Part Three
"So is this treasure real, Doctor?"
"Of course it is, Jo. You know I don't like to lie."
They were flying through the clouds away from the capital city in the opposite direction from that which they had come. Ar-Moqi, Captain of the Royal Guard, had not seemed happy when the Doctor had told him it was the queen's orders that they be given a vehicle, but he had relented. The Doctor had refused his offer of a driver – he would much rather, he said, pilot the craft himself.
"So you're going to go and find this treasure and then take it back to the queen … and then she'll let us go free?"
"I certainly hope so. And sort out 'Ar-Setm' once and for all as well, I hope. Hopefully, if we find the ancient treasures, that'll make El-Medr believe what I've been trying to tell her. He's up to no good, I can tell. History's not fixed, Jo, despite what I told the queen. This could very well be the end of Ar-Amed forever, if that villain has his way …"
"Ar-Setm? Who is he?"
"Come on, Jo, use your brain." And he said no more on the subject.
They flew on for many hours, and it grew darker, until they were flying under a great deep purple sky dotted with strange stars.
"That one," said the Doctor, pointing out a small twinkling dot on the horizon, "is your sun. Puts things in perspective rather, doesn't it?"
They flew on, and the fields below them gave way to a great forest that they could just make out under the light from Ar-Amed's three silvery moons. In the darkness, it was black and unwelcoming.
"We're looking," the Doctor told Jo, "for a mountain, standing alone in the midst of the forest. Ar-Emet-Nataq, they call it, the Treeless Mountain. An active volcano, no plantlife grows on its higher slopes. The books tell us that the lost treasures were discovered in a cave on an island in the middle of a lake at the bottom of the mountain."
"In a cave on an island in the middle of a lake at the bottom of the mountain," Jo repeated. "That sounds pretty exact, I suppose …"
"If I'm right, and it is us that are destined to find the treasure, I was – am –
hardly going to leave instructions I can't follow, am I?"
"I don't get how you can just mess around with time like this."
The Doctor smiled in the darkness. "Strictly speaking, it's not allowed, but no one will ever know. I'm appearing in history and wiping myself from the records to avoid paradoxes all the time – why not do things a bit differently this time, eh?"
They flew on. Then out of the darkness loomed a shape even blacker than its surroundings. "Doctor!" exclaimed Jo. "I think that's it!"
The Doctor peered at the black shape. "Yes, yes, I think it probably is too, Jo. You know, we really shouldn't have done this at night … Come on, let's find the island and get it over with quickly."
They descended, circling the bare mountaintop, with its bowl-like crater at its peak, looking for the glint of water reflecting moonlight lower down. "There!" shouted Jo. "It's there, Doctor, I can see it!"
"I'm taking us down there, Jo. Hold on tight."
The craft zoomed downwards, but its descent was halted by a terrible, echoing cry.
"What was that?" said the Doctor, braking and leaving the flying car hovering in midair.
"I don't know, Doctor," replied Jo, peering through the gloom in all directions. "It didn't sound friendly, whatever it was …"
"No … that's what I'm afraid of … There has to be a reason it's taken so long for the lost treasures to be found. Remember old Ar-Tarmak the Great? He was the one responsible for hiding them, in the war with Gahin the Last of the old dynasty, before the planet was unified under a single ruler …"
"What do you think the reason for no one finding the treasures, Doctor?"
"I don't know, Jo, I can't remember … I must have read it at some point …" The Doctor actually seemed to be panicking slightly. "It was something to do with …" (there was another roar, louder this time) "… dragons …"
An enormous black shape had appeared out of nowhere. Its long, spiny tail swung round as if aiming at the flying car, and the Doctor was forced to reverse upwards at a heart-wrenching rate to escape damage.
"Oh no, Doctor, you didn't mention dragons! What do we do?"
"We do our best not to get hurt."
There was another roar, and the dragon sent another blow at the car, which the Doctor avoided this time by accelerating forwards. Jo peered through the darkness. The 'dragon' certainly looked like one, with a pair of scaly wings and a tail as thick as a log and as long as several large snakes.
"Jo," said the Doctor quietly, "I'm going to try and make a quick landing in the trees. Hold on tight."
They dived downwards. The dragon let out another ear-splitting cry and shot after them. They crashed through the canopy of the trees, but they were not quick enough. The dragon slashed again with its whiplike tail, and this time it caught the back car. Thankfully they were only a few feet from the ground, but the vehicle still lost its balance and span out of control, throwing them to earth.
They landed on a thick, earthy pile of leaves. The Doctor was the first to his feet, and he pulled Jo up as well. "The dragon's not gone yet, I'm afraid," he whispered to her.
He was right. It was still there, sitting above them on a tree branch, caught in the light of one of the three moons: black and scaly, with a long head and a fearsome, many-toothed jaw.
"The Ar-Amed dragons were almost driven to extinction centuries ago," the Doctor whispered in Jo's ear, as if reciting something he had read long ago but only just remembered. "But some survived in the most remote regions. They are primarily carnivores, eating meat whenever they can get it. Their most dangerous weapons are their long tails and their teeth …"
The dragon pounced; Jo leapt and leapt out of the way, dragging the Doctor with her. "I don't really care about that at the moment! I'm more interested in staying alive!"
They scrambled to their feet and ran; the dragon hot on their heels. They were in a thick jungle, with strange trees and vines on all sides, and moving wasn't easy. Ignoring what his companion had said, the Doctor continued to recite a lengthy description of the creature now chasing them.
"It cannot breathe fire, but its bite is particularly venomous, although the crushing force of the jaw is usually enough to kill or severely injure in any case. The Ar-Amed dragon typically lives in pairs. It is capable of flying, running at some speed, and climbing trees, but it is unable to swim."
"Doctor, shut up and run!"
The dragon lurched at them, and its teeth caught the Doctor's cloak. With Jo's help, he pulled away, and the material ripped, leaving the dragon standing stupidly with a piece of checked cloth hanging from its powerful jaws.
"It's not over yet," said the Doctor. "Carry on running!"
They did as he said, but it wasn't long before the dragon was right behind them again. The Doctor grabbed at a tree branch and managed to rip it from the truck. Turning, he gave the dragon a great blow on the noise, and then again, and again. Jo joined him with a smaller branch she had picked up off the floor. Finally, the dragon gave a cry of pain, and turned and flew back off through the canopy of leaves and into the purple sky.
"Let's get back to the car," said the Doctor, adding, as Jo made to put her branch down: "Keep that with you. You might still need it."
They made their way through the trees back to the car, Jo stumbling along in the wake of the Doctor's purposeful strides. Just as they got to the car, another cry split the darkness – and this time it was met with an answering roar. "As I predicted," the Doctor said solemnly. "Jo, get in! Quickly!"
They jumped into the car, just in time to see two dragons diving once more through the canopy. Upon leaving, the first dragon had clearly gone to find its mate. "Doctor!" screamed Jo. "Up!"
The Doctor pressed a button, and the car shot upwards. They burst through the trees, sending leaves and sticks raining down onto the dragons below that help them up at least briefly.
"It is unable to swim," the Doctor was repeating under his breath, "it is unable to swim …"
"Doctor?"
"The lake, Jo, the lake! If we can persuade the dragons to think we've gone under the water, they won't follow us!"
"But how –" Jo didn't see how this could be made to work.
"Don't worry, Jo, I have a plan. Just remember – when I say jump, jump!"
The Doctor's keen eyes picked up the glistening lake again easily, and they shot towards it, the dragons swooping and screaming behind them. "Quickly, quickly," he urged the car. "Go on …"
They reached the water, and now they could see the island – about two hundred yards away; the car would cover the distance in seconds. But the Doctor was braking …
"Jo, get ready!"
They were right up close to the island, and suddenly the Doctor accelerated the car again, pointing its nose very slightly downwards and back away from the island. "Jump!"
Jo jumped; the Doctor right behind her. It was only a drop of a few feet and they landed on a small sandy beach on the shore of the island, but the car carried on going, the dragons right behind it – after a few dozen yards the car splashed into the water, and carried on going, disappearing into the depths. The dragons clearly though they had lost their prey, and with a final pair of cries, spiralled back off into the forest.
"They thought we were still in the car!" Jo exclaimed. "That was brilliant, Doctor, simply brilliant."
"Thankyou for the compliment. Now let's find these lost treasures …"
The Doctor set off up the beach. Jo stood up to follow him, but then realised something.
"Doctor?"
The Doctor turned, annoyed. "Yes, Jo? What is it? Oh, come on, will you?"
"Doctor, how on earth are we going to get back? You've sent the car into the water, remember."
"Oh, Jo, why do you always have to worry so much? I wouldn't have crashed the car if I didn't think we could get it back, would I? What do you know about buoyancy, Jo?"
"Well … er … a less dense object floats on a more dense object?"
"Yes, well, when you're making a flying car, you want its average density to be as low as possible so you don't have to put in so much energy to keep it in the air. These things are incredibly light … it only went under the water because of the speed at which it was going when it hit – it's probably floated back up by now already."
"You mean – we can just swim back out to it?"
"Exactly. Or, if you'd rather, I can swim out to it and then come back to collect you."
"I think I would rather that, Doctor. I don't really feel like a swim at the moment."
"I didn't think you would. Now come on, Jo."
She followed him up the slope. "Where do you think this cave'll be, Doctor?"
"I have as much idea as you, Jo. However, I think it would be a very good guess to say it might possibly be that large opening in the rock face just there."
He pointed. Sure enough, through the darkness, it was possible to see that the beach rose up to a steep cliff in which one could make out a great shape eerily similar to that of the dragons' jaws from which they had just escaped.
"You mean we have to go in there?" Jo asked nervously.
"I do. Come on, Jo, don't be scared, I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of." They had reached the opening. "Come on, I'll go first. You follow."
The interior of the cave was dark and wet. Even a few yards in, it was already pitch black, and water dripped from the ceiling, which was enough to make Jo whimper. "Stop being silly," said the Doctor, "we'll be there soon."
But they weren't there as soon as they might have hoped. The cave seemed to be more of a tunnel, and as they went further into it it became even wetter, not to mention the increasingly low ceiling meaning they had to duck to avoid hitting their heads. "I thought the opening looked a bit like a dragon's mouth," said Jo, "this is like the dragon's insides."
"Just be glad they're not the insides of a real dragon," said the Doctor by means of reassurance.
They walked on, and the tunnel seemed to widen. Then, suddenly, it opened up into a small rocky chamber, lit with moonlight from above by a narrow passage through the ceiling. The Doctor stopped as he stepped into this chamber, and Jo almost knocked him over from behind.
"Doctor? What is it?"
Stepping aside, he announced, "I think we've found it."
Jo looked. "Oh," she said.
The Treasures of Ar-Amed were not particularly impressively sized, but upon closer inspection their value was undeniable. There was a golden crown inset with many precious stones, a sword of platinum inset with sapphires and a spear of silver and rubies. There was a jewelled golden cup and plate, and finally a tiny sculpture of an Amedian warrior, made of solid platinum and not six inches high. If the value of the raw materials of the treasure was not great enough, the workmanship made them priceless – each object was a miniature work of art, covered in intricate designs. The treasures reflected the moonlight and glowed mysteriously, making them seem yet more wondrous.
The Doctor smiled at the fabled treasures, and smiled at Jo. "I think we'd better take these back to the queen," he said.