The massive serpent towered above The Doctor, swaying back, and forth rhythmically. It's glowing eyes stared at the old Time Lord, it's unfailing gaze watching him hungrily. It's pair of forked tongues darted in, and out of it's mouth, almost expectantly.
"I have brought you another to be judged, my Lord. His sins are..." Barman began, dropping to his knees.
"Do not tell me of his sins, child. I shall be the judge of that," interrupted a dark, rumbling voice, coming from the snake. It's English was marred by hisses, though The Doctor had to give it credit, it spoke well for a killer snake.
"Yes, your Holiness," Barman replied, respectfully bowing his head. The Doctor thought for a moment about attempting an escape. Barman had a knife, but he wasn't paying attention. One swift kick, and all he had to worry about was the serpent.
Almost as soon as he thought of it, he shook it from his head. Although he recovered faster from fatigue, and injury, he hadn't rested enough yet. His arms still felt like they were weighed down by buckets of sand, and although they no longer shook, his legs ached with over-exertion. He couldn't make his break for it... not yet.
He knew he could get to the TARDIS if he ran. He wasn't that far away from it. Barman had taken a long, and winding route through the swamp. It was very likely meant to exhaust his victims. Really, he was only half an hour away from his ship. Faster if he ran. It had been even slower with the weight he was forced to carry. He had faith he could escape if he rested long enough. He hadn't yet. He was a Time Lord. He wouldn't need long.
Besides that, he truly wanted to find out what this was really about. Why had this creature caused so much chaos? Did It truly think Itself a divine figure? Or was there a deeper plot afoot? He hated plots, even more than pears. Especially when they caused as much death as this one so obviously had. Pears just made your chin drippy.
His deep blue eyes met the gaze of the creature before him. He wondered if any of the other humans brought before this monster had been brave enough to do so; he imagined they were probably too afraid. They were under the impression they were meeting God, or something close to it. Beyond that, giant snakes were not exactly the everyday for Earth folk. Most people, even those in the distant future, would be frightened by such monstrous things.
He was not. He had seen too much for that. There were things that frightened The Doctor; cruelty, genocide, needless pain, mindless destruction, the concept of nothing. Giant snake? That did not scare him.
"You have come before Me, to be judged. Do you seek redemption? Do you believe you are worthy of it?" The serpent asked, lowering itself to look at him more closely. He saw Barman rise to his feet, knife still clutched in his hands.
"Do I believe I am worthy of redemption?" repeated the Time Lord. He chuckled sardonically. "That's a loaded question. I've done a lot of irredeemable things."
"Unburden your mind, then, and allow Me to be the judge," it rumbled in return.
"The details are not important," replied The Doctor, "and besides that wasn't the original question. Let's stay on topic here. Am I worthy of redemption? I would like to think so."
"What makes you believe that?" It asked.
"I realize your a giant reptile, but it's impolite to interrupt people when they're monologing," came The Doctor's snarky reply, "I would like to think all the good I have done, outweighs the bad. I would like to think I've healed more wounds than I have caused, and that this universe is better with me in it. I hope I am worthy of it, or I have found it. I'm speaking of the real thing mind you, not whatever perversion your talking about." A low laugh greeted his response.
"You refer to Me as perverse? My, my you are a brave one... to insult the Divine. Your punishment will be severe," replied the beast.
"Ha," the Doctor laughed in an exaggerated tone, "no more severe than anyone else's I'm sure. I'm sure I'll end up like all the rest. You're going to eat me." Barman abruptly cocked his head, giving a surprised look.
"What's the matter, Godboy, that's what your doing, isn't it? Feeding people to it? Like an old lady feeding a stray cat, but instead it's a prehistoric size reptile... Someone should make a film about that."
"He devours their sin!" Barman shouted in defiance, "He is purifying the Earth after all this time, after the first sin!"
"It's having it's lunch served to it like a hotel! Five star accommodations, and all," The Doctor scoffed, "and in some part of your delusional, rotten soul, something is screaming that I'm right." Barman did not reply, looking on only in anger. It was in his eyes however, though The Doctor could not be sure he saw it. It almost looked like a moment of realization, as though he could see his cause was a lie. Perhaps that was only what The Doctor wanted to see. No one was surely that irredeemable... were they?
"As your Savior," roared the snake. The Scotsman had had enough of him.
"My Savior? Absolutely not! Is that what you think? You fancy yourself a God? Let me tell you something, your not dealing with some sheltered, smothered, hillbilly, Puritan hick from West Podunk Massachusetts," he interrupted, his hostility boiling over. The creature did not speak up but it's glowing eyes narrowed at him.
"I've seen more than my fair share of creatures like you. Some of them even had the same complex that you have. All of them; would-be Gods, could-be Gods, should have been, could have been, may have been Gods. Do you know what all of these people had in common? None of them were Gods. Not a single one. Not even almost."
"So fine," he continued, shaking his head with an eye roll, "you want to be a God? Play pretend? I don't care. You want to come on this planet, and eat people because it makes you feel like a big shot? That's a problem."
I don't know if anyone on your backwater planet ever told you, but the Earth? It has a guardian. He's called The Doctor, and he's tough. He's bad. He's nationwide. And he's Me." He smiled for the first time. His opponent remained unreadable, but he imagined there must be some little spark of fear in there somewhere.
"I know you think you have me at a disadvantage. No plan, no weapon; to me, that's not problem. I like being on my toes. As old as I am, it's good to keep my brain active. And make no mistake, I have every intention of stopping you, and what your doing. Time for you to get out of the buffet line Sir, the restaurant is closed." The creature lowered itself down, eyeing him more closely.
"I have heard of you, Doctor. Renegade, Guardian and Killer. I never believed I would actually meet you," it replied, grinding it's teeth together back, and forth aggressively.
"Surprise!" Shouted the Time Lord with a manic grin.
"You believe you will be my demise? I do not think so," the snake replied condescendingly.
"No one ever does," murmured the Time Lord.
"It has been a long time since I have dined upon Chronarch flesh. It is a delicacy I have missed." The Doctor felt Barman's hand clamp down on his shoulder. The knife blade grazed against his throat.
The second that thing's mouth came down onto him, he was going to regenerate inside it. He shrugged. He was going to miss this body. He hoped Sarah Jane would not be too sad.
Sarah Jane crept through the swamp, keeping low in the weeds. She did not know what to expect here, however Ria had made it abundantly clear to her that this place was dangerous.
Not only that, she was unsure if the villagers were still searching for her. If she was unsure, she had to assume they were. She had learned that from The Doctor. When the possibility existed that one was being hunted, one had to assume they were, lest they be caught unaware. That philosophy gifted to her, had saved her life more times than she wanted to admit.
She clutched the snake-shaped, silver rod in her one hand. It had an odd feeling to it; the handle was warm to the touch, though not hot. When she turned it to the correct direction, it warmed even further, and the silver snake began to thump, and thrum rhythmically, glowing deep vermilion. The other held the blowgun, the deadly dart inside the weapon.
She was beginning to have her suspicions about Ria, even more so than before. This item, it did not seem like magic, or witchcraft. Sarah Jane had a difficult time believing in such things anyway, but this seemed more like something sonic. It just did not make noise. However, sometimes her lipstick did not either.
If she did not know better, she would say that woman was a time traveler. It was the things she said, how she spoke of fate, and the future. She was attempting to sound like a mystic, but Sarah Jane wasn't buying it. Much of the time, if someone had knowledge of future events, it was because they had seen them already.
More than once, Sarah Jane had seen people manipulate the past, after seeing the future. In fact, she herself had done it quite recently. That was the problem with time travel, events crisscrossed each other. Things easily became tangled in a ball that could not be unraveled with ease.
This gave her some reservations. When she manipulated past events, it was for the betterment of others, or herself. If she could use the knowledge of the future to save someone's life, or keep them from harm, she would do so.
But, she understood that not all others were as benevolent as she was. Some did it to gain power, or favorable circumstance. They would use it to eliminate problems before they became such, some going so far as to establish a tyrannical rule, because they avoid the mistakes they already knew of. Time travel was a responsibility, which was why The Doctor chose his company so carefully. Absolute power could corrupt, easily, and absolutely.
She hoped Ria truly had good intentions. Sarah knew she would need to use her own judgment as far as this went. If she got the feeling that this was a deceiving ruse, she would change things up. She was not about to be a pawn in a manipulative game of chess. The only time traveler she truly knew she could trust, was The Doctor.
The echo of voices shook her from her thoughts. She immedeatly ducked lower, scurrying behind a nearby tree. The sallow vegetation provided her with cover, as did the mist, which was thinner here. Anything would help though, hiding was more about breaking the line of sight, than total obscurment.
She peeked through the thick weeds in the direction of the voice. She gasped at what she saw.
She recognized The Doctor from behind, his Victorian coat stained with dark mud. His posture was tired; his shoulders slumped and arms hanging. A giant log lay near him. She hoped he hadn't been forced to carry that... how horrible that must have been.
Barman stood next to him, holding something in his hand. She thought she may have seen day's failing light glint off of something metal. It looked like he was holding a knife.
This was not what most disturbed her. A massive creature towered above the pair. It looked almost like a snake, but it had strange horns, and a fin. It's eyes were what bothered her most. They glowed an evil red. It was demonic looking, and she saw no kindness, or mercy there. It was rare to find pure evil, but she had the feeling that it was slithering right there.
Beyond that, was a disgusting lake. She could smell it easily from here, and the rot laying upon the surface. Ria had told her of the lake. The woman had not lied... at least about that.
Come to think of it, she hadn't lied about the creature either. "The serpent that pretends it does not exist," Ria had called it. A serpent it was.
Sarah had seen many creatures in person. She had seen many more in the Tardis' files. That thing however, she had never seen. She wondered where it was from, and how it got here. Was this one of the hidden species of Earth? Like the Silurians? Or something else?
Then it hit her. The other ship. It was cylinder shaped, easily a fit for a snake. Not only that, Ria said Barman believed it was a God. If he had seen it crash, he would believe it came from heaven.
She could not hear what they were saying, but she saw that The Doctor was speaking a lot. His mannerisms were taunting, and scornful. She couldn't help but smile. She wondered what sort of insults he was tossing it's way. He had a gift for the gab, and he could both rend, and inspire with little effort. That snake didn't look happy, to be sure.
She took a deep breath. She couldn't just sit here. She had a job to do, and looking at the situation at hand, she intended to. She laid the snake rod in the soft muck, and took up the blowgun in both hands.
She had never used one before, but she hoped she would be successful. She had used alien weapons, and technology many times before, things light years ahead of this. If she could figure out Cyberman guns, and super computers, she could use a bamboo tube.
The only thing that worried her was the dart itself. She wondered how thick this creature's scales were. If they were too thick, it would not penetrate, and therefore it would be wasted. She could try to hit it in the mouth, or eye, but she doubted she would aim so well. If it were a gun perhaps; she was an excellent shot, despite her hatred of firearms. But with this weapon...
She eyed the snake, taking a breath. It was reared up as it spoke. It's underbelly would hopefully be soft. She had to try. She had no clue what it's plans for The Doctor were, but she had every intention of halting them.
She put the blowgun to her lips, the taste of the wood musky. She stretched her neck, and straightened her posture. She hoped it would give her an edge, and she emptied her lungs, keeping the breath out. She felt her heart beat slow as she calmed, and she steadied her hands. She pointed herself at the snake's torso. She hoped that the scales were thin, because she doubted her skills to aim with any precision. She took a breath and readied to blow.
Then she saw Barman grab The Doctor's shoulder. His knife went to the Time Lord's neck, not cutting him, but a flick of the wrist and...
She was not about to let her best friend die. Not now, not ever. She turned her head, carefully aiming, just as she had with the snake.
And then she exhaled harder than she ever had before.