Chapter 4

The next few days were spent getting ready for the 'journey of a lifetime', or at least, that's what The Doctor had called it.

The Doctor and Clara spent ages looking round the town, looking for 'supplies' (as The Doctor had said),

"When you say 'supplies' like that, it sounds like we're going on some sort of major expedition," Clara would say.

"We are going on an expedition!" The Doctor would proclaim, excitedly.

When the day came that they did set off for the mountains, Clara was feeling a little more than anxious,

"So let me get this straight," she sighed as she and The Doctor packed up the 'supplies', "We're going to climb up a mountain-"

"Yep," said The Doctor, not taking his eyes off the small rucksack that Verity had supplied him with.

"To see inside a cave-"

"Yep,"

"And in all probability get eaten?" She asked.

The Doctor turned to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder,

"Look, Clara, don't worry, it'll be fine," he assured her.

"Still, I can't help thinking…" Clara mumbled as she carried on packing a torch into another rucksack.

When they had finished packing, The Doctor ran down the stairs, two at a time, ahead of Clara,

"I think you might be getting a little bit over-eager," Clara called after him,

"Nonsense!" The Doctor called back. Clara ran down the staircase after him and followed him out of the door into town.

By the time they reached the gates, Clara was starting to feel ill,

"Is it too late to back out?" she asked.

"Yes," said The Doctor, "It was always too late to back out," he added as they stepped through the force field…

As they walked towards the mountain, The Doctor went through the plan again, one last time. Clara was getting tired of listening to The Doctor ramble on about the 'expedition' that they were just about to go on. When they reached the base of the mountain, Clara was starting to fall asleep,

"What time is it?" she asked.

"10.00."

"What time did we set off?"

"Half past eight."

"It feels as though we've been walking for days!" Clara moaned as The Doctor pulled what looked like a pickaxe from his rucksack. "How did you get that in there?" Clara asked and peered into his rucksack, "What else have you got in there?"

The Doctor picked another three pickaxes out of his bag, "Ok, now I'm just completely bewildered; what are you going to do with four pickaxes?" Clara asked. The Doctor handed two pickaxes over to her and stuck one of his pickaxes into the rock; stones and grit fell out of the mountain-side, he then did the same with the other axe and started to climb up the side of the mountain,

"Coming?" he asked.

Clara sighed and climbed up after him,

"When you said 'head up the mountain', I didn't expect there to be hiking involved…"

It took half an hour to reach the top of the mountain.

The Doctor put the pick axes back in his rucksack and Clara stumbled over to a nearby wall,

"I think I've forgotten how to walk," she exclaimed as The Doctor slipped his rucksack onto his back,

"Of course you haven't!" he argued as he looked around: it was a big cave. And a dark one.

Clara pulled a torch out of her bag and switched it on, they seemed to be in a large hallway. As Clara shone it around the dark room, it illuminated a few bones on the floor and a wet red stain on the wall that she very much hoped was just wine or something…

"Rather big isn't it," The Doctor marvelled, "You know what I think we might have to do?" he asked Clara.

Clara looked at him, wide-eyed,

"No, not that Doctor, not split up? We did that last time and you remember what happened don't you? We spent hours looking for each-other!" she pleaded,

"It was your idea… and it worked out in the end…" said The Doctor as he set off down one side of the cave. Clara groaned, unhappily, and started down the other side of the hall.

The Doctor soon came across an archway in one side of the cave wall, so he walked through it: it was even darker than the hallway. He rummaged in his rucksack for a torch (he had only just been able to fit it in his bag along with the four pickaxes and a sandwich) he finally found it and turned it on, As the torch lit up the room, The Doctor looked around: there was a pile of bones in the corner and a mound of… purple scales, it looked like…The Doctor only realised what it was when a green eye snapped open on the mound and looked at him. The dragon stood up and stretched. At full height, it towered above The Doctor.

The Doctor clicked the torch off and swallowed. The dragon roared and The Doctor ran out of the archway, but the dragon ran after him, it's wings smashed through part of the wall and making an almighty crash as bricks and mortar fell to the floor. The Doctor struggled under the weight of his rucksack but managed to run into another room with nothing but a mound of earth inside. The dragon looked left and right and then turned round and made his way back to the first room to carry on his little nap.

Clara could hear footsteps… and see two bright green eyes in the darkness… she gasped, turned off the torch and dived under an arch in the wall, into a room. She heard the dragon turn into a different room and started to breathe again. She turned the torch back on and shone it around the room. The room was full of skeletons, she swallowed and turned the torch to the side and it illuminated a (not quite decomposed) body of a man (Well, she thought it was a man: she couldn't be too sure…). Clara yelped in horror and clapped a hand to her mouth. Probably not the best idea as the next thing she saw was the head of a dragon, poking round the archway… she could feel its breath on her back and she could hear its growling… she held her breath…

The Doctor turned his torch back on and crept out of the room.

"I've had enough of this place, I've got to find a way out of this death trap," he muttered, completely forgetting about Clara. He crept round the cave, following the walls all the way round until he came to a hole in the floor… he peered down it: he could see a speck of daylight at the end of the tunnel. The Doctor edged around the hole, "Should I or shouldn't I?" he asked himself.

The Dragon screeched an ear-piercing screech and Clara spun round on her heels to face it. She looked into its deep, yellow, unblinking eyes and stared. For a moment there was silence and then Clara, quickly, slipped to the side, darted behind the dragon's head and jumped over its tail. The dragon roared and turned round to see Clara running away. Clara turned back to face the dragon and paused for a moment: the dragon was just looking, not chasing after her, just looking. But not for long: it let out another screech and ran after Clara, she started to run again. But before long she came to a dead end… the dragon was catching up… the only way out was a hole at the base of the wall, Clara looked out of it and below was a sheer drop off the edge of the cliff. The dragon neared her and she backed into the corner. It had cornered her, and she pushed herself further into the corner.

She wanted to run out of the room, but she lost her footing and slipped out of the hole, struggled for a grip on the sides of the hole but eventually decided that it would be best to… well… let go…

As she fell she thought about what awaited her, she soon found out, as she hit the ground she heard something crack… She tried to sit up but couldn't, so decided to wait for The Doctor. But after a while of him not coming, Clara fell asleep to the pain.

The Doctor heard a roar and glanced back down the hole,

"I've got to do it!" he sighed and he dived, head first, down the hole. When he came out the other end, he tumbled forward a bit and managed to graze the side of his face in the process. "Oof!" he grunted and then added: "Ouch!" for good measure. He heaved himself up on his shoulders, "Well, could have been worse, couldn't it, Clara?... Hang on," he mused, "Where's Clara?" he looked around and, not so far from where he was sitting, Clara lay at the base of the mountainside…