The Doctor walked carefully into The Cave, but apart from stalactites and stalagmites he found nothing unusual, except a negative atmosphere that became increasingly unbearable. He was glad that Sarah was not there.
It was a small room and he was about to reach the end. He was beginning to think that that 'evil cave' was a fraud when he felt a gentle stream of air coming out of a narrow crack and he got into it, coming to a big chamber.
"Wow! It is bigger on the inside!" the Doctor snorted.
The chamber was austerely furnished with a few seats and a baptismal font full of cloudy water, but what most attracted attention was a big black altar placed in the middle.
"Satanic temple?" he wondered. "This must be the sacrificial chamber."
On one side of the chamber there was a corridor. The Doctor went there ready to inspect more chambers when he heard a voice behind him.
"Well, I think we have a guest. We have become very popular."
The Time Lord turned around and saw seven people, four men and three women, aged between twenty and sixty, with black hair and eyes who wore black robes too.
"The 'dark people', I guess," he said, trying to hide his surprise for not having heard those seven people get closer.
However he was hearing approaching a strange black creature with fire-coloured eyes: an anthropomorphic creature of almost three meters high, with strong extremities finished in claws and a long beak that did not hide its long row of sharp teeth. On its head it had a membranous crest and on its back it had two large wings formed by muscle and membrane. It was a creature that just looking at it would make the bravest man tremble, but not the Doctor. He had seen too many nightmare creatures in his long life to be impressed by a mixture of human and pterodactyl.
"What are you doing in our home?" asked the older man, a distinguished gentleman with perfectly coiffed hair and neat beard.
"I am a caver," said the Doctor with a smile. "I heard that this cave has not been explored by anyone and I wanted to be the first one. This will make me universally famous."
"You will be famous, yes. But for being a fool," said the creature.
"Gosh! Your pet can talk! Has it a name?" he asked sarcastically.
"Call me Strach, but it will be one of the last things you will hear."
"Strach? I imagined something like 'Little Beak'," he said sarcastically again.
The Doctor fell unconscious after being punched in the stomach by Strach.
"Shall we kill him now?" Strach asked the distinguished gentleman.
"Not yet. I want to know who he is and why he is here. Take his clothes off and take him to the interrogation chamber. Let's have some fun."