The Tok'ra

Title: The Tok'ra
Author: Tels
Fandom: Stargate SG1
Characters: a tok'ra
Rating: R
Word count: 1041
Prompt: #45 Moon
Notes: Based on The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Thanks to Mara for the inspiration.
Warning: Character Death!

The Tok’ra
by Tels

The wind blew in torrents of darkness across the desert sand,
The moon the only light shining over the dry harsh land,
The path just a ribbon of moonlight, was all that he would need,
And the Tok’ra came riding-
Riding-riding-
The Tok’ra came riding, upon his borrowed stead.

II
His hair pushed back from his forehead, his collar high at his chin,
His uniform immaculate, the leather light and trim;
It fitted him to perfection: with long boots up to his thigh!
And he rode with his eyes a twinkle,
The zat at his side a-twinkle,
The blade at his belt a-twinkle, under the moonlit sky.

III
Across the sand he cantered and up to the edge of the dunes,
He knew the timing was crucial and thought he’d come too soon;
He whistled a tune to the darkness, and knew she was waiting there
For she appeared on the edge of the darkness,
Her pale face glowed in the darkness ,
His lover stood in the darkness, the moon glinting off of her hair.

IV
And dark by the edge of the sand dunes, a silent figure stood
There Delek the Shol’va listened; his face hid beneath his hood;
His eyes were narrowed and glinted, his plan as clear as day,
When he knew of Tok’ra’s mission,
The Tok’ra's secret mission,
Silent as night he listened, and he heard the Tok’ra say-

V
"A few more hours to wait now, the mission begins to-night,
I should be back to get you before the morning light;
Yet, if jaffa close in on me, and pursue me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come for you by moonlight, though Netu bars the way."

VI
He looked at her for a moment; he scarce could take her hand,
But she grabbed his hand and kissed it! His face burnt like a brand
The scent of her perfume filled him as he pulled her to his breast;
And he kissed her lips in the moonlight,
(Her, sweet red lips in the moonlight!)
Then he mounted his horse in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.

VII
He did not come at dawn; he did not come at noon;
And in the dusk of the fading sunset, before the rising moon,
Had the chance to light the path, across the desert sand
A troop of jaffa came marching-
Marching-marching-
Anubis’ jaffa came marching, across the dune filled land.

VIII
They said no word to the Shol’va, just ran him through instead,
They bound and gagged the woman not listening to a word she said;
Two of them knelt next to her, staff weapons at their side!
There was death at every corner;
And hell at one dark corner;
For she could see through the growing darkness, the way that he would ride.

IX
They had bound her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They bound a staff weapon to her, the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" they told her. She heard the dead man say-
Look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come for you by moonlight, though Netu bars the way!

X
She struggled to move her hands; but the knots were tied too good!
She twisted her hands till her fingers were wet with her blood!
She tried and tried in the darkness, and the hours seemed like years,
Then finally, on the stroke of midnight,
Right on the stroke of midnight,
At last one figure touched it! The trigger at last was hers!

XI
The tip of one finger touched it; she didn’t need the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the staff muzzle beneath her breast,
She could not risk them hearing; or seeing what she’d done;
For the path now shone in the moonlight;
Death’s road shone in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight ran cold as she heard him come.

XII
Trit trot; Trit trot! Did they hear it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Trit trot, Trit trot, in the distance? Surely they must hear?
Down the path of moonlight, thudding over the dunes,
Her Tok’ra came riding,
Riding, riding!
The jaffa prepared their weapons! Her time would be here soon!

XIII
Trit trot, in the sandy stillness! Trit trot, in the cold dark night!
Closer he came and closer! Her face shone like a light!
She widened her eyes then closed them; she took one final breath,
Her finger stirred in the moonlight,
A staff blast split the moonlight,
Echoing through her in the moonlight warning him with her death.

XIV
He turned; and fleeing to safety; he did not know she stood
Her head bowed over the weapon, covered with her own red blood!
It wasn’t til dawn he heard it, and his face grew pale to hear
How his contact, and only true lover,
His blue eyed blonde haired lover,
Had watched for him in the moonlight, and died in the stillness there.

XV
He turned and rode like a fury, screaming a curse to the sky,
With sand, cloak and hair streaming behind him and holding zat’nikatel high!
His eyes blazed fire in the noon day sun; and red was the blood he shed,
When they shot him down on the sand dunes,
Down like a dog on the sand dunes,
And he lay in his blood on the sand dunes, the last of the resistance dead.

XVI
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind blows o’er the sand,
And the moon the only light shining over the dry harsh land,
And the path just a ribbon of moonlight, is all that you would need,
A Tok’ra comes riding-
Riding-riding-
A Tok’ra comes riding, upon his borrowed stead.

XVII
Across the sand he canters and up to the edge of the dunes,
He knows the timing is crucial and thinks he’s come too soon;
He whistles a tune to the darkness, and knows she’s waiting there
For she appears on the edge of the darkness,
Her pale face glows in the darkness,
His lover stands in the darkness, the moon glinting off of her hair.

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