linked to other Stargates, and when you dial an address set by constellations in the sky to determine to point to which you want to travel, if another Stargate is in existence, it will accept the wormhole as incoming, and open it.”
“The constellations are reference points?”
“Yes. Six give the location, the seventh is the point of origin.”
Aphrael turned to look at Sparhawk. “See, I told you there were other races. I see these people are more intelligent than you are.”
Sparhawk looked offended at that comment, but chose not to reply.
Aphrael started to pace. “I haven’t heard of planets with these ‘Stargates, as you call them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I’ll have to do some research. Sparhawk, you need to go to the palace. Danae will be a bit sick for a while while I find out what I can. Make sure Mother doesn’t get too worried.” She pursed her lips again. “Make sure Talen stays too. I like him, and he can keep Mother occupied for a bit while Mirtai is away.”
Teal’c turned to the rest of SG-1. “Danae is one of Aphrael’s incarnations. The daughter of Queen Ehlana and Sparhawk.”
“Sparhawk is the King?”
Sparhawk sighed. “My title is ‘Prince Consort’. One which I still don’t like. I prefer my ‘Sir’”
Daniel looked interested. “It seems this culture is similar to medieval Earth. Knights in armour, for one thing, and it seems that the royal structure is similar to many of those on Earth, even today.”
“Yeah Danny-boy, have a field day. Maybe you’ll learn another language while you’re here.”
Daniel turned to Sparhawk. “Are there any other languages spoken here?”
“Apart from Elene? Yes. Sephrenia here is a Styric. There are also other languages, including one called ‘Tamul.’ Zemoch isn’t too pretty though.”
“Can I learn any of these languages?”
Sephrenia turned to Vanion. “Styric is a difficult language to learn. Some people haven’t quite grasped the written language yet.”
“I’m willing to try.”
O’Neill sighed.
Sparhawk stood from his chair. “I need to get back to the palace. You’re welcome to stay here if you wish. I’ll get some accommodation set up, though I will warn you, they aren’t too comfortable. I can also get you some robes to wear for the meantime. Your clothing and weapons are quite out of place here. Let’s not announce your presence just yet. We’ll see what Aphrael can find out in the meantime. We’ll have to wait a while, I’m guessing. I think we could all use a good night’s rest, it is a bit late. I can see by your bearings you are warriors- feel free to use our training grounds if you wish.” He paused. “I should head back to the palace now, before Ehlana gets too annoyed. Khalad, would you find Kalten, and get him to help? He’s here at the moment, apparently he had an argument with Alean and is letting her cool down a bit before returning to the palace.”
“What if he’s asleep?”
“So?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kalten was a tall blond man, and he was none too happy to be woken up. He grumbled a bit, but did as Khalad asked, mumbling about Sparhawk under his breath. When he found out what was happening, however, his interest piqued. “You’re not from around here?”
“No, we’re from another world.”
“I thought all aliens were different?”
“Not all are as different as you’d think. I take it you’ve met aliens before?”
Kalten looked at Daniel. “Not that we were allowed to see.”
He stopped outside a door. “These four rooms are yours,” he said, gesturing to three other doors. “I’ll go fetch you some blankets.” He turned and headed off with Khalad behind him.
O’Neill turned to Teal’c. “So, what’s the deal here?”
“We are in the Pandion chapterhouse, at Cimmura I would surmise.” He frowned slightly. “I am surprised to find out that Sephrenia and Vanion are here. I thought they stayed in Sarsos after the events of the Tamuli.”
“So, what’s this ‘Elene’ and ‘Styric’ thing that was mentioned earlier?”
“They are two separate peoples, Daniel Jackson. Much like on your planet. Elenes and Styrics generally do not intermarry, in fact, there is often tension between the two races. Of course, there are exceptions.”
“Like?”
“Vanion and Sephrenia. Their relationship is highly frowned upon in certain circles. The Church Knights are allies of the Styrics however, as the Styrics tutor them in magic.”
“Church Knights?”
“There are four orders. The Pandions, the Cyrinics, the Genidians, and the Alciones. Each are from different kingdoms. They are, in essence, armoured monks.”
“Hang on, you said that relationships between Styrics and Elenes were frowned upon. Why doesn’t anyone here seem to care about Vanion and Sephrenia?” Carter asked.
“Anyone with eyes could see how they felt about one another. People chose not to interfere. Sephrenia is the former tutor to the Pandions.”
“So, basically, they’re in a forbidden relationship?”
“In essence, yes.”
“Wow.”
They were interrupted by the return of Khalad and Kalten, Kalten holding four broadswords, and Khalad some blankets. Kalten apologized in advance for the beds, and offered them some wine, which everyone declined.
“Tomorrow, we’ll put you in some more presentable clothes, and take you to the palace,” Kalten explained. “Ehlana may want to meet you, and from what I’ve gathered, Sparhawk may be a bit busy. Also, I should get back to my wife.”
Khalad suppressed a smile. “Beds that bad, or do you think she may have cooled down a bit now you’ve had some time apart?”
“Actually, it’s the food. The beds I can handle. Anyway, I need to apologize. I just wish this pregnancy would be over and done with.”
“Patience, My Lord.”
“Khalad, would you stop that? You’re as bad as your father was.”
“Some traits breed true.”
Kalten snorted and turned around. “I’m heading back to bed. Feel free to wake me when you need something else done you can handle.”
“Of course, My Lord.”
Kalten walked off.
Khalad handed them their blankets, as well as a broadsword each. “We can dress you in some men’s clothing” he told Carter. “I’m guessing you might not want to be unarmed, seeing as you carry a weapon.”
“Thank you.”
“Try and get some rest. I’ll take you to the palace in the morning. It might take a while to find some clothes, so you might be up early. It will also give me a chance to give Talen the messages from our mothers.” He rolled his eyes. “One mother was bad enough, but now we have two. Most of what they have to say isn’t that important, but I’ve missed him anyway.” He paused. “Feel free to move around. I’d suggest some sleep, but the refectory is downstairs if you can’t sleep and want something to eat.”
With that, he bade them a goodnight, and walked off. SG-1 put their packs and the robes and swords they had been given and met up in O’Neill’s room. They talked for a while about their situation, thinking of possible explanations, but coming up with nothing. After a while, they bade each other goodnight, and headed to their individual rooms. Daniel fell asleep quite quickly, as did Teal’c, but Carter and O’Neill lay awake thinking on one thing: A forbidden relationship that had worked. And how they felt about each other. And if it would be worth the risks.
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Author's Notes: Part One of Elvenpath, mostly scene setting.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]