Deep among the labyrinthine streets of the city sat a large, ugly building. Like many of the abandoned houses, it showed outward signs of neglect, the walls overgrown with creeping vines and covered in layered stains caused by the constant rising and falling of the mists that permeated the city. Rising high above its neighbouring residences, the City Pendectary contained the second largest body of knowledge on the planet. With the slow decline of technology on Rendulix, organic databanks had long since given way to simpler, crystal based technologies, which themselves were replaced by discs, tapes and eventually, the halide fiche, a flimsy celluloid film onto which thumb-sized pages were imprinted, ready to be retrieved by the last working reader. As understanding of the technology dwindled, Pendectarian Erkal, a kind of scribe-librarian, hatched a plan to make the city's vast knowledge archive available to its citizens, painstakingly translating the fiche records into a newer and more durable, energy-friendly form of data storage guaranteed to survive even the most critical of power failures. Erkal christened this revolutionary new technology the book. It was the development of the book that allowed Erkal to be recognized as an elder of the city. Alone amongst the fallen, Erkal kept a secret diary, recording the events of his daily life, unwittingly preparing for the day of his regeneration and the loss of memory that accompanied it. Each time he returned to the Pendectary, Erkal would find himself reinvigorated with new interests, which allowed him to continue his task. But for all of his efforts, Erkal led a life of solitude, rarely leaving the Pendectary, and even more rarely receiving visitors.
By the fading light of a single glow-bulb hanging from the centre of his great study, Erkal pressed on with his life's work, alternating between the pale blue glow of the reader screen and the rich, hand-made vellum on which he was currently transcribing The Book of Oaths and Fallacies in dark, silvery ink. It was an engrossing work, debating the nature of promises and lies amongst the pontiffs, presidents and chancellors of a bygone age.
Erkal started at the sound of a loud cough, his hand slipping as a spidery scratch appeared on the page.
"What?" Turning from his work, Erkal found Sheriff Aldus and the stonemason, Tanith, standing beside him. "Aldus? Tanith? I… I'm sorry, I didn't hear you summon the Guard. I'll just…"
Aldus stayed the librarian by placing a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't summon them, Erkel. This is Council business, so you'll not need your robes tonight. We did knock, but the door was open…"
"Well this is meant to be a public library, sheriff, not that anybody reads my books anymore. What's this about?"
"Haven't you noticed the change in the cycle, Erkel" asked Tanith.
"What? No, no, I hadn't," he replied, rising from his high-backed chair and stretching himself. His current body was relatively young, but he'd been failing to give it the exercise it needed in recent years. "As you can see I've been busy. My catalogue gets the better of me sometimes, and I often lose track of the time. So what's happened?
"Have you ever heard of a carnifex?" Aldus asked.
"Hmm, carnifex?" Erkel rubbed his chin, looking around the cluttered room. "Bear with me a moment." He picked up an abstract pile of celluloid pages, squinting and shuffling them as he processed the enquiry. "I'll have it somewhere… the question is, fiche or book?"
"According to the abbot, who's waiting for us at the constabulary, the chap we found in the forest – the Doctor – is a Time Lord carnifex," explained the sheriff, offering what further information he could.
"A Time Lord carnifex? Ah…" this sliver of information was enough to catalyse Erkal's thoughts, "so that would be one of old Rassilon's bastardizations. I transferred most of that stuff into books when I was younger. One of my earlier lives. Hmm."
Erkal crossed the room and into a narrow gap between stacked volumes. After a few moments his head popped back into view. "Through here."
Aldus and Tanith followed, surprised to find that the gap in the books was actually framing an obscured doorway, which led into a second chamber. It was dark, musty and, they learned as Erkel switched on the room's glow-bulb with a vigorous wave of his hand, filled with even more books than the main study.
"Right," said Erkal, running his fingers along a bulging shelf on the far wall, "these are all in chronological order, so it would have been around the time that the Record of Rassilon was created."
"Hmm." Stopping at a particularly old column of books, Erkal's finger ran itself across spine after spine, wiping dust away to reveal their titles and authors. "His fifth term, I think…."
"We haven't got time for this," said Aldus, getting irked by the strange ba..ba..ba... sound that Erkal made as he examined the book stack.
"Here we are. Acts of Rassilon, Volume Five…"
"How many volumes are there exactly?"
"It's alright," said Erkal, "this last book is the glossary."
Pulling out the thickest volume on the shelf, the pendectarian lifted up his knee, propping the open book onto it as he skimmed through its many pages, hastily seeking the reference he required.
"Carnomagus… carnivox… carnivale… carnifex. Here it is. Five: fifteen: page 774."
Nodding upwards and to the right, Erkal indicated the location of the volume as he closed the glossary and hefted it back into place. Reaching over his shoulder, Aldus prised the volume from its stack and carried over to a waist-high pile of books where he set it down and opened it.
"I can't read this," said Aldus, scrunching up his eyes, "it looks like the dance of a dying storm fish."
"What?" Erkal peered around and over the sheriff's arm to see for himself. "Oh, that's one of my early translations. My handwriting wasn't too legible in that body. Allow me."
Moving Aldus aside, Erkal bent over the volume, pinpointing the relevant passage in no time at all.
"Right. It says here… and so he prepared for the final accounting, and all the past and future foes of Gallifrey were identified; from the Gingh Senh of the time before, to the last-foe-that-shall-not-be-named. And one by one their flesh was rent asunder, their blood reduced, and their very essence realized…"
"Yes, yes, get on with it," said Aldus, still inexplicably irritated by Erkal and his casual manner. Time on Rendulix was rarely of the essence, and the old librarian was well known for answering the call of the Honour Guard too late to be of any use.
"It tells of how the Record of Rassilon was compiled, ensuring that every time lord and time ship would know the many foes encountered in the great wars, regardless of which time zone or universe they might inhabit. And for those enemies deemed the greatest threat, he added the power of the carnifex."
"Power?" Tanith asked, distracted from a pile of craftsman's guides on the other side of the chamber, "What sort of power?"
"It says it's unique to every enemy, but essentially a time lord's biodata is rewritten to turn him into a killing machine, programmed to become the nemesis of his selected foe, and given whatever power deemed necessary to destroy the enemies of Gallifrey."
"So," asked Tanith, "the Doctor is programmed only to destroy the menks?"
Erkel nodded. "It would appear so."
"Then I was right," said Aldus, reaching forwards and snapping the book shut, almost catching Erkal's fingers in the process. "We have a duty to get back to the constabulary and protect the Doctor. He needs time to heal."
"He is injured?" Tanith asked.
The sheriff nodded again. "Poked his own eyes out. Nothing too serious, but for whatever reason the Doctor isn't happy he's got this power. We need to persuade him to join us, or else we must find a way to make him use the power on our behalf."
"So," asked Tanith, "what do you want from us?"
"Gesar has called for a meeting of the Council. I've already sent Glaster and old Mergan ahead, so that's six out of eleven – which makes us quorate. If we can persuade the others that this Doctor needs to be protected and not executed, or whatever Gesar wants to do, then we three should be able to sway the vote in our favour. Agreed?"
"Agreed," said Erkal.
"Anything that puts the monks in their place sounds good to me, Aldus." Tanith added. "All they've ever done is collaborate with the k'thellid. If it weren't for them we'd have destroyed the menks years ago."
"Then we'd best get going," urged the sheriff. "I wouldn't put it past Gesar to try and get to the Doctor behind my back, and however much I hate the abbot, I wouldn't want Malthus to have to carve him up. There's enough blood on my floor already, and it'll take weeks to get rid of the stain."
Lean and athirst, three slavering hounds surrounded Romana. Despite their animalistic forms, their bodies bore no curves, nor fur. Instead they appeared to be an approximation of the canine form, made up of flat surfaces and folded creases that gave an impression of lithe, curved bodies, yet was entirely made up of straight lines and awkward angles.
Circling her cautiously, their jaws working and their eyes glowing, they seemed to be reacting to Romana's presence.
One by one, their demeanour seemed to soften, and their angular forms shifted from pacing and impatient to sitting and waiting, as if poised to obey her orders. Around them, the strange unlight which had mysteriously illuminated the room faded back into darkness, leaving only the crimson pinpoints of the hounds' eyes.
"Romana?"
From the corridor outside the old crone's voice broke the silence. At the sound of a handle turning, Romana shifted aside and the door opened and light began to flood back into the room. Three pairs of glowing eyes twitched in the darkness, acknowledging Teyamat's arrival.
"Hahaha. I knew it, I knew it," said Teyamat, clapping. She was clearly overjoyed at the outcome of the test. "You see, Romana, I told you there was nothing to fear. The dvora recognized their mistress?"
"Mistress? I already have a dog… of sorts." Romana considered the name of the creatures… dvora, Teyamat had called them. The name of her ancestral house. It meant devouring hounds. "What, exactly, would have happened to me if they hadn't… recognized me?"
"But they did, didn't they." The joy in the old crone's face fell. Her new queen was displeased. "Just as I thought."
"Teyamat, what would they have done?"
"Eaten you," the old woman sighed. "They're one of the rarer tesserite species; they feed on dimensional energies."
"Meaning they'd have consumed my entire life and I would cease to have ever existed?"
"Only if they were hungry. They do snack. There's… a chance your childhood might have survived."
Romana arched an eyebrow, containing her anger. "They looked pretty hungry to me."
Teyamat tried to dismiss the idea. "That's just the form they take. They always look hungry. But out on the periphery there's plenty for them to feed on."
"And will they return to the periphery?"
"When you will it." Teyamat reached out her hand, unfolding her fist to reveal a glittering green jewel. "Here."
It was a jade stone of some kind, set into a large silver ring. Reaching forwards, Romana took the trinket, examining it in closer detail. As she did so, the attention of the hounds followed the exchange.
"What's this?" The surface of the gem was intricately shaped, inlaid with patterns similar to the symbols she had seen on the silver sash. They were enveloped by a familiar dragon motif.
"The Seal of Pengallia. I've been keeping it until this moment. It's what I used to summon Vervix, Varnax and Vulpix."
"They have names?"
"They were once your loyal servitors, and never left your side. Of course they have names. Now are you ready to find your Doctor's TARDIS?"
"Only if you promise not to give me any more surprises along the way."
Teyamat smiled her toothless smile, relieved that Romana's anger had passed.
"Follow me." Turning back into the corridor, she led a cautious but bemused Romana out towards the shrine.
The three spectral hounds loped along behind them.
"So…" the Doctor was interrogating K9, "the Protector put humpty together again?"
"Affirmative, master. You are using a metaphor to summarise my explanation."
"Oh, K9, I've missed you," the Doctor said with a broad grin and an edge of sarcasm. He was clearly heartened by K9's arrival, but also reminded of the limitations caused by his current predicament. The smile dropped as his questions continued. "You've no idea how he managed this?"
"Negative, master."
"Never mind," said the Doctor, absently patting K9's head. "I must thank the Protector when I... you said he came with you?"
"Affirmative, master. In spite of the Protector's hospitality, his words suggest that he intends you harm."
The Doctor nodded, understanding. "I suspect the threat he thinks I pose has passed, K9. That power I unleashed, it came from my eyes…"
The Doctor's voice trailed off, causing K9 to pause briefly, waiting for his master's voice to continue. When no words came, it was the robot dog that broke the silence.
"Query: your injuries were self-inflicted?"
"I'm the monster here, K9," said the Doctor. "The Time Lords caused whatever happened here, and as a time lord I've been given the power to make things even worse. I had to act quickly, there's no telling what damage a fully functioning carnifex can do."
"Scans indicate that the energy you released has made the inner sun unstable. There is insufficient data for a complete analysis at this time, but there is a danger that the instability will result in total collapse."
The Doctor disagreed. "It's an artificial sun K9, so I'd expect there to be a regulator somewhere. These people are descended from the Time Lords, and we were the greatest solar engineers in the history of the universe. I suspect the regulator is kept up the mountain, so that's where we need to go."
"Master, if you secure your thermal accessory around my neck, this unit will guide you. You may also wish to unscrew my psychotronic relay transmitter. In the absence of exitonic circuitry it currently serves no purpose, but may be useful to assist you."
"So you're volunteering to be my guide dog, and you want me to use your tail as a white stick? That's absolutely bonkers," the Doctor grinned broadly. "Let's do it."
"Affirmative, master. I have scanned the area and have determined our most effective means of egress from the constabulary. The rocky terrain will prevent this unit from escorting you up the mountain."
"We're not escaping K9. We're confronting. Don't you think it's time I met the other players in this little drama?"
By the time Aldus, Tanith and Erkal arrived at the constabulary, the Oculus had again shifted phases. The twilight cycle was again upon them, and the visible light of morning had cast itself across the city. Outside the front door, the three elders were shocked to find a small party of mounted k'thellid. The nearest m'n'ch'k twitched and rotated slightly, its jeweled shell and a row of beady eyes glittering as it followed their arrival. Its eyeless rider shifted slightly, its mind's eye observing what its physical body could not.
"What are menks doing here?" Tanith whispered.
"Shush with that talk!" Aldus replied out of the corner of his mouth. With a slight bow of acknowledgement and a broad smile he passed the creatures, skipping up the steps and into the building. The scene inside was not quite as he expected.
Sergeant Malthus was still in control, armed and keeping a cautious eye on his guests. Glaster and Mergan had arrived, and were pacing the room in anticipation of what was to come. Similarly, the priests were still loitering and accounted for. Gesar stood in the centre of the room, deep in conversation with an additional player whose arrival the sheriff hadn't expected. The k'thellid Protector. Its vast bulk obscured almost half of the room, and its sharp mind reacted quickly to Aldus' return.
I trust we are ready to proceed, sheriff?
Ready? In a moment the sheriff realized that the odds had shifted against him. As well as Gesar, the Protecor was, as a representative of the k'thellid, a city elder. He may never have bothered attending past meetings, but his status was undeniable. Which meant that if Gaster and Mergan were swayed by Gesar's arguments, the vote could go against the sheriff and his friends.
"Er… yes. Shall we move through to the refectory? I'm sure I can rustle up some refreshments before we start."
"We're not interested in refreshments, Aldus," said Gesar. "This has gone on long enough. We need to decide what to do with the Doctor."
"Did somebody mention my name?"
All heads turned to the doorway that led to the cells. The blind Doctor stood there, his broad grin fixed, his dressing removed, and his empty sockets staring at every man, monk and monster in the room. In one hand he carried an extended metal stick, while in the other he firmly gripped a short length of his scarf, carefully following K9 into the room.
"I think if you're going to make some kind of judgement about me, it's only fair that I should be allowed to present my case, wouldn't you say?"