Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry! I know it has taken me forever to update so I am so sorry! A levels were just so all consuming! But its the summer holidays now and I am going to finish writing this before I go away to Uni. Thank you for all the comments, follows, faves and views. They mean a lot I swear and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy my story!
Merlin was just about to speak when suddenly the door was flung open and the King barrelled in yelling "Merlin!"
"What have I done now?" the warlock mumbled to himself, hoping that this time it actually wasn't his fault.
"Ready the horses. A creature has been spotted in the woods, close to our walls. What are you waiting for? Now, Merlin!"
Shocked into action Merlin quickly followed his King out of the room, rushing to do his bidding.
Left behind, the three travellers looked at each other. Slowly smiles spread across all three faces.
"Allons-y!" the Doctor declared and with a flourish ran off after the King and his manservant.
Ready and eager for more adventure Jack and Rose clasped hands and, with a final sheepish smile to Gaius, followed after.
"I knew they'd be trouble" Gaius sighed with a frown as he set about cleaning up the mess the Doctor had made with his books.
"If you'd just fix this thing we'd make it there much more quickly." Jack grumbled as the trio scrambled along the streets of Camelot, narrowly avoiding pedestrians and market stalls.
"And I told you never, and I mean it Jack. You with a functioning vortex manipulator is asking for trouble."
"Could we talk about this later guys." Rose interrupted from behind the squabbling men. "There are kinda more important things going on. Like how are we going to get past them?"
Looking in the direction Rose had pointed the Doctor paused. In the time since they had arrived in Camelot guards had been stationed at the city walls, most likely because of the threat the unknown creature posed. Seeing Arthur, Merlin and the other knights disappear into the depths of the forest he knew he had to think of something, and quickly.
"Jack" the Doctor turned to face the ex-time agent, "you know what to do." And with a wink Jack took off to the other side of the street.
"Not again" Rose groaned. "I can't watch." Turning away, the blonde couldn't prevent the blush that spread unwanted across her cheeks. She was able to prevent her reaction to the cocksure captain about as well as she was able to stay out of trouble.
"It's working." The Doctor declared with a small smile and grasping Rose's smaller hand in his, the pair took off towards the now unmanned exit.
"What about Jack?" Rose asked as they approached the edge of the forest.
"He'll be fine. He's Jack."
Hoping the Doctor was right and knowing really he always was, Rose glanced one last time at Camelot as they descended into the forest.
"Do we know what it is?" Merlin asked his friend Gwaine as the pair followed behind their King.
"Shhh!" Arthur sounded, turning in his saddle to scold Merlin, somehow making even the whispered noise seem angry.
About to respond Merlin broke off upon hearing a loud screech pierce the air.
"That doesn't sound good." Merlin whispered as the knights around him drew their swords.
Quickly dismounting the group slowly pushed forwards into the forest, Arthur taking the lead with Merlin close behind. All that could be heard was the crush of leaves beneath their boots and the slight jingle of chainmail; the absence of bird song and other natural noises pressing on the knights the gravity of the situation. For ten long minutes they pressed on, their breaths now heavy in the air and the tension palpable. Not a sound was heard again from the creature but they all knew it was near. Waiting.
Heart pounding Merlin was ready to protect his King, at any cost; his brain searching for the necessary words.
It was then that the creature struck.
"Arthur look out!" Merlin screamed as the winged creature flew down from the trees above them, claws outstretched and aiming for the King.
Seeing no other option Merlin shoved Arthur out of the way and with another scream felt the creatures' claws pierce his chest, his now useless sword left abandoned on the ground. Enraged the creature shrieked and flapping it wings rose into the air once more, its prey still present in its claws.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted after the disappearing creature, distraught over the what had occurred, only to gasp in horror as he saw the creature drop Merlin, the young manservant falling several metres before harshly striking the ground.
Raising his sword Arthur saw the creature readying to attack once more and looked over his shoulder at his men.
"For Camelot!"
"For Camelot!"
"Where are they Doctor? Surely they couldn't have got that far?" Rose asked as she rested for a moment to catch her breath.
Withdrawing his sonic screwdriver from his pocket the Doctor moved it around for a few moments, the tip glowing blue, before declaring "this way" and setting off once more.
Looking down at her black ballet pumps Rose sighed.
"I am not wearing the right shoes for this." She grumbled, only to take off at a run upon hearing a shriek pierce the air.
"Where have they got to?" Jack mused as he quickly made his way through the forest, checking his wrist for life form readings and rearranging his dishevelled clothes.
"Would it have killed them to wait?" he said with a small frown. "They missed all the good bits!" With a smile now on this face Jack pushed forwards with renewed gusto only to break into a full on sprint upon hearing a very human scream.
Rose and the Doctor reached the knights just as the they charged at the creature. For a second Rose just stood in awe at the sight before her: THE King Arthur was charging into battle, his knights behind him, ready to face a mythical creature – which Rose knew was probably an alien (they always were) – and the sight nearly took her breath away. Shaking herself she followed the Doctor as he chased after them.
"Wait! Stop!" the Doctor shouted. "It doesn't want to hurt you. It's only a baby. It doesn't know!"
But the Doctor's pleas were drowned out by the battle cries of the Knights who had actively engaged the creature and were fighting for their lives.
Entering the scene before him Jack couldn't help the smile on his face; oh he did love this! The adrenaline, the adventure! It was life threatening sure, but what a life!
Spotting the Doctor and Rose running in from behind the soldiers he saw that they were too far behind. He could hear the Doctor shouting at them to stop but his pleas were lost on the battle driven men. Seeing that he was closer, Jack sprinted into the melee, only just ducking in time to avoid a claw in the head.
Despite the Doctor's words on the creature's innocence, up close Jack could see that the poor thing was so far gone in its fear that it wouldn't stop, wouldn't stop until they were all dead. Looking around, Jack couldn't find Merlin, the only one who could stop the creature, besides the Doctor that is, but the Doctor was still too far away.
With another screech the creature dove once more towards the men, aiming straight towards a prone King Arthur who had not yet recovered from the last second's attack. So, much like Merlin had done only a few minutes prior, Jack dove in front of the King.
The Doctor reached the men as the creature dove down once more, its claws sinking into Jack's flesh with a sickening squelch. He heard Rose gasp beside him but ignored her in favour of the situation before him. Quickly approaching the creature, he raised his sonic towards it.
"If I can just get the right frequency."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rose sink to the floor beside Jack, moving his head to rest on her lap. Seeing Arthur about to charge at the creature again the Doctor turned and stopped him dead with one word: "No."
Though he was unsure why he had followed the command, Arthur nonetheless did, moving back to stand with his men, leaving only the Doctor and the Creature standing alone, face to face.
Staring deep into the child's eyes the Doctor smiled and raising the sonic, which had finally found the right frequency, he pointed it at the creature's head. Closing its eyes, the creature's whole body relaxed, its claws receding into its paws. Letting out a sound which seemed an awful lot like a sigh the creature looked at the Doctor once more before flying away into the evening sky.
"How?" Rose asked as she stroked the hair of her prone companion.
Crouching down to join his friends the Doctor explained. "It was just like that time in Rome. Do you remember?"
Remembering the time she'd been turned to stone, Rose shivered. "How could I forget."
"Yes well, when I was in the arena and forced to fight the Tigers and other animals I used the sonic. All you have to do is find the right frequency on this thing and you can calm them down, even send them to sleep. Didn't know if it'd work on aliens. Lucky huh?"
Rose couldn't help but smile at the Doctor's boyish grin, despite the fact that they could have all ended up dead.
Bending down to touch Jack, Lancelot felt his neck for a pulse. Turning to Rose he looked grave.
"I'm sorry, but your friend is dead."
Mere seconds after he had finished his statement Jack gasped. Eyes popping open he sat up and drew in big gulps of air.
Looking round at the wide eyed knights the Doctor wore a sheepish smile.
"Ahh. About that."