Eadburh was clinging to the Brigadier with a preternatural strength. The
old soldier was waving his arms about frantically trying to repel her
attack. He was expecting to feel her teeth plunging in to his neck at any
moment. Instead all he felt was a tickle underneath each arm. The Brigadier
and Eadburh collapsed in a heap on the floor as tears of submission began
to well up in the soldier's eyes. Fangs he could cope with but tickling was
beyond his strength.
"Not so powerful a soldier after all" said Eadburh.
The Brigadier was still waving his limbs about on the floor when he noticed that the Queen was no longer holding on to him. He opened up his eyes to see her hovering in the air, about six feet above his prone position. He hair flapping around her face in the wind.
Eadburh was smiling and there seemed no trace of he fangs among the gleaming white teeth. The Brigadier raised himself up on his elbows and looked her square in the eyes.
"Madam will you please explain yourself" he said.
"I was just teasing you," she said before breaking in to a laugh.
"I do not mean the tickling, I mean the whole fangs and flying business" replied the Brigadier as he tried to regain his composure.
"What do you mean?" asked the woman.
"I mean what is with all the vampire behaviour?" asked the Brigadier, pointing at the fact she was floating above him.
Eadburh looked back at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
"Brigadier, how many vampires do you know that frequent open spaces in broad daylight" said the Doctor.
The Brigadier turned to see the Doctor approaching from the gate.
The Brigadier made a great show of getting up as quickly as his rickety old legs could mange.
"Well none" said the Brigadier.
The Doctor approached Eadburh and bowed his head before speaking.
"Apologies my lady. I am afraid my friend does no know much of Mercian ways"
Eadburh gently brought herself down to the ground and moved over to the Brigadier.
"I am sorry if I startled you old man" she said and then kissed him on the cheek.
Silently she walked away towards Leo's house.
"Old man indeed" mumbled the Brigadier.
***************************
"What was all that about?" asked the Brigadier.
"I have absolutely no idea," said the Doctor as the two of them paced up and down outside Leo's small house.
"You seemed to know what was going on"
"Well I always did think I was born for the stage"
"Listen Doctor this is not a joke, I thought that blasted woman was going to eat me."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"She must have a taste for gristle"
The Brigadier grabbed the Doctor by the arms and pulled his face close to his own.
"Doctor, something is not right here and you are turning it in to a pantomime"
The Brigadier released his grasp and leaned against the wall.
"I'm too old for this now, twenty years ago I could have held her off but today, she just overpowered me"
"Brigadier, any man would have found himself overpowered by that thing, whatever it was"
"Father" it was Leo's voice.
The Brigadier and the Doctor turned to look at him. His dog stood close behind him.
******************************
Once again the three men sat around the table in Leo's house, looking at each other in silence.
"You should not have done it," said the Doctor.
"Are you saying I should have let her die?" asked Leo.
The Doctor was silent.
"Was there no other way?" asked the Brigadier.
"Perhaps, if I had time to think but time was short and I had no idea what the side effects would be" replied Leo.
"You should not have interfered" snapped the Doctor.
"Father you know your history, I could not let her die, what lies before her is too well known"
The Doctor did not argue.
"After the accident I looked at her and the blood loss I had to act" continued Leo.
"So you stitched the wound and gave her a transfusion of you own blood" said the Brigadier.
"Yes, I could not tell which of the other humans would match but though that my own Gallifreyan blood would be able to adapt to her system. I could not have known that my blood would start to adapt her system to suit itself"
"But I don't understand. If she now has Timelord blood in her system, how come she seems to be developing Vampire characteristics" asked the Brigadier.
"Because Brigadier much like Chimpanzees and Humans, Vampires and Timelords share 98% of their genetic make up" replied the Doctor.
"I assume that the mix of the human and galifreyan blood has mutated her in to form of life that resembles Vampirism but is in fact a blend of all three species". Said Leo.
The Doctor continued to frown.
****************************************
King Offa sat alone in his chamber. He was still, so still that he barely seemed to be breathing at all. His eyes were fixed on the door as though in anticipation of some great terror that he could not avoid.
*******************************************
Darkness was falling around the enclosure and the horn was being sounded to call everyone back to the safety of the Palace grounds.
In the little house, where he sat with the Doctor and the Brigadier, Leo jumped to attention at the sound of the horn.
"My god" exclaimed Leo " I haven't set Grendal or the barriers".
Leo charged out of the house. The Doctor and the Brigadier followed behind him.
When they reached the open space in front of the great hall they saw that almost the entire population of the enclosure had come there too. They were all looking at the sky. Leo was a few steps ahead of his companions and Eadburh was moving towards him.
"They're coming," she said.
Leo just nodded a response, his face frozen in an expression that was half guilt and half fear.
They all looked up at the sky as it slowly began to turn black and now the only light flickered from torches set up outside the door of the great hall.
The Doctor and the Brigadier exchanged glances and looked up again but now the sky was no longer black. A red glow was beginning to rise up from the south.
As one those at the front of the crowd let out a sigh. The Doctor and the Brigadier turned to see what had caused the sigh. At first they could see nothing. On the edge of the clearing outside the enclosure there was nothing but the woods, bathed in shadow. Then they saw it, the shadows were moving.
The Timelord and the old soldier seemed to move closer together as they absorbed the scene around them. The moving shadows, the reddening sky and the people huddled together in terror.
Then there was the sound. A screeching whine, like the screams of a thousand dolphins in pain. The sound was getting louder and shapes were beginning to form in the sky. Shapes that looked like shadows.
Then the people around them began to scream.
To be continued.
"Not so powerful a soldier after all" said Eadburh.
The Brigadier was still waving his limbs about on the floor when he noticed that the Queen was no longer holding on to him. He opened up his eyes to see her hovering in the air, about six feet above his prone position. He hair flapping around her face in the wind.
Eadburh was smiling and there seemed no trace of he fangs among the gleaming white teeth. The Brigadier raised himself up on his elbows and looked her square in the eyes.
"Madam will you please explain yourself" he said.
"I was just teasing you," she said before breaking in to a laugh.
"I do not mean the tickling, I mean the whole fangs and flying business" replied the Brigadier as he tried to regain his composure.
"What do you mean?" asked the woman.
"I mean what is with all the vampire behaviour?" asked the Brigadier, pointing at the fact she was floating above him.
Eadburh looked back at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
"Brigadier, how many vampires do you know that frequent open spaces in broad daylight" said the Doctor.
The Brigadier turned to see the Doctor approaching from the gate.
The Brigadier made a great show of getting up as quickly as his rickety old legs could mange.
"Well none" said the Brigadier.
The Doctor approached Eadburh and bowed his head before speaking.
"Apologies my lady. I am afraid my friend does no know much of Mercian ways"
Eadburh gently brought herself down to the ground and moved over to the Brigadier.
"I am sorry if I startled you old man" she said and then kissed him on the cheek.
Silently she walked away towards Leo's house.
"Old man indeed" mumbled the Brigadier.
***************************
"What was all that about?" asked the Brigadier.
"I have absolutely no idea," said the Doctor as the two of them paced up and down outside Leo's small house.
"You seemed to know what was going on"
"Well I always did think I was born for the stage"
"Listen Doctor this is not a joke, I thought that blasted woman was going to eat me."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"She must have a taste for gristle"
The Brigadier grabbed the Doctor by the arms and pulled his face close to his own.
"Doctor, something is not right here and you are turning it in to a pantomime"
The Brigadier released his grasp and leaned against the wall.
"I'm too old for this now, twenty years ago I could have held her off but today, she just overpowered me"
"Brigadier, any man would have found himself overpowered by that thing, whatever it was"
"Father" it was Leo's voice.
The Brigadier and the Doctor turned to look at him. His dog stood close behind him.
******************************
Once again the three men sat around the table in Leo's house, looking at each other in silence.
"You should not have done it," said the Doctor.
"Are you saying I should have let her die?" asked Leo.
The Doctor was silent.
"Was there no other way?" asked the Brigadier.
"Perhaps, if I had time to think but time was short and I had no idea what the side effects would be" replied Leo.
"You should not have interfered" snapped the Doctor.
"Father you know your history, I could not let her die, what lies before her is too well known"
The Doctor did not argue.
"After the accident I looked at her and the blood loss I had to act" continued Leo.
"So you stitched the wound and gave her a transfusion of you own blood" said the Brigadier.
"Yes, I could not tell which of the other humans would match but though that my own Gallifreyan blood would be able to adapt to her system. I could not have known that my blood would start to adapt her system to suit itself"
"But I don't understand. If she now has Timelord blood in her system, how come she seems to be developing Vampire characteristics" asked the Brigadier.
"Because Brigadier much like Chimpanzees and Humans, Vampires and Timelords share 98% of their genetic make up" replied the Doctor.
"I assume that the mix of the human and galifreyan blood has mutated her in to form of life that resembles Vampirism but is in fact a blend of all three species". Said Leo.
The Doctor continued to frown.
****************************************
King Offa sat alone in his chamber. He was still, so still that he barely seemed to be breathing at all. His eyes were fixed on the door as though in anticipation of some great terror that he could not avoid.
*******************************************
Darkness was falling around the enclosure and the horn was being sounded to call everyone back to the safety of the Palace grounds.
In the little house, where he sat with the Doctor and the Brigadier, Leo jumped to attention at the sound of the horn.
"My god" exclaimed Leo " I haven't set Grendal or the barriers".
Leo charged out of the house. The Doctor and the Brigadier followed behind him.
When they reached the open space in front of the great hall they saw that almost the entire population of the enclosure had come there too. They were all looking at the sky. Leo was a few steps ahead of his companions and Eadburh was moving towards him.
"They're coming," she said.
Leo just nodded a response, his face frozen in an expression that was half guilt and half fear.
They all looked up at the sky as it slowly began to turn black and now the only light flickered from torches set up outside the door of the great hall.
The Doctor and the Brigadier exchanged glances and looked up again but now the sky was no longer black. A red glow was beginning to rise up from the south.
As one those at the front of the crowd let out a sigh. The Doctor and the Brigadier turned to see what had caused the sigh. At first they could see nothing. On the edge of the clearing outside the enclosure there was nothing but the woods, bathed in shadow. Then they saw it, the shadows were moving.
The Timelord and the old soldier seemed to move closer together as they absorbed the scene around them. The moving shadows, the reddening sky and the people huddled together in terror.
Then there was the sound. A screeching whine, like the screams of a thousand dolphins in pain. The sound was getting louder and shapes were beginning to form in the sky. Shapes that looked like shadows.
Then the people around them began to scream.
To be continued.