Chapter VI – The Damage Done

They walked in unison. The streets were strangely quiet – so much so that their footsteps and voices echoed through the alleyways and bounced off the walls of buildings.

"Anything?" the Doctor asked his companion to one side. When she didn't answer he cast his eyes sky-ward with impatience. "Look, I thought you said – "

"It takes time, Doctor," Jezera assured him without looking up. "If I'm to tap in to the world's particle matrix and pinpoint just one girl, I'm going to need to rely on all the resources I have. I can already sense what area of the city Rose is in, but apart from that, you're just going to have to wait." She looked at him, her eyes wide and glowing chrome. "I'm sorry. I'm doing my best."

The Doctor's eyes lingered on her, intrigue flashing behind them. He then nodded and looked to the floor.

It had been a long time since he had been here last, and after this experience, he wouldn't wonder if he vowed never to come here again. Psychic paper or no, it wasn't worth getting Rose caught up in it all. But then, that said, with that rule of thumb, it was a surprise they ever left the TARDIS. If they got out of here alive, he would make sure to –

"Doctor!"

Jezera had stopped dead in the street and flung an arm out to stop him. Her eyes were closed, her face screwed up in pain. Her eyes were moving rapidly behind their lids and her body had started to tremble. The Doctor laid a hand gently on her shoulder.

"I've found her," she said before he could ask. There was a breathiness in her voice that hadn't been there a moment ago. "I can see... There's a field, the field at the edge of the city. She's by the Statue of Strength... There's... oh, no..."

Jezera took a sharp intake of breath, followed by a small moan.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, his voice aggravated with worry. "Tell me what you see!"

"He's with her!" she shouted, shaking off his grip. "He's with her and he's talking to her, and..." Jezera's eyes flew open and she stared right into the Doctor's. Hers swirled an angry yellow, barbs of electricity fizzing around them. He stared back defiantly. "...He's going to destroy her, and then he's going to come for you."

"Oh, fun for all the family," the Doctor responded, stepping backwards. "I'll pass on the peril, thank you. Just tell me which way I go."

Jezera hesitated, her eyes dilating and returning to their more natural shade. The Doctor looked at her expectantly, madness beginning to spill out across his features. Eventually she nodded straight ahead and, before she could say a word, the Doctor was running.

He was running like his life depended on it. She called his name in vain from behind, but he didn't turn. He dodged around the next corner, thankful that the path was linear. His footsteps thudded on the heavy cobbles, matching the rhythm in his hearts. If Hemlock was with Rose, now, there wasn't much time...

Suddenly, from nowhere, Jezera appeared in front of him. The Doctor skidded to a stop to avoid running right into her, and consequently stumbled into a wall, knocking his head against the brick in the process. Jezera seemed not to notice and her coat flew out violently either side of her.

"Never make me do that again," she spat, eyes alive with a different fury as she watched him stagger to his feet. "Teleportation is dangerous and risky. If you'd just waited a second – "

"I can't," the Doctor pleaded back. Anger rose in his stomach like a monster. He tore his head away from Jezera's gaze and looked forlornly up the street. "This is no time for idle chit-chat."

"You don't even know where you're going," she pointed out, reasonably, the rage in her eyes subsiding.

Their gaze held for an intense moment. Eventually the Doctor let out his breath and looked at the floor. He owed a lot to this woman.

"All right," he conceded, helplessness in his voice. "Lead the way. But you'd be able to run."

He followed her out of the alleyway at a jog. They crossed a square – busier than the others, and they attracted a fair amount of startled looks – dipped in and out of another, narrow, alleyway, ran up a street, then took a sharp turn off the fork they came to. The houses and building began to peter out until eventually there was just a dusty, stone path. Bushes and sparse trees began to appear as the left the city behind them.

"It's just past here," Jezera panted, turning back to look at the Doctor. The trees now were thick enough to make something of a tunnel, which curved away from them up ahead. The pair ran on, urgency in their step. Then the trees stopped, suddenly, and gave way to a clearing, a meadow of long grass up to the Doctor's arms. In the middle, several hundred metres away, stood a tall, obsidian statue, shining down like a bad omen. And, next to the statue...

"...Rose."

"Hemlock's with her," Jezera warned as they slowed, so as not to arouse suspicion from its wakeful rest.

The Doctor squinted up the hill. "Where?"

"You can't see him; but trust me, he's there. Heaven knows what he's doing to her."

"Come on." The Doctor started jogging up the steepening hill, his coat tails flying out behind him. He ignored the warning Jezera was shouting at him; it was too late now.

Rose was staring at the statue, eyes wide and slightly glazed, when he got to her. All too aware that Hemlock was probably around, the Doctor approached cautiously.

"Rose?" he asked tentatively. She didn't look at him. He took a step towards her and reached out to her arm.

Before he could touch her, there was a loud crack and a bright light sparked from nowhere. Withdrawing his hand in shock, the Doctor looked down to the squat little man who had suddenly appeared beside Rose. His eyes were black as onyx and alive with danger.

"I'll thank you not to meddle in my affairs, Doctor," Hemlock snarled. "You've troubled me one time too – "

"Oh, do shut up," the Doctor said exasperatedly, pushing past him to Rose's side. "Rose?"

From his side, Hemlock's mouth curled into a menacing smile.

"You're too late," he said, a laugh starting on the edge of his voice.

"Rose, look at me."

She did: it took the Doctor everything he had not to recoil. Her face was livid, contorted into pure and vile rage. Her eyes were as dark as Hemlock's, flecks of gold and red swirling around them. Her teeth were bared, her canines pointed as though they'd been used to tear the flesh off a carcass. She looked like some sort of wild animal.

"What have you done to her?" the Doctor cried, rounding on Hemlock. "What the hell have you done?"

Instead of answering, Hemlock look delightedly at Rose. She looked down at him. "Remember what I told you, Rose. This man is your enemy. He led you into danger."

"En-em-y," she said thickly.

The Doctor felt the blood drain from his face. "No. Rose, no..."

"Go," Hemlock continued, nodding his head up the field, where a dense wood lay. "Run for your life. Or you'll have no life to run for."

Rose looked hesitantly from Hemlock to the Doctor, her breathing ragged and her stance tense. The Doctor could hardly bear to look at her, at his Rose deformed like this. Tears began to rise in his eyes.

"Rose," he tried again, helplessly, and he stepped toward her once more.

It was all the action she needed. Quick as lightning she had turned and bolted away, running far faster than the Doctor had ever seen. He stood watching, his hearts heavy enough to weigh him down.

"You see, Doctor," Hemlock hummed pleasantly, watching her figure get smaller as she disappeared into the distance. "She's mine, now."

"Bring her back, or I'll destroy you," the Doctor told him matter-of-factly as he looked down to the small man.

Hemlock gave a laugh. "My dear Doctor; I think not."

"Giver her back to me!" he roared, unable to contain his frustration any longer.

"Do as he says, Hemlock." The two men turned to see Jezera standing a few paces behind them. She looked from one to the other with a dark eye. "Bring the girl back."

"Jezera," he sneered, considering her with ire. "I might have known you'd betray me."

She fixed him with a steely glare. "Enough people have suffered at your hand. The Doctor and I are here to end it."

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late," he chuckled, looking up to the Doctor again. "She's beyond my control now. I may have manipulated her mind, yes, but she's run away with herself. I can't bring her back. Her mind is too strong."

The two men stood, locked in a silent battle of wills. After a moment, the Doctor looked over to Jezera. "I'm going after her," he said, pointing to the wood.

Jezera's eyes widened. "Not Sine Mentis?" she asked fearfully, looking up to the wood which lined the horizon.

"If that's what it's called, then yes."

"Doctor, you can't – "

But he had already started running, before either she or Hemlock could stop him.

-oOo-

"Oh, my God. Rose?" came the croaky question, and Rose froze. She would recognise that voice anywhere.

"Mum?"

Earlier

Everything was bright. Everything was bright, and everything hurt. The colours swirled and dazed her, and she had a throbbing headache which vibrated from the centre of her thoughts. The world was a complex system of ups and downs, lefts and rights. It was all so... alien.

She heard her name. She turned, but saw a monster. It was tall and snarling, covered with thick, dark hair and had long, venomous, teeth. It advanced on her, and inside her mind she screamed.

'Run' a voice said through her thoughts; and run she did. Something underfoot was making her struggle, making her put more effort into running than usual. But she overcame it. On and on she ran, towards a darker collection of colours ahead. Fear began to thrum through her heart like a drum beat, but she ignored it.

There was a shout, a terrible cry from behind her. She took a second to look back. The monster was following her, death and hunger in its eyes. It wanted her.

Petrified, she continued to run through the blinding and dazzling colours until she reached something that felt like sanctuary. It was darker, the paths more defined, that bit less loud. She felt safe here. But she had to keep running. She had nothing else to do.

Doctor, said a voice in her head, senseless in amongst the babble of everything else. I have to find the Doctor...

-oOo-

Following Rose was like running after a carrot tied to a stick above his head. Every time he gained any distance, she seemed to put on a burst of unnatural speed and sprinted too far ahead of him. He was getting tired. They had long reached the wood, and now he was having to rely on his better senses to keep a track of her. It was darker in here, the waning sunlight drowned out by the leaves. His footsteps cracked on the ground as he ran over twigs and pieces of bark, and his breath was loud in his ears.

Rose was in sight, her jacket catching in what little light there was, her jeans getting muddied by her flurried footsteps. He pushed himself on, desperate to catch her. Whatever Hemlock had done to her, he was certain he could fix it if he could just get to her... Get to her, talk some sense into her, then get her back aboard the TARDIS.

He cursed his own, stupid self; he should never have come here.

It took him a moment to realise he'd lost her. Not only could he not see her any more, but he couldn't sense her presence at all. It was like she'd disappeared. The Doctor came to a stop, taking in deep breaths. He stood, quietly, the tip of his tongue resting against his teeth, and he listened. The wood was alive with sounds: birds, animals, life. But, beyond that, there was an eerie sort of quiet he couldn't quite put his finger on.

And then he heard something that made his blood run cold.

It was Rose. And she was screaming.

-oOo-

"I warn you, child: continue to get in my way and you will not see the morning light."

Jezera and Hemlock glared at each other. "Please," she retorted, muscles tensing, "spare me the speech. A blade of grass could do more damage."

"Don't you dare cheek me! You betrayed me." He paused, considering her. "Why?"

"You're mad, Hemlock." Jezera laughed. "Sitting in that dark, musty shop of yours for aeons on end. It's turned your brain to mud-water. When you came to me, after disguising yourself as the Doctor to the girl, I knew you had gone a step too far. Perhaps he was wrong the last time he had come here – but killing him is even worse. We're not a race of injustice, Hemlock. You've forgotten your own ancestry."

Hemlock let out a strange growl and stepped towards her. "Fool of a girl! I'll have you strung up for your impertinence and your treachery!"

"I think not." The whisper of metal resounded in the air as Jezera whipped her dagger out from under her cloak in a sweeping motion. It glistened with unspilt blood in the daylight. Hemlock faltered.

"You're no killer."

"Killer, no," Jezera agreed. Malevolent mischief flashed in her eyes. "But protector? Now, that's a different story."

The two began to circle each other, eyes focused on their only prey.

"There's no hope for her, you know," Hemlock informed, his voice emotionless. "I could say the same of you."

"You've forgotten one very important thing, Hemlock."

He stopped, interest perked like the ears of a hunter. "What's that?"

A smile fell upon Jezera's lips, and she let it spread. "Mägdraz," she answered, relishing the word. She saw fear flicker in Hemlock's eyes. "That's right. Now you're scared."

"She's banished," he replied harshly, regaining himself. "She was... she was exiled for what she... saw."

"I know that, all too well – wasn't it you head of the committee?"

"She was vile!" he spat. "She was an insult to her own kind – !"

"I'll not hear you take her name in vain!" Jezera thundered, lurching forward with the knife ready to strike. "She might have been an outcast, but that doesn't mean she wasn't right."

"And how would you know?" Hemlock answered, drawing away from the pointed blade. "How would a young one like you know anything of Mägdraz?"

"...She was my guide."

Their gazes locked, Jezera's sharp, Hemlock's disbelieving. He looked as though she had just uttered some terrible curse. "You lie," he said slowly. " Mägdraz was guide to nobody."

"Believe what you will, old man; your time is up. It was Mägdraz who guided me in the Sight, and it is on her behalf that I quite happily put an end to all your misdeeds."

"I will not be so easily – "

"Enough, Hemlock. This ends now."

Without another word, Jezera launched herself at the cowering old man, plunging the blade deep into his side. There came a terrifying cry, perhaps from him, perhaps from the world, perhaps from the balance of things. He looked up to her as dark black blood began to flow thickly from the wound over the grass. For a moment their eyes met. And then, before she could do anything to stop him, Hemlock teleported away, shimmering away in front of her eyes like water.

Jezera cursed the gods for his escape, but preyed she had wounded him badly enough that he would not survive long.

She looked down to the ground, at her jewel-handled dagger, and contemplated the pool of blood around it. It had not gone with Hemlock, fortunately, for it wasn't difficult to teleport with belongings that weren't your own. She bent to pick it up. And, as she did so, she heard a wailing scream coming from the woods.

Looking up sharply, fear for Rose dancing in her heart, she concentrated her efforts and – for the final time that day – teleported to the Doctor.

-oOo-

All he could do now was follow the sound. It was close, perhaps through the next thicket of trees. Dodging through them, the Doctor quickly found himself on the edge of a clearing. Across the glade, unaware of the Doctor's presence, was a dark shadow. And in the middle of the opening, fallen to her knees, was Rose.

He went to step forward, but was stopped instantly by Jezera appearing in front of him. He blinked down at her, momentarily startled.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he said in a hiss. "Hemlock?"

Jezera shook her head. He dragged her back to his side, then nodded in the direction of the shadow, which had begun to entire the clearing. It was huge. Six feet tall, at least, with heavy, clawed paws dusted with thick, course fur. At the hind legs talons the size of carving knives shone in the dimming light, and its arms extended into a long, single claw, curved, and about a foot in length. The creature still concealed its face in the shadows, but the Doctor immediately got the impression of something with dark eyes and a large, snarling mouth. He tried not to picture the saliva dripping from its teeth.

"What's that?" he asked quietly, keeping a good eye on Rose. He heard Jezera take a small intake of breath. "What?"

Jezera gulped. "That's a... that's a Furiae."

"A what?"

"It's one of the creatures of this wood: Sine Mentis. It's a stalker, a hunter. It... well..."

"Itwhat? What does it do?" the Doctor asked desperately, watching it sniff its way out into the clearing, towards Rose. He instinctively went to take a step forward.

"Don't!" Jezera hissed, stopping him. "Don't startle it, or it'll attack straight away." She looked at him mournfully. "Furiaes are preying creatures. They inject their victims with serum that knocks them out, sends them to their own little world – then... they take them back to their lairs, and devour them."

The Doctor glared down at her. "So they devour their prey, and you're just going to let her lie there?"

"We can't startle it – "

"Watch me."

He strode into the glade, his face contorted and his mouth open in a large, defeaning cry. He hoped that, by startling it, the creature would flee in fright. At his feet Rose looked up, her face pale and child-like, almost as though she had lost ten years. A shrill screech came up from the creature as it reared up high on its haunches, towering high above the Doctor, its large jaw snapping in the air. Rose turned and stared up at it, her eyes wide and terrified. She let out another scream, which drew the Furiae's attention back to her. In a quick movement it bore down upon her, trying to scoop her up in its arms. The Doctor made a grab for her and, out of nowhere, came a flash of silver.

Jezera's blade stuck deeply into the creature, before it was wrenched out to be stabbed again, and again. The sound of the blade penetrating thick skin was muffled by the cries from the creature. Rose struggled out of the Doctor's grip while Jezera wrestled with the beast.

"Rose," the Doctor cried to her, desperation leaking through his voice. "Rose, please."

"You're not... You're not..." She was sobbing.

The next few moments happened achingly slowly. With a violent shake, the Furiae tossed Jezera and her blade away from it. It made a violent swipe at Rose.

"No!" Despite the Doctor trying to keep her away, it plunged a long spike deep into her stomach. "ROSE!"

There was stillness in the wood for half a second as all four considered each other. Then, with a shriek, the Furiae disappeared into the trees and Rose stumbled to her knees, caught by the Doctor's arms. Jezera, wiping sweat from her brow and blood on her cloak, came to the Doctor's side. Rose was shaking erratically and her eyes had rolled up into her head. Her skin was like chalk and she making strange 'kuh' sounds from the back of her throat.

"It's the serum," Jezera said, panic in her voice. "Lay her on her back."

"It's not just the serum," the Doctor replied gravely, but he did as she said. Jezera laid a cool hand on Rose's forehead, and this somehow seemed to calm her. The convulsive jerks turned into small twitches within seconds. Jezera sat up on her knees and stared at the Doctor.

"What did you mean by 'it's not just the serum'?"

He sat back on his ankles, sighed, and ran his hands down his face, burying his fingertips in his eyes. "I can't touch her," he said eventually, dragging them away from his face. "I'm a higher being than her. Time Lord. I've got more psychic energy in my little finger than she has in her whole body. By touching her I mess up the balance of nerves and hormones floating around her body. It's like taking apart a jigsaw puzzle and putting it back together all wrong, with even some pieces from another puzzle."

There was a pause. "A... jigsaw?"

"Never mind," the Doctor answered, shaking his head and looking down at the shell of Rose near his knees. "It's an Earth... thing. Don't ask."

"Doctor, you can't have harmed her that much." Jezera, too, looked down to the pale girl. "These symptoms are not uncommon for one who's suffering the effects of Furiae symptoms."

"...We should never have come here."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the Doctor looking sorrowfully down at Rose, Jezera watching him with sympathy. Eventually, he slowly reached out and cupped Rose's face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, barely audible. He leant over the body and bent his head. "I'm so sorry." Then, he looked up, his eyes shining with grief. "Is there anything we can do?"

Jezera waited, watching him. Then, slowly, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. We can only hope she wakes up. But... the chances are slim. To recover from Furiae serum, she'd have to be very lucky indeed."

The Doctor's shoulders dropped. He couldn't take her back to the TARDIS, not like this. She had to be conscious and willing before he could strike up the psychic link with his ship and take them both back. So, until Rose got better, he was stranded here; they both were.

Silence descended once more, until Jezera took a hesitant breath.

"Doctor?"

He remained quiet.

"There is... maybe one thing..."

"What is it?" he asked, his voice flat and weathered.

"She could help us... connect to Rose. There is no cure, as such, but if we can reach her... we can pull her out of her world." When he didn't say anything, she continued fearfully. "But it's dangerous. I'm not sure we can trust her. It could end up doing more damage to Rose. If we meddle with the serum we risk losing her forever."

"Who is she?"

"She is... was... a friend. I haven't seen her for years."

"Who is she?" the Doctor repeated wearily, still casting his eyes over the sleeping Rose.

"Her name is Mägdraz."

There was a long pause.

"We'll do it," he said at last. "We'll see her." And the last stages of sunlight left the forest.


Preview...

Chapter VII – In Dreams

He laughed, bitterly, and shook his head. "No, Rose, that's not what I mean. What's the last thing you remember... from here."