11
The Doctor drew a deep breath. Dawn lit the sky, illuminating the very tip of the ridge where he sat. Below him, the camp began to stir.
Sensing Jenny's presence, he glanced over his shoulder. He smiled, doing his best to infuse his voice with enthusiasm as she walked to stand by his side. "Wow. Look at you! Be surprised if they don't run off when they get a look at you." Dressed in a tight fitting black and silver suit of armor, she did look the warrior, with her hair braided intricately around the silver circlet on her head.
Jenny smiled up at him. "Thanks Dad. The men made these for me."
"Good job of it too. Is that spear—"
"Plasma weapon." Jenny affirmed. "Idea of some of the guys who didn't want to learn to use guns." Then she turned, looking over the plain, and drew a deep breath. "It's going to be a good day."
The Doctor nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. After a moment, he noticed Mary standing on Jenny's other side. "Hello. Didn't expect to see you here."
"Mary needs to see where the battlefield is so she can know what area to avoid." Jenny said. She pointed down the valley.
"See that stone? That's where it starts. Back here will be the medics, so if you're good with blood maybe you can help out."
"I'll do my best." The girl said.
Jenny turned to look up at her father. "And you'll be around the field too, right? Watching out for synthetic environmental manipulation or temporal disturbances?"
The Doctor nodded, smiling blandly. "Just like you told me, Soldier."
Jenny nodded sharply. "Good."
"And you'll be careful down there, right?" the Doctor said. "No crazy stunts or heroics? You're too young to need a regeneration."
"A soldier acts for the good of the unit, Dad." Jenny said, looking solemnly up at him. "I'll do what I've got to." Then she smiled a little. "But I'll try not to get killed. Besides, I like the way I look."
The Doctor nodded."So when does the show start?"
"The Lady will give us a call to assemble. An hour after that, we march."
Beside her, Mary laughed slightly. "To think; the Tuatha de Dannan going to battle. And me to watch it."
The Doctor glanced at her, a half-smile ghosting across his lined face. "Oh Mary. Little Mary O'Hara from Bally Cu." he turned, staring out over the plain. "You watch, Mary. Today you're going to see the kings and queens of the Universe go to war."
Soon, the Lady's summons came to their minds. The three of them headed down the hill.
"I promised I'd make an appearance in the front ranks before you lot start marching." the Doctor said. "Mary, you stay by me, and I'll drop you off behind the lines when they get going." They moved through the milling crowds, Jenny calling out orders and reminders at every turn.
Soon, the men were beginning to form up in their battalions, formed properly for parade. The Doctor noted a small smile on Jenny's face.
They were close to the front of the line now. The Doctor turned to his daughter. "Well, here we are." Stepping closer, he bent, and kissed Jenny's forehead. "Good luck, lah taruelai."
She smiled up at him. "You too, Dad. Stay safe." She seized him in a swift, tight hug, and then took off, calling out orders.
The Lady was waiting in the center of the line when the Doctor took his place, Mary beside him.
"Today," she said, "we go to battle!"
A roar rose from the army.
"Today we meet our enemy on the field of Moytura!" she called, and the army roared its response. The Lady gave a smile that was fierce and calm, resigned and sad all at once. She turned, and nodded to Mary. "Give us a song then, girl. Give us something for the battle."
Mary froze.
"They need something you believe in." the Doctor whispered, "Something that everyone here can believe in. They need belief to draw strength from."
"But I don't have anything."
"You've got everything you need. This is your home, and you know what everyone here can believe in."
Mary stared at him for a long moment. "Something all of us can believe in?"
The Doctor nodded.
Mary thought for a long moment. Then she drew a deep breath. The words rang in the cold air.
Óró! 'Sé do bheatha 'bhaile
Óró! 'Sé do bheatha 'bhaile
Óró! 'Sé do bheatha 'bhaile
Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh !*
A Gaelic song, the words cutting into the predawn sky. The men who knew it cheered. Even those who didn't know Gaelic grinned and nodded. This was a fighting song. A powerful song. A song to pull them together.
The Lady touched the girl's shoulder. Then she closed her eyes, and the words were given to them all. A piper picked up the tune. Mary drew another breath. This time, nearly the entire army sang the first verse with her.
'Sé do bheatha a bhean ba léanmhar!
B'é ár gcreach tú bheith i ngéibhinn
Do dhúthaigh bhreá i seilbh meirleach
Is tú díolta leis na Galla
And, singing like one man, they began to march. Their voices rang through the valley. Fierce, angry. Ready.
…..
The enemy was waiting for them on the other side of the field, brooding like a stormcloud. Jenny narrowed her eyes, scanning them. Vikings, lots of them. She'd known about them. A bunch of Danes, with here and there English regiments tightly segregated from the rest of the group. She allowed herself a grim smile. That wasn't an army. That was just a bunch of men good at killing.
They started charging the minute they got a close. And the battalions went into action. Two battalions of fleet troops swept out on either side, screaming like blue blazes. With any luck, they'd flank the enemy, sweeping them into the waiting foot battalions. She nodded. It was working.
Then her part of the line clashed, and she became focused on the enemy in front of her. Swift kick. Broken neck. One down.
"Erin go Bragh! Let's kick some ass!" she shouted, and threw herself into the fray.
Everywhere she turned, there was another enemy. Danes. Vikings. Mercenaries from the 50th to the 90th centuries bristling with weapons. Jenny whirled through, her body working almost of its own accord. Swing, thrust, kick, headbutt, swivel, stab, energy burst. Her spear crackled and shone, obliterating enemies. Eternals in fantastic and shining armor brought swords too bright to be real down on armor made from cowhide. Thrust. Cut. Burn. Blast again. Kick, and again. A man came at her with an axe raised over his head. She blew a hole through his chest. Punch. Broken jaw. Again. Caved in windpipe. There was a whistle and an explosion. Somebody had thrown a grenade. Stupid in such a fight. You'd kill your own fighters.
But they didn't care. Every one of these men was fighting mostly for himself. Maybe for his tribe or unit. But not for his people. Blast. Cut. Rabbit punch, throat chop. She heard a scream. Finn had killed a man coming up on her from the side. She grave him a fierce grin of thanks, and plunged on.
Hover jets whizzed overhead, raining down ray-bombs on the enemy's back and their artillery, destroying the motley array of cannons that had been set up.
Kick. Stab. Stab. The air began to smell of singed flesh, and blood. Battle.
….
Battle. The fighting had gone on for four hours. The Doctor watched it grimly from the TARDIS monitors as he scanned the screens. Already he'd broken up a silliquisim meant to cause an earthquake. Cheating already.
It was beginning to look like this fight would be done in one day, not three. The Lady's forces—he had to remind himself not to call them Jenny's forces—were forcing their enemy up against a ridge, pressing in from all sides. He didn't see many of their casualties either. The Eternals were probably healing them.
He dislocated a small power nexus that would have created a violent tornado in the Lady's ranks. Surprisingly, this was turning out to be easier than he'd expected.
…..
Jenny watched a blood droplet wick away from her deflection screen.
"First wave, to the fore!" she called out with voice and mind. The second wave had been fighting a long time. They needed water and electrolytes. Fresh, the first wave came rushing forward. Six hours of battle, and three waves. The rotation was working perfectly.
The enemy got no such consideration from their command. She was guessing that they'd cut the force down by a third, and they would be flagging soon. Already some of the later period fighters not used to sustained fighting were starting to break. She was killing men that should have posed a challenge.
A man in a dark blue shirt, tan pants and black hat tried to shoot her. The bullet bounced off her suit's deflection. She sliced down.
They could do this. They were winning.
….
They really were winning. The Doctor ran around the console, deflecting and disrupting. He shut down some sort of energy surge that he didn't have time to identify, and knocked out another that would have dropped about half the field into the early Triassic. He flicked several buttons, knocking out some other power spike near the battle.
There were more now. The Eternals must be getting desperate.
Then there was a lull. The Doctor leaned against the console, taking slow, deep breaths. He looked over the regional map.
"Now that's much…" then his forehead creased. "What's that?" He tapped a few keys, and his eyes widened. "Energy sink. Gigantic bugger. But why? That's nowhere near…" then the Doctor's brown eyes went wide. "Lady Rhiannon!" he called out, "I need you! Right now!"
The Lady was there in front of him. Her red hair had been braided into hundreds of small plaits, and the red coat and leggings she wore were stained with a darker red. The sword in her hand shone like the moon. "You are afraid. Why?"
"It's Maeve! She's cheating, and not only on the battlefield. Three days to fight and three days for the nexus, those are the rules, right?"
"You know that."
"Yeah," the Doctor said, one hand in his hair, "but she's using the same three days. While we're winning one battle we'll lose the other. And it's not against the rules because it's still three days!"
The Lady's eyes went wide. "I should have seen this."
"But you were distracted with battle, right? Right, of course you were, and that's exactly what she wanted. This whole field's a decoy for her!" he turned sharply. "You need to send an Eternal to undo the thing."
The Lady shook her head. "It must be done by our men. We are agreed upon this point."
"Right, forgot that. Okay, am I allowed Eternal help finding the thing?"
"Not an elder's. But yes."
"Then give me Ramble. He's good at finding things, right?"
The Lady nodded. Then she was gone, and Ramble was standing where she had been, short sword in one hand.
"What do I need to find?"
"Maeve's started the nexus. That's what. Here…" he pushed the main monitor to the other man. Ramble shook his head. "This means nothing to me. I will speak with your ship, if I may."
"If she lets you, go ahead."
Ramble put a hand against the time rotor. The Doctor received a questioning sensation. "Go ahead, ol' thing." he murmured.
Ramble's eyes lost focus as information flooded his mind. "It is not here…she put it beyond a gate…ah" he winced. "She put it in the dark place."
"The eighteen-forties?" Ramble nodded, and winced again. "I….it is there, but…ah. There is nothing I can use in finding it. It is…darkness."
"Right." Said the Doctor grimly, "always easier seeing something if you're close to it. So let's get close." Running from switch to switch, he pushed the ship into the Vortex. "Hold on. Crossing universes gets bumpy."
The ship shivered and rattled around him, nearly throwing him from his feet. "Okay, here we go, and…why are you so pale?"
"I…it is…" Ramble leaned on his spear. "Darkness. That is all there is. No energy. No power."
"Tell me how to destroy this thing." The Doctor said.
"You must remove the focus. Disturb the energy balance. Disperse the power. Destroying the frame of it would be enough. Here—" he held out his short sword, crackling with power. "It will suffice."
"Thanks. Now get out of here."
Ramble nodded, and was gone.
The Doctor checked his coordinates, and was surprised to find that he was right back on Knock-na-Cu.
"No, I need the site of this energy sink. Somewhere where a lot of energy's gathering up." He said, typing at the keys, "Strange weather patterns, strange occurrences, the like."
Then his fingers stilled. The Doctor's eyes widened. Ramble couldn't absorb energy here. He found it upsetting. The local people said that strange and evil things found this hill. What did that all equal?
Bringing up his coordinates, he input a vertical space about a meter below his present location, with a suggestion that if the ship found a hollow spot, it should settle there.
A second later, the Doctor stepped out of the door, the sword in his hand. The inside of the hill was a burial cairn, and a big one. There was a shining, rippling oval set in the stone wall, throwing light on old bones and moldering grave goods. The Doctor stepped forward.
The air rippled. And something growled. Slowly, the Doctor looked behind him.
Blackness. The black of night without stars. It roiled itself up into the shape of a monstrous dog, black as a hole in space, towering over him. The Doctor stared up, his eyes wide.
"The Hound." he whispered.
…..
Jenny directed the aerial battalion at two cannons on the hill with a wave of her hand and a thought. They swooped in perfect formation, lined up. Jenny grinned.
Until a giant something grabbed a hover jet out of the air. Jenny gasped."What the?" It was a raven, bigger than a jet.
There was a crack as the ground on another part of the field split open. Jenny closed her eyes.
What the hell is happening?
A maelstrom of images came back. Then one clear voice.
Maeve's warriors are using the power that is in them.
Jenny cursed.
"Fine. If they're doing it, then you do the same! Kick their asses, by their rules."
There was a wave of fierce assent that nearly knocked her off her feet. And then the field went to hell. Eternals changed forms into monstrous wolves, lions, and stags, charging the enemy. Some became hawks, eagles and ravens. The ground heaved beneath their feet. Clouds began to gather. At the sight of the creatures, some of Mave's army broke and ran.
"Hah!" Jenny called, "Guess that backfired!"
In response, Maeve's Eternals became crows and nightmare creatures, all spines and teeth, ripping into ally and foe alike. Some were only shapes of blackness that fell upon men and swallowed them. Jenny blasted one hopelessly with her spear as it passed. To her shock, it vanished.
"Spearmen! Hit'em with a jolt!" she shouted out, projecting both the words and the thought. "They can do whatever they want, we won't lose our form. Keep at them!"
Then the battle was back on her. And it had just gotten more interesting.
…..
The thing's head turned downwards. There were no eyes, but the Doctor could feel its gaze like hot breath on his skin. No intelligence there. Just a will.
"I WILL HAVE YOUR NAME. GIVE ME YOUR NAME."
The Doctor stared up, and Ramble's words ran through his mind.
They do our bidding. They are given a task, and they carry it out. They have all the power in us, but little of the wit.
That was its task, to get his true name. And it would never stop. He drew a deep breath.
"No." he said. Then he turned on his heel and ran. Behind him, the Hound lunged.
…
The Walker rushed to help a man whose leg was nearly severed. "Moq'l, over here! Now!"
The Eternal appeared beside her, and put both his hands on the leg. Within minutes the bone, nerve and tissue were regenerating, healing, stitching together. But fast healing was a painful process. The man screamed, and fainted. Before he hit the ground, his leg was whole again. Moq'l nodded his brown head, and was gone again.
The next man had a broken arm. She set it, and told him to wait for an Eternal.
She turned. And Ramble was in front of her, his eyes wild.
Your grandfather. He is in danger. We must go. We must go now.
Take me.
For this I have not the strength. Your ship.
The Walker didn't question. She nodded. "I have to go. Someone take over triage."
A thin Eternal that seemed to be made from water appeared, and nodded what it had for a head. And they were in the Walker's ship.
….
The Doctor only got a few steps before the blackness caught and enveloped him. He couldn't move. Couldn't see. And so he did the only thing he could do. The Doctor closed his eyes and kept running, into his memories. The Hound followed.
"YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME."
He ran through memories of mazes and forests where creepers tangled and tripped and plants reached out to grasp. He ran through a stracatian puzzle garden that had no real exit, and still he could hear it behind him, its feet pounding, its overwhelming thoughts a cacophony.
"I WILL REND I WILL TEAR IF YOU DO NOT GIVE YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE IT TO ME."
He ran through planets covered in sparking gasses, and lit flames that made firestorms behind him. Still it came on.
"YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME."
He ran across moons covered in razor-sharp spires of rock, jumped into a river overlaid in a blanket of blue mist, through the inextricable gardens and a tangle of a nebula whose light blinded pilots. And still, the Hound was behind him, always close.
"I WANT YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE IT TO ME."
He ran through war zones. Kieser bombshells exploded, lasers burst in blue-green fits, screams rang out, smoke billowed. Air-raid sirens screamed in the night as the bombs fell. Ships foundered in water and in space. He crawled through mud, tripped over razor wire, ran through lightning storms of intergalactic laser launches.
"GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE IT TO ME."
He had to find a place where this thing would be lost and confused. What was the most chaotic memory set he possessed? He ran through insane carnivals that were whorls of color and sound, through an eighteenth century Mardi-Gras, through a Tyreel celebration of death. Still it came on.
….
There was a giant on the field, swinging a tree for a club. A million vines broke from the ground, holding it, choking it. It disappeared before it hit the ground. Jets warred with gigantic birds of prey. The blue woman stalked through, and men froze to death with her touch in the heat of battle. Stags battled boars. Jenny fought on. She brought her spear down on a great hound with fire for eyes. It vanished. She ran forward, disemboweling a creature that had been about to take Grianne from the back. The Sea Queen waved her saber in thanks, and plunged on.
One young Eternal rode a chariot, his deep gold hair shining like his spear. The enemy fell in front of him like grass in front of a flamethrower. The men cheered as he stabbed his gold spear into the blue woman, and she vanished.
And Jenny fought on.
….
Still it came on. He had to find something worse.
Well, what was the worst?
He'd have to do it.
Steeling himself, he ran into the War.
Planets burst into thousands of shards, suns burned into cinders. Dalek ships loomed over, blotting out the stars. Warships of a thousand races screamed across the sky, led by the multi-formed white ships of Gallifrey, their red and gold flag ships. Red like the sky. Red like fire. Fire. Exterminate! The very cosmos twisted and writhed. Fire. So many planets. So many people. Exterminate! Dalek ships burned, crushed themselves in black holes, detonated. But there were always more coming. Always more. Timeships imploded, ripped apart. GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE IT TO ME." Laser cannons. Age rays. Starfire and supernovae and black holes and time displacements and t level pulsar beams burning ships and planets alike, everywhere, all around. He had to run. Fire reigned. And it was still there.
"GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME YOUR NAME GIVE IT TO ME."
He ran through the halls of the Prydon Academy, ran as fast as he had when he was a boy running from class. Through the city, out the Southern Gate. Out into the gardens, and beyond, into the forests where the leaves were turning, flashing in the amber light. He ran. He had no idea where to run, only knew that he could not stop. Never stop running. His feet were moving of their own volition, taking him down a wide dirt trail. Past the forest edge, past the field- and there was home, his parent's home. If he could only run inside and crawl onto his sleep mat and stay…but no, no, he had to run. Run, run, run. Past the water pump. Up the trail. Up, up, up, to the top of the mountain, to where the Hermit lived. Faster, faster. Up and up. There was the cave. Run.
Then the Doctor realized what he'd done. He'd been running to a place he remembered as a haven, safety. Now he was facing a rock wall. There was nowhere else to go.
….
The Walker's TARDIS appeared in the cairn beside her grandfather's. The Walker strode out. "Grandfather!"
The older man lay prone on the ground, his body twitching spasmodically. He gasped deep lungfuls of air, his chest heaving. The Walker looked up. "Ramble, help!"
Ramble took two steps, and nearly collapsed."The nexus… the sword…"
The Walker scrabbled for the blade, and held it up. Ramble let out a heartfelt groan, leaning against the doorframe for support. No energy. Need..new weapon. Battlefield.
"But what about Grandfather?" she cried out. Ramble shook his head slowly, his eyes half open. When we return. Destroy the nexus, he will be well. Must go. Now!
There was such urgency in the final word that the Walker was pulled to her feet. She stared at the twitching body of her grandfather. Then she broke and ran into her ship, dragging her weakened lover with her.
…
Even over the sound of warfare, Jenny knew the sound of a TARDIS. She glanced up. Ramble landed lightly beside her.
"Your grandfather needs you. Go. Now!"
"But what about—"
"Now! Your men will see to the battle from here. Go!"
And she was standing in the Walker's consol room. "What the hell?"
"The nexus is forming. Maeve was hoping to cheat. We need a fresh weapon that the energy hasn't been taken out of to destroy it." The Walker said quickly, hands flying over her consol.
"What do I do?"
""You have to remove the focus, Ramble said. Disturb the energy balance. Disperse the power. Apparently stabbing it will do."
"And Father?"
The Walker shook her head. "That has to wait. First, destroy the nexus. Quickly. Before your weapon loses its power."
Jenny nodded sharply. "Got it."
Then the ship began to judder and shake.
"I can't get a lock on the site!" The Walker called out.
"Lock onto Father's TARDIS!" Jenny called. The shaking knocked her off her feet. And then it was done.
"Go!" the Walker said. And Jenny ran for the door.
…..
There was nowhere else to go.
And the Hound was waiting. It was at the entrance of the cave. He didn't have to turn around to hear it.
"GIVE ME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME GIVE ME YOUR NAME." the incessant mantra beat inside his head. He couldn't think. There was nowhere else to run.
It has all the power, but none of the intelligence of our people. It will only follow the order it was given.
Squaring his shoulders, the Doctor turned around.
"You want my name?" he said quietly. "Fine. I'll give you names."
Stepping forward, the Doctor stared up. "I was called Snail once, Theta Sigma, child of the house of Lungbarrow, scion of Prydon. Thete for short. I took up a name of my own, but I've had so many. I'm One of High Tribute, I'm Time Lord of the High House of Prydon, With Honors. I'm Doctoral Accolade of the Academy. I've been called Time's Champion and Zeus. I'm Space Man, Spock, and Dumbo too. I'm the Professor, Doc, Jones, I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis, John Smith and Doctor Galloway, Doctor Good, Doctor Caligri and Doctor McCoy too." The Hound was staring down, its head shaking from side to side. It was getting confused. It couldn't understand which name was which. The Doctor took two steps forward, his voice rising to a strident shout. "I'm Merlin, Storm-Heart, Quiquaequod, Muldwych, Spartacus too. There was a people that called me Ka Faraq Gatri, the Destroyer of Worlds." The thing was backing away, silent now. Overloaded with names. " I'm Karshtakavaar, the Oncoming Storm and the Bringer of Darkness. I'm the Three Fold Man, the Brother to the Coyote, The One Who Rides By Night and the Sandman, the Threat, Invader, the Dark Lord, the Alien. I'm the Healer, Healing Man, the Man of the Wheel, the Traveler, the Lonely God. And I'm Father, Kinsman, Grandfather, Beloved, Yanteri, Friend of the Triune, Essaltilon, Changing Man. I'm The Doctor. Now get out of my head!"
And then it was gone. The mouth of the cave was clear. Summoning his will, he came back to himself. His dark eyes opened. There was a flash of light.…..
The room was awash in a light that oozed over the walls and the bones, rippled the air. It made Jenny's head hurt and her stomach reel. She couldn't look at the center of it. And it was across the room.
Jenny took a breath. Then she forced herself to look up. She stared at the forming nexus, a sucking maw of power, drinking energy. Her grip tightened on the spear shaft in her hand. She breathed. In. Out. Cleared her mind.
It was like being at the heart of a storm; in all the confusion in her body, all the white noise all around, one thing burned pure and still in her mind.
This is wrong.
This is wrong. And I'm going to make it right.
Her feet hit the hard packed earth as she took off, sprinting forward.
A soldier acts for the good of the unit.
Take away the focus.
The spear rose in her hand. She felt less like she was running than flying across the intervening space.
Disturb the energy balance. Disperse the power.
you'll be careful down there, right? No crazy stunts or heroics?
Sorry Dad.
A soldier acts for the good of the unit.
The nexus threw off waves of light that made the air ripple like water. Only heartbeats and breath, the light and what she needed to do. Only the sound of her own feet and the ash wood in her hand, the glint on the blade like flames and sunlight.
And Jenny rammed the spear home.
There was a burst of light brighter than a supernova. A flash that took up the whole world.
And then there was no world.
*For those of you with any interest in Irish culture, the title of this song is 'Wind that Shakes the Barley' or 'Oro' Look it up on Youtube, especially the version done by Sinead O'Connor. One of the best battle songs ever.