Journey Amongst the Stars
By Lumendea
Chapter Six: Mirror on the Wall: Fall of Eternity
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…..
Slaying the dragon. Rose almost started giggling. Hiding behind the rock outcropping, Rose inhaled slowly and quickly braided her hair to keep it out of her face. There was a dragon on the other side of the rock. An Eternal was creating things out of the Grimm's Fairy Tales, and now she had to fight a dragon. Overhead, thunder rolled as a storm rolled into the area. Rose could only hope that it brought rain.
She flexed her right wrist, and her sword sprang forth. It was warm in her hand, and Rose was comforted by the familiar slight weight. Before she could calm down too much, a tree crashed past her, and the seven-headed dragon came into view. The giant green beast had massive wings that still didn't look big enough to let it actually fly. Seven heads roared and looked around atop long serpentine necks. It reminded her of a monster from one of Mickey's monster movies.
It tore up trees, tossing them around with abandon. She crept closer, scanning the landscape. There were some rough rocks on the hillside, not far away. They were tall in some places and might prove to be a good battleground if she could manage-
A head lunged for her. Rose darted into the rocks. Only one head was able to follow her. It screamed, the sound echoing off the rocks, and making Rose flinch, but she kept moving. Twisting around the dragon, Rose brought up her sword. A faint glow showed through the scales. She brought the sword down with all of her strength before it could breathe. The blade sliced through the fleshy neck, cutting it clean off. Some kind of oil burst out of the veins as the neck was suddenly pulled back. The smell hint Rose's nose and she gagged. It was a bit too much like gas for her comfort, but she supposed that even an alien generated dragon would need some kind of real fuel for its flames.
"One down. Six to go." She looked down at her sword. "Why can't I throw you like Prince Phillip did in the movie? That would be so much easier."
There was no answer, and no good fairies suddenly appeared to help her. Beyond the rocks, she heard the dragon screaming. There were crashes as the thing moved and she cautiously poked out her head. The other six heads were roaring in pain. Thankfully they weren't regrowing like a Hydra's head. Rose darted away from the rocks, unwilling to linger in the gas and eyed the beast, trying to come up with another plan. She'd already used the rocks for cover? The trees were flammable. What other options did she have?
She didn't dare lead it to the tower. While that might help split up the heads, it would potentially make everything worse and put the Doctor at risk. Rose glanced back at the tower. The pale green light was still shining out of the window.
Howling filled the air. Despite her earlier experience, Rose couldn't help but grimace at the sound. In the corner of her eye, she saw shadows rushing through the trees. They were too fast for her to count before they lunged out of the trees. The pack of wolves descended on one of the dragon's feet, ripping and clawing at it. With a roar of pain, the dragon's heads twisted around to attack the wolves, leaving Rose alone. After taking a deep breath, Rose shifted to a position between two heads. She swung her sword through the first one, marveling at how easily it sliced through the scales and bone. Her awe quickly turned to disgust as blood poured out. Swallowing bile, Rose spun on her heel and cut off another head. She heard a cry from a wolf and retreated once more behind the rocks.
When she peeked out, the pack was retreating into the trees, leaving her with an angry dragon that still had four heads. At least it didn't attack the rocks right away. Instead, it seemed dazed and confused. Rose briefly wondered if she'd be lucky enough for it to go into shock. It didn't. The dragon thrashed around, and Rose desperately hoped that no one in the nearby villages would come to investigate. The sky opened up, and fat raindrops began to fall across the battlefield.
More howls echoed out of the woods, and the dragon's four heads looked around, watching for the pack. Rose in turn, used the dragon's distraction to start moving around the side once more, ducking behind piles of upended trees. She peered through the roots of one torn up tree and grimaced in sympathy for the dragon. The stubs had mostly stopped bleeding and were beginning to scab over already, but blood was soaking into the ground, and the thing was wailing. If she had been so worried about a village being destroyed, she would have stopped the attack. As it was, she just felt sorry for the poor thing. It wasn't its' fault that an Eternal had made it real.
Then the dragon opened its mouth and began to release long streams of flames. A group of trees caught fire, and the blaze began to spread. Enough dirt had been thrown up by the dragon's rampage that the fire wasn't jumping from tree to tree just yet, but Rose couldn't let things get worse. Another set of howls made the dragon look into the trees to its right, leaving the left side exposed.
Rose darted to the side and slammed her blade into the dragon's torso. The scales were thick, but they didn't stand a chance against a Star Knight sword. She sliced through the scales, muscles and into bone and organ. A squishy sound filled Rose's ears, and she instinctively pulled her sword back, trying to get away from the sound. The dragon snarled and then whined in pain, stumbling her direction. Running away, Rose was thrown to the earth when the dragon collapsed and shook the forest. Scrambling to her feet, Rose turned back to find two dragon's heads trying to examine the wound.
Distracted. She'd take distracted. Circling around the back of the beast, Rose came up along the uninjured side as quietly as she could. The nearest head was looking around and hissing small flames, but it hadn't turned back far enough to see her. Before her fear could make her flinch back, Rose charged forward and sliced through the head. Another one down. Three heads to go.
….
The Doctor flinched as another crash outside echoed in the small space. Before him, the mirror was still shining, and the Eternal had yet to reveal itself. Cursing under his breath, the Doctor adjusted the sonic screwdriver again. If you had told him that he'd be using it to force an Eternal out of a seemingly magic mirror all those years ago when he first built it, he would have thought you mad. Yet, he was here.
"Stop, Doctor," a voice said. A face appeared in the mirror. It looked vaguely human. "Stop."
"Stop the dragon and the other attacks," the Doctor ordered. "And I'll stop what I'm doing."
"I cannot."
"Then I cannot stop." He adjusted the sonic screwdriver once again. "Your kind have always had a warped sense of fun."
"This is not for amusement," the Eternal said. "This was a trap."
The Doctor almost stilled, but he pushed through his surprise. He'd figured it might be, but to hear the Eternal admit it was something else. The sonic screwdriver hummed in his hand, the device beginning to warm up at the strain he was putting it under.
"A trap? Really? That's shocking."
"Not for you," the Eternal said. "For her."
"Rose?"
"Spare me, and I will answer your questions," the Eternal whispered. "She is dangerous, Doctor."
"Rose Tyler doesn't have a mean bone in her body." The Doctor scoffed and turned his attention back to breaking through the defenses. "You should have stayed in the Halls of Eternity."
"Bad Wolf. Don't you wonder about those words? You see them so often, and now here you are. I sought to turn them against Rose Tyler with no success. What could overpower the will of an Eternal?"
Silence filled the tower, choking the Doctor. He didn't want to wonder, but every worry he'd ever had came rushing back. Rose was connected to the Guardians of the Universe. She'd never hidden that, but she also didn't tell him what was going on. Sometimes, he thought she knew the truth, but other times she seemed so young and unaware. He swallowed and narrowed his eyes at the mirror.
"Don't play that game with me," he said. "I won't fall for it."
"What did you let onto your TARDIS, Doctor?" Then the Eternal stopped talking, and a bitter chuckled escaped it. "Oh. There's that strange emotion. That mystery to us. Love, I believe. Even worse, Doctor, what did you let into your hearts. Last of the Time Lords and obsessed with a human child."
"Thought you were the one trying to convince me that she was dangerous," the Doctor growled. "Pick on and stick with it."
Another roar outside spurred him to action. Rose was fighting a dragon, and he was supposed to be dealing with the Eternal. The Doctor stepped closer, ignoring the waves of telepathic energy trying to break into his mind. It rubbed and clawed at him, trying to burrow down. Not long ago, it would have made it, but his shields were stronger now than they'd been since the mid-point of the Time War. The Doctor adjusted the sonic screwdriver, and the glass of the mirror began to crack. The Eternal started to laugh. The Doctor pushed the device forward.
"I was ready for you, Time Lord," the Eternal hissed. "That won't work on me."
…..
Rose was trying to figure out what to do with the last three heads as she hid behind a tree. It would catch on fire soon. The rain was helping against the fire, but she still had a furious dragon on her hands. Why did it have seven heads? Why not one or even three? She could have handled three with relative ease.
"Oh Lord in Heaven!"
The shout made Rose looked around the tree. Jakob and Wilheim Grimm were nearby with expressions of shock and terror on their faces. Jakob looked ready to faint. The dragon paused to examine them. Rose's chest tightened with worry. But it didn't attack them. The dragon was still tied to the Eternal which was using their minds as its template. Still, the dragon was distracted. Rose hesitated for only a moment. Running forward, she attacked the nearest head, slamming the blade through the flesh and throwing down all of her weight.
The dragon roared. Two heads turned towards her, ready to strike. Then a rock hit one of them. In a surreal moment, Rose and the dragon stared at each other in shock. She had enough awareness to rip her sword out of the bloody stub. She didn't run away. Two heads left and innocent people who were part of history in the line of literal fire.
Rose slammed the sword into the chest, bypassing the heads and praying that there was a heart somewhere in the chest. It hit something firm, and hard making Rose fear that she'd only struck a bone. Then the whole creature shook. It reared back on its legs, dragging Rose's feet off the ground. She gasped and gripped tightly to the hilt of her sword with both hands, holding on as the dragon thrashed. A yelp of shock and fear escaped her as the dragon started to roll to the side.
Her sword slipped out and Rose fell several feet to the ground. Rose's knees and ankles protested as she landed. The sword had slipped from her grip and returned to bracelet form. Rose spun on her heel and ran towards the brothers as the dragon thrashed. Thankfully, they snapped out of her fear and started to run away from the collapsing beast.
The last two heads fell to the ground, eyes rolled back and mouths open with the long tongues hanging out. Around the dragon, the flames were being slowly extinguished by the rain. Rose summoned her sword and waited. The dragon didn't move, not even a twitch. Before she could go closer to cut off the last two heads, the dragon began to turn to dust. She glanced at the removed heads only to find them vanishing as well. A sigh of relief escaped Rose, but she didn't move until the last traces of the dragon were gone.
"That's a lot easier in the stories," Wilhelm gasped. His face was pale, but he was grinning. "Wow! That was… oh, that was terrifying."
"Deep breath," Rose ordered.
She scanned the forest. The fire's spread was slowing, but there were other concerns. Turning around, she looked back towards the tower. The green light had dimmed, but it was still there.
"Stay here," she ordered the Grimms.
"What is going on?" Jakob demanded.
"The Doctor and I are taking care of it," Rose promised. She looked around, the haze was gone, and she thought that she could even see the Grimms' cart in the distance. "You should go."
"But-" Wilhelm protested.
"Get to your cart," Rose ordered. "The thing causing this is using you. If you can slip away now, then everything gets easier."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine." Rose rolled her eyes and gestured at the spot where the dragon had been. "I can handle this. You need to leave. Never tell anyone about this."
"Now see here," Jakob began to protest.
Wilhelm put his hand on his brother's arm, observing Rose. Then he nodded and pulled his brother back. "No one will ever believe us," he said. "And she's right. These dangers are coming from our minds. That dragon would have attacked a village if she hadn't killed it. The best thing we can do to help is leave before it conjures something more."
"Thank you," Rose said. She meant it and regretted not having had more time to talk with the pair.
"But what is causing this?" Jakob asked. "Will it return?"
"No," Rose said firmly. Up in the tower, a strange rumble began to sound, making Rose look up in alarm. The green light was shifting, and Rose hoped that didn't mean that the Eternal was making something new. "Go!"
She didn't wait to watch the brothers go. Rose was vaguely aware that she'd probably be sad about the abrupt goodbye later, but the Doctor might be in danger. Climbing up the side of the tower, Rose almost slipped twice thanks to the rain making the stone wall slick. Above her, the green light kept changing shades and brightness with that strange low rumbling continuing.
Rose was most of the way up the tower when she released that the rumbling was from the tower itself. Stones were beginning to shift. The dragon had vanished, she realized with a start. If the Eternal was destroyed or made human than the tower would vanish.
"Doctor!" Rose shouted. "The tower is starting to come down!"
There was no answer, and she hurried up the last few feet. Hauling herself inside, Rose looked up at the mirror. Large cracks were forming, and the Doctor was holding the strange device he'd created in his left hand near the glass. She couldn't see his face, but the face in the mirror was shaking and thrashing. Its mouth was open, but no sound was coming out.
"Doctor?"
"Rose! Break the mirror!" The Doctor ordered.
Rose didn't hesitate. Running forward, she summoned her sword once again. It hit the mirror. There was resistant, but the glass shattered. A high pitched scream filled the tower. The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
"Come on. We need to go!"
Rose didn't argue as the tower started to sway. Her heart raced, and she dashed back to the window and climbed out. She twisted around and looked back at the mirror. Glowing green shards were on the ground of the tower, but there was no Eternal fleeing them. She didn't understand and started to climb down.
Her feet hit the ground as bricks from the tower did. Large stones crashed into the earth only to vanish moments later. The Doctor was only seconds behind her and grabbed her hand when he reached the ground. He pulled her back a safe distance and looked at her, checking her over.
"You feeling alright?"
"I'm fine," Rose said. "The shields were tough, but…" She shrugged. "I'm okay." Grinning, she added, "I slew a dragon!"
"Yes, yes you did."
They fell silent, just watching as the tower finished crumbling and the stones quickly vanished. Rose swallowed and caught her breath, fighting back the panicked waves of confusion.
"What happened?"
"I couldn't reach it," the Doctor said. He was frowning at the remains of the tower as they vanished. "And it wasn't trying to escape."
"Did I kill it when I destroyed the mirror?"
"No." Then the Doctor dropped her hand and walked forward. Small shards of glass with a greenish shine were laying on the ground. "It's still here. Trapped in its mirror."
"Why wouldn't it just escape?" Rose asked.
"It had a mission."
"Mission?" Rose's chest tightened. "Doctor, what was its mission?"
"I'm not sure." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and started gathering up the pieces. "I'll have to scatter these to be sure it can't reform. I've never seen anything like this before."
Rose didn't' like the sound of that, but a dark cloud was hanging over the Doctor. She didn't think he'd share his thoughts easily today.
"I sent the Brothers Grimm away," Rose said. She exhaled and looked around. There was no sign of them. "Hopefully they won't talk about what happened."
"No one would believe them," the Doctor said. He chuckled and stood up, wrapping up the pieces. There didn't seem to be enough. Rose could only hope that the collapsing tower had ground the rest to dust. "Still, an Eternal here. I wasn't expecting that."
"Did it say anything useful?" Rose asked.
"Bad Wolf," the Doctor said.
Rose's eyes widened, and she looked up at him. A deep frown was on his face as he stared out into the forest. "Pardon?"
"Bad Wolf. The Eternal said to beware those words. It made me think. I've seen those words before. A lot. They're following us."
Rose took a deep breath. "Not us," she said. "Me."
The Doctor turned to look at her, confusion and a hint of alarm in his gaze. Rose couldn't manage a smile even though she tried. It wasn't that she was scared exactly. In his future, the Doctor knew what Bad Wolf meant and wasn't afraid of it, but in the here and now it seemed big and dangerous.
"What?"
"The words follow me," Rose explained. "They have for years. During my adventures on Earth, they'd pop up here and there." She shrugged. "That's what Lumen, my living painting, said to me when she whispered to me. Bad Wolf."
"You're sure?"
"Very, but it isn't a bad thing," Rose rushed to say. The Doctor didn't look convinced. "You, a future you, will tell me that it's okay. Bad Wolf is… I'm not sure what it is, but usually, it's a warning. Hearing it or seeing it lets me know that danger is coming. It warns me to be ready." She gestured out into the forest. "As for the wolves, I'm not sure how it impacts them, but it helps me in weird ways."
"And it doesn't worry you."
"It did," Rose admitted. "But as I said, you will tell me that it's safe. That it isn't going to hurt me." Smiling at the Doctor now, Rose felt a bit better. "I trust you."
The Doctor didn't smile. He still seemed to be struggling with something about Bad Wolf and what the Eternal said. His blue eyes were sharp and thoughtful as he stared at her. Somehow, Rose didn't flinch under the gaze. She knew he was worried, but not angry at her. It was almost a marvel to see him thinking, brainstorming and discarding ideas at a rapid pace. At the back of Rose's mind, her suspicions stirred, but she didn't let the thought fully form. That always felt too dangerous.
Instead, Rose held out her hand to the Doctor. He took it without any hesitation. A small smile appeared on his face before he sighed. With that, the Doctor guided Rose back towards the TARDIS as the natural sounds of the forest sung to them.