Pax Elysia Chapter 21: The abode of gods

The starship descended like a falling star, its hull glimmering silver against the backdrop of Elysium’s azure skies.

To Sha’re, who had known only the sands of Abydos and the hollow metal chambers of Goa’uld ships in her time as Amunet’s host, this place felt unreal. Green plains stretched endlessly below, cut by shining rivers and forests that sparkled as though kissed by light itself. Mountains rose in the distance, capped in white that glowed like the clearest crystals. Vast oceans shone blue with scattered islands providing flecks of green in between.

She clutched her newborn son closer to her breast, swaddled in soft cloth woven by a kind Elysian healer. The child stirred but did not cry, as though he too sensed they were leaving behind shadows for a realm of light.

The Spitfire hovered in the sky. Transport rings were used to transport Sha’re, her child and Harry below.

Harry waved her forward invitingly towards strange men and women.

Waiting below were figures that Sha’re did not recognise — tall, proud men and women dressed in flowing robes of deep purple, their eyes bright with power. And beside them… creatures that made her heart falter: small, graceful beings with pointed ears and ancient eyes, bowing as the ship’s engines fell silent.

“This is Elysium,” Harry said softly, glancing back at her. “You and your son are safe here.”

Safe. The word felt fragile on her tongue. She had not felt safe since the day she had been taken from Abydos, since Amunet had slithered into her body and stolen her life. Could this truly be a sanctuary? Is there such a place where safety could be found?

They led her through the streets of Avalon, the shining capital. The city rose like no place she had ever seen — towers of white stone crowned with gardens that spilt green vines over their edges, fountains that sang as water danced in patterns no natural stream could form. Sha’re walked as one in a dream, her child pressed close.

The people bowed or dipped their heads in respect as Harry passed, whispering his name.

“Lord Potter,” some murmured.

Others simply called him ‘Marshal’.

To Sha’re, already shaken by what she had seen of his power, it felt as though he were indeed a god among the people of Elysium.

Her new home lay within a quiet quarter near the river. The house itself was modest compared to the grand halls she had glimpsed, but to her it seemed like a palace. Smooth stone walls glowed faintly with carved runes unknown to her, windows arched high to catch the sunlight, and a garden bloomed in impossible colour.

Suddenly, a being with pointed ears popped into existence inside the home, startling Sha’re.

“I am Lira,” she said, her voice melodic. “I am charged with your care. Whatever you need, you shall have if it's within my ability.”

“Lira is a House Elf. Treat her kindly and you shall have a friend who cares for you even in your darkest days with compassion and love.” Harry advised.

“Friend Harry is kind.” Lira dipped her head with a happy smile.

Sha’re could only nod, struck dumb. The elf reached gently for the child, and though Sha’re hesitated, there was something in Lira’s big hazel eyes — an eternal kindness — that eased her fear. The baby cooed, as though recognising safety for the first time.

“Come,” Lira said. “Rest. Food has been prepared, and your bed waits.”

Sha’re stepped across the threshold. For the first time in years, she felt as though she had entered a place where darkness could not follow.

Sha’re began to learn the rhythm of life in Elysium. Every dawn brought sights that filled her heart with awe. She would rise with her son and walk to the balcony, watching as the sky painted itself with colours beyond Abydos’ dusty sunsets — crimson, gold, violet, hues that shimmered like the cloth of gods.

The city lived in harmony, and she had never imagined seeing such in her entire life. People moved through the streets, their robes trailing behind them, speaking words that bent the air and water to their will. She saw one conjure a breeze to cool a baker’s oven, another shape streams of water into crystal vessels, another light a path with sparks of fire that obeyed his fingers like tame birds.

To Sha’re, raised among slaves who bowed to false gods, this was no mere skill. These people commanded the elements: earth, water, fire, and air. How could they not be gods themselves?

Even Lira, the elf who has been so kind to her and looked after her needs and those of her newborn son, possessed the power of the gods. She had seen Lira wipe the house clean with a snap of her fingers. She had seen Lira manifest things out of thin air by her divine power.

One evening, she whispered her thoughts to Lira as they sat in the garden, her son asleep between them.

“They move the world as Ra once did and wield the elements with the ease of breathing. Yet they do not demand worship. Are they not gods?”

Lira smiled, her eyes shining with amusement and gentleness.

“They are not gods, Sha’re. They are wizards. Men and women of flesh and bone, though their power is great.”

Sha’re frowned.

“On Abydos, such power could only belong to the divine.”

“Bending the elements is a skill known to even the young among us. The true power of wizards goes beyond such trivial magics.” Lira said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Sha’re fell silent, pondering. Still, in her heart, she could not help but look upon Harry and his kind with reverence. To her, they were what gods should have been — protectors, givers, not takers.

One evening, Liri showed her what Elysium truly was. He led her to the Great Circle, a wide plaza where wizards gathered. There, before her eyes, they bent their divine powers together. Flames rose into spirals, water wove itself into towering columns, wind shaped the fire and water into living patterns — dragons of flame that danced with serpents of water, dissolving into blossoms of light. Elysians of different kinds walked the plaza. She saw beings like half-horse, half-men walking the streets. She saw children playing with flying toys and chocolates that seemed to have a life of their own. She had seen the chocolates that Daniyel brought her, but these were different – more godly.

There were flying carts that flew overhead carrying people, which the Elysians called cars. Ships flew the skies of Elysium, and the city smelled of lavender and roses all the time. The foods were aplenty and in many flavours. The people were kind and healthy, with an abundance of everything Abydosians would strive to possess for their entire lives.

Sha’re’s breath caught. She fell to her knees, clutching her son once she returned home.

“This is heaven,” she whispered. “The abode of gods.”

Yet even in paradise, shadows lingered.

Some nights, Sha’re woke with a scream, clutching her chest, feeling the ghost of Amunet still within her. The Tok’ra had stripped the demon away, and Harry promised her she was safe, but the memory of her helplessness and feeling of being a prisoner in her own body lingered.

The violation of her body and mind was a wound that no magic could erase.

On such nights, Lira would come swiftly, sitting beside her, rocking Danyel when he cried from his mother’s fear. The elf would sing in her lilting tongue, and Sha’re would feel calm seep back into her bones.

On one such night, when she was haunted by dreams of demons, a soft trill chased away the darkness, and warmth flooded her being with light. When she opened her eyes, she saw an otherworldly bird of red and gold sitting by the crib of her newborn son.

For a long moment, she stared mesmerised by the bird’s beauty and the calmness it brought her by its sheer presence. A soft trill escaped the bird’s mouth, which snapped her out of a trance.

“Lira.” Sha’re called hesitantly.

Her trusted friend appeared beside her.

“What is that?” Sha’re pointed at the bird standing on one of the rims of the crib.

“That is a phoenix. Her name is Fawkes. She usually only appears beside Friend Harry.” Lira said calmly.

“Is it dangerous?” Sha’re asked hesitantly.

“No. Phoenixes are beings of light, love and kindness. It is a blessing to see one with your eyes.”

Sha’re bowed her head and prayed for good fortune for her son. The phoenix tilted its head as if listening to her prayers before it took flight. It flew above her head twice, leaving golden sparks with every flap of its wing, before it disappeared in a flash of fire, leaving a soft trill and a single feather.

“Keep it with you always.” Lira said in awe as Sha’re caught the golden feather with both hands. “It is a sign that the light has blessed you.”

Sha’re took those words to her heart and kept the feather close to her son. From that moment on, she never had a nightmare.

“The gods are kind.” Sha’re praised them every night before sleep.

*******

The Temple of Ra was quiet, almost too quiet. The Abydosian sandstone walls glowed faintly with torchlight, their carved reliefs of Ra’s supposed victories filling the walls of the pyramid. The Tok’ra had chosen this place deliberately—sacred ground, familiar to Apophis, where he would be least prepared to overcome an ambush.

To Harry, it felt like a stage fit for the downfall of Apophis.

But he was not expecting Apophis to come via the stargate alone. There was a chance the Goa’uld System Lord would take a mothership to Abydos. The chances were slim, as the information collected from Amunet suggested Apophis would arrive via the stargate on the tenth day.

In case Apophis took a mothership to Abydos, they were prepared for that as well. The Spitfire and the Avalonian were orbiting the planet under cloak with the ion cannons trained at the ready to blast Goa’uld ships into dust once Apophis was confirmed to set his foot on the planet.

Harry remained on the ground with the Tok’ra agents watching the stargate inside the temple.

Around the wide chamber, Tok’ra agents moved with a precision born of centuries of shadow war. They hauled sleek plasma turrets into a hidden position, adjusting angles, checking power crystals, whispering coded orders to one another. Their technology hummed in the background, cold and clinical.

In contrast, Harry’s contribution to the trap was invisible but no less lethal. Wards shimmered faintly in the air, layers upon layers of enchantments carved into the stone with his wand—anti-transportation wards that could disrupt the stargate’s event horizon, protective barriers on all forward positions, even runes inscribed on the temple floor designed to twist incoming staff blasts into harmless sparks.

“These runes and wards… they will neutralise the Jaffa weapons?” Selmak asked sceptically.

“Yes.” Harry said shortly.

He was aware Slemak was not the sole listener in their conversation. Selmak’s host, Jacob Carter, was a General in the United States Air Force. Therefore, he had no intention of giving information more than what was strictly necessary for the sake of the mission. If he hadn’t needed the Tok’ra’s expertise to lure Sokar into the trap, he wouldn’t have bothered involving them in this plan.

“I still don’t understand how a few words painted on the floor can accomplish all that.” Selmak said with wonder in his eyes as he watched glowing runes being charged by the rune masters.

“Languages of old have power and meaning. Since they’ve been around since the dawn of civilisations, they interact better with cosmic energies than modern languages.” Harry explained.

“I guess there are mysteries unexplored in the world more than we know.” Selmak said with a shake of his head.

They took their hiding positions and waited for Apophis.

After hours of waiting, the Stargate roared to life.

Blue-white energy erupted within the stone ring outside the temple, a churning vortex that made the torches in the temple flicker as the event horizon stabilised. The sound alone—the rushing howl of displaced air—made the sand tremble beneath Harry’s boots. He felt the shift in the wards instantly; Harry asserted his control and bided his time to shut the gate down.

The noose was waiting.

The first through the Gate were Jaffa. Their armoured boots struck the sandstone courtyard like war drums, serpent-helmed heads turning in unison as they scanned for enemies. Dozens poured through in disciplined ranks, staff weapons primed.

They immediately started scouting the temple for any enemies, but Harry’s magic shielded everyone from being noticed.

Finally, when the Jaffa were convinced that there was no threat in the vicinity, they sent for Apophis.

The System Lord finally crossed through the stargate, dressed in gold ornaments and rubies. Apophis’ eyes burned with an unnatural glow. Harry also noticed Apophis had the Goa’uld hand device in his left hand.

Harry gave the signal to the Tok’ra, and once he received Selmak’s nod, he tapped into the wards and shut down the stargate with his magic. He also activated a rune barrier surrounding Apophis and the Jaffa.

The moment the stargate shut down abruptly, Apophis and his Jaffa became alert. The Jaffa brandished their staff weapons and stood ready for combat.

The Tok’ra under Selmak’s order opened fire on the Jaffa with their plasma weapons. The initial volley itself fell most of the Jaffa, while the handful that remained primed their staff weapons and fired blindly in return.

That was when Harry’s wards came into play as the plasma bolts from the Jaffa fizzled out or got outright absorbed by barriers in between. The Elysian rifles picked off the remaining Jaffa with precision.

Under relentless plasma fire, the Jaffa guards of Apophis fell dead on the ground, leaving Apophis alone, who had activated his personal shield to stay alive so far.

Harry lifted the barrier which kept them hidden and stood before Apophis with a casual smile.

“You dare to challenge a god! Your insolence will…”

“Oh, shut up, you megalomaniac loser. I’ve heard far worse monologues, and I’m not interested in wasting my time by adding one more to the list.” Harry said blandly before activating a cluster of runes he had painstakingly carved on the floor beforehand.

The golden shield that Apophis oh so ‘divinely’ set up using his naquadah-powered hand device fell apart like a broken mirror under the influence of runes.

The stunned look on Apophis’ face was quite a treat to watch.

“You may have convinced yourself you are some fancy god because you got to taste a small bit of power. Here, let me educate you on what true power means.” Harry mocked before a bolt of lightning snapped out of his open palm.

The air inside the temple split apart as the bolt of lightning snapped through the space and struck Apophis head-on. The self-proclaimed god screamed as he was electrocuted under arcs of lightning until Harry cut off the flow.

Apophis fell on the floor, twitching, while the flesh on his body smoked from the burn marks left after the lightning attack.

Harry stood over the fallen Goa’uld, who stared ahead while convulsing from the aftershocks with a smirk.

“God, huh? Must be the god of shivers.” Harry said with a chuckle before firing a stunner at the fallen Goa’uld’s face.

Apophis stopped convulsing as the stunner took effect, leaving the system lord sleeping peacefully on the floor like a baby.

“Extract his memories.” Harry ordered.

His people went around to do exactly that by extracting every piece of memory from Apophis using the crystal extractor. After that, Apophis was handed over to the Tok’ra for the remainder of the plan.

“Having Apophis will definitely force Sokar to show himself to Heru’ur. If we pull this off, we might just remove one of the most dangerous Goa’ulds from the picture.” Selmak said as Tok’ra operatives took Apophis into custody and dialled the address of Heru’ur’s throne world.

Harry nodded absently while securing the memory crystal containing Apophis’ memory.

While the Tok’ra were interested in Apophis solely for combating the elusive Sokar from the board, he was interested in the location of the Eye of Apophis. He was informed of the Eye of Ra when his people combed through the information gathered from Heru’ur. The genetic memories Heru’ur inherited from Ra were a treasure trove as they helped them track down some of the ancient artefacts. It had even revealed the location of two Potentias Ra had squirrelled away.  

He was already in the process of assembling a team to recover both Potentias. Securing the Potentias and the Eyes were of paramount importance in Harry’s eyes.

He was sceptical about whether Sokar would fall for the trap. At least, he was confident Heru’ur might rekindle the alliance with Sokar and turn the Goa’uld’s hidden army against the other System Lords. It’d be an overall good outcome in his eyes.

Although he would be grateful if the Tok’ra managed to snag Sokar and find his supposed massive army using Apophis as bait.

Either way, it was a net positive in his eyes.

“Marshal Potter. My host has a question if you’d spare a minute.” Selmak requested.

“Go ahead.” Harry turned his attention to the man sweeping his musings aside while watching Apophis disappear through the stargate.

“The woman, Amunet’s previous host. How is she and her child doing?” Jacob asked after Selmak relinquished control.

“She’s recovering well. She and the child are well taken care of at the moment.” Harry said.

“The woman is the wife of Daniel Jackson. I was wondering whether he’d be allowed to visit Sha’re and the child.”

Harry stared at the man for a moment. He was discreetly reading the surface thoughts of the man to see whether there were any ulterior motives. The gate address of Elysium remained a secret; they only shared it with the Asgard and the Tok’ra.

So far, the Tok’ra had kept their word in keeping it a secret. But he suspected that with Selmak taking a host from Earth, it was bound to be known to the SGC.

Still, he felt it was not the time to bring the people of Earth into Elysium. There would be unintended political consequences, and they had yet to complete a full transfer of the magical population from Earth to Elysium.

Though he was sympathetic to the misfortune that befell Sha’re he was not willing to jeopardise the security of Elysium for her.

“I’ll have her sent to Abydos.” Harry promised instead and carefully left the child out of the equation.

After all, the child holds the genetic memory of two Goa’ulds. The last thing he wanted was for a baby to become a test subject under the US government.