oh dear, let's hope I can finish this episode up soon...

Alice continued going, but at a slower pace as to not get caught up with the magic of the spell that was pulling them all in. She ran her hand along the wall as she went, feeling a grateful burst of power each time it ran across a word.

Shyfire? she asked. The dragon, as usual, was quick to respond.

Yes little one?

What is it with these words? Did you do something?

The dragon thought about it for a second, I don't know, I might have. It's either me or some other power source in this cave. It could be anything, I would be careful with it.

I will, Alice assured the dragon. I promise.

You better be, the dragon told her, almost playfully, but it was still serious.

A strange sensation came across her when her hand made contact with another word, and the image of the map flashed into her mind again. She noticed quickly that there was something wrong with two dots traveling together. The more complex one was moving quickly, and she could feel a spell active.

Did you send that spell thing to find you throughout the entire cavern? she asked Shyfire after a moment.

Yes, why?

You've caught more than you should have, that's all. Alice told the dragon, doing her best not to sound annoyed. She stopped and concentrated hard on the power flowing through the words, and sent out another message.

'STOP!'

The word came suddenly, breaking the continuous blur of 'this way.' The Doctor was pulled out of the spell, and Ida gave him a concerned look as he nearly collapsed.

"You alright?" she asked

"Yeah, fine…"

"You sure? You were kind of out of it there for a moment."

The Doctor looked at her, "out of it how?" he asked

"I don't know, you were in like a trance or something, just going. It was hard to keep up, and you wouldn't respond when I asked you to slow down. It was weird."

"Things get weirder the longer we're in this cave" the Doctor muttered, going over the wall where the word had changed from: 'STOP' to 'CARFUL!' It was still glowing furiously, and he reached out to touch it. A jolt of power rushed through him, and he caught a brief flash of Alice before it all faded away.

He hit the ground before he could even register what had happened.

"Doctor!" Alice cried out, feeling as his brain faltered and he lost consciousness.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! I've killed him! she thought

No, he's still alive. Shyfire told her

Then what happened to him?

It's the power. His body, oddly enough, wasn't able to process it, and knocked him out before it could do any damage to him.

What for? Some type of defense system?

How should I know? Shyfire asked, I'm not a Time Lord.

Alice couldn't help but smile. Will he be alright?

He'll be fine.

She stopped the conversation there, and then started moving again. If he was out, it meant that she could get to them and cut them off before they reached the central cavern.

I need to move fast though…

"Doctor!"

He blinked his eyes open, and then sat up. "What happened?" he asked, his voice coming out slurred. Then he remembered and winced at just the plain thought of it. His body was still screaming in pain.

"I don't know," Ida was telling him "you just sort of collapsed."

He looked at the word on the wall, which had paled down to a soft glow.

"You have any idea why?" Ida asked

"Well, I don't know. Some sort of energy… but it was different. Not of your usual type of energy. My body panicked when it entered my system and sent itself into lock down so that it could get rid of the energy as quickly as possible. But that leaves the question: what's so different about it?" he studied the words closely.

"I think we should get a move on, ignore the words and just find the central cavern. Maybe you'll find your answer there."

"Good idea…" the Doctor muttered, pushing himself to his feet. He and Ida started heading through the tunnels, still following the continuous: 'this way' the words spelled out. They moved much slower though, because the Doctor was still a bit out of it.

The glowing string of 'this way's stopped at one large archway, and the words now read: 'I'm here…'

"That was easy" Ida said

"Yeah, maybe a bit too easy" the Doctor replied, sounding a bit worried.

"THERE YOU ARE!" came a scream from off to the right.

"Alice!" the Doctor asked in shock, recognizing the figure that was running towards them instantly. She slowed down and stopped right beside them. "How long have you been here?"

"No idea" she replied "but I've been looking for you for ages! I thought I would never find you!"

"I told you it wouldn't take long, why didn't you just stay back at the base?"

"It's not like you weren't careful. You passed out!"

"I did not pass out! My body sent itself into shutdown when a foreign energy entered it and-" he paused "how did you know that?"

"I might have been the one that caused it" she muttered, still smiling "though you should be thanking me! Otherwise you would have ran straight into that central cavern without second thought!"

"What!" the Doctor asked, truly confused

"The continuous path of words whispering 'this way' that soon turned into more than just words? That became more than just a pressing nudge at the back of your mind?" she looked at him, the expression on her face was fierce.

"You did to be in some sort of a trance earlier…" Ida said

The Doctor looked between the two of them, confused.

"Listen, whatever's in that cavern, it's probably nothing but some odd creature that has every right to live here" he said, starting to sound angry.

"Doctor, I think it's stuck here" Alice said "and it needs our help to get out"

"How do you know that?" he asked her

"Maybe it would be a good idea for you two to stop arguing, and we should all just go see what's in there" Ida said.

The two time travelers looked at her, then back at each other. "Fine with me" Alice said.

The Doctor said nothing, merely turned on his heel and walked through the arch. Alice was quick to follow. Ida followed behind.