Martouf

Death

Martouf quietly snuck away, hoping he wouldn't be caught. To his luck, the sound of the Ring covered the noise he made. He took off running when he was out of the forest. Aldwin had said a search party to find him was forming. That would be at his house if they hadn't left yet.

"Martouf? Where have you been!" his father said when he saw his son running towards them.

Martouf looked around, and saw nearly the entire town was at his house. "The Tok'ra."

"The what?"

"The..." Martouf was a bit out of breath from the run. "...strangers. They are Tok'ra...enemies of Lady...Bastet."

There were gasps and murmurs through the crowd.

"Father, she's going to destroy us."

His father frowned. "Don't ever say such thing about Lady Bastet! Eush went to check out the reason the Goddess Ring activated. She must have come through knowing her enemies are here."

"Marrow and Yirp were there too," Martouf said, curious to how they got involved.

His father frowned more. "They must have followed Eush. They are going to be in-"

"Father, the Jaffa killed them!"

His father's face turned white. "What?"

"He killed them, and more Jaffa are coming. They are going to destroy all of us!"

"Lady Bastet would never-"

"I heard the orders directly from her!" Martouf felt bad when he saw the look on his father's face was pure shock. "Father, I'm sorry. We need to help the Tok'ra. They are the only ones who can help us."

"We will not help Lady Bastet's enemies," another man said. "Punishments were made, and it's to be expected when we were helping her enemy. Helping them now will only make it worse."

Fear was leaving Martouf, and being replaced with anger for their deaths. Martouf glared at the man. "She only knows they are here because of my brothers and our leader, and she killed them for it! Explain that!"

The man looked both surprised and insulted, as Martouf had never treated an adult in such a way.

Martouf didn't wait for a response, but headed off towards where he last saw the Tok'ra. When he arrived at their house he started to call out for them, but stopped, realizing he should probably be quiet. He tried to look into the window. "Setta?" he whispered. "Lantash?"

He jumped when he heard the sound of multiple staff weapons being fired from where he just left. Martouf ducked down, and then went to the back of the house. His mind tried to search for the names of the other Tok'ra. "Lantash!" he whispered harshly. "Saroosh? Rorm?" He squatted down, listening for sounds. Tears started to run. "Anyone?"

Someone put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped.

"It's not safe here," said Lantash's voice.

Martouf looked up. Some fear seemed to drain from him when he saw her. "You're here. More Jaffa are coming, and they are going to destroy us and you. Can you help us?"

"How many Jaffa?"

"I-I don't know." More tears came. His fear was returning.

"Are your people willing to fight?"

"I don't know. I...I don't think they believed me."

They both turned towards the front of the house when they heard the sound of someone coming.

"Stay here," Lantash said, and she disappeared around the corner of the house.

Martouf bit his lip, and stayed frozen. He heard Lantash firing some type of weapon, which was followed by the sounds of falling bodies. Martouf felt a bit more relieved when Lantash came back. She grabbed his arm. "Come."