Sinclair

"Too quiet," he said, as they led the army up the hill towards High Keep. It was true at that, for the village itself was deserted, with not even a hint of prior occupation. There were no clothes out to dry, no smouldering remains of fires, no chimneys asmoke. All was silent.

"You ain't wrong." Jack conceded, not taking his eyes from the castle. "Seems as if Znya isn't looking to stop us, huh? What can you infer from that?"

"Nothing pleasant." Sinclair said darkly. "She wants us to come. She knows we're here, and she wants us to come for her. She's confident in victory."

"Her confidence won't help her." Rose spat, pulling slightly ahead of Sinclair and Jack, who picked up their pace to keep in line with her. They stood before the enormous castle in silence, the armoured men of the Blackforte clinking up behind them. Sinclair noted also the distinct lack of any battlescars on the Earth, a puzzle when he had it on good authority that a skirmish had taken place here just hours before. But then of course, if Jack and Rose spoke truth, it had been a folly of a war, a battle fought between two opposite chess pieces moved by the same player, that player being the wretched demon that had his son - his only son - hostage in that castle up yonder.

Jack stepped forward. "We know your in there!" he called up. "Come out! Huh? I'll tell ya what, beautiful - release the Doctor, and Blackburn's son. Just you send 'em out here, unharmed, and we'll let you be. How does that work for ya?"

No answer.

"Znya," Jack said reasonably, "look petal, we shared a castle for a good long time, right? I like to think we got to know each other a little in that time! I mean, sure, your a giant spider from beyond the universe, but I ain't one to let silly things spoil a good relationship! I don't want to kill you. None of us do. Ain't that right, Rose?"

The blonde girl nodded falsely, through gritted teeth

"Lord Blackburn?"

"Murder is against my code, dear lady." Sinclair replied. "Death should be distributed as a last resort only, so my father taught me, and his before him."

"And yet," came a startling voice from somewhere within the castle, impossibly loud and dripping with malice, "you stand before me, killer of your own child. Did you know this, queerboy? Or you, bimbo? Dear Blackburn there killed his eldest to give me Arthur."

Sinclair felt his stomach drop and his cheeks go red as Rose and Jack stared at him, and he felt the eyes of his troops carving into his back. "Malicious lies, from the mouth of a demon itself!" he exclaimed.

High up on the battlements, a figure in red slithered into view. From this distance her features were but a blur, and all that could be seen was a chalk white face and hair to match, beneath the blood red garments. "You killed him. You killed him in cold blood, and I'm no liar, my lord. Thus when I say that you feel no remorse for it, I am telling the truth, am I not?"

"Lies!" Sinclair exclaimed weakly, sounding as feeble as a feather in a windstorm.

Zyna cackled. "You want your friends, gibbons? You want 'em? Come, then, and take them! All of you. Against me. How copy, guv-nah?"

Tears rolling his cheeks, Sinclair raised a hand. "Have at that damned place!" he screamed, as his men rushed past him with weapons in hand, storming further up the hill towards the gates of High Keep.

"This is it." Jack spat. "That thing doesn't leave here alive. Not for as long as we live."

"Which might not be long." Sinclair pointed out.

For an answer, Jack extracted the revolver from his pocket, and pulled the hammer down, keeping his finger (for now) staunchly away from the trigger.

"Well," he smirked. "Who wants to live forever, anyhow?"

And with Sinclair Blackburn on his left, Rose on his right, he marched up towards the castle, heart hammering and nerves tingling with excitement.

Note - sorry about the delay between chapters. My old relic of a laptop gave up on me, so I've been waiting for the new one to arrive. There's only a few chapters left, but updates will come slightly less frequently as of now - I've got a lot of law coursework, and I'm also trying to twist my full sized novel into something resembling good.