There's only been two occasions previously when I was certain I was about to die. The first occasion was when I was twenty. It was getting near to the end then. My old lifestyle, that is. It all changed about two weeks afterwards. Changed for the better, I hasten to add. The second occasion, of course, was the first time I met the Doctor, the horrific injuries I sustained.

So that moment on Kriak represented the third (and not the last) time when I was sure that it were curtains. Lying there on the ground, the Doctor crippled by an arrow to the leg, a pair of savages leering down upon us...

The Second Adventure Part 2

"Git!" bellowed a thunderous voice from behind us. I screamed and looked around, feeling the barbarian's rancid breath on the back of my neck. There, standing behind us, was another man. A man with flowing blonde hair and a goatee, with a full steel plate of armour around his torso, and further armour strapped to his legs. He held a sword and shield. I stared at him in disbelief. He was magnificently handsome. Just like a fairytale Prince. He'd just come out of the big manor, and was standing there, at a height of well over six feet, glaring at the tribes people.

"I say! Git!" he bellowed again, slapping his sword against his shield, producing a noise like a pair of cymbals. "You just let those people be, Ghunar. You hear me, sir? Let them be, or else pay with your life!"

I turned around. The tribesman and woman (Ghunar and, I presumed, his wife) were glaring at the man with contempt and (to my relief) a good healthy amount of fear. I looked back to the knight in shining armour, who bashed his weapon and shield together a second time. Inviting them to take a step forward. Inviting them to challenge him.

Not a bit of it; to the contrary, the tribe backed off. Even the horses whined, and stomped on the spot in distress. The man, Ghunar, growled like a wild animal. "It a hunt," he growled, "hunt sacred. Ghunar bowman hit!" He pointed at the Doctor, who was laying there in silence, clutching his skewered leg. Ghunar pointed at me. "Ghunar bowman miss! Paladin... can take miss! Ghunar... take hit!"

The English (or whatever language it really was) was poor. But I got the gist of it. The Doctor had been downed. He belonged to the tribe now, so they thought. He was their catch. But they'd missed me. They were willing, therefore, to let me go.

"No, sir," the Knight said at once, "Paladin will take both. The one you hit and the one you didn't. Ghunar will take neither. Your hunting on our grounds, Ghunar. These creatures belong to me."

Ghunar growled and took a step forward. At once, the knight lashed out, flinging his sword through the air with a swishing sound. Ghunar yelped and leapt backwards. "Yah!" the Paladin cried, cutting through the air a second time. "Get you gone! Go! Nobody dies today. Not in our grounds. Get you all gone!"

Ghunar looked at his wife, who looked at him. "We go now." The woman said firmly, clutching her husbands' arm. She was terrified of the Paladin. Utterly terrified. In the distance, the rest of the tribe shuffled about nervously. Way back, atop the hill, the bowman stood motionless. Either of them could have shot at the Paladin. Probably hit him as well; they'd gotten the Doctor, and missed me by only the narrowest of margins. But neither of them moved.

Ghunar snarled at the Paladin one last time, and glared down at me and the Doctor. Then with a grunt he raised a hand. The tribe at once turned around and made their way back up the hill. Ghunar and his wife shot us a final, evil look and mounted their horses, which wheeled around and galloped away after the tribe.

I let out a huge sigh of relief. I realised that I hadn't actually been breathing throughout the encounter. I felt faint, but ecstatically happy...we were safe!

Or...were we? Who was this guy? I looked around again at him, and saw with another thrill of relief that he was smiling.

"Just like those rouges to treat a lady like this," he sighed, offering me his hand, and pulling me to my feet. "Not a courteous bone in their body, I fancy. Are you all right?"

"I am." I said. "Cheers, buddy. For saving us, I mean..."

"My pleasure, dear lady. My pleasure." he looked down at the Doctor. "And you sir, I can see, are not all right. Here -"

Before the Doctor could protest, the knight bent down and scooped the Doctor up in his arms. The Doctor groaned in pain as the movement stretched the wound in his leg. The knight flung the Doctor over his metal-clad shoulder in a perfectly executed fireman's lift. Not that it would be called a fireman's lift on this planet. There weren't any firemen.

"Come hither," he told me, winking and making me blush, "let us go inside where it's safe. Lest those brutes get silly on mead and feel brave enough to return. It's happened before."

"You talk like a twit." The Doctor said bluntly, as he flopped uselessly on the man's shoulder. "Anyone told ya that before?"

"Doctor!" I said to him sternly.

"Oh yeah...and thanks pal. For getting us outta that, I mean. Appreciate it. Sorry fer being rude, just in a certain among of agony right now."

"I can well understand." The Paladin said pleasantly. "No need to apologize. Those arrows are tipped with an unpleasant, but not fatal type of poison. You will, for some hours, feel as though you've consumed an entire barrel of cider over one night. But it will pass."

"A hangover, in other words," I said, smirking. The Paladin shrugged. I could tell he didn't quite understand my more modern way of speaking.

"Nah, not me," the Doctor said, "I can taste it in me bloodstream. Seems to be a very diluted solution of the Janis thorn poison. The purest form certainly kills, even Time Lords. But this won' have any effect on me at all."

"Shame," I said sarcastically, sticking my tongue out at him. He glared at me upside down, his head clattering against the Paladin's armour plates.

"So who are you?" I asked the Paladin as we made our way to the doors of the manor.

"The Paladin." He replied simply, knocking on the oak door.

"Yeah, but...that's a kinda knight, ain't it? What are you actually called?"

"Just the Paladin, ma'am," the handsome knight replied, his eyes narrowing. "That's all I'm ever called."

"Like him, then?" I said, nodding at the Doctor. "He's just called the Doctor."

The Paladin smiled. "Yes, yes. And thank-you both. I thank you for coming so quickly."

"Sure," I said flippantly, smiling. Then I paused. "Pardon me?"

Before the Paladin could reply, the oak doors swung open. A young woman of about eighteen stood before us, dressed in a maid's outfit. "Paladin. You all right?" She asked in a high, breathless voice. I smirked. Very obviously, she fancied him. Me too.

"Yes, yes. Thank you, Maid. They haven't the talent to harm me, nor the courage to try. Now listen; I want you to go to Patient at once. Tell her that the Doctor's arrived."

The maid's eyes widened. "Already, sir? We sent our messenger bird to the village but two hours ago. Tis' a day's walk from there!"

I shut my eyes...Paladin? Maid? Patient? What the blazes was going on here?

Evidently the Doctor felt the same. "Who's in charge here?" he demanded from his upside-down spot on the Paladin's shoulder.

"Nobleman." The Paladin replied at once. I giggled. Who else? "I'll take you, Doctor, to him first. We shall sort your leg as best as we can."

"Well, thank you," the Doctor said pleasantly, "who's patient?"

"All will be explained, sir." The Maid assured him. "Come in, come in."

She held the door wide open and allowed us all in. We walked into a decorative, candle-hit hall, with a thin green-grey carpet and a wall decorated grey and a very light red. Several portraits hung along the walls. I recognized one of them at once; Paladin. Next to him, a bearded old man with a flowing blue cloak. His name, like all of their names, was included at the bottom left of the picture. This one was Nobleman. To my surprise, there was even a picture of Maid. Portraits of the servants? To her left, a man in chefs' overalls. If you can't guess his name and role, then get back to school at once. There was also a sickly young woman with a pale face and brown, flowing hair. She was lying in bed, smiling weakly. Patient, I supposed. There were a handful of others, including a woman at or near the Nobleman's age. Probably his wife. What would she be? Lady? Ma'am? Mi'lady?

Something odd was happening here.

There was an uneven wooden staircase, leading up into a darkened, ominous looking upper floor. Inwardly, I hoped that we wouldn't be going up there. I still wasn't sold on the structural integrity of the place. Certainly, I could see no evidence of solid stone support beams or such features inside. I tried not to think of the intense weight of the brick roof, held up on the wooden frame of the house. There was a door to our left, and one to our right. The Paladin went through the one to the left, taking the Doctor with him.

"Would you like to come with me, ma'am?" The Maid said graciously to me, smiling. "I'll take you to the drawing room.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'd rather stay with the Doc." I said. "Can't draw to save me life, anyhow."

The maid frowned. "No," she said uncertainly, "by drawing room I mean the guest's parlor."

"Oh, right," I said, feeling embarrassed, "well, nah. I'll go with the Doc."

"You can't miss." The maid told me solemnly. "The Nobleman wants to speak to the Doctor alone."

"Oh, get stuffed." I said flippantly, turning my back on the maid and marching through the door to the left, the same way the Paladin had taken the Doctor. I walked into a large, airy room with two large, red sofas with a round wooden table between them. Above a chandelier hung. Obviously not an electric one; candles. There was a lit fireplace, and several very smart rugs. The Doctor had already been laid down on one of the sofas, and the Paladin was examining his leg wound, the arrow still sticking out of it.

"I'll have to pull it out." The Paladin said apologetically.

The Doctor nodded grimly. "I know, mate. This'll hurt, won't it?"

"It will. Very badly."

"Go for it." The Doctor said, shutting his eyes.

The Paladin did just that. Clamping the Doctor's leg down with one hand, he grabbed the arrow with the other. In one quick, violent movement, he ripped the thing from the Doctor's leg. The Doctor's eyes opened wide and his teeth clenched. Droplets of blood flew through the air as the arrow was torn loose.

"Pain," he whispered, shaking uncontrollably, "pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain..."

"Ya'll right, chuck?" I asked him in a mock-northern accent, trying to take his mind off the pain.

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor lied, smiling, "never better."

"Right then!" The Paladin said brightly, a satisfied smile on his face. "Just you lie still, while I bandage it up."

"Just a 'mo!" The Doctor said, as the Paladin advanced on him with a strip of dirty gauze and a bowl of water. "Ain't you got any antiseptic?"

"Any what?"

"Summin' to stop it gettin' infected, mate!" The Doctor said. Then he paused, and remembered where he was. "Of course you don't. Oh dear..."

"That's um...vaguely worrying." I said, frowning. As an ex-druggie, I was no stranger to the dangers that unclean wounds could result in.

"Forget it," the Doctor said grimly, "I'm immune to most infections. Most."

"Great." I said, as the Paladin set to work, bandaging the Doctor's leg. There was still, however, a wound going the whole way through underneath. How would we be able to find Rose with him in that state?

He read my mind. "We'll find her." He promised me. "I ain't got no antiseptic, but I have got these!" From his bigger-inside pockets, he produced two long, metal poles. I burst into laughter. Crutches.

The Paladin gasped, and then applauded. "Marvelous, sir!" he laughed. "Marvelous! Quite the magician."

"Plenty more where that came from." The Doctor replied smugly.

"I thought people from the old days hated magic and stuff?" I demanded.

"Dear lady, you are quite the beauty in these wild lands," the Paladin said sadly, "but I confess, I've no idea what you say half the time."

"Right." I said, turning to the Doctor. "So now what? You set to move?"

"I am," the Doctor replied. "But...I don't think these fine people are ready for us to leave yet. Are you?"

"Why, no!" the Paladin said in surprise. "You came, did you not, to make the patient well again?"

The Doctor smiled uncertainly. "Well, I gotta be honest, pal. We uh...we aren't..."

"Your the Doctor! We sent for a doctor, and here you are!"

"Well, mate that's...true I guess, but the fact is that we...well, okay. What's wrong with her?"

"The Nobleman will talk with you about that." The Paladin replied.

"And where is he?" I asked. "I thought we were meant to be meeting him?"

"You are." Came a voice from the corner of the room. There was a little door there, and the Nobleman had slipped through, unnoticed when the Doctor was having the arrow pulled from his leg. He looked like his portrait. Bearded, rather old, his hair somewhere between brown and grey. He wore the same blue coat.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," the Nobleman said to the Doctor, sitting down on the opposite couch. "And I'm pleased to hear that you are willing to help. Especially when I consider that you have no obligation to do so. You are not the doctor."

"I um..." the Doctor exchanged an awkward glance with me.

To my relief, the Nobleman smiled. "I've lived, my friend, in this valley for all my life. Unlike the Paladin here, who came to be at my service but a year ago." The Paladin stood there awkwardly. "You think I do not know the face and voice of the only doctor down in the nearest village? He's a dear friend of mine. A friend I trust dearly. A friend I am sure will now, as we speak, be making the dangerous journey here."

"To help the Patient?" I asked.

The Nobleman nodded sadly. "Yes, ma'am. To help the Patient."

"And what's wrong with the Patient, sir?" The Doctor asked, sitting up, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg.

The Nobleman and the Paladin exchanged a frightened look. "In short, sir - everything. Come. Let us go and see her."

"Okay," the Doctor said at once, standing up very gingerly, supporting himself on the crutches. "Who is she? What relation to you two?"

"My daughter." The Nobleman said. "And the Paladin's wife to be. Which is why you must save her. If you say you can help, I am desperate enough to believe you. I think we cannot wait for the real doctor to come. So do you magic. Make her well. Do so, and I will grant you anything you wish."

"Anything, eh?" The Doctor said. "Including, just possibly, the services of the Paladin here for a day or two?"

"It would be a pleasure." The Paladin said. "If my master does agree."

The Nobleman thought it through. "Yes. But first...the patient."

So, walking/hobbling from the room, we made our way upstairs (oh dear). As we did do, I glanced again at the portraits. There was something in them I didn't like.

The Doctor noticed me looking at them, and caught my eye and whispered to me. "Do you see what's wrong with them?"

"No." I admitted.

"I do. Something's wrong here. Just play along for now. We have to get outta here alive if we're gonna save Rose."

"Okay," I whispered back, a harsh chill running through me. "They're lying about something, aren't they?"

The Doctor nodded. I knew. Maybe it was the way the Paladin never looked me directly in the eye. Or the way the Nobleman had appeared like that. Or something...I just knew. The answer, I thought, was staring me in the face. But I didn't see it. Not yet. But I would, soon.

As we struggled up the stairs I looked over my shoulder again at the portraits.

And I was scared.

The Doctor's Diary, Entry 1965 Part 2

I knew it was all pretend. Course I did. The Maid, the Paladin, the Patient, the Nobleman? Gimme a break! It's a fantasy. My buddy knew there was something wrong at that point. She looked at the portraits, and she was what was wrong. She just hadn't realised she's seen it.

But this ain't the first time I've been held prisoner in someone else's make-believe world. I knew then and know now that the best way to escape is to play along for as long as possible. And to that effect, we went to see the Patient. Daughter of the Nobleman, bride to be of the Paladin. Just like in the fairy tales.

The tribes outside, I knew, were as real as you and I. I've still got the hole in my leg to prove that. The tribes thought that the manor and it's occupants were real. Said occupants, I knew, also believed themselves to be real...

We needed answers. We needed to escape. We needed to find the Whispering. If I die, nobody else in the universe can stop it. Not any more.