Chapter Nineteen

Martha and Donna kept to the shadows following Mordrok as he led the Doctor through the palace. They kept their eyes on the Doctor hoping that he would be able to snap out of the trance and fight Mordrok, but apart from an occasional flinch or hesitancy in his step, he continued to follow obediently. Both women kept in telepathic contact with him. They knew he was trying with all his might to break free, but it upset them that he couldn't stop himself from walking towards what might be his death. Both of them were glad that Mordrok had sent Rose away. They didn't know if she was aware of what was happening around her, but if they weren't able to stop the Doctor's decapitation, they didn't want their friend to witness it.

After a few more minutes, Mordrok and the Doctor reached a pair of heavy, wooden doors. Mordrok commanded the Doctor to stop and he stood by obediently while he brought out a key and unlocked the door. Martha and Donna took the opportunity to move in closer to them and when they got within a few feet of the Doctor, they shrank back in the shadows and waited until they went inside.

Donna looked up at the Doctor's face and could see that there were occasional twitches and even once his eyebrows furrowed for a second before his face began passive again. She hoped that meant he was gaining control over his body with each passing second and it heartened her to see he was at least trying to put up some kind of resistance.

Mordrok opened the door and ushered the Doctor inside. Both women pressed themselves up against the wall when Mordrok paused and looked around. Then, he went inside the room. Martha and Donna looked at each other and then both of them crept over to the door and looked inside.

They noticed that they were in a huge trophy room. The Doctor was in the middle of it kneeling on a large piece of plastic with his back to them. Mordrok was walking over to an enormous scimitar sitting in a holder on the right side of the room. Martha and Donna quickly scurried inside and hid in the corner. They looked over at the Doctor and saw he had the same impassive look as before. They looked at Mordrok who now had the scimitar in his hand and was turning towards him with an evil grin on his face.

"Come on, Doctor, do something." Martha murmured.

Both her and Donna stared at him hoping that he would just spring up at the last minute and fight Mordrok, but apart from the facial twitches, he did nothing.

"Damn, looks like we'll have to be the ones to save the Doctor." Martha whispered to Donna.

Donna nodded. They looked around the room while Mordrok positioned himself in front of the Doctor.

"Bow your head." He said to him.

He glared at the Doctor when he saw the resistance in his face.

"I see I was just in time then." He muttered. "The herbs are wearing off sooner than I expected."

He walked over behind him. Putting his foot on his back, he shoved his head down to the floor.

"Just hold still, Doctor. This will be over in just a moment." He said to him.

Martha and Donna frantically searched the room. Then, Donna's eyes settled on a rack mounted on the wall a few feet away. The rack held several pikes and spears. Donna looked at them and then looked at Mordrok. Suddenly, she took off towards them.

"Donna!" Martha hissed.

Martha looked back over and saw that Mordrok had raised the scimitar above his head and was preparing to bring it down on the Doctor's neck. Gritting her teeth, she decided she could wait no longer. With an enraged yell, she leapt from her hiding place and lunged at Mordrok. She collided with him and they fell to the floor.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed at him.

Mordrok's shock quickly faded and Martha saw him opening his mouth to utter an incantation. She punched him as hard as he could in the face and his head reeled back.

"WHERE IS ROSE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?" she screamed at him.

She grunted as Mordrok hit her hard in the face and she was knocked off of him.

"You want to see Rose?" he said getting to his feet. "Fine, I'll send you to her room then."

He raised his hands and prepared to utter the incantation. His eyes widened in shock when Donna suddenly ran up behind him and shoved a spear directly into the back of his neck. His lips moved soundlessly as the point shot out the front of his neck and he fell to his knees. Donna kicked him in the head as Martha leapt up and grabbed one of the spears Donna had laid on the floor. Donna planted her foot in his neck and shoved him to the floor onto his side. She held him down as Martha ran up and rammed the spear down through his left side. Mordrok glared at them, but was unable to utter any words. Donna stepped off him and quickly knelt on his head holding onto the spear implanted in his side. She put all her weight on him while Martha ran over and grabbed a heavy club off the ceiling. She ran back over and stood in front of Mordrok. She smirked when Mordrok gave her a dirty look and lifted the heavy club over her head. Donna moved off him just as Martha let out an enraged yell and brought the club down as hard as she could on his skull. There was a satisfying 'CRACK' and Mordrok was knocked unconscious. Both women sank to the floor exhausted.

"I think that's done it." Martha panted.

"It better have." Donna said.

Wow!

Both women looked back at the Doctor who was now sitting up on his knees. He still was immobile, but they could see that the herbs had worn off a little more and he had a shocked expression on his face.

You two are ruthless when you wanna be. He thought to them. Glad that wasn't me just now.

"Hey, what can I say, Donna and me know how to hold our own!" she said to him.

Yes, I can see that. Excellent teamwork, but I wouldn't have expected any less from my girls. He thought proudly. After all, I trained you both.

Both Donna and Martha walked over, knelt down, and embraced him. When they pulled back, they could see the slight smile on his face.

Thank you, I owe you my regeneration, if not my life. He thought.

"Aw, it's okay, you saved us so many times, it's nice to return the favor." Martha said.

They looked at Mordrok.

"What do we do with him? If we put him somewhere, he'll just magic his way out." Donna asked.

We need to find a way to immobilize him enough that he isn't a threat to us. The Doctor thought. We need to find out where he put Rose and I'm sure he isn't going to tell us outright. We need to make him talk somehow and tell us where she is. Not to mention I need time for these blasted herbs to wear off enough so I can move again.

Donna looked around the room and her eyes fell on the trophy case containing the wands and occult items. She got up and walked over to it.

"Hey, there's a book here called Yitzak's Guide to the Dark Arts." She said looking back at Martha.

"So?" Martha said.

"So, maybe there's a spell in here we can use on Mordrok."

Martha frowned.

"Um…I don't know; do we really want to go messing around with that sort of stuff?" she said hesitantly.

Martha's right, it might be too dangerous. You might make things worse than they already are.

"Yeah, like conjure up a demon or something."

Donna shrugged and stepped away from the case.

"Just a suggestion." She said kneeling down beside the Doctor.

She looked over at the Doctor and noticed his expressions were more readable now. She could see the concern in his eyes and knew he was worried about them. She knew him well enough now to know how frustrated he felt not being able to assist them or Rose. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor, is there something we could make that would allow you to recover faster."

The Doctor's eyes glanced up at the ceiling and she could tell he was thinking it over.

There is something I can think of that might help. He thought to them. I can tell you the ingredient for it and then we have to hope he actually has them.

He glanced at Mordrok who was still lying on the floor unconscious.

In the meantime, we still have him to deal with. I'm sure the minute he wakes up, he'll try to call his zombies to save him. The reason he hasn't done it yet is because I think you both surprised him. If he sees you both as weak women, then he probably wasn't expecting you to be smart enough to make an escape on your own and fight back. He's extremely arrogant which is good since you were able to exploit that weakness and defeat him. But, I doubt we can keep him defeated for very long especially since he's undead.

"Well, how about this? We build a fire in the fireplace and throw him in as firewood." Martha said.

The Doctor looked at her, shocked. She shrugged.

"He's dead anyway, isn't he?" she said.

Yes, but I wasn't expecting something like that to come out of you. He replied.

"Can we do that?" Donna said. "I mean he is alive, kinda."

Martha stared at her and then pointed to the spear protruding out of his neck.

"You didn't have any problem sticking that in his neck." she said.

"Yeah, but I figured it wouldn't kill him since he's undead anyway."

"Yeah, well, that's my point. The guy's not alive so I don't see a problem with throwing him on the fire. I'd rather have him burn than be enchanted into a mirror or turned into a frog or whatever else he can think of."

"N…o."

Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor when they heard him speak slowly. The Doctor's eyes widened with delight and he smiled.

Oh good, I'm getting my voice back. He thought to them. But as for killing him, leave it to me. I don't want either of you killing anyone unnecessarily. That's for me to take care of.

They nodded.

"Well, in the meantime, I guess we'll get the Doctor into the kitchen and see if we can find these ingredients and I'll take the club and keep a close eye on Mordrok and the minute I see him start to wake up, I'll club him unconscious. I figure it's the only thing we can do right now."

Donna nodded.

"Can you walk at all, Doctor?" she asked him.

They watched the Doctor's face strain as he tried to move.

Bollocks! No, I'm still paralyzed. he thought angrily.

Donna looked at Martha.

"Okay, grab under his arm and I'll get this one and we'll get him in the kitchen as quickly as we can and come back for Mordrok.

Martha nodded. They grabbed under the Doctor's arms. Grunting, they managed to rise up with him and they quickly dragged him into the kitchen before Mordrok woke up.