Doctor Who: The Horned God (Part 2 of The Adventures of Lara Oz)
Hello everyone, mrgriffingiles here. I would like to say thank you for reading and reviewing my stories, and I hope you continue to enjoy them. Here lately, I have been in a rut with The Uncanny X-Men: Mutants and Magic, my most popular story. I do apologize for this, and it is mainly because my interest is waning a little in the story. Plus my work schedule leaves me with little free time, which compounds the first problem. However, anyone who has been a long-time reader of my works knows that I sometimes do take a few months away from a story before getting back on it. So hopefully the dry spell on Mutants and Magic will come to an end, and I'll get back to writing it. Until then, I have been on a classic Doctor Who kick and figured I would continue the series I started with Archdruid88. These stories will be a lot shorter and will explore the Harry Potter OC character Lara Oz's adventures with the Fourth Doctor and K-9. So, I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 1
The weather was typical for Pittenweem in summer. Cool and partly cloudy. However, there was plenty of sunlight to take in the mystic and ancient beauty of the forested landscape. It was also good for spying. Graand Larnach stood upon a hill overlooking the dig site of a chambered crain. He admired the skill of the Neolithic architects who built it, but his grey eyes remained in a fixed glare. Larnach had kept a keen eye on the dig site for the past six months since it was discovered. On the surface, it was like the many other crains found elsewhere in Scotland. However, Larnach knew that something was lurking beneath the facade of the dig. The old man did not like what was lurking there one bit. Larnach slowly made his way down a small footpath that led to a particularly green hardwood forest. In the center of it, stood a stocky, short, and burly man lighting a pipe next to a very thick and old oak. The man nodded to Larnach, and went on to smoke his pipe.
"Mornin', Larnach. Fancy meetin' you here," said the stocky man. With a low, rough tone and a puff of smoke. Larnach had no clue where he came from.
"I take it that the Ministry couldn't send a proper Auror here. Typical," Larnach said in his heavy Scottish accent.
"Tips frem 'quibs' like yerself aren't raally worth tha time. They'se only listen'd ta you, 'cause yer some well-ta-do bookworm. But, as you can tell, you get wha you see," the stocky man said with a gummy smile. Then he took another draw from his pipe.
"You're damn right they listen to me! Now, enough of this. Here's all you need to know if you're even able to read. Now, get down there and start playing with a shovel. It's the only chance we got to stop MacCoinnich," Larnach said harshly, shoving some papers into the man's hand.
"Yeh, yeh. I'm goin' you lon'headed twit," the smoker said as he made his way to the dig site.
Larnach simply looked at the man leaving and shook his head. Was this the only Auror the Ministry could send? By this point, he might as well have tried asking the Royal Navy to shell the place instead. At least, Muggles would listen to someone who was the leading expert in Celtic culture, history, and mythology. That's part of the reason why he left the magic-filled place he was born in ninety-six years ago. He was fifteen when departed, but he did maintain some connections with Wizard friends. Through them, he was able to ensure his scholarly research would be known to the land of his birth. It took four long decades before Larnach's scholarly works finally won over the academic establishments of magical learning. He was probably the most respected Squib of all time, and yet he was still treated like a low form of life.
On the other hand, Larnach had a far easier time here among the Muggles. His research was widely accepted by scholars. Not just in the Commonwealth, but aboard as well. The Muggles had just come out of the Great War, and while things were hard it did seem that things would improve. Larnach strongly believed this, despite his own losses from the years of war. Killed in battle were all four of his sons. Three of his grandsons were lost to the war. Two were missing in action, and the other took his own life due to the shellshock. Larnach's dear wife of seventy years succumbed to the Spanish Flu. When Muggle medicine failed, Larnach even tried magical healing. Yet even Omar Abasi, a noted healer at St. Mugo's, and his colleagues were unable to do anything to help dear Sorcha. She was laid to rest on the day of the Armistice. Larnach's only blood relative was his youngest grandson, Hamish. The lad had just turned fourteen and was a studious young man. Hamish reminded the elder Larnach of himself in his youth. Looking up to his grandfather, Hamish had taken up studying the Celts and preparing himself for a future in archaeology.
It was Hamish who alerted the elderly man to the discovery of the crain six months ago. In the early days of the excavation, the Larnachs were allowed to help the workers at the dig site. This was thanks to the elder Larnach being friends with Professor Julian Gillies, who oversaw the dig in the first three months. Exploring the ruins became the Larnachs' shared favorite pastime. The time spent helping uncover the secrets of the crain allowed the two to maintain their strong bond despite the tragedies that befell the family. After his father died in the war, Hamish's mother, Ava, left him in the care of Graand. She went to volunteer as a nurse in France during the closing months of the war. Working as a nurse was a means for Ava to work through her grief. After the war, her skills as a nurse earned her a position at the Val-de-Grâce, a French military hospital. Despite the long hours of treating veterans, Ava always made sure to send a letter at once every two weeks. The two Larnachs were planning on a trip to France to visit Ava.
However, those changes had to change. A week before they planned to go to France, the Larnachs went to the dig site one more time to examine a large inscription found on a relief that fell off from the stone walls at the entrance of the crain. The relief was covered in a thick layer of clay that kept it hidden. It was recovered by one of the workers. The worker immediately brought it over to Gillies and the elder Larnach for examination. The two scholars noted a number of observations that made the relief very different than what had been found before.
The relief was much younger than the crain and had two sections. The upper part had a battle scene on it. The warriors were stylized, but it was clear that they were wearing armor that was worn in the early Medieval period. So, Larnach and Gillies were most confident in the age of it. The warriors were depicted to be fighting some sort of creature. It was a tall humanoid figure with two horns on its head. The figures like this were called Cernunnos, due to being briefly mentioned in a Roman text. Cernunnos translated as 'The Horned One' or 'The Horned God'. Both Muggle and Wizard experts were unsure what these figures represented, aside from possibly being a supernatural entity like a deity. Depictions and cravings of Cernunnos generally dated from prehistoric times to the Early Roman period. By the Medieval era, the Horned God figure was no longer used due to Europe being mostly Christianized. The carvings were fantastic in their own right, but they hailed in comparison to the lower half that was covered in runes.
Runes were commonly found in early Medieval artifacts, both Muggle and magical alike. Unknown to Gillies, this relief had very specific runes as part of an active enchantment. These were very rare finds in Muggle lands. Those that had been found were usually acquired by the Ministry of Magic. This was done in order to keep Muggles safe from the potential harm and to maintain the secret of magic's existence. Though Graand Larnach was a Squib, he was well learned in runes. Several runes were in the shape of a jagged fork. They arranged in an ellipse surrounding a few sentences that were actually an incantation. The runes didn't form actual words, but they were arranged to look like a broken key beneath a large lock. This arrangement was seen in magical artifacts like doors, chests, and the like. Not surprising since the arrangement denotes a powerful security enchantment. Not surprising, since they kept something, or someone, locked away. This one on the relief seemed to have sealed something horrible away. This was learned thanks to runes that were a warning in Old English. The warning translated as:
Allow no fools to trend into this cave. Cernunnos will tempt them with desires and betrayal is the fee. For the Horned God will bring with him hordes of gluttonous vermin. Summoned from the blood of those fools. I, Merlin, am the one who sealed Cernunnos away in this prison. In faithful service to his lordship: Arthur, King of Britain and my sovereign lord.
The runic symbol for Merlin's name was legitimate. The elder Larnach was certain of it t. The life, deeds, and myths of Merlin were of special interest to him. Finding an artifact such as this would be the perfect ending of a long career as a scholar for Larnach. However, it wasn't without its more troubling aspect. The figure was indeed The Horned God, and if Merlin himself sealed the creature here that left only one certainty. This place was far more dangerous than thought. The elder Larnach was caught at an impasse. He wanted to warn the Muggles of the danger. However, they would just see him ranting like an old fogy. Not to mention violating the International Statute of Secrecy, which even for a Squib with no magical ability whatsoever would be punished harshly. For now, Graand Larnach would observe the crain and alert the Ministry if anything happened. That was the plan until a new professor had taken over as overseer of the dig site.
Oscar MacCoinnich was a controversial name in academic circles. MacCoinnich had been accused several times of plagiarism, academic dishonesty, and swindling students out of their money with promises of passing grades. There were some rumors that MacCoinnich was responsible for acts of murder when plundering sites for valuable artifacts. Yet, even when such accusations were backed by evidence, MacCoinnich always had a way of ensuring that he wouldn't have to answer for anything. Mainly because the ones who did the accusing tended to be the center of bigger scandals.
MacCoinnich had managed such an operation this time too. It was unknown why the criminal wanted to oversee the excavation. How he did it was no mystery at all. Gillies was given a choice. Go to India as a visiting lecturer, or the exposure of affairs with six female students who were taught by Gillies. The sleaze had available in his armory a set of revealing love letters with lewd photos included. All of it was completely fabricated, but so skillfully that it would cause everyone to focus on that. For example, the pictures didn't have an actor made to look like Gillies. The figure in the picture matches Larnach's friend even in the most private details. Like an amoral twin. Larnach knew Julian Gillies for over forty years and knew his character was far too noble to do such things. He would even risk his own career and legacy to defend Gillies. Not to mention the danger within the crain. Overall, there were no conventional means that could accomplish such a devious series of frauds. Only magic could do something like, and MacCoinnich's reputation of miraculous avoidance of punishment made it clear. This ne'er-do-well could use magic, and his interest in the crain could be a much more sinister one. The elder Larnach got to work investigating Oscar MacCoinnich. At first, Larnachs used their original reason for volunteering at the dig site to allow them to spy on MacCoinnich.
However, this tactic proved futile. When the Larnachs and other volunteers returned to the dig site, they were turned away. MacCoinnich had his own little group that included guards armed with Thompsons. The only thing the elder Larnach could do was to contact the Ministry with nothing more than a bluestone relief with Merlin's name on it. It took nearly three months of nagging the Ministry. All they did was send an illiterate, low-rank Auror who probably couldn't tell the difference between his wand and a stick. Nonetheless, Larnach did have one failsafe. One of his connections managed to smuggle out an amulet, at great risk, from the Wizarding World. Looking into the various stories about Merlin, Larnach managed to find a few that were about sealing away a dark being. The four stories were brief and incomplete. Each differs in details, but all of them shared one commonality: the amulet. For centuries, this artifact was kept in the Ministry's collection of magical artifacts. Stealing it would mean death for the thief. Luckily, the connection was a fan of Larnach's scholarly works and willing to do anything to help him. Especially since the danger presented needed to be stopped.
Graand Larnach took one last look at the dig site and slowly made his way down the hill. He was content that Hamish had the amulet and knew what to do. So, the ninety-six year old man stood at the edge of the dig site in defiance. Whatever happens after today, he will never get to know. Larnach had hope. He always had hope.
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The TARDIS was quietly drifting through the Time Vortex, moving toward the past and leaving New York 1994 behind. The adventure with the X-Men was exhausting, to say the least, but Lara Oz was happy that she was able to contribute to their victory. It certainly opened her eyes to the sorts of evil that lurked about unseen. Lara was grateful that there were people like the X-Men and the Doctor. It would be a far bleaker world without them. Now, she and her new friend the Doctor were free to explore the entire universe. Even as she lay asleep dreaming, Lara couldn't begin to imagine what new vistas awaited to be discovered. Lara's trip through Europe had nothing on this. One day, she could peek into the far future. The next day, she could see the pyramids being built. Not to mention all of the many different planets that dotted the nighttime sky. Sure there was danger. A lot of it. Probably more dangerous than her last couple of adventures with the Doctor. Still, the more positive aspects of exploration outweighed the urge for caution.
Lara's thoughts about the Doctor were a mix of admiration, amusement, encouragement, and a little bit of annoyance. So far, Lara has learned that the Doctor didn't really care about how others perceived him. He was happy to be his eccentric self and paid no heed to lesser opinions. In fact, the Doctor tended to let those who oppose him think that he was a fool. That's how he got the best of them. Lara felt that while she did walk her own path, she acknowledged that she did so mainly due to how her peers at Hogwarts pushed her away. Lara felt forced into being an outcast even though she tried to do the right thing. However, since she had dropped out from Hogwarts Lara felt freer to be who she was. It took some getting used to it, but Lara had a great role model in the Doctor. The Doctor always had a toothy grin when encountering impossible odds. Even the X-Men's foe, Apocalypse, underestimated the Time Lord with the ridiculously long scarf. It was amusing to see the Doctor get worked up over nothing, like how he lost yet again to K-9 in a game of chess. Lara couldn't help but laugh, much to the Doctor's ire. Which left the alien in a brooding mood with nothing but sarcasm toward Lara. Though the Doctor's quips and childishness could be irritating, Lara started to see him as a surrogate uncle. The Doctor, while not fully versed in the ways of magic, encouraged her to take up studies in the different ways of using magic that could be found out there. When she left Hogwarts, Lara wanted to see how different cultures around the Earth used magic. Now, she could do that on the grandest scale possible. The Doctor even set up a "magic lab" in the TARDIS for Lara to use, complete with access to the TARDIS's archives. Though he was unable to use magic, the Doctor was keenly interested in observing Lara's experiments. A couple of times, he allowed himself to be a lab rat for Lara. Though, after the near-electrocution incident, the Doctor decided that humanoid robot analogs were better for such testing. Lara had thrown herself so much into her experiments, that she was now sound asleep in her personal room. That was until a tin dog entered the room.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"H-huh...Wha?" Lara said groggily as she jumped up from her bed.
"Greetings Mistress. The Doctor wishes for you to join him in the Control Room," K-9 said in his soft, electronic voice.
Lara simply grumbled and got up to get dressed. Soon, she followed the robotic dog into the Control Room. There, the Doctor stood over the control console, watching the time-rotor in the center go up and down lazily. With a quick jerk, the Doctor looked up to face the awakened Lara. His curly hair shook as he did so. Then, facing Lara, the Doctor gave her his trademark toothy smile.
"Great, you're awake!" the Doctor called out in a loud tone.
"Good morning, Doctor," Lara said quietly, still trying to wake up.
"Well, mornings are relative when traveling in the TARDIS. But, nonetheless, good morning to you as well," the Doctor said hyperactively.
He immediately rushed over to the other side of the control console and began flipping switches.
"Tell me, where and when would you like to go? Eh?" the Doctor asked, continuing to operate the console.
"I -yawn- not sure. I'm still not fully awake yet," Lara said with a rasp after yawning.
"Well, some breakfast will fix that. Do you like coffee or tea with your breakfast?" the Doctor asked. Now, he was on the same side of the console as Lara.
"I'll have tea. Earl Grey, hot with lemon," Lara said tiredly.
"Excellent choice. You know, I have a friend that enjoys a hot cup of Earl Grey. Though he doesn't like the lemon in it," the Doctor said humorously.
The Doctor adjusted his scarf and turned to K-9.
"K-9, show Lara where the kitchen is. I'll join you shortly," the Doctor said, going back to fiddling with the TARDIS's controls.
"Please follow me, Mistress," K-9 said as he showed Lara the way to the galley.
The brisk walking pace helped Lara to wake up a bit more. K-9 was certainly fast when he wanted to be. Lara knew of robots from the Muggle world thanks to her parents working in the Ministry of Magic's Muggle Liaison Office. However, K-9 was the only robot she had ever personally encountered. Despite the tin dog's insistence that he did not have emotions or a personality, Lara begged to differ. The little robotic dog seems to at least mimic behaviors that would suggest emotions. Such as attempting to help Racheal Summers's boredom when they were investigating the Time-Turner. Or when K-9 saved Lara from a Dalek. Lara wasn't sure, but she could have sworn that K-9 growled when he blasted the Dalek. Also, K-9's sense of loyalty was very much like a biological dog. He always seemed to be by the Doctor's side ready to carry out any task asked of him. Overall, Lara thought K-9 was cute and treated him like a 'real' dog anyways. Though, K-9 did sometimes annoy her, like when he woke her up with that loud beeping.
"Mistress, here is the kitchen. On the wall adjacent to our position is a Food Machine, capable of replicating any sort of dish desired," K-9 said, pointing his body in the direction of the device.
The kitchen on the TARDIS looked like one that was common to high-end Muggle restaurants. However, the device that K-9 directed her to looked like a hollow box with two panels full of buttons and dials. Lara was unsure about using it, opting to just check the fridge and see what she could find. She opened the fridge, finding nothing but four or five large bags of jelly babies, the Doctor's favorite sweet. Just then, Lara smelled freshly baked bread and fried bacon. She quickly turned around and looked at the table. Before her eyes, the food materialized upon the table similar to how the TARDIS materialize. There was indeed freshly baked bread, scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, marmalade, butter, and a whole pot of hot Earl Grey Tea. Lara gladly sat down at the table and began to fill her plate. Soon, the Doctor joined her. He had an amused look on his face as he surveyed the table.
"Ah, I see that the TARDIS likes you. She never tends to replicate breakfast for me," the Doctor said sarcastically as he took a seat.
"Correction Master, you rarely eat the breakfast meal," K-9 interjected.
"Says who?" the Doctor asked.
"You did Master when having a conversation with Mistress Leela…"
"Enough K-9!" the Doctor said, slightly annoyed.
"Friend of yours Doctor?" Lara asked as she buttered her bread.
"Yes. Leela was one of my companions before the Summers twins traveled with me," the Doctor said fondly, thinking about his adventures with the 'savage'.
"I bet there are loads of stories you could tell me," Lara said, sipping her tea.
"Oh yes, entire libraries' worth. However, I was thinking rather than just simply telling you some of those stories, why not make some new, eh?" the Doctor said with a grin as he poured himself some of the tea.
"Certainly!" Lara exclaimed, barely containing her excitement.
"So, where and when?" the Doctor asked. Then he took a drink of his tea but scolded himself a little in the process.
"Careful Doctor, it's hot," Lara said with a smirk.
"That smarts," the Doctor with a slightly burned tongue.
"Well, I'm from Edinburgh, so I'd like to see what it was like during the Middle Ages," Lara suggested.
"Excellent idea. You know, it would give me a chance to see my old friend Indulf again," the Doctor agreed.
The two finished the breakfast and headed back to the Control Room.