AN: Sorry for the delay; we moved, and kiddos take a lot out of me. Anyways, here's probably the next-to-last chapter for this particular story. I will be taking her and the others into other worlds, so if you'd like to see where that goes, feel free to follow me! Anyways, here it is: the battle.
The witches and wizards that were pulled aside for this particular mission followed Harry and Neville while Thete, Kaal and I walked behind them. Harry and Neville had hashed out who was going to be where, and were able with only 12 students to conveniently situate them in a circle so that the Sontarans would be surrounded. They also had the high ground. Harry and Neville would be on ground level with them, and the three of us were going to join them. "Remember, aim for the hole in the back of their head." They all nodded, tense in knowing that a battle was going to soon take place. I could see some of them were anxious. I pulled Thete aside. "How about you go opposite from me; that way, if we need to combine the power of our sonics, the Sontarans are caught in the middle of it."
His roguish grin met me. "Good idea, Tala." He maneuvered himself to be on the opposite side of the funnel, and the three of us waited for Harry and Neville to draw the Sontarans into our trap. Once we could hear blasts coming from the left hallway, we braced ourselves and gave a shout. "Get ready!" The teens held their wands at the ready, and all had mastered silent spells. The Sontarans would be focused on us, and Thete and I could regenerate, so we would be fine. It was Kaal I was most worried about. Him, Harry, and Neville. The two men barreled into the room, taking places next to the door. Kaal was facing them head-on, and the Doctor and I were across from each other, as planned. The aliens came in, helmets gleaming in the dim light of the school. Shit, I thought. We forgot about the helmets.
"Doctor, we need to impair them!" I cried out amid the beginning of the blasts and spells. He nodded, and pointed his sonic at me. I stuck mine out, and we both turned our sonics on. The resulting noise and irritating power fluctuations forced the Sontarans to unmask. Their helmets were malfunctioning due to the interference from the sonics. "Now is the time to finish what we started!" I shouted, more for the students above me than for us on the ground. I could see flashes of light shooting from each wand, their aim true, and Sontarans falling in the midst of battle. I was dodging what I could, and sonicing them in the head-hole when possible. I managed to get a few down before realizing I could sneak away, and use my mind-trick to speed up the process. I waited until no Sontarans were looking, then slipped behind a wall. I took a deep breath, then released. I could sense everything; the witches and wizards casting their spells, the two brave men who fought alongside us, and Kaal, who was doing extremely well despite only having a blaster. The Sontarans were a hard bunch to overtake, but I managed to get 10 of them into Thete and Kaal's direction, each of them cursing me as they slipped away. I realized that we had finished off the entire group of nearly a hundred Sontarans, and slipped back to my body, breathing a sigh of relief as we joined back up. No one had gotten hit with the pollen.
"That worked great," Harry replied, his face slightly flushed at the adrenaline coursing through his body. "Is everyone okay?" The teens upstairs counted off, and once the completed, the oldest yelled back "Good up here, sir!"
"That was bloody brilliant of you two," Neville said, sharing a look with me and the Doctor. "We never thought about the helmets. Glad you two were here to help." Kaal looked tired, but good. He holstered the blaster, and leaned against the wall. "Unfortunately, we still have three more groups like this one to take care of. Do we need to pause before getting another group in here?" Kaal stood up and shook his head.
"Kaal, are you sure? You look a bit tired."
"I'm fine, Chancellor; really. I just needed a few moments. I'd rather get this done and over with instead of stopping. Whenever you two are ready, we're ready," Kaal said, directing the last sentence to Harry and Neville. They looked at me; I nodded. If he said he was fine, then I'd trust him. They went down a different hallway this time, across from where I was standing. The Doctor and I repeated the same thing that we did in the last battle, effectively sonicing them out of their helmets. I could see a few of the witches and wizards above us looking more confident than before. I repeated my own trick, downing another 20 Sontarans using Kaal, Harry, and Neville this time. The Doctor knew it was me. He focused on a separate group, and was done in a few minutes. Within the following 10 minutes, all the Sontarans had been disposed of. Harry and Neville disposed of the formation, just like they had done with the last one, and went to get the third battalion of Sontarans. We repeated the massacre, making sure we were all good before Harry and Neville went to get the last group. I noticed that Kaal was looking quite a bit more tired than before. "Kaal, are you sure you're okay? You can go back, and we can take care of this last group."
He grunted, and stood up straighter, rolling his shoulders. "I'm fine," he replied, his voice firm. His eyes seemed to focus stronger on the noise from the right hallway. Harry and Neville had drawn the last formation of Sontarans, and they were stationing themselves along the wall as planned. The Doctor and I caused them to unmask, and we started to lay waste to the battalion like before. We all kept our distance because of the pollen. Kaal kept shooting, but I could tell he was starting to get overwhelmed. I left my position to help, but he waved me off. His face hardened, and he fought harder. I couldn't bother trying more at the moment. More Sontarans had come into my sector, and I needed to get rid of them. We continued fighting, and we were down to the last 20 or so when it happened. Kaal didn't turn as quickly as he had been, and a shot from the Sontaran blaster hit him in the chest.
"NO!" I shouted, sonic-ing each Sontaran in my way. I downed five before reaching him. "No—no, no, no—don't you do this to me, Kaal. You can't die; stay with me," I said, slapping his cheek. "Stay with me!" I yelled, tears starting to form. "I told you not to come! I didn't want this to happen!" I held onto him, cradling his head in my lap. "Kaal, don't go. Don't you dare leave yet!" He looked up at my face, winced then smiled.
"Tala, it's okay. I asked to come, knowing the consequences. Tell Aryn—" he coughed, blood lining his lips. "Tell her I was brave, please. And when you bring me home, tell my family that I love them."
"Were you scared? Doing all this, were you ever scared?" I asked softly.
"Hell yes, but I don't want them to know that. That's not how I want to be remembered." He shifted himself slightly, still in agony. "Don't you dare tell them differently. Promise me, Tala." He stared at me.
"I promise, Kaal." A tear slipped from my eye onto his shirt. He'd used my name, my Academy name. He'd heard it enough to figure out what it was. I didn't care; the man that had helped me with so much in so little time had found a soft spot in my hearts. He gave me a faint smile, then stopped moving. The rest of the Sontarans had been taken care of, and the Doctor and Neville had come over. Harry left, gathering the young witches and wizards, and escorted them back to the headmistress' office for a debriefing. I allowed myself a few tears, then brushed the rest off. Kaal had died, but it hadn't been in vain. Hogwarts was safe. The children here were safe. I raised my eyes to Thete's, and his eyes were filled with sorrow. Neville stared at Kaal's body with anger. Silently, they picked Kaal up, and Neville led us back to the office. I followed, numbness engulfing me. I didn't want to feel anything right now. I didn't know what to say. I cleared my mind. Then we entered the Headmistress' office, and everyone turned to us. They saw Neville and the Doctor holding Kaal. I choked back my words. I couldn't say anything. Aryn's face went from happy to shock to grief in a matter of seconds. "Chancellor—" she started, her voice thick with tears. "Is he—? Did he—?"
All I could do was nod my head. If I said anything, I think my tears would engulf my body, and I'd be useless. Aryn approached Kaal; Neville and the Doctor had lain him on the cot that the Headmistress had conjured. She sat next to him, giving in to her grief, her tears staining her cheeks, running onto his clothes. A few others shed tears, hoping no one would notice as they quickly wiped them away. I turned my head away, ashamed of what had happened to Kaal.
The Doctor came to my side. "Tala, you warned him about the dangers. You told him that this was a possibility. He chose to come anyways. I know how you're feeling. My companions have gotten into a lot of hairy situations too. And some—some I can no longer reach because of it." I could hear a tightness in his voice. "Just remember, while there may be grief, there is also joy in knowing that he helped protect innocent children from slaughter. Come here," he finished, enveloping me in his arms. I quietly sobbed as he held me. The rest of the room filed out, save Harry, Neville and Minerva. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only about 10 minutes, I stood up, my hearts still heavy, but with purpose and urgency. "We need to bring him back."
Aryn looked up at me, her face puffy from all the crying. Mine didn't look much better, I know. "I can't believe he's really gone," she whispered, looking back at him. "D—did—he—" She took a deep breath. "Did he say anything before going?"
"That he loved his family, and that he was brave." I fell silent, not knowing what else to really say. That only brought Aryn to more tears. I looked to the Doctor and Harry. "Could you help me get him onto my TARDIS?" They nodded, then picked up the cot and followed me into my TARDIS. I led them to a room just off the first hallway. Harry conjured up a coffin for him, then laid his hand on it.
"Farewell, Kaal. Thank you for all you've done." His eyes were misty, but he kept himself composed. I could tell this had, sadly, been a reality because of whatever had happened before. I left, readying the TARDIS. I couldn't think about Kaal right now. It just hurt.
Aryn was a mess when she entered the TARDIS. "Why didn't you save him?" she said fiercely. She looked dangerous.
"I tried, but nothing would have worked. Sontaran blasters only take one shot to be lethal. I told him it wasn't safe. I reminded him that he might not come back. I don't know what else I could have done." Aryn was quiet, thinking over what I'd told her. Then she looked at my console.
"Didn't you say this was a time machine too? Can't we just go back and save him?" Her red-rimmed eyes looked up at me with hope. I diverted my eyes to the console.
"I can't do that; I can't change fixed points in time. His—death—is something I don't think we can undo." She slapped the buttons on the console, letting out a grunt.
"It's not fair!" she cried. "He should be here with us! We were supposed to stay together!" I clenched my jaw. "Why did you let him come with you?"
"He insisted. He knew the risks, and still wanted to join us."
"You should have told him no!"
"We needed the extra firepower, Aryn; he saved hundreds of children!" I exploded. She glared at me. "He knew; he knew, and he came anyways. He was going to come even if we'd said no." She stalked down the hallway to her room and slammed the door shut. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I guess we were heading back to the Hoth base, then. Not before saying good-bye to my friend, however. I left the TARDIS, spotting the group of people huddled around the Headmistress' desk. "Doctor? Harry? What's going on?" I asked warily, the look on all their faces a mix between hope and dread.
"Well, Chancellor, we managed to get the Sontarans before they doused us with pollen, but it looks like a few other places got hit before we could get them the information. Now that we know what the pollen is and how to kill these creatures, things should be taken care of rather quickly. I've got a long few days ahead of me. Thank you both for your help. Minerva, Neville, I'd best be going. You two take care of yourselves." Harry grabbed a handful of dust, threw it into the fire, and stepped inside. He yelled something I couldn't make out, then disappeared. I looked at Minerva and Neville, with the Doctor and Donna standing next to them. I forced a smile, motioning for Thete to come over. He obliged, and I gave him a long hug.
"I doubt I'll ever see you again, dear friend. Be safe," I said quietly.
"Oh, I will, Tala. Don't worry about me. Please, take care of yourself. Don't go anywhere crazy. Try to relax. And never go anywhere alone." His eyes held sorrow in them, as if he was talking from experience. Don't go alone, I repeated to myself, nodding at his words. I looked over at Minerva, Neville and Donna.
"Well, I have to go; we need to bring—We need to go back to Hoth," I replied, still not able to bring myself to talk about Kaal. "Thank you for everything." I started back to my TARDIS before a hand grabbed my wrist. I looked up to find Neville wearing a determined look.
"Since Kaal is gone, you need someone else to go with you."
"Neville, I'm not—"
"Too late; not your choice. Minerva, I hope you understand why I'm doing this." He gave an apologetic look to the headmistress. She waved it off.
"It might do you some good to get away from here for a bit, Neville. Clear your mind, get some of that anger out. Just—make sure you take care of yourself." He nodded, then marched over to the TARDIS and let himself in. I quelled my sudden anger, and bade the rest of them good-bye. I entered the TARDIS, heading to the controls. Neville stood by the screen, his hand resting on a lever.
"So where do you want me?" I pointed to the hallway.
"Find a room; you don't know this machine as well as I do." His face darkened slightly, but he listened. As his door closed, Aryn's opened. "Aryn, I'm sorry for yelling earlier. I'm still angry at what happened. Do you mind helping me fly him back—for Kaal's family?" She gave a small smile, and nodded. "Well, let's go," I said, glad that she was in a slightly better mood than before. I clocked in my last coordinates, and we were on our way back to Hoth.