Doctor Who: BALANCE OF POWER 1

Prologue:

Lord Krayvin sighed as he listened too the rain lashing against his window.  Thunder rumbled some way off and lightning sliced the night sky, leaving an after image on his retina.  His favourite hunting Gryss, raised it's head and nudged his masters trailing hand.
Absent mindedly, Krayvin scratched the part cat, part reptile, between it's pointed ears. It growled contentedly before beginning to purr loudly.  Another crash of thunder made him jump.  He chided himself for such a reaction.  Only a coward or a young child jumped at thunder!  There were far more dangerous things in this world than the elements.
His predecessor had warned him that a position of power was a precarious thing, just days before his hunting 'accident'.  He knew that the moment he took control of the province, some people would stand behind him to advise, others would stand behind him, with a blade concealed behind their back....

Vulcron's cloak sounded like autumn leaves being stirred by a breeze in a courtyard, as he crossed the floor of his workshop.  An odd contraption lay strewn all over a low wooden bench, where a twisted, ugly figure hunched over it.  Occaisionally the twisted figure would prod and probe the innards of the broken artefact with some tool or the other.
He leant over the thing again, peering at it through the magnifying lenses of his head gear.
"Huh, I don't understand it" he mumbled, "I cannot see anything that would have caused it too seize up and collapse like that.  All the gears are fine and intact.  The power unit seems to be in full working order and the brain , well that needs further examination but it looks all right too me!"
Vulcron sighed as the hunch backed man broke wind and proceeded to pick his nose, before once more prodding and probing the automaton.  Still despite the hunched up little man being as disgusting as he was, he had to admit that even though it had failed the field test, the object was impressive.
If stood upright, it would be a little over eight feet tall.  It's body composed of brass and steel and mecanite, gleamed in the lights that hung near the ceiling.  The only thing that he didn't like, and in fact found to be somewhat unsettling, was the figures featureless face.  Still the thing had been going well when it stopped, gave a screech and then keeled over as if hit by an invisible fist.
They couldn't prove it of course, but they both suspected that the wizards had sabotaged it with their damned magic's.  They didn't like what they called 'the new false hope'  science.  It posed no threat too them, why should it?  But they didn't see it that way.  It wasn't his or the twisted little man's fault that the common people were now losing faith in magic.
Who could blame them?  Despite all their best efforts, the enemies were gathering and a dark shadow hung over the province.  The thunder rumbled once more, like a grim portent of evil....

In a dark cellar, an imposing woman stood in front of a brazier.  Flames leapt towards the ceiling of the chamber and acrid smoke filled the air.
She began to moan as she reached into a satchel slung over her shoulder and sprayed some blue powder into the brazier.  The flame leapt into life and briefly flashed emerald green.  The smoke writhed as if alive for a moment and then began to thicken.
Arlissa began to chant in a voice that sounded distorted as if by a vast distance.  Her frame trembled and quivered and her impressive bosom swelled as she took a deep breath.  Another sprinkle of powder and then an addition of  some foul smelling blood red fluid.
"Show me, show me the truth. Show me what is too come, what is too be!" 
Arlissa took a deep breath as the smoke began to change shape from a thick, writhing column too an oval.  It hung in the still air, as if suspended on chains.
Then it seemed to fold in on itself as the centre of the smoke went inky black.  Like a modern day television being finely tuned, for a minute there was nothing but a kind of weird static and then she saw an image that puzzled her.
It was like looking at the night sky but she knew that what she was seeing was somehow beyond the sky she could have seen from the roof.  Arlissa sensed distance here, a distance she couldn't possibly imagine never mind measure.  At first the view showed the stars and then suddenly...a burst of light, a trail of energy and a blue box, surrounded by a sphere of energy came into view. 
The image panned left as she saw the box spinning towards a deep blue and green coloured planet and she knew that the box was coming too their world.  There was the continent of Jarl, the Hamesh Islands and finally it fell towards the province of Lord Krayvin.
She shuddered, for she knew something or someone strange and wonderful was coming, and with him was coming change and chaos....and possible disaster.
Arlissa shuddered again and started yelling for her assistant...

                                                                                                            PART 1

The storm still raged.  It had shown signs of weakening but then an hour before dawn, it surged back with renewed vigour.  
Now a fierce wind blew as if trying to blow down the stately castle that had been home for the Krayvin Clan for the past nine generations.  Shutters rattled and banged even as servants tried to secure them.
Despite the first rays of dawn emerging on the horizon, the sky was still dark.  Lightning flashed again and two great cracks of thunder boomed and rumbled directly overhead.  Rain slanted down with fury.  Trees bowed under the force of the gale and guards on the ramparts cursed the Gods for taking their anger out on them.
The sounds of the storm drowned out the arrival of a strange blue object that arrived in the courtyard of an abandoned farm house some distance away.
The cacophony died with a strange 'thump' as if the object had settled itself onto the ground.  The light on top of the six foot by four foot box continued to flash for a while longer and then abruptly died.  An eerie silence fell over the courtyard as abruptly as it had started, the rain slowed too a drizzle and the wind began to lessen.

"Arlissa it's been a week now since you claim you saw this vision but we have seen no sign of this stranger, or indeed his blue box.  I honestly think tha-"
"Don't mock my powers!" she hissed.  Arlissa glared at Krayvin's military adviser, a tall weasel faced man called Bayliss
"I tell you he will come and his arrival will signify the beginning of change, upheaval and possible disaster!  Lord Krayvin believes me, so why cannot you?" she asked.
Bayliss sneered, "Most of the time your visions and prophecies are vague to say the least.  Why must the God's auguries be so cryptic pray tell?  Your warnings a month ago of storms could be the abysmal weather we've had these past few days or as you claim, the beginning of the conflict we are in now.  This newcomer may exist, he may not.
Perhaps he's a great warrior, or like you, a fool that sees hallucinations after inhaling those foul powders of yours"
Arlissa sighed and then with hands on hips, replied with, "You used to believe.  Providing of course, you could steal the occasional kiss and a nights company with me."
Bayliss shrugged, "Men like the weather change.  I've changed.  I've seen the power of the man of metal that Vulcron has built!  It's real, you can see it and-"
"It doesn't work does it?  My guild could summon beasts as we have done in the past to aid us!" she said with exasperation.
"Hmm but they die or vanish before their work can be done whilst the enemies summoned forces slaughter us on the field!  And then there are their winged machines.
Swift, silent and deadly.  If the metal men work then we won't need flying machines!  They withstand fire, crossbow bolt, even the power of the new Charge Guns that Jex designed.  I'm sorry Arlissa, science is the way forward, it works!  Magic alas, my raven haired, green eyed temptress is a dying art.  Accept it." And with a swish of his cape, he left her standing alone.
"Oh you'll see if magic is dead" she murmured, "You'll see, you'll all see."

The Doctor moved slowly around the central console.  Ben and Polly were somewhere inside the farm house, leaving him alone to try and figure out what had gone wrong this time.  It had started about a week ago.  The fault locator had registered a fault but for some unknown reason, couldn't pinpoint it.
Thinking that perhaps it was the fault locator itself that was the problem, the Doctor had taken it apart and had then meticulously put it back together again.  But it still registered an untraceable fault.  Then an adventure on Earth had distracted him and they had left the planet and the problem unsolved.
Then a few days later, another fault had been detected but again there was no way of accurately pinning it down.  The Doctor frowned, he was getting another headache.
He reluctantly reached into his pocket for a pair of half frame spectacles.  He perched them on his nose and tut tutted.  His eyesight was beginning to go.
He also winced as he felt pains in both of his knees and in his lower back.  Old age was beginning to catch up with him. 
He wondered if his companions had noticed that he had lowered the ambient lighting.  His eyes hurt now under harsh lights, his short range vision was suffering as were his knees and lower back.

The Doctor knew what was happening.  The signs were clear.  This old body was preparing itself for change, rejuvenation.  Not regeneration, that only happened when there was some traumatic physical damage or in rare cases, mental shock or stress.  Rejuvenation was something different, it was a natural process.  Unlike regeneration, rejuvenation didn't have a limit.  A Timelord could live practically forever, barring accidents.  Regeneration could only happen thirteen times and that was it.
Now thought the Doctor, do I tell Ben and Polly what is going to happen?  He should perhaps prepare them for it, and now he thought about it, he wondered why he had never told Ian and Barbara the whole story from the beginning.  It would have made the early part of their relationship smoother perhaps.

Maybe he should have told them what he was, where he was from.  Perhaps he could have even risked a short trip to Gallifrey?  Well too late now, water under the bridge and all that.  Maybe time and circumstances had conspired to prevent the truth being told, or was it, and this was a little hard to admit too, just his stubbornness that had prevented the truth coming out. 
The time had come to explain.  Yes he decided, the time has arrived.  Best to prepare them for the inevitable so they wouldn't be scared and at a loss as to what to do when it happened.  But first, let's see what's wrong with the ship.

The farm house was old and musty but was sturdy.  Ben and Polly sat in the living room, their feet stretched out towards the open fireplace.  Polly was reading a book she had found in the TARDIS library, and Ben was gently dozing.  She smiled and brushed a stray lock of blond hair from her eyes.  Admit it, she thought, you really, really like Ben.  Okay there was a guy left behind in London but he didn't compare with Ben and mum had always warned her, don't mess with soldiers or sailors!
Polly thought that she maybe aught to tell him how she felt, but something told her that that wasn't necessary.  He knew somehow, and she knew he felt the same.  Words weren't needed.
She looked up again and stretched her neck and froze in her chair.  An icy finger ran the length of her spine and instinct made her look towards the window. 
A face was at the window, looking right at her.  She made to rise too her feet but the man gestured with his hands, weaving a small and intricate pattern and suddenly she felt dead tired.  She collapsed in a soft heap onto the floor.

A noise woke Ben.  What the heck? he thought and then he suddenly snapped wide awake as he saw Polly lying on the floor. 
He started to rise from his chair when a powerful forearm wrapped itself around his neck.  Ben shifted his weight, ready to send the assailant tumbling with a Judo throw but he stopped.  Ben could feel the edge of a knife pressing gently against the skin of his throat.
"Move and I'll slice your throat wide open". 
Ben stopped struggling and watched helplessly as the front door opened and two men came into the room.  They scooped up Polly and carried her towards the front door.
A rough voice called out, "Hey what's that blue thing outside?"
Before he could stop himself, Ben said hoarsely  "Doctor!"
The man holding him hissed into his ear, "What's that you said?  Doctor?  What kind of title is that then eh?  Well lad, he or she can't help you now!  Thom, watch it, there's another one somewhere.  Perhaps he is in that blue 'thing'.  Come on lad, you and the girl are coming with us!"

The Doctor lay on his back under the console.  He had a jewellers eye glass screwed into one eye and a soldering iron in his hand.  He had had a brainwave and sure enough, there was a group of circuits that were linked too the fault locator device.  Now if these circuits had gone, then that was the reason why the fault locator hadn't picked up on it.  He ran the soldering iron over some broken wiring and then cursed as he dropped it.  It had almost landed on his trouser leg. 
The Doctor groped around for the device and gave a small chuckle of triumph as he found the device.  He raised it too his eyes and then frowned.
It wasn't the soldering iron, but a thick engine turned propelling pencil. 
"Now I was wondering where you had gotten too!" he said with a chuckle.  He was glad he had found it, it had been given too him personally by George Orwell.
Thanks for Napoleon had been engraved on it.  The Doctor thrust it into his jacket pocket.
"Where is that soldering iron now?  Ahhh got it!", and unaware of the danger that his friends were in, he carried on working.

Ben struggled to break free from the man holding him but his efforts were in vain.  He was lifted almost off his feet, despite the fact that his captor was behind him.
"Steady on there mate!" grunted Ben and then he fell silent and his eyes widened in shock.  He was being carried towards what at first glance, he thought was a black and orange Zebra.  But the stripes were the only resemblance too those beautiful creatures it had.  It turned a malevolent blood red eye towards him, and pawed the ground.
But Ben's eyes were drawn too the ebony horn that protruded from it's forehead.  "A Unicorn?" he thought, "No bloomin' way!"  But the truth was there in front of his very eyes.

Three men now stood regarding the TARDIS.  They tentatively touched it but the faint vibration made them recoil.    Some warded themselves by making the symbol that  averted the Evil Eye. One man got a little bolder and reached for the door handle.  His fingers were  mere inches away from it  but something made him hold back.   He raised a finger too his lips and hissed,
"Fall back quickly!  There's someone in there,  I can hear someone moving!"

Ben was draped over the saddle of the beast.  His captor swung into the saddle behind him.  He tried to raise his head to see where Polly was but a gruff warning from the man behind him,
forced him to keep his head down.  "Wheres my friend?" he risked asking. 
"On the mount behind us, now keep quiet!  Tarbor let's move!  For all we know our enemies may be around!" and with a single shout, he spurred the zebra/unicorn into motion.

The Doctor finally snapped shut the panel on the central console.  He nodded to himself and smiled.  Yes, it was time that Ben and Polly knew the truth.  He felt like a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders with the decision.  He activated the door control and quickly stepped outside.  Before going any further, he turned and locked the TARDIS  door behind him and drew up the collars of his coat to protect him from the cold wind that whipped across the farmyard. 
Something made him stop in mid stride.  The front door of the farm house was open.  Now with this nasty storm raging there was no reason why the door would be open.  The Doctor immediately knew that something was very, very wrong. "Ben! Polly! Can you hear me?  Hello?"  He drew breath to call out again but stiffened as he heard the sound of a footstep on the cobbles behind him.
He turned around quickly but not fast enough.  A man stepped out of the darkness and the Timelord felt the sharp tip of a short sword at his Adam's Apple. Someone grabbed the Doctor's arms and cruelly wrenched them up his back.  The Doctor cried out in pain and winced as someone crudely lashed his wrists together.
"What is the meaning of this outrageous behaviour?" he demanded.
"Silence warlock!  Speak when you are spoken too!" someone barked.
"Warlock?" repeated the Doctor, "Oh my my my, someone's made a terrible mistake!  I'm no Warlo-"
"You'll be a dead man if you speak out of turn again old man!  Now shut up and come with us!" the man in front of the Doctor said.  He then addressed his companions;
"We'd better hurry.  If the rumours are true, then enemy patrols may be in the area.  Besides Tarbor is ahead of us and this weather is getting no better!  Alas we don't have mounts" he added with some bitterness.  "I hope your legs are still strong and healthy old man!  Move!"

Lord Krayvin looked again at the scroll that lay on the table in front of him.  A tankard of Ale sat by his elbow.  His hunting beast was now asleep in it's customary corner of the room.
"Well this latest proposal for peace is totally unacceptable.  We'd be giving them at least double what we were giving them in crops and food stuffs, for just under half of the ores that we need in return.  And the land.  Just how many more times can they try and sneakily adjust the borderline without me noticing it?  They must think I was born yesterday."
His adviser nodded slowly. 
"And they also want free passage in the bay for their trade ships" he said.
Krayvin scowled, "Pirate ships more like"  He slammed a fist onto the arm of his chair.  The beast in the corner raised it's head and then went straight back too sleep.
"We have wolves beating at our doors and I have enemies within this keep.  No it's true my friend, it's true.  That's the problem with not following tradition.  If only, they say, if only I had found a young wife and sired a healthy male heir than the keep and the seat would be safe.  Well maybe I should have.   I don't know anymore."
The adviser kept silent.
"If you were me, what would you do?" he asked softly of his adviser.  Dorn raised his balding head and spoke;  "I can only repeat what I said the last time you asked.  Seal the alliance with the Western Marches and marry Cole's daughter.  She's pretty enough and can bare many strong children.  And such a marriage would guarantee that our troop numbers are bolstered by at least another two too three thousand men.  This territory is undermanned and weak and-"
"Still recovering from blight, and plague" Krayvin finished for him.  He sighed heavily, "Yes I know all that, but can I trust Cole?  Tell me that for sure and I would gladly marry her if only to keep people's mouths shut."  Yes, he thought, I'd marry her but my heart secretly calls to another.  Nobody must know the truth though, they couldn't face that.  Mentally Krayvin summoned the image of the love of his life in his minds eye. He pictured the steel blue eyes, the flowing black locks, the tiny scar on his chin.  He snapped his attention back too the adviser and the chamber. 
Dorn seemed to be waiting for something....
"Sorry was leagues away.  Did you say something?"
"I was only trying to remind you that the sorceress Arlissa wants to see you later" Dorn said.
"More omens and portents I suppose.  Damn her eyes!  Yes I know, father trusted her and her like but she scares me too the marrow!"
'Me too' thought Dorn but kept that snippet of information too himself.

Ben kept trying to see more of his captors and check on Polly at the same time.  She was ahead of him, two horses further up the line.  They had at least now righted her so she was no longer draped over the saddle like a sackful of rags.  He wasn't so lucky.
The dirt trail visible from his vantage point, suddenly became wider and more discernible even by moonlight.  It was wide enough now to support the troops riding abreast, and this is what they started to do.  Ben felt nauseous from the motion of the animal.  A ship rolling in a storm at sea he could cope with but this was very uncomfortable.  The sudden sound of voices up ahead drew his attention.
"Who goes there?" called an unseen man.
"Captain Armand and the night patrol.  Open up man!  My extremities are frozen stiff!"
Ben heard gates being opened.  Big gates too by the sound of it.  He tried to get a look at the building that they were approaching but he was unable to see it.
But soon he saw flag stones passing by underneath him as the convoy moved into a torch lit courtyard.  Hands grabbed at him and he was swung upright at last.
Before he could gather his wits, he was hauled off the 'Unicorn' and onto his feet.  His throat was dry as he surveyed the scene.
A square courtyard, towers in all four corners.  Each tower was separated by a crenellated walkway, which in turn was only accessible by steps.  It reminded him of a castle he had seen on the Costa Del Sol whilst travelling with the Merchant Navy.  His view was suddenly blocked by the figure of a striking woman.
"This is not the man I saw!" she said emphatically.  "Where's the old one?  Where?"
Ben knew she meant the Doctor, and he was going to say something but was dragged away before he could speak.  Too his dismay, he saw Polly being taken away in a different direction.  "Wait! Where are you taking her?"
"Silence cur.  You'll get a chance to speak soon enough. Now shut up and wait your turn" 

The Doctor's party moved slowly on foot through rough terrain.  From somewhere they had found a wagon and had, despite his protests, managed to upright the TARDIS so it was now resting on it's side on the back of the wagon.  The Doctor was puzzled though.  They had said they were on foot and had no mounts, so how were they going to move the wagon?  Simple, they weren't.  They manually pushed it into a barn and simply shut it inside, so someone could come and collect it later.  Now the Doctors feet were aching, his throat was as dry as a bone and his head ached. 

"I don't suppose", he croaked, "that there's any chance of some water?"  A soldier grunted in response and produced a canteen.  He held it too the Doctor's mouth and the Time Lord drank his fill.  He thanked the man, but again he merely grunted and moved back into line.  And so, slowly and for the Doctor, wearily they moved through the woods, unaware of the eyes that watched them from the undergrowth.

Arlissa again studied her scrying device.  There he was!  That was the one she had seen in her visions!  Old yes, but sharp as a hunter's knife and with eyes that were as piercing as an assassin's arrow.  They would have to watch this one, she thought.  There was intelligence in that face, but also ill hidden cunning.  She suspected that the body wasn't as fragile as it looked as well.  Who was this old man that intrigued and yet frightened her a little.  She knew that the dukedom's fate would be in the old man's hands....

The hunters moved as silently as wraiths.  They had wrapped their feet in animal skins to deaden the sound of their movements.  Similar precautions had been taken with their bandoleers and their scabbards.  The leader gave a hand signal.  Three of their number now back tracked so they could attack the group from the rear.  The others moved swiftly as they dared until they were slightly ahead of the group.  They had already decided that they should all die, even the strangely dressed white haired old man. What use would he be too anybody anyway?

"And I'm telling you", insisted the Doctor, "That someone is following us!"  One of his captors cuffed him roughly across the back of his head.  "Silence cur!" the guard snarled.  The Doctor's face showed his anger and he was about to speak when a barb headed arrow, took one of the guards through his throat.  Even as the man collapsed too the ground, choking on his own blood, the others sprang into action.

The attackers burst out of the undergrowth.  The guard too the right of the Doctor intercepted an incoming attacker but the man too the left of the Time Lord collapsed as a dagger slit his throat.  The Doctor suddenly found himself unguarded and what was worse, unarmed.  He side stepped a lunge towards his ribs and he hastily grabbed the sword dropped by the recently dispatched guard.  Too his attacker's surprise, the old man parried the attack, and turned aside another strike.  The old devil was also quite nimble on his feet too!  The attacker swore as a stroke aimed at the Doctor's head missed it's mark by some degree and he suddenly found himself flying too one side.
The Doctor had simply side stepped and had countered the man's momentum by risking a single handed grab and wrenching of the swordsman's free arm.  The thug's body struck a tree, and winded he fell too his knees. 
The Doctor looked up.  There!,  Up ahead he saw silhouetted against the night sky, was a building on a slight rise. Whether it was a fort or a castle, the Doctor cared little.
He took a breath and started to run, all the while hoping his old legs wouldn't give out under him.  Now more of a hindrance than a help, the Doctor tossed the sword away, leaving the brutal fight behind him.

Dorn studied the young man with open curiosity.  His manner of speech and strange garments marked him as an outsider, but even so what he had claimed to be the truth was surely too far fetched?  Then again, he remembered Arlissa's prediction about the arrival of a stranger, but she had said that it would be a white haired old man.
He went to speak too the prisoner again but he interrupted; "Look now I have a chance to ask, where is the Doctor?"
Dorn narrowed his eyes, "Who is this Doctor you mention?"
Ben sighed, "He's the man who brought us here along with a young woman your men captured.  And where is she by the way?"
Dorn replied, "The girl is quite safe I can assure you.  She's being questioned but I can assure you that she's being well treated.  Tell me more about this Doctor, what does he look like?"
"He's about your height, old, with long white hair.  Dressed in a jacket and chequered trousers, may be carrying a walking stick."
"So Arlissa was right!  Well well well, that would be the first prediction she has got right for some time!  I must tell Lord Krayvin!  Guard watch him, he's not armed but that's no guarantee that he won't try anything foolhardy, he looks the type!"
Ben wanted to comment but the door slammed shut behind the man before he could.  Well he hadn't been shackled, or tied up, but then he had no way of getting past the stout wooden door without being gutted by the guard on the other side of it.  Sighing he sat down on a rough wooden stool.

The Doctor had no idea if any of the attackers were chasing him or not, but he didn't even dare risk taking a backward look.  The castle or fort was getting closer but his legs were aching, his lungs burning and the sweat pouring down his face and into his eyes.  He stopped to catch his breath when he heard the sound of running feet behind him.  His former guards or the attackers?  He didn't know, or cared.  He took another breath and surged forward.
"Stop running old man!  Besides you are heading right towards where we were taking you anyway!"  
The Doctor carried on.  He wanted better assurances than that!  But what if they didn't open the doors?  Would they let him in?  They certainly had no good reason or motive for doing so.  The Doctor just had to hope that the people within were the charitable sort!  But if the man behind him was telling the truth then- his chain of thought was broken as he was grabbed roughly from behind.
"Do yourself a favour and don't struggle old man.  I'm not at all sure that you would be worth the physical effort of knocking out cold but I lost some good men tonight, so don't tempt fate"  The Doctor whole heartedly agreed.

Polly sat nervously in a straight backed wooden chair, that creaked alarmingly, with even the slightest movement.  A statuesque woman called Arlissa stood looming over her.  "Where's the old one?" she said again, "Where?"
"I told you, I don't know" replied Polly.  She was tired and more than a little thirsty.  As if reading her thoughts, her inquisitor snapped her fingers and sent a serving girl to get some water. 
"Oh I believe you little flower, I believe you.  This old one is no doubt in the habit of doing his own thing and leaving his companions in the dark as to what's he doing.  I also presume he finds trouble more times than not, yes?"  Polly nodded. 
"Thought as much.  And I bet he causes trouble too.  No need to say a thing girl, I can see the truth in your eyes"

"Was that worth it?  Well was it?  Three men dead and for what?  Some doddering, fragile, white haired old man!  I'm tired of skulking like a sewer rat in these damned woods, sick of it I tell you!"
"Keep your voice down!" hissed a man too his right.  "Caleb, if there's a patrol nearby, then they'd have to be as deaf as a statue not to hear you!  I'm in no condition for another fight, at least not without reinforcements.  And Hale is losing blood fast from this shoulder wound.  We need to get-"
"Get back home?  What you want us to paddle all the way home across the Inner Sea?  I tell you no boat will come for us unless we find some decent information concerning our enemies.  And that's not going to happen whilst we play ranger in this infernal forest."
"Caleb's right" said a small voice.  "We need to find a weakness in their defences soon or they will never let us return home.  Please let me try something?"
Caleb looked at the figure.  It was no more than five feet tall and had pale red skin.  Tiny horns sprouted from it's forehead and it smiled, revealing blackened but sharp little pointed teeth.  "Why don't you let it try Tane?  Come on, be a devil!"
Tane looked at the creature and barely suppressed a shudder, "What do you want to try?"
"My magical eye!" it said, hopping from foot too foot with excitement.
Tane sneered, "Oh yes and the moment you cast the enchantment, their bitch sorceress detects it and summons something else to come find us.  I hope I don't have to remind you all how close we came to be being discovered by that winged Slake?  I still have bad dreams about it and if I even feel a cold breeze...ugh!  It's not called an Ice Wing for nothing!"
Caleb shrugged, "Well if they lose contact more men will be sent.  If we want some men to actually support us then we need some information!  What do we have to lose?"
Tane said through gritted teeth, "All right, do it!  But be damned careful!"  He looked and almost swore, the Scarlet Necrite was all ready casting his spell....

Arlissa paused in mid stride.   "Minor magic being cast?  If so it's faint.  Maybe being this tired is making me imagine things"

The guards at the east gate looked up from their card game as someone started banging on the doors.  One of the men swore and crossed the courtyard and sauntered over too the gate, even as the hammering on the door resumed.
"By Horak's beard!  Hold your horses!  Password!"
"Griff?  Is that you?  Look damn the password, we have injured men out here and someone I almost died protecting, so open the bloody gate!"
"Well that does sound like you Hops, so all right, just this once we can forsake the password."  He threw back two bolts and unlocked the gate and swung one half of them open.  The Doctor felt relieved to be inside a structure at last.  Maybe now they would give him a chance to rest his weary bones?

Vulcron looked at the mechanical man, and then turned his attention too the others stood in a line against the west wall.   They were secured by chains and heavy bolts that were driven through ankle bracelets and into the stone floor of the workshop itself.  The hunchback probed at the one that was lying on the bench.  He sighed wearily.
"For goodness sake, leave it be.  You've done all that you can for today.  Since the crack of dawn you have been fiddling and poking and prodding that machine.  Give it a break Telgar!"
Telgar spun round on his heel.  He blinked at Vulcron through his work goggles.
"Thing is, I am sure that I can solve the problem and in case you forgot, we are working too a deadline here?   The parade of Heroes is less than a week away.  Our neighbours as well as our enemies will be watching.  We are all tired of being looked at as being the weak link in the chain as it were!  Magic, well, it has it's place but Arlissa and the other magicians, both here and elsewhere have got to accept that change is inevitable!  Some of our more hostile neighbours have already accepted it and have embraced technology with open arms as have you Lord Vulcron!"
Vulcron laughed.  "Yes that's true but try and remember please, that my support for this project leaves me in a difficult position.  Not only am I Arlissa's brother, I am also a magician.  A summoner too be exact.  And if Arlissa ever discovered that some of my magical power had gone into the creation of these automata, she'd have some of my most sensitive anatomical parts served too me on a platter"

Telgar sighed, yes it was getting late.  Time to leave the experiment.  There was still time.  He nodded as Vulcron held open the workshop door for him.  Vulcron shook his head as he closed the door behind them.  He didn't like Telgar.  The man was disgusting in every sense of the word but the God's rot his hide, he was intelligent!  The man was as sharp as a razor.  He looked over his shoulder at the other automata.  Six of them, all of which that had shown great promise but had failed.  Failed dramatically and what was worse, in public every time. The six in question had been disabled.

The door shut with a dull thud.  Dust fell from the ceiling as the portal was shut.  As the echoes died, the fourth automaton from the left, turned it's head to look at the door.
It started to strain against it's bonds.  The one too it's right started to move too.  One by one, each automata frantically began to try and break free.

                                                           END OF PART ONE


                                                           PART 2:  THE IRON MEN

Lord Krayvin sat bolt upright in his bed.  An unearthly racket had shattered the early morning calm and his dreams.  He turned his eyes too the left to study the mechanical time piece that sat on a tall night stand.  Krayvin pressed a stud, and the dial was briefly illuminated and it showed him that it was still several hours until morning.  He cursed as he swung his legs out of bed and hurriedly threw on some clothing.

Vulcron himself had been roused by Telgan frantically hammering on his door with his fist.  "Please, Lord Vulcron, come quickly!"
"What in the name of the Seven Heavens is going on?" he thundered in response.
"It's the Iron Men, sire.  They are active!" replied Telgan, his voice rising in pitch as he spoke.
"What do you expect me to do about it eh?  They are your pets, in case I need to remind you of that!" Vulcron replied.
"I know sire, I know, but your skill as a magician has helped me create the creatures.  Maybe your magic can help calm them down again?" Telgan whimpered.
"Maybe, maybe not, but remember, they followed your original programming as you called it!  Well move!  I can't get out of here if you hover in front of the damned door!
For God's sake, get out of the damned way!"  Insufferable fool! he thought as he pushed passed the hunchback and headed towards the holding area.

Electric blue wreaths of mist coiled and dance around the head and shoulders of a circle of seven cowled figures.
"More energy, we need more energy!" one hissed.
"We dare not risk any more Master!  We have done well so far not to be detected, but if we supply more power now, then Arlissa will be able to track us!"
"And if we can get those accursed toys to move and cause just some minor damage, then maybe people's faith in this accursed science will be shaken!  More energy!
It's worth the risk!  And you three over there, try and block any scrying that may be attempted.  Go on, get on with it!"

Ben was tired right down too the core of his being.  He had thought the questioning would never end.  He had answered them as truthfully as he could, and he had cooperated the entire time.  But the cycle of questions had come again and then again.  He knew they were trying to trip him up but he had, he thought, succeeded in not contradicting himself at any time.  At least they hadn't resorted to physical torture, just the mental stress. 
Not that what he had endured could not be dismissed as being a form of duress, but it was preferable to being subjected to pain.  But now his sleep was being disrupted by the biggest cacophony of noise he had ever heard.  Shouts, banging, running feet and the sounds of people hurriedly shouting orders all mixed together to produce a headache inducing symphony.
"Hey! What the hell's going on!?" he called.  "Hello?  Can anybody hear me?  What's going on and where is the Doctor and Polly?"
"Shut up!" someone called back, "You are the prisoner and you are the one that's supposed to be answering questions!  Now be quiet you cur!"
That was the worst part of it all.  Not the imprisonment, or the endless questions, but not knowing where his friends were.

There was some sort of chaos going on elsewhere in the castle.  Polly had asked what was going on, but no one in this wing seemed to know.
At least she hadn't been chained up or thrown into a cell.  But she had been questioned repeatedly and her head ached, and her throat was as dry as a bone.
Like Ben, she had no idea where her friends were, but she had been assured that they were safe.  She had been well treated but she'd believe what she had been told better if she had had been provided with some proof about their condition.  She sighed and sat back down on the stool, and glared at the door.
Polly hadn't been tied up or shackled but she knew there was a guard on the other side of the portal.  She sighed again, and took a book out of her pocket.  Despite her tiredness and headache, she attempted to read the novel she had dug out of the TARDIS library.

Krayvin scowled as he stood on the threshold of the workshop and holding area.  The automata were still struggling, only with not so much violence now.  The bolts in the floor had held, but what if they gave way the next time it happened?  Well worry about that later, he thought, right now let's see if Vulcron and Telgar can sort this mess out now.  He watched as the two men warily approached the automata and Telgar's eyes kept shifting too a bench where a form lay under a sheet.  Another Iron Man but this one wasn't moving.  Maybe that was due too the fact that it's head was lying on a stool nearby. 
But the others were intact and seemed intent on escape.  Even as he thought that, the Iron Men resumed their attempts with renewed vigour. 
"Shut them down!" yelled Vulcron.
Telgar wrung his hands with despair and then suddenly gave a little yelp as an Iron Man lurched at him but couldn't grasp the disgusting man thanks too it's shackles.  Telgar suddenly grinned, his yellowed teeth on display, and he manically nodded.  "We need Arlissa and we need her now.  They aren't powered up.  All the switches are in the off position.  It's some accursed sorcery that's doing this! I told you we should have just entrusted this assignment too the scientists!  Now we are-"
"Are what?" said a female voice with an icy edge.
"Nothing" Telgar meekly replied. 
"Stand back" Arlissa ordered softly.  She summoned three more people into the room, who immediately  began chanting and waving their hands.  Where their hands moved, a pale green luminescence was left in their wake.  The four trails writhed as if alive and then merged into one dense, vaguely sparkling cloud.  It settled over the Iron Men.

"They are countering us!" one of the cowled figures hissed.
"We cannot maintain the link!  She'll detect us!" another said.
Their leader stamped a foot, like a petulant child.  "Weaklings!  I need people with some guts for God's sake!  Where is the damned backbone I saw when I selected you all?  Cut the link.  There will be another day, another time.  That so called fort will fall and our benefactor will take the seat and this land can at last start flexing it's muscle under the leadership of a real man!"

The Doctor wondered what all the hullabaloo was all about.  His sleep had been disturbed to say the least.  He had questioned the guard at the door but he had remained stoically silent.  He sat down on his pallet again and tried to get back too sleep, but gave that up as a lost cause.  He had hoped that the Lord of this province would have spoken too him in person by now.  Maybe he should ask for an audience with him?   Yes maybe he should but not now, even an idiot could see that now was not the time.
He just wished he knew what was going on!  He didn't like being in the dark, and since they had been brought here there had been no information forthcoming.
Taking a deep breath, The Doctor closed his eyes and tried to get back too sleep.  After some tossing and turning, he buried his head under the pillow, blanking out the racket that was going on.

Arlissa sighed as finally the Iron Men fell silent and stood still.  Without a word, she gathered her robes and left the laboratory, shaking her head.
"Well thank goodness for that!" said Telgar, and gave his distinctive laugh, which sounded like an animal moaning in pain.  His foul breath assaulted Krayvin's nostrils and he blanched. 
Hadn't the greasy little pig of a man heard of hygiene?  Obviously not.  He began to wish he had left Telgan where he had found him after he had been thrown out of the House of Wheeler.  Still, the little toad was useful in some ways, but Lord, why couldn't the dog smarten himself up or at least use some mouth wash!
"I'm going to bed" said Krayvin, "Tomorrow I will talk too this Doctor.  He intrigues me.  Goodnight" 
His body demanded sleep and he was determined that he would sleep throughout what remained of the night.

Ben gazed out over the courtyard from his cell.  He couldn't sleep either.  He doubted that even the Doctor would be able to sleep through all this.  His gaze drifted towards the stables and his eyes boggled.  The Unicorn type creatures with their crimson eyes were now in the courtyard.  A man in a robe stood in front of them, and although he couldn't hear him, it was clear he was speaking or chanting. 
The air behind the creatures rippled and as he looked on, Ben saw a hole opening in the very air itself.  It was fringed by what seemed to be dark blue smoke and through the hole, Ben saw another land.  This place was a place of fire, smoke and ash.  The 'hole' suddenly wrapped itself around the creatures and shrank into nothingness, taking the Unicorns with them. 
"Bloody hell" breathed Ben softly, "Just what the heck is this world all about?"

The Scarlet Necrite giggled as he showed the watchers what his spell revealed too his masters. Caleb and Tane both looked on with interest. "So who the hell tried to stir up the Iron Men?"  Tane asked. Caleb frowned "I know not.  Our masters would have warned us if they were going to strike at the heart of the Fortress itself.  I have a feeling that there's a new player in this game.  If so, who the hell is it?"
Tane said, "Maybe the lord who has that daughter they want to marry off?  He's been trying to persuade Krayvin that his position is vulnerable.  Truthfully if the pact is signed and sealed by marriage, then our Lords will have to back off, leaving it open too whoever had the power to do that.  But if they could do that all along, why have they held back?" Caleb smiled grimly, "They are testing the waters, pushing things just to see what they are up against.  We need to find the third player and force him or her out of the game, permanently.  Come, we go home; for now at least"

The automata were now silent, and still and covered by a tarpaulin.  Krayvin shuddered, "I don't know what's worse, the fact they are faceless or the way it's been reported that despite their size, the things move so silently." Vulcron nodded, "So it's reported, but well, with this set back after the breakdown at the demonstration, people are beginning to question the drain on our coffers this project is causing.  Telgar is sure he can get them working but I told him, build only one but no, he got the others to help him and we now have five of the metal devils." "You help him because?" asked Krayvin.
"I don't know.  Really I don't.  Look, my lord, may I suggest you get the sleep you said you were going to get?  It could be a long day tomorrow." Krayvin sighed, patted Vulcron on the shoulder and walked towards his private chambers.

The following morning, the Doctor woke with a dull headache and eyes that felt like they were full of grit.  He washed his face in some cold water and then reeled back from the mirror in shock.  For a brief moment, he had imagined another face looking back at him.  A face framed by an unruly mop of black hair, and a mischievous grin that creased a face that was mature but younger than his.  Brown eyes had looked back at him instead of the grey blue eyes of the Doctor.  The nose had been more prominent and there was something impish about the fellow.  But as soon as the Doctor had blinked, the mirage had gone.  He shook his head in denial but a small voice told him that he had just seen a vision of the near future.  He shuddered. The Doctor had just about recovered his wits when there came the sound of his door being unlocked and the Doctor suddenly came to full awareness.  A guard appeared and gestured him to follow. "Where am I going?" he asked more sharply than he intended.
"You are honoured.  Lord Krayvin has invited you to breakfast."  Then the guard and his companion, who the Doctor couldn't see at first, flanked the Time Lord as they lead him away.

At the same time, Ben and Polly were likewise collected and guided by two guards but unlike the Doctor's companions, they didn't answer their questions.  They were told to be silent as they met in a passageway.  But Ben was able to at least comfort Polly by taking her hand.  Two of the guards walked away and the remaining pair guided them towards the private quarters of the fort's Lord.

The Doctor was told to sit by a man servant and then told that the Lord would be with him in a few minutes.  Feeling a little peeved, the Doctor sat and started drumming his fingers on the table but his mood changed as the door opened and Ben and Polly were shown into the room.
The Doctor gave them a brief, rib cracking hug.  "I hope they looked after you?" "We are fine" gasped Polly, catching her breath.
"I'm hungry and tired" said Ben, "But no, they didn't torture us or harm us in any way." "Well that's a relief", replied the Doctor, "And the sooner we leave this place the better.  I think this is a troubled land, and I don't want to be caught in the middle of any conflict that may be coming." "I don't know about troubled, but it's a strange place.  Doctor they have unicorns!" said Polly.
"Now now my child, you are tired and confused!  They couldn't be Unicorns" said the Doctor with certainty. "Oh yes they were" said Ben, "They brought us both here on the back of them.  And this morning some guy, waved his fingers and chanted and they vanished into thin air, well sort of." "Vanished?  You mean someone made them disappear? Is that what you are trying to say?" asked the Doctor, knowing that his companions wouldn't knowingly lie or try and deceive him.  But still this was hard to accept.  There was absolutely no such thing as magic! Then a voice caught their attention; "All hail Lord Krayvin!"  As one, the time travellers, turned to face their host.

Krayvin smiled grimly at the TARDIS crew.  He sighed as he sat down in a high backed chair. He looked, tired, pale and drawn.  Krayvin's head throbbed, and his eyes felt heavy and tired. "It's been a long night.  Thankfully the Iron Men were eventually subdued.  How it happened, why it happened nobody knows.  And on top of those puzzles, I have you three.  Your clothing, manner of speech and general behaviour mark you as strangers too this land.  And if Arlissa's right, you are strangers too the world.  That wouldn't surprise me actually, this world has been invaded by plane walkers in the past. But you don't strike me as rogues or vagabonds, so why break into that farmhouse and live there for several weeks?"
"We didn't break in"  replied the Doctor calmly, "It was abandoned, the door unlocked.  It hadn't been lived in for some time, that was evident.  All we did was make use of the place and make it liveable again.  I apologise that we didn't investigate further, to see if anyone owned the land.  I suppose we trespassed in a way.  But we meant no harm." Krayvin leant back in his seat and then said, "So what did you mean to do?" "We wanted a holiday" replied Polly softly, "We didn't mean-"
"Any harm, yes you've said.  Thing is, by law I should have you locked up at least for a little while.  But you know what?  I have no care for your actions.  I have far greater problems to contend with than some trespassers.  I have the scientists and magicians at each others throats, I am under pressure to marry and I'm being harried by enemies.
And then there's the brigands that attacked you and my guards on the forest road.  And Arlissa reckons that you are an important part of the future"
The Doctor stiffened at this news, "I have no interest in your problems at all, no offence meant.  All I need is a rest and then move on.  In fact, give us the word, and we'll go now." Krayvin shrugged, "I'm afraid it's not that simple Doctor.  You intrigue me and that means I'd like you to stay a little longer as my guests."
The Doctor scowled and steepled his fingers together.  'Guests' he thought, 'You mean prisoners in a gilded cage' but he kept those thoughts quiet.

   Arlissa closed the connection via her scrying device. So the wheels were in motion, there was no turning back now.  The world's immediate future was there, sat with Lord Krayvin. What will be, will be.  The scientists had once again, had a failure.  The Iron Men were as unpredictable and as dangerous as a Rock Troll.
And then there was the small matter of the spy. The Crimson Necrite was certain it hadn't been detected.  Wrong.  It in turn, had been 'tagged' and she had followed it via remote viewing back to where it had come from. A bandit camp in the heart of the forest.  Bandit camp my eye she thought.  They were too well armed and equipped to be mere bandits. They were someone else's men.  Probably the soldiers of Lord Howl who wanted Krayvin to marry his daughter. But it looked as if someone, perhaps within Howl's own household, didn't want that marriage to happen.  It would strengthen Krayvin's borders too both the west and south. True, he was still vulnerable to attack from the Inland Sea.  Her thoughts were interrupted as the hunchbacked scientist walked bold as a brass golem, right into her study.
Telgar studied her for a moment, ogling her figure and then sat, again without being asked, on a bench. "I need your help" he asked brusquely.
"Really" she said acidly.
"Yes I think if we work together, we can make the Iron Men stable and more responsive." he said, leering at her. "Perhaps, perhaps not" she replied.  She cursed herself, she hated this disgusting maggot of a man but damn, his proposal appealed in some twisted way. Curiosity was getting the better of her and although she didn't like it, she thought that she could help.  It would be better if Telgar got devoured by some beast, but so be it. "Let me think on it" she answered eventually.

   On a far hillside, eyes studied the fortress carefully. "Time to test them" he said softly, "Begin the ritual"
Behind him, four men and five women began to chant.  The clouds began to roil and thicken. Blue and emerald green lights began to flash within them....

   A guard on the north wall, yawned and cracked a stiff neck. He couldn't wait for his watch to end.  He took a crafty swig of some Sallorean Brandy and then nearly choked as he saw the clouds rolling towards the castle. His hand reached for the alarm bell but something struck him in the middle of his back.  The guards eyes widened in shock as he saw the barbed spine sticking out of his belly.  He was dead before he hit the ground. His sightless eyes were now turned towards the group of winged beasts that were heading towards the fortress....

                                                                      NEXT EPISODE:  BARBS AND ARROWS.

                                                                            PART 3:  BARBS AND ARROWS

   Once more alarm bells rang throughout the fort.  Troops moved towards the battlements, with shields equipped and swords prepared, crossbows cocked, arrows knocked and ready to fire.  On the roofs of the towers, robed figures chanted and gestured as the clouds above the fort swirled and roiled.  Multi coloured lightning flashed within some of them, whilst others parted, like blooming flowers to disgorge creatures of various shapes and sizes.  Lord Krayvin bellowed orders at the top of his voice, but even as the commands were issued the assault started.  From the mouths of the beasts streams of fire, ice and even cold air issued forth.   The archers finally got into position and fired at the beasts.  The sound of creatures shrieking in pain was soon mixed with the shouts and screams of the wounded and dying.

  The Doctor left the window, his mind racing to accept what he was seeing.  But soon other concerns focused his mind.  "Ben, Polly come now!  we're leaving!  let's find the TARDIS and go!  This isn't our war, it's distressing but there's nothing I can do, nothing!"  He reached for Polly, and he smiled grimly as she took his hand.  Ben looked at them both with a frown, "Problem is we have no idea where the TARDIS is!"  The Doctor scowled, ""It's in a barn on the back of a horse and cart!  We need to find shelter. It seems that they have forgotten about us for the moment though I can understand why!  we need to find somewhere safe, yes somewhere safe indeed"

   Krayvin swore as the young man too his left collapsed.  The icy breath of the beast that had attacked had only just missed him.  Another man screamed as he was snatched up in the talons of a purple and black creature with a snake like head.  The soldier futilely stabbed and slashed with his sword, trying to hit the creature's underbelly. With an almost disdainful screech, the creature released him, letting him fall too his death amongst the trees of the surrounding forest.  A small winged serpent, with a barbed tail flew straight towards Lord Krayvin.  He took a backwards step, shifting all of his weight onto the trailing foot and then lunged to meet the beasts charge.  His sword caught in the roof of it's open mouth, slicing through the soft upper palate and entering the brain.  It was dead before he could wrench the blade free.  He gestured towards a group of longbow men.  "Get yourselves some airborne mounts and take out their summoners!  Arlissa!  Arlissa, where are you dammit!  You then!  yes you Kain, summon some beasts for these men and make it quick!"

   Arlissa studied the battle via her scrying device, a large crystal orb mounted on four brass and silver legs, shaped into the form of rampant Gryphon's.  The battle was beginning to swing back into Krayvin's favour.  He needed to tip the scales with a decisive move and soon.  Was there anything she could do too help?  Her own summoners were sending creatures to intercept the oncoming hordes but it needed more.  Where were they?  there!  a group of robed and hooded men and women, stood in a clearing chanting.  She saw that airborne archers were closing in on them but they would need help.  Maybe if the people on the ground couldn't see them, or had something to distract them.  Smiling Arlissa began to chant....

   Telgar unlocked the last of the shackles and despite reservations on the behalf of Vulcron, the Iron Men were now marching in single file towards the west gate.  A scout had spotted the footsoldiers moving through the trees.  He had managed to report the sighting, despite the three arrows that protruded from his back.  Telgar chuckled as the Iron Men advanced, backed up by human soldiers and other creatures that Vulcron had summoned.  It had been a while since he had cast any serious magic, but it was nice to see that he hadn't lost his touch....not yet anyway.

   The Doctor, Ben and Polly fought against an oncoming tide.  Men rushed forward as they tried to head for the place that had been pointed out too them by a breathless soldier on his way to fight; the cellars where the other civilians were being sheltered. Women and their children, some still babes suckling at the breast.  "Stay together!" yelled the Doctor, aware of just how short of breath he was getting.  But he had to keep moving, he had to!  Ben had taken over leading Polly by the hand.  He squeezed her hand reassuringly even as a large, burly pikeman moving at nigh on full speed barged into him.  Polly fell forward and grabbed the Doctor's coat, almost causing him to fall flat on his face.  He assured he was all right and took her hand with a determined grip. "Wait!" yelled Polly, "Where's Ben?"  The Doctor looked at where Ben had been standing just a moment ago, but now there was no sign of him.  "Ben!" Polly called out even as the fort was shaken by the concussive blast of an explosion that blew windows out. "Ben!" she cried out again but the Doctor's pulled her arm insistently, "We don't have time to worry about him!  I'm sorry but we must reach shelter, we must!
he'll be fine, trust me child!  Ben is more than capable of looking after himself"

   Ben stood up after being bowled over.  He felt himself being pushed backwards by the tide of soldiers rushing towards him.  He couldn't see Polly or the Doctor.  Where were they?  "Stop it!  stop pushing me, I don't want to go this way!  I'm not a soldier!  Oi! can anybody hear me?  I'm not a soldier! Help!"  but he couldn't make himself be heard.  Relentlessly he was borne onwards towards the east gate, towards the front line....

   Krayvin's sword cut down creature after creature.  Above him their own beasts met the incoming invaders and a deadly dance for supremacy began.  He had no time to worry about that now.  This was the largest assault for ages.  Up too now they had been merely harassed by raids that had targeted trading caravans and the occasional  outward lying farmsteads.  The last major attack had been four months ago.  They had only just recently finished the repairs from the last attack.  This would probably take more time to repair than the last. 

   Some miles too the north west at a small stronghold, owned by another allied Duke, eyes watched the battle.  A tall, handsome man, with steel grey eyes and blond hair, strapped his shield too his right arm.  "Onwards!  For Krayvin!" he yelled.  Absent mindedly, he rubbed his chin where there was a crescent moon shaped scar.  He lead the group of fifty men in a headlong charge.  The horses stirred up a cloud of dust as they galloped towards Krayvin's fort.  The air rippled around them and beasts joined the charge, flanking them on both sides.  As one, fifty swords were drawn and some thirty bows were loaded with broad headed arrows.

   The spell casters felt the hairs on the backs of their necks rise.  Something was coming.  And then in an instant, a choking, cloying purple cloud fell upon them.  Coughing and retching, their concentration was shattered.  Recently summoned creatures blinked out of existence, like soap bubbles.  As they wiped tears from their eyes, the cloud vanished as suddenly as it had manifested.  Their relief was short lived.  Arrows rained down on them from above, and both male and female spell casters died under the barrage. 

   Ben tried to fight his way back towards the Doctor and Polly, but then he found that someone had forced a sword into his hand.  "No!  I'm not a soldier! No!"  But it was too late.  He fell forward onto damp grass and before he could stand up, he was aware of a large, dark shadow falling over him.  He looked up and saw what could only be described as a Minotaur towering over him.  He cried out in fear as the beast roared and raised it's war club, ready to shatter his skull like an egg.  He rolled swiftly too his left, and the club impacted with the damp earth where seconds before his head had been.  The creature gave another enraged roar but the bellow became a strangled yelp as a crossbow bolt tore through it's throat.  Ben, now spattered with it's blood rolled too his feet, snatching up a fallen shield even as another figure came hurtling towards him.
Like it or not, he thought, you are now a front line soldier.

   The fort shook as more explosive bolts struck the building.  Arlissa and her fellow spell casters reinforced the mystical shields and barriers the best they could, but they were getting low on energy.  "Keep the mana flowing!" she yelled.  Deep in the bowels of the castle, a strange green orb, suspended in mid air by invisible energies, rotated slowly in it's cradle of black and silver rods.  It pulsed and a dull throbbing vibration ran throughout the chamber where it lay.  Occasionally emerald green lightning like flickers, crackled in the air around it and flowed into the walls and timbers of the structure.  It was like a vast crystalline heart that beat too it's own rhythm, in truth it was the forts life force or as close as it could be.  But with each passing moment, the pulsing light grew fainter as the energy was spent strengthening the forts defences.

   Another blast shook the castle, dust and plaster fell from the ceiling of the cellar where the Doctor and Polly lay huddled, holding tightly too each other.  "Doctor we must leave this horrible place!"  The Doctor soothed her as best he could, stroking her hair and murmuring words of comfort.  But the TARDIS was in that barn and there was no safe way of reaching it and it would appear that there would be no way of getting too it for some considerable time.

   Ben parried an over head blow from a sword, deftly deflected a spear wielded by some fanged monstrosity as another man joined him.  They stood back too back, fighting as one, separated from the main body of troops.  Ben stabbed a beast in the shoulder whilst his ally ran one through.  "Don't play with them boy, kill the bastards!"
he bellowed.  Ben didn't want to kill anything, the Doctor's own morales not withstanding, but he knew now he had no choice, no matter how much the thought would be normally repulsive too him.  He stabbed the same beast through the heart and carried on fighting as his very life depended on it.  His comrade laughed a berserker's laugh and cleaved through another creature with his axe.

   A portion of the cellar ceiling collapsed, crushing a mother and her child.  "Right!" yelled the Doctor, "this place is no longer safe!  is there anywhere else we can go for shelter?"  A small man replied, "There are the wine cellars or the battery chamber."  "Then lead on man! lead on, hurry!" urged the Doctor.  "Flynn, Bright, help the old man and the girl, the rest of you fall in behind me!  Darl, I'm sorry but it's too late for your wife and babe.  I'm sorry, I really am. Live, live for them and save your anger for the enemy."  The man blinked away his tears and followed.  The Doctor gave the young widowed man a sympathetic look and fell in behind him, guiding a distraught Polly.  The Doctor hated the fact that she had had to see such a sight.

   The ground assault lead by the enemy hacked and smashed their way through the ranks of the defending troops.  Suddenly a strident bugle call rent the air, and the attackers were hit by a tidal wave of steel, horses, claws and talons.  The young man leading the assault raised an outstretched palm and a bolt of scarlet flame caught a beast full in the face.  Even as it fell too one side, its skin peeling away from its skull, he deflected a lance and buried the edge of his sword in the wielders throat.  "For Krayvin!" he yelled again as another man fell too his blade.  Archers fired into the melee, a risky business at best, but they had time to pick their targets.  Ben and his comrade now found themselves surrounded by friendly forces and for the next fifteen minutes or so, Ben fought his way through a living hell.

   The wine cellars were cold and slightly damp but the walls were firmer, the ceiling stronger.  The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, and a curious expression crossed his face.  His eyes narrowed, and his head tilted too one side and his hands grasped the lapels of his jacket.  Polly knew that he was now applying his razor sharp mind too the dilemma they were in.  She knew him well enough to know that he was still deeply troubled.  She sighed, he would have an answer.  He always did.  He spared her a comforting smile and her confidence soared.  The Doctor could say so much without saying a single word.

   The iron men functioned well and smashed enemies aside with ease.  They all moved as one, step, smash, step, smash.  Vulcron and Telgar both smiled in relief, but they noticed that some of their own troops were giving them a wide a berth as possible.  Then they heard the clarion call and saw the enemy troops struck from behind by the reinforcements.  Vulcron turned to Telgar, "Let Krayvin know that Nikolai has arrived, though I suspect he knows."  The disgusting hunchback grunted and shuffled off.
Vulcron could see that the tide of battle was turning.  Indeed some ten minutes later, the enemy started to retreat.  Krayvin gave the order to stop fighting, and frowned as some over zealous defenders shot down some of the retreating troops.  "I said cease fire!"  Abashed the archers lowered their bows.  One by one creatures were dismissed by magicians on both sides.  The ground was littered with corpses, the grass drenched in blood both animal and human.  Krayvin gave another grim order, "Prepare funeral pyres.  Looks like they will burn long into the night."  But the harsh look on Krayvin's face vanished as he saw Nikolai.  The two men approached and embraced warmly for a brief moment.  On the battlements, Vulcron sighed and turned away and vanished back into the fortress.  One battle is over, he thought, now it was time to prepare for a battle of another kind.....

                                                                                                  NEXT EPISODE:  THE CALM AFTER THE STORM


                                                                                 EPISODE 4: THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

  Funeral pyres burned long into the night.  Columns of black, greasy smoke stained the air and the scent of burning clothes and flesh caused all but the hardiest too retch and turn away.  The Doctor watched from behind a window.  His face betrayed his sadness, and his concern.  Where was Ben?  He had heard that someone, a stranger drafted into the battle and had come close to death.  Some gut instinct told the Time Lord that that was Ben; now he needed to know that he had survived the deadly battle.  Polly too was anxious to say the least, but she was concealing it better than the Doctor.  But there were signs, small indictaions of restlessness, fidgeting, and discomfort.  He felt for her, he really did.  He walked over to where she sat and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

   Ben sat on the edge of a bed as a nurse, or whatever her official title was, examined the cut he had recieved at some stage during his fight with the Minotaur.  Much to his surprise, she didn't carry a first aid kit or even a plaster.  Instead she closed her eyes and muttered under her breath as she held her hands, palm downwards over the injury.  The womans palms glowed with a soft orange light.  Ben felt warmth flowing over the wound and then a soothing wave of coldness.  With a brief pins and needle like tingling, the wound faded away before his very eyes.  He expressed his thanks noticed that there wasn't even a scar.  He tried to sit up but felt tired.  A voice from his left spoke out, it belonged too the crossbow man who had saved his life.  "Easy boy.  Healed you may be, but such a wound will still drain your stamina.  Relax, sleep.  You'll be as right as rain in a couple of hours or so".

   Vulcron studied Arlissa as he chewed some bread and mature cheese.  "So Nikolai has arrived eh? At last.  Now maybe he'll stay for a while.  Another attack may come at any moment."
"I hope not" she replied with feeling, "You and that toad had better get those Iron Men repaired before then."  Vulcron sneered, "I don't like him one bit. Oderous little worm.  I was quite relieved when he said he didn't need any assistance this time around.  Now then what will happen now that Nikolai is here?  I doubt he'll pressure our Lord to marry the girl."
"That girl" Arlissa said with a lightness to her voice, "may be as light headed as a Moon Moth but she's what this kingdom needs.  The alliance needs that marriage.  Why won't he commit?"
Vulcron wheeled around and laughed, "What?! You don't know? I thought it was the worst kept secret in this castle amongst the higher ranks! Oh dear, that's rich, rich indeed!" and much to the sorceresses frustration, he didn't explain but carried on laughing until the tears came.

   Nikolai sat at one end of the table, Krayvin at the other.  The Doctor sat on the left hand side and Polly on the right.  The Doctor declined some cold cuts of meat with a polite shake of his head, but accepted a goblet of wine.  "Hmm quite a cheeky bouquet.  Pleasent taste, like Blackberries tinged with a slight hint of...what is it again? Yes, that's it, Elderflower.  It shoudn't work but it does.  Yes quite pleasent indeed.  Oh sorry" he said with a slight inclination of his head, "were you speaking?".  Krayvin looked at the Doctor again steadily, "You know very well what I was saying, or rather asking of you Doctor.  My scientists need help.  Your knowledge will be most helpful."  The Doctor dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and lowered his head.  He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them as he placed his elbows on the table.

   "So you want me to help you?"  Krayvin smiled as if he was humouring a fool.  "Hence this treatment. Good food, the wine to cloud the judgement and befuddle the mind perhaps? You want me to get involved with this territorial dispute and what, patch up the differences between your wizards and scientists.  Anything else you need from me perhaps?  Maybe you need me to balance the books, check the invetories perhaps?  May I remind you good sir, that I am a stranger, a traveller that arrived here by chance.  I do not have any interest in this war!  I want to see the young man that came with us and then I would like nothing more than to have my property retrieved and returned to me and then we can be on our way."
"I'm sure that's what you want, but it's not as simple as that" replied Krayvin. "No, I didn't imagine for one minute that it would be!" said the Doctor, his voice edged with anger; "Still it was worth a try I suppose.  Worth a try"

   Telgar studied the brain of one of the metal men through a large magnifying lens.  "I still cannot see what would have caused them to react like they did last night.  Even with the magic involved, the synaptic relays shouldn't have rebelled like that.  Still all seems stable now.  Now then Croft, how are the new weapons coming along eh?"  A tall emaciated looking man rose from his stool and crossed over too the bench.  "They are coming along quite nicely.  The repeating mini crossbows are working, although integrating the device into the automata's systems is difficult.  The machines also need more nimble hands for the reloading.  But the built in projectile weapon works well indeed.  All it takes is a sharp gesture and that javelin goes like a bow string viper after a Hare!  At least they can move faster now and are a little more agile."   Telgar shrugged, "there are other projects I'd like to work on.  The Iron Men are slowing down the system I confess, but they could be our best hope of victory.  Now then if only the Doctor would help us"

   Ben looked out of a window at the battlefield, and the funeral pyres.  Despite being bone tired, he couldn't sleep.  He sighed and stretched and yawned.  His eyes widened as he saw the corpse of some large creature that looked like a two headed wolf, began to shimmer and then fade away like morning mist.  "Once the bond is broken, the beast can be returned too the realm it was summoned from.  Sometimes they are dismissed or the spell gets countered, same effect, different causes." He looked at the nurse that had tended his wound.  "My magic is different.  Mine is healing based.  I never entertained the notion of using my skills to destroy, alas others think differently."  He looked at her open face and smiled; "Yeah but how does it work? Can anyone cast spells?"
"No not anyone or everyone.  Lord Krayvin can't for instance.  As to how it works, it's hard to explain.  The forces exist all around us, in the air, rocks, trees and streams.  It exists in the light and in the dark.  Every time you breathe, you breathe in part of it's esscence. But to make it work, you have to believe it can work. It's not just a case of knowing it exists, it's a case of trusting in yourself and the power itself.  Once thats mastered, and only when it's mastered can you bend it too your will"
Ben sighed, "Well the Doctor wouldn't make a good magician then.  He's told us adamantly that there's no such thing as magic"  The nurse smiled, "Oh he may just change his mind soon, that is, if he hasn't allready" 

  Nikolai studied Krayvin openly as he sat down and regarded the Doctor with open curiosity.  Krayvin sat back in his chair, "I didn't say thank you for your timely intervention Nikolai."
"Think nothing of it!" he said with a grin that Polly found infectious.  "My neice sends her regards"  Polly noticed how Krayvin flinched at this comment, and wondered at it.
"I trust she's well?" he asked, but the time travellers noticed that the question was slightly forced, and another wince as Nikolai added, "She wants to visit you again"
"Well once the atmosphere is better, she is more than welcome" he said.  Nikolai smiled, "She'll be pleased to hear that"; This time it was Nikolai who sounded under pressure to say the right thing.  The Doctor stood with hands gripping his lapels with a very thoughtful expression on his face.  Polly knew that even he could see the funeral pyres burning, he wasn't really watching them.  The Doctors mind was assessing the situation, reviewing it from every angle, every perspective.  The Doctor knew from just a few seconds into the exchange between Krayvin and Nikolai, that a royal wedding was an unlikely event.  However for the sake of the principality, the wedding would have to happen, they were just trying to postpone the inevitable.
With a faint sigh, the Doctor sat at the table and cut himself a slice of chunky bread and a large leg of some meat that may or may not have been a Chicken or some such animal.  It tasted more like goose though.  "So all that aside, what do you want from me hmm?  I know that I am not exactly a prisoner in the true sense of the word, but I'm not free to leave am I?  I could stand here and demand that my TARDIS be returned too me but that would do me no good would it young man?  Oh no, I was 'expected', if thats the truth, and now that some prophecy has been fulfilled, you all think I can save you and this castle hmm?  Yes that's it, someone saw my arrival in a vision and now I'm here I'm expected to help you, just like that!" He added a snap of his fingers too the end of the sentence.
"But my friends, what if I don't want to help you eh?  What if I can't?  Had you thought of that?  Oh I can see that your kingdom has enemies, that terrible battle and loss of life is evident of that enough.  But what pray tell, do you want from me?"  Krayvin looked at the Doctor with an even gaze; "Don't ask me, ask Arlissa.  I've sent for her.  She can give you your answers"
The Doctor scowled, angrily tore off a piece of meat and chewed thoroughly.  Just who ran this kingdom? he wondered, Krayvin, his generals or someone who studied the guts of animals by flickering candle light?  Whatever was coming, he now had a certainty in his head, that he wouldn't be able to leave as easily as he had hoped.  Not a prisoner exactly, but a guest that was being hampered from leaving.

   A group of men wrestled with the wagon.  Admist a constant stream of curses and oaths to all manner of deities, four men struggled to lift the blue box onto the wagon.  Four became six as they struggled and heaved to lift the TARDIS.   Even as some of the men wondered why they were doing this, they knew that having the object back at the fort would buy the old man's help.  But it seemed that the blue box didn't want to be moved.  Now two more men tried to raise the box, so they could lift it onto the wagon.  

   "It's too cursed heavy!" growled the commander, "It looks like it should be lighter!"  And he thought, the damned thing is warm too the touch and it's vibrating!  It's alive he thought, this wretched thing is alive!  Then he heard a voice. "Need a hand lads?"  Slowly they all turned round.  A group of men stood there, some armed with swords, and others aimed bows in their genreal direction.  "I think we'll be taking that"

   Arlissa was about to leave her room for Krayvin's chambers when some sixth sense warned her that something was watching her.  She wheeled around sharply. What was that?  It had sounded like tiny claws scraping against stone or maybe the frame of a window.  There!  Something small scurried towards the shadows of the ceiling but she was onto it.  She hated calling on the dark arts but; "Posion barbs!" she hissed and three black streams of vapour flowed from her fingers and then reshaped themselves into small, arrow head shaped projectiles that flew at blinding speed towards their target.  There was no hiding, these missiles could not miss.  She winced as she heard the Crimson Necrite screech in agony and then saw it hit the floor with a sound like a small bag of mud landing on paving stones.  There it lay, in a small pool of it's own blood.  "So who is spying on us I wonder?" she mused aloud.

   The fight had been brutal.  Now the dukes men were standing but only just.  Now with the three captured enemies, they had finally got enough muscle to raise the box onto the wagon.  But the captain of the retrieval squad thought, no we didn't lift it, it gave up.  It LET us raise it, allowed us to take it.  He shuddered as the quietly humming box lay on it's side on the back of the cart.  The three large horse like creatures pulled the wagon with ease.  The attackers had been taken prisoner, over half of their number lay dead in the courtyard of the farmhouse.  Bandits playing at soldiers, he thought grimly.  A game they would always lose.

   As the Necrite died, a sorcerer cried out and collapsed unconcious too the floor of his chamber.  "Dammit!" a man hissed, "He'll be out for hours, maybe days.  His familiar was destroyed! I tried to warn him that he was pushing too much.  Get him under the covers and prepare some sort of story before someone comes looking for him.  We cannot be discovered now, we have gone too far now.  There is no turning back"

   Arlissa finally swept into Krayvin's chambers.  She had missed the argument but she could tell from Nikolai's expression, the posture of Krayvin and the way the old man was glaring at Krayvin, that the argument had been a big one.  She sighed, "Now gentlemen, perhaps this discussion" and she emphasised that word heavily, "can begin again?  Nikolai good to see you" she said with a smile, but anyone could detect the lack of sincerity in her voice.

   Telgar attached another wire too the brain of a construct.  "That should do it" he said.  "Good" came the reply from behind him, "Our little pet was discovered and dealt with.  We have to act and act tonight.  It's only a matter of time before Arlissa makes him see sense and agree too the marriage.  If he does, then we are done for.  Our lord won't be able to take this land.  We must have this distrust between science and magic and tonight, we shall see the scales tip in our favour.  Tonight there shall be a tragic accident and a player shall be removed from the game."  Telgar nodded.  "I'm glad you agree Telgar, but please be aware that if it doesn't work tonight, you'll be the one removed.  Now finish your work!"

  Telgar swallowed hard and willed his hands to stay steady as he wielded the instruments needed to finish his work....

 

                                                                                       NEXT EPISODE: NIGHT OF TREACHERY

                                                                                        EPISODE FIVE: NIGHT OF TREACHERY

   Ben sighed and settled back on his bunk.  He had been stuck in the barracks for the last several hours.  Ben wanted to leave but for some reason they wouldn't allow him.  His nurse had promised that she would get a message too the white haired old man that he called friend.  But she had been too busy to do that, but she reassured Ben that she would tell the old man as soon as the opportunity presented itself.  He was dressed in light armour, and had been told that he shouldn't remove it as there was no telling when the call to arms would sound again.  his last few hours had been spent drilling in sword play and in the use of cross bows or bows.  Ben actually discovered that as far as archery went, he wasn't a bad shot at all and had secretly quite enjoyed it.  He had been taught to shoot pistols and rifles in the navy but that seemed like decades ago now.  He tried to sleep, all the time wondering how Polly and the Doctor were.

    The Doctor sighed as he watched the sun setting behind the hills.  He glanced at Nikolai and Krayvin, noticing how close they stood to one another, how they spoke in whispers and how occaisionally they would stroke arms briefly or touch hands.  If they thought the Doctor was watching, or anyone else, they tried not to look guilty and moved apart but it wouldn't be long before they got closer again.  He arched an eyebrow and pursed his lips in thought; 'so that's how it is!  I thought so, yes I thought so.'  All three turned as one as Arlissa swept back into the room.  Behind her came Vulcron.  He gave Nikolai a slight inclination of the head, but bowed deeply to Lord Krayvin.  Arlissa however, spared neither man so much as a curtsey. 
"So do we have a plan of action yet?" she asked, helping herself to a flagon of white wine.  Krayvin kept silent.  "I'll take that as a 'no' then.  We have spies in the camp" she added with a calmness that made Krayvin recoil slightly.  Vulcron produced a cloth bound bundle from behind his back.  He laid it on the table and opened the bundle.  Polly craned her neck to look and then recoiled as she saw the creature within.  It was bright red in colour, with pale amber, pupiless eyes.  It also had a spiked tail and a pair of bat like wings.  "A Necrite" breathed Krayvin.

    Too the Doctor it looked like an Altaran bat, only they didn't have spiked tails.  "Well this is serious" said Krayvin softly.  "Do we have any idea as to who summoned the creature?"  "No" replied Arlissa.  "Anyone of minor talent could summon one of these things, but the collar around it's ankle indicates that this was being used as a familiar.  Binding a creature takes a little more skill than that owned by a novice.  It takes someone some time to bind a creature too his will like that."  "Or hers" said the Doctor softly, "And you are sure that this thing was brought here by someone inside this castle?"  Arlissa nodded, "The smaller the creature, the harder it is to establish a link.  It's just the way things are.  It also needs it's master, or indeed mistress, to be close too it at all times, so yes it came from within the castle.  And I have no idea who brought it here."  The Doctor stood, head cocked to one side, his hands grasping his lapels as he gave the creature further inspection.  "A further complication indeed, and one you don't need.  You have your scientists and your ahem magicians at logger heads, your fiefdom is under threat from external forces and now you have traitors inside the building.  And now I think I know what you want from me though why you just couldn't tell me straight I don't know, but you want me to get your scientists and mages to work together for the greater good don't you? Yes I thought so.  Well I can try but that does not mean I will succeed. But is there any way you can at least halt the exterior conflict?"  Arlissa looked at Krayvin briefly but it was Vulcron who spoke; "Yes marriage.  It would enforce the borders across the inland sea that you can observe through that window yonder.  We can provide this kingdom with precious timber and there's Iron in the hills as well as silver, and we can also grow various crops here that struggle elsewhere.  Whoever controls the borders in the hills and the inland sea, has a major advantage.  Better yet if there is an alliance between Krayvin and the clan that governs the land across the sea, then two clans can act as one.  It's an agreement that got broken through foolishness some time ago but now there's a chance it can be re established."   "And it needs to be" added Arlissa, "before we lose all of this.  All it will take is a message too the house of Carline and the wheels can be set in motion."  Nikolai started to fidget; "Err if I'm not needed, I'll be in the guest quarters" and with a deep bow, he hastily left the chamber.  The Doctor moved away from the window and sat again.  He paused before he spoke again, "Yes marriage perhaps, but are you sure there is no other way hmm?"

    A guard stretched and relieved the tension in tired limbs.  He turned a corner and then paused in mid stride.  Had that drape covering that alcove just moved?  No, a trick of the light he thought.  He missed the edge of the drape twitch as something, or someone moved it slightly.  The guard passed the alcove and the figure behind it, waited long enough for him to vanish from sight.  Slowly and with uncanny silence, the figure moved into the passage and went in the direction the guard had came from.  Without hesitation, it turned a corner and as quietly as a cat, began ascending a staircase.

    Ben lay on a hard bunk, on top of a mattress that he could have sworn was stuffed with gravel.  He couldn't get comfortable at all.  He sat up and tried to blink grit out of tired eyes.  Silently he lowered his legs too the floor and crossed the room, and stood by a window.  He parted a curtain and gazed down at a courtyard.  Few lights shone at this hour, but he knew that behind one of those windows, the Doctor and Polly were engaged in Lord only knows what.  Ben was somehow certain that the two of them were safe and sound, but that still didn't stop him from feeling edgy.  Something was in the air, of that he was certain, but he was damned if he knew what it was.  Trouble almost certainly, but what kind and where would it come from?

    In the meantime, Polly also found it hard to sleep.  The Doctor was still chatting to Krayvin, Arlissa and Vulcron.  Not much of the conversation that she had been a witness too had registered with her, but one thing had.  Arlissa had tried to explain too the Doctor how magic worked.  Something about believing that you could do anything you wanted, and once you believed that, all it took was converting belief into action.  So she thought, if that's true, then maybe I can do something simple?  Should I even try? Why not? What harm could it do?  She looked aross at an unlit candle and thought, I can light that candle!  She immeadiately felt stupid.  How could I do that then? Send a bolt of flame across the room? A spark? Will the thing to just light itself?  But even so, she stretched out her hand and began to concentrate really hard...

    At the top of the staircase, the figure turned right and headed towards Krayvin's conference room.  They were still talking.  It paused for a moment, it's head cocked to one side as it listened too the conversation but gave no sign if it understood anything of what was being said.  It suddenly stood upright as it heard someone coming up the staircase.  It quickly calculated it's chances of being able to get under cover before it was detected.  That doorway there perhaps.  It moved and found that the door opened under the pressure of it's hand.  If it could have done so, it would have breathed a sigh of relief because the room was empty.  It partially closed the door and watched through a tiny gap, as a servant girl walked past, a salve of fruit carefully balanced in the palm of her hand.

    Polly concentrated until her head began to hurt.  No, this was dumb!  She shouldn't have tried it, but with one, brief sigh of exasperation, she muttered, "Light!"  And something happened but not what she expected or wanted.  Instead of the candle being lit, a small but brilliantly bright orb of light, appeared at her finger tip.  As she stared at it in wonder, she raised her hand and gasped as she saw that the light stayed right where it was, as if it was glued too her fingertip.  She moved her hand through the air, trying to shake the globe of light off, but it stubbornly refused to go anywhere.  Polly began to giggle.  She couldn't get it to get off her fingertip, but although the light felt warm, it didn't hurt.  OK, she thought, let's try something else.  She narrowed her eyes and in her head, said "light, move!"  She laughed as slowly but surely, the tiny orb of light, slowly drifted across the room.

    Nikolai yawned as he headed towards his guest room.  He bowed his head slightly as a servant girl carrying fruit on a salve, walked past.  She blushed and he laughed quietly.  It was as he approached his quarters that he felt that something was amiss.  Was that door slightly ajar when it should be shut?  His hand drifted slowly towards his sword hilt.

   Target approaching.....identity confirmed...Nikolai.  An enemy but not the target.  Calculating options.....neutralise!  The figure stepped into the shadows beside the door, even as it swung inwards.

   Nikolai's blue steel sword was in his hand.  It could slice through most living things with uncanny ease.  The blade had been beaten and flattened multiple times and strengthened.  Some simple enchantments had also been worked into the metal.  He need never sharpen the blade, because it would never dull.  It was also enchanted with a hex that made sure the blade wouldn't break unless subjected to severe pressure or shock.  The sword would also discharge heat upon contact with a foe, and indeed he had once witnessed the robes of a Marsh Hag ignite upon contact with the blade.  Now the door was open and his senses told him that the figure was hidden behind the door.  Even as he strode with purpose into the room, the door was swiftly and silently pushed shut, and his attacker lunged forward.

   Krayvin looked at the Doctor as he weighed up the information that he had been given.  Krayvin could tell that despite his age, there was nothing wrong with the mind, even though the body was frail.  He also sensed that the Doctor had worked out what others had not.  Oh they might suspect, but they didn't know, not for certain.   Arlissa broke the silence, "Marriage is a binding contract and would-"  but he suddenly spoke up; "Would not nessecarily stop the tension.  A written treaty would be more valuable surely?"  Arlissa sighed, "But the union would show that the clans are united, not just one man and one woman.  And heirs would further cement the bond."

    The Doctor harumphed. "The heirs would do no such thing!   Brothers cannot marry their...oh silly me!" he chuckled, "Yes of course, arranged marriages.  I should have realised.  But sometime in the future, a couple will be bound together and find that they do not like let alone love each other, and another problem will arise, not that that's meant as a criticism of your society or it's beliefs and traditions. And I hasten to add I won't be here to see that happen, I intend to leave long before then.  But this immeadiate problem is an echo of the future dilemma you may face.  I trust that Lord Krayvin at least knows the lady in question?"  Krayvin smiled wryly, "Yes Doctor we have met.  She was selected for me when I reached my ninth summer, and we get along nicely."  The Doctor said nothing, but merely nodded as he settled back in his seat as a serving girl offered him some fruit.

   Nikolai opened his mouth to shout for some assistance but the attacker was too fast.  Despite it's bulk, it moved with cat like grace and one hand grasped him by the throat, cutting off his air and stopping the shout from escaping his lips.  He watched as it raised it's other arm and his eyes widened as he saw that the attacker didn't possess a hand; where the appendage should be, was a large sphere made of bronze or copper and it was travelling towards his skull.....

   "Oh go out!" she said with exasperation and too Polly's relief, it did.  She sat down and thought, "I can't wait to show the Doctor!" but then realised that he might not be too happy that she had been experimenting like this.

   Nikolai's body crumpled.  "Proceed to next objective.....remove any obstacle that gets in the way.....be quick!  You must not be discovered!"  It stepped towards the door but halted as it heard the servant girl go past on her way back too her own quarters.  Once she was gone, it stepped into the passageway and looked at the sphere at the end of it's arm that was now stained with blood.  Even as it took a step forward, the orb began to glow with a brilliant blue light....

  Arlissa sat bolt upright in her chair, and raised a hand to silence the Doctor and Krayvin.  Even as she opened her mouth to shout a warning, the door too the chamber crashed open, flying off it's hinges as a tall figure made of bronze and some other metal stepped into view.  A guard inside the room was swept aside as the sphere crushed his skull like an eggshell.  Even as Krayvin drew his blade, the Doctor quickly saw that the creature wouldn't be able to reach Krayvin that quickly so it must have another way of attacking.  He saw the glow coming from the orb and even as Arlissa began to evoke, a bolt of blue light struck her in the chest.  She flew backwards and slumped against the wall.  Krayvin drew his blade and the Bronze Man strode with purpose towards him.  The Doctor frantically searched for something to protect himself and the Lord, and as he moved, the automaton raised the orb, and a bolt of cobalt blue light struck the Doctor down.....

                                                                                                                 NEXT EPISODE:  THE BALANCE TIPS