The explosion had been the clerics breaking through to the maze. The moment the Doctor dreaded was upon them. He prayed he would come up with a plan by the time they reached the wrecked star liner.
"Ok now it starts." he said, walking out of the drop ship.
The climb down to the entrance chamber was less than enjoyable. Aderyn felt like she was descending to Hell, the darkness beneath her was less than comforting. When she reached the bottom she jumped violently as a hand reached for her.
"It's just me." River said. River pulled her away from the ladder, keeping a firm grip on her arm. The light from the torches did nothing to ease her nerves. The light bounced off of the rock, casting frightening shadows across the walls. When they had all reached the entrance chamber, the Doctor requested a gravity globe.
"Where are we? What is this?" Amy asked, carefully feeling her way around the poorly lit chamber.
"An Aplan moratorium. Sometimes known as a maze of the dead." River said.
"But, if you happen to be a creature of living stone," The Doctor kicked the gravity globe high into the air "it's the perfect hiding place."
The gravity globe flooded the chamber with light. Mausoleums and statuary filled the chamber. Aderyn wished she had remained in the dark.
"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues," she said under her breath " I guess this makes it a bit trickier."
"A needle in a haystack." River said.
"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues," he turned to face River "No yours was better."
Father Octavian sprang into action "Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question. How do we fight it?"
"We find it," he looked round at Aderyn and Amy, thankful they were both more interested in casting scared glances around the entrance chamber "And hope."
He walked over to Amy and Aderyn. He wanted to convince them to go back to the TARDIS, go back to where they would be safe. The maze of the dead, when they were hunting a statue of unbelievable power, was not where he wanted either of them to be. Even with River keeping a close eye on Aderyn, this was no place for them.
As River moved to follow him, Father Octavian stopped her.
"They don't know yet, do they? Who and what you are?"
River shook her head "No, it's too early in their time stream."
"Well, make sure the Doctor doesn't work it out, or he's not going to help us."
"I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison." River glared at him and walked over to the Doctor.
Father Octavian sent two clerics to inspect the only other exit.
They began the ascent up the terraces, the Doctor bounding ahead, Aderyn not far behind. He had been unsuccessful in convincing them to go back to the TARDIS. But he at least knew that Aderyn would stick close to either him or River. Truth be told he had been reluctant to have Aderyn leave his sight. She was so terrified that when he had suggested sending them back to the TARDIS, she had looked close to tears. His only real worry was that if he got himself into trouble, Amy and Aderyn would only have River Song to keep them safe. And he still didn't know whether he could trust her. He knew Aderyn had already met her a few times, and River had proved useful to have around. On one occasion, he had seen how far River would go to protect Aderyn. He highly doubted her actions at the library would have been quite so definite if Aderyn hadn't been there.
Before they reached the maze, they lingered in the entrance chamber just a bit longer. They had to be prepared.
Amy watched as River fussed around Aderyn. There had to be a strong connection between the two. River kept an constant watch over Aderyn, and was the first to look for her if she strayed too far. During their climb through the terrace, Amy was certain she had heard River trying to convince Aderyn to go back to the TARDIS. Aderyn, however, thought very much like she did, that the safest place was wherever the Doctor was.
When River approached her, Amy noticed that she had made sure Aderyn had reached the Doctor's side before taking her eyes off of her.
"So what's a maze of the dead?" Amy asked her.
"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls," River paused, considering what she had said "Ok that was fairly bad." She took Amy's arm, rolled up her sleeve and quickly injected her before Amy could protest.
"It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship." She said in response to Amy's questioning frown.
"So you know the Doctor and Aderyn in the future, what are they like?"
River looked over at them both. "Well Aderyn is..different. But not much. And the Doctor, well, he's the Doctor," she looked over at the Doctor again "and yes we are."
He was trying to make sense of the handheld scanner he had borrowed from River "Sorry, what?"
"Talking about you." River said.
"I wasn't listening, I'm busy."
"The other way up." River pointed out. He turned it the right way up, then without taking his eyes off the scanner, he reached out and grabbed the back of Aderyn's shirt as he walked along, pulling her with him.
"You're so related to them," Amy said. River raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're so his wife. Or at least Aderyn's mum. The way you talk to him, it's a bit like heel boy! And you never let Aderyn out of your sight. I've only ever seen a mother act that way towards someone before."
"Oh Amy do you really think it would ever be something that simple."
Amy smiled "Yep."
"You're good, you're wrong, but you're good." She picked up her bag and walked back over to the Doctor.
A burst of gunfire from the main chamber echoed throughout the terrace. They ran back to the main chamber. A cleric, scared by the idea of the Angels, had fired a round of shots at a damaged and worn statue.
Father Octavian rounded on him "We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?"
"No, sir." The cleric stammered.
"No, sir, it is not. According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."
"What's your name?" the Doctor asked, casually strolling up to the frightened cleric.
"Bob, sir." he replied.
The Doctor smiled a comforting smile " Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob."
"It's a sacred name. We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church." Bob replied.
"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh? Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron." he clapped Bob on the shoulder.
Father Octavian regarded the Doctor with disdain "Bob, stay here and guard the approach. We move into the maze in two minutes."
The maze stretched out before them. Leaning out over a wall and looking up, Aderyn could see the levels above them. The floor they were on had a multitude of statues, no doubt the floors above would be the same. They were looking for a statue in a maze of statues. This would be neither easy or fun.
As they began the climb, Aderyn prayed the Doctor would come up with a plan before they reach the ship.