An Alien Doctor in King Arthur's Court (or Thereabouts), Doctor Who/Merlin, gen
Title: An Alien Doctor in King Arthur's Court (or Thereabouts)
Main Cast: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Morgana
Gen, PG, 5,400 words
Notes: Inspired by doyle_sb4's fandom_stocking prompts. Thanks to blue_ant for the beta!
The Doctor and his companion go back in time. What could possibly go wrong?
The TARDIS was back to its regular soft humming, the console bathed in warm yellow light.
"So, where are we now, Doctor?" Donna asked, while fixing her new green scarf around her shoulders.
The Doctor's eyes glinted with pride.
"Today," he said, "we've gone beyond history, into myth and magnificence. Once we step out that door, we're going to be in the heart of a legend."
"Oy, those are some high expectations you're building up here!"
He winked at her.
"And don't I always deliver?"
The Doctor went to the door and held it open for her with an unusual flourishing bow.
"After you, my lady!"
She snorted, but straightened her back and stepped out, on thick, lush grass; she was closely followed by the Doctor.
"Donna Noble," he said emphatically, "welcome to Camelot!"
She took in the sight of hills sprinkled with houses, more and more numerous as they got closer to the top, and the castle overseeing them, round towers and high crenellated walls sharply drawn against a pale blue sky.
"You mean, like, Camelot-Camelot, with the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin and all? Not some random planet called Camelot?"
The Doctor's grin got even wider.
"Oh no, that very Camelot."
"Hm," said Donna. "I thought it would be bigger."
*****
The shadows had began to lengthen by the time they were within the walls of the city. The guards at the gate had looked at them suspiciously, but there were still a few people hurrying about. They were all walking intently, with their eyes focused on the ground, and very few hushed words could be heard.
Soon they were the only ones left, and Donna was just about to comment about the suspicious nature of that, when heavy steps approaching them made Donna and the Doctor turn in unison.
"Hey, you, stop right now! Why are you out after curfew?"
"Curfew? What curfew?" said Donna. "It's still light outside!"
"We're travelers from far, far away. We've only just arrived," the Doctor said glibly.
Donna picked up quickly.
"We don't know about any curfew."
"Travelers, hm? These are not good times for good people to be traveling," one of the guards said, eying them darkly.
"Hey, are you calling us bad people?" protested Donna. "You don't even know us!"
"Why don't you introduce yourselves then?" a new voice interfered, smoother and with an ironic inflection.
The guards stepped apart respectfully before the newcomer, their stance straightening. Donna looked at him with interest - and she couldn't believe her eyes. He was barely a boy! Not even very tall, with blond hair and very blue eyes, and looking like he barely filled his impressive armour. She was about to say something about that, but the Doctor elbowed her delicately and stepped up.
"I am the Doctor - sir Doctor of Tardis," he said, "and this is Donna Noble."
"Tardis? I've never heard of it," the boy said suspiciously.
"It's really rather small," the Doctor said, "from the outside."
"What, you mean it could be greater on the inside?" he asked in a jesting tone, and that was quite enough for Donna.
"Actually..." she began in a sharp voice.
"I mean, a man's home is his castle and all that," the Doctor cut her off brightly while elbowing her again.
"Oy!" hissed Donna. "That's enough!" She turned back to the boy. "And who are you to boss us around like you own the place?"
"Well," he began, mimicking her tone, "actually, I own the place. Or will, at some point. I am Prince Arthur, and you will show us some respect."
His attempt at dignity might have been more efficient if another boy hadn't chosen that moment to sneak into the forefront, managing to bump into Arthur and make him hop to maintain his balance.
"And I'm Merlin, his manservant," the boy said, grinning in a friendly manner.
"And resident idiot," Arthur said, turning to him with an irritated glare. "What are you doing here?"
"I... thought you might need my assistance," Merlin said, shuffling awkwardly.
"In doing my guard duty? How could I have ever managed all these years without you, I wonder."
The Doctor coughed allusively, and the two heads turned to them again.
"If you don't mind me asking, what was that about a curfew?" the Doctor asked. "It does seem rather early for that."
Arthur regarded them with the same cold suspicion.
"There are reasons for it, and it applies to you whether you knew about it or not. You shall be escorted to the dungeon."
Merlin whispered something to him and Arthur made a long-suffering face and shoved at him half-heartedly. He then turned to the guards and added: "Give them the best cell, the one for the nobles. Who knows, maybe pigs fly and sir Doctor of Tardis is telling the truth, and I don't want to hear Merlin nag me about how ignoble it is to put a woman of her age into a cold dank cell."
"Hey, what about my age?" huffed Donna, but the Doctor shushed her imperiously until they were well away from Arthur and Merlin.
The guards escorting them didn't seem too interested, merely content to show them on their way as long as they were complying, so she turned to the Doctor and hissed in a passable attempt at discretion.
"My age, as if those school kids can talk!" Something else came to her mind as well. "Doctor, if we're in Camelot, am I supposed to believe that that prat," Donna pointed an accusing finger in the vague direction of the blond boy, "was the Arthur, King Arthur, and Ears over there the wizard Merlin?"
"Shhh," the Doctor said, with a vaguely guilty look. "I think... we're a bit early."
*****
Opening the cell door was easy work for the sonic screwdriver. Getting out, however, proved more difficult.
"Does anyone go in and out of my dungeons at will these days? Granted, more out rather than in, but one can always hope."
Donna recognised the unmistakable smug voice of Prince Arthur, and looked to see him holding a rather sharp and menacing sword. The boy they'd seen earlier - Merlin? thought Donna incredulously - was hovering by Arthur's side, looking curious and concerned.
"Since when is lock picking a skill for a nobleman?" Arthur drawled.
"You wouldn't believe how often it comes up when one is traveling," the Doctor replied in kind. "You can't keep peaceful visitors locked up for no good reason and expect them to just sit around meekly. Besides, we're experienced travelers, maybe we could help."
The prince narrowed his eyes at them.
"Who says we need help?"
"Well, one doesn't put a pre-dawn curfew for nothing." The Doctor stared him down unblinkingly. "And those were some really unhappy subjects we came across in your city, sire."
Arthur sheathed the sword and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
"Very well. We might as well tell them, Merlin."
"There is a strange beast on the loose," Merlin told them. "It started with a few cattle killings, but then it went to people. Men, women, children, it makes no difference. All we ever find are dried-up, shrivelled bodies, and sometimes not even that. We've never seen anything like it. The attacks started at night, but became bolder and bolder. Only two days ago a farmer was snatched when he was feeding the chicken the last meal of the day. Which is... rather early," Merlin added, looking dubiously at Donna's attire, as if he wasn't sure she knew much about a farmer's life.
"The beast grows stronger with every kill," Arthur intervened, "stronger and more vicious. That's why the curfew is so severe - every victim is not just another life lost, but it makes our work more difficult."
"Your work being, I suppose, to kill it," the Doctor said, not a question as much as an assertion.
"Of course!" said Arthur. "If only we could. Every time we went hunting it, it's like it knew."
"Maybe it did," the Doctor said. "Have you considered that?"
"It is a clever beast, no doubt about that, but cleverer beasts than this one have fallen into traps. We'll catch it. And we'll catch it tonight," Arthur said with determination.
"Oh, if things were done by being spoken firmly about them," the Doctor said, tilting his head to gaze at Arthur.
"I'm doing more than speaking," Arthur replied sharply, "as soon as people stop wasting my time. Walk back to your cell unless you want to be thrown back. Guards!"
Two men stood up at attention at his command.
"I'm making you personally responsible for these two miscreants. See to it that they stay put this time."
The guards turned to Donna and the Doctor with grim, determined expressions, and Donna scoffed after the fast departing Arthur.
*****
Merlin had just finished adjusting Arthur's armour, fiddling needlessly with some bit or another in that way which he knew was going to annoy Arthur, but couldn't help himself doing nonetheless, when Morgana burst into the chamber. She looked pale and troubled, and Gwen was trailing unhappily behind her. Merlin forgot to tie Arthur's mantle, his attention stolen by Morgana's appearance.
"Arthur, you shouldn't go on this hunt," she said, her voice shaky.
"Oh, here it is again, more 'Arthur, don't do that, I have a feeling,' or 'Arthur, don't go there, I've had a dream' - what is it this time, Morgana?"
"A dream," she said, glowering at Arthur. "But it felt so real! I saw you, caught as if in a spider web, you and Merlin both, and..." Her voice cracked and she put a hand to her forehead. "There was something else I couldn't quite see, like there was a... presence, old and powerful."
"Was it a good or maleficent presence?" Merlin asked, while Gwen handed Morgana a cup of water.
The presence of the strange traveler who called himself Sir Doctor was making Merlin uneasy in a way he couldn't quite explain, for different reasons than those of most people who were eying the stranger suspiciously.
"I... don't know," Morgana said, "it was..."
"What it was, Merlin, was a dream," Arthur interjected crossly. "Could you find something more useless to concern yourself with, say, I hear we're out of rotten fruit, how about that?"
"I just like hearing other people's dreams," Merlin said, smiling benignly. "They're always more interesting than dreaming about being put in the stocks."
Arthur rolled his eyes and poked him in the ribs.
"We don't have time for this! Come on, if you insist on taking part to the hunting trip, that is. Or are you keeping your two left feet out of it?"
"No, of course I'm coming," Merlin said.
"Arthur, don't go!" cried Morgana, and Gwen had to restrain her in her arms.
"Morgana, you know he has to go," Gwen said softly.
"I know," Morgana whispered. "I just wish he'd listen to me at least. I wish someone would listen to me."
Merlin would have liked to say something, to reassure her that he minded every word she'd said, but he closed his mouth again and hurried after Arthur.
*****
The guards were standing like statues in front of the cell door. Donna sat primly on the only bed - a makeshift construction of crates put together - while the Doctor sprawled on the thick layer of straw.
"Hm, do you think they change it every day? Seems rather fresh to me," he said, twirling a straw in his fingers. "Or does that only happen in the cell for royalty? We're just nobles, after all."
"Focus, Doctor!" hissed Donna in what she must have thought of as a conspiratorial manner. "How are we getting out of here?"
"Oh, but we're not," the Doctor said cheerily.
"What? Shouldn't we go out there and see what it's all about?"
"They don't want us out there, they want us in here," he said gesturing with the straw, "so this is where we're staying."
"But they're in danger, and they've no idea what they're facing!"
"Well, we don't either, to be honest."
"We don't?" Donna asked.
"How should I know? I haven't even seen the creature in action! It could be anything - well, not anything," he said, making a face, "but a great many deal of things." He started to count on his fingers. "It could be a Hvath, in which case it's going to go away on its own as soon as its wings develop, or it could be a Zikos, in which case," he stopped and coughed. "Weeell, I don't think it's a Zikos, I hope so anyway, but it could be a Hrung, or a Verber, or a..."
He was interrupted by a commotion in the corridor - a door clanging open, the distant sounds of people shouting, and then quick footsteps approaching. The guards straightened their backs and readied their lances.
A commanding voice rose above all the din.
"I am Lady Morgana, and you will let me through!"
The Doctor stood up to look out the bars of the cell, and he was met with the sight of a pale young woman clad in a deep blue dress, closely flanked by a brown-skinned girl in a bright yellow attire.
"Lady Morgana, as in Morgan leF..." Donna began next to him, but the Doctor stepped unceremoniously on her foot and she stopped, glaring at him angrily.
"Are you Sir Doctor of Tardis, the man who came in today after curfew?" Morgana asked him.
"That's me," the Doctor said, grabbing the bars of the cell in his hands. "What's happened, my lady?"
Morgana was about to reply, but another guard chose that moment to rush in, almost bumping into Morgana.
"'scuse me, my lady," he gasped hurriedly and kept running and shouting. "It's the prince! It's taken Prince Arthur! All guards to join the search for the Prince!"
The corridor was filled with the sounds of men running and arms clanging, and then only the Doctor and Donna's guardians remained.
"What are you waiting for?" the man from before yelled at them. "Have you not heard the summons?"
"But we're under strict orders from the prince himself to guard these two," the taller of the guards said uncertainly, pointing at them.
"They're locked! And how do you think the prince will like to hear that you've been standing here doing nothing while he was in peril, in mortal peril perhaps?"
Morgana let out a muffled whimper at those words, and the Doctor looked in time to see her biting her lip and clenching her fists.
The guards looked at each other uncertainly, and then grabbed their lances and ran out, followed by the messenger.
The Doctor turned his full attention on Morgana.
"How can I help you, Lady Morgana?"
"You've heard what happened. You..." she said then stopped and looked at the other girl as if for reassurance. The dark-skinned girl nodded and Morgana went on. "Merlin said, if anything should happen, to bring you. That you might be able to help."
"He said that?" the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"Yes. Can you, sir Doctor?" Morgana was fixing him with wide, hopeful eyes, but he sensed a deeper, searching gaze behind it.
"There's not much I can do from within this cell, that's certain."
"Can we trust you?" the other girl spoke suddenly.
"And you are...?" he asked her with interest.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Gwen," she said, smiling slightly and looking down.
"Gwen," the Doctor repeated, and she must have thought he considered it a strange name, for she explained further.
"Short for Guinevere," she added.
"Guinevere?" Donna said sharply. "But that's..."
"A beautiful name!" the Doctor interrupted. "But I like Gwen too, and it's shorter and we might be short on time." He looked in turn at Morgana and Gwen.
"I can promise that I am a friend, and that I'll do everything in my power to help Prince Arthur. If you trust me or not, that is for you to decide."
"Strange," Morgana said with a small, mirthless smile, "but I trust you all the more for having said that."
She and Gwen drew closer to the door, and Morgana pulled a key out of the large sleeve of her dress.
"And would you help Merlin too?" Gwen added, while she turned the key in the lock. "He too has been taken, though no one is concerned about that."
"Oh, I am," the Doctor said, frowning. "I definitely am. Let's go!" he said and set a very quick pace for the four of them.
*****
Outside the flurry of motion continued, worried servants and maids gathering in small groups to chatter and cast furtive glances around. Most guards had already mounted their horses and sprinted out, but more kept being summoned.
Morgana led them through a less open path, behind what must have been the kitchens.
"Where are they all going?" asked the Doctor.
"To the forest, where they were last seen," said Morgana. "That's where we must go too, if we mean to help them."
"No," the Doctor said, "they won't be there anymore, and it's not we, it's just me and Donna."
"Sir Doctor, you promised you'd help!" Morgana cried.
"Of course we're going too," Gwen said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"I am going to help, and you're going to help too, both of you. Listen to me."
*****
"Are you sure it's going to go to a cave?" Donna whispered.
The forest was dark and uniform around them, eerily quiet except for the twigs and leaves crushed under their feet as they climbed.
"Fairly sure," he whispered back.
"But why are you sure it's going to go to this cave? What does it have that's so special?"
"Well, by this point I figure it's either a Hvath or a Hrung, and they need more water than the people they snatch can provide, so it's going to go near a river."
"And how do you know it's a..."
"Shh!" the Doctor shushed urgently. "Always so many questions. The Hvath's got a great sense of hearing, you know."
The ground was sloping upwards the more they walked, until they came to a fork in the path.
"That's it," the Doctor hissed, pointing theatrically to his left and beckoning Donna to follow him.
"Yes, I remember," she hissed, "I was there when they told us. I just don't have two hearts like some people, to hop around like a mountain goat." She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. "Do you think it was a good idea to tell them to call the guards?"
"We're going to need the backup," the Doctor said with a small wince.
He pulled his sonic screwdriver in front of him like a sword, and winked to Donna with his trademark manic grin.
"On my mark, one, two, allons-y!"
*****
Merlin could never get used to Morgana's visions being quite so literal. He'd thought the spider web in her dream was some metaphor of the intrigue and danger behind the creature's existence - he was certain it was a magical creature - and yet there he was, trapped like a fly in a really big spider's web, and he could barely turn his head to see Arthur struggling to his right in a similar knot. Except the creature didn't look like a magically overgrown spider, and the web was not sticky but really, really thick, more like grapevines than anything else. Knobbly, slimy, very resilient grapevines.
He'd tried to glare his magic at them, and they hadn't even budged. He'd even tried to hex them away, under the guise of muttering some swearwords, which Arthur was doing abundantly, and they'd barely twitched.
The creature hadn't consumed them yet, which brought him some small hope that maybe they'd been considered inedible and be let go - yeah, right. It hadn't released them, although it had devoured one of the knights that it had managed to snatch. Ephrain, the man's name had been, Merlin remembered sadly. He'd tried to stop the monster from grabbing Arthur.
Merlin heard a noise from the entrance and raised his head wearily, fearing he'd see the creature bring in one more victim to devour while it kept them for who knew what other purposes.
The mysterious traveler and his companion barged in, brandishing a strange-looking knife (Merlin guessed) and a stick, and his heart skipped with renewed hope.
"Sir Doctor, Lady Donna!" he exclaimed. "They've found you, then! Quickly, see if you can pull us free, maybe we can leave before it returns!"
"Merlin?" Arthur asked, a note of menace in his voice. "What did you tell and to whom, and what are they doing here?"
"There's no time now, Arthur, but he's here to help us! We must be fast," he told the man while he was using the knife in a very peculiar way against the vines, "I think the cave's got two entries and it's gone out by the other one, but it could be back any moment!"
The knife was making a very strange noise too, but it was another sound that made Merlin's stomach drop in despair.
"Oh, Doctor?" Donna warned.
"Too late! Watch out, sir whoever you are!" shouted Arthur.
The monster was back, looming and heavy, hissing steam through the many boils on its skin, and the Doctor gaped his mouth in what Merlin thought was justified horror.
"Oh, my giddy aunt!" he said, and to Merlin he sounded strangely awed and amazed.
"Sir Doctor, get away from it!" yelled Merlin, struggling to free himself although he knew it was futile.
"But I haven't seen one of these in years," he said, and he really sounded enticed. He passed the knife to his companion and went in the path of the monster. "Come on," he addressed the creature, "come here, slowly, there's a good boy."
Merlin watched with wide eyes as the monstrous thing slowly bowed its head, small compared to the rest of its body, to the Doctor's level. The Doctor touched the creature's head with both hands, unheeding of its slimy-looking skin or the spikes and unnatural ripples that seemed to bob under the surface of that skin.
"What are you doing here?" he murmured in a soft chiding tone. "Why are you doing this?"
Merlin had seen the creature devour Ephrain in the space of a minute, leaving nothing but a dried-out husk behind, and yet the man who claimed he knew what it was touched it fearlessly. He was either insane, or... he knew what he was doing, Merlin thought, seeing that it hadn't tried to grasp him in its limbs yet. He'd closed his eyes and scrunched his face into an expression of deep concentration, like the one Merlin had when he was trying to do a particularly difficult spell just right.
"Ooh, someone has been messing with your mind. So unfair."
His words didn't make any sense to Merlin, unless... was this man a sorcerer too?
They were all frozen into an uneasy expectation for a long minute, and then he opened his eyes and smiled wide.
"There, you're free now."
It still didn't make any sense, except that the tangle of vines suddenly released them, and both Merlin and Arthur spilled forward without its support, landing on arms and knees on the floor of the cave.
"What did you do?" Arthur asked, already suspicious before even climbing to his feet.
"Oh, just a bit of applied science," the Doctor said, "I'm the Doctor, remember? Sir is just a title, but doctoring is what I do."
"Uh, Doctor?" Donna said, and Merlin turned to see what was she looking at.
"Oh no, oh, no no no!" the Doctor yelled.
"What?" Arthur asked too, and then it became obvious.
The monster had been silent for a moment, and it had seemed that whatever the Doctor had done to it had been effective, but now more steam began rising from its skin, and its spikes rolled threateningly with the rippling of its muscles.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but it's not us! Aie!" the Doctor shrieked. "Run!"
"Where?" screamed Merlin, because the creature had blocked their path and seemed to have expanded and grown, and there was no way that wouldn't pass too dangerously close to it.
"There!" he heard Arthur shout, and turned to see him with his sword, pointing it at the creature with fierce determination.
Arthur grabbed Merlin with his left hand and shoved him behind, where the Doctor was shielding Donna, and advanced firmly to the seething mass of monster in front of him.
Merlin closed his eyes and prayed - and then he was showered with thousands of warm slimy bits, in the thunderous sound of something exploding. When he could see again, he saw that Arthur much dirtier than he was, and that only an elongated carcass remained of the monster.
The Doctor was crouching next to it, an expression of infinite sadness in his eyes. It made him look old, thought Merlin, old beyond the years written on his face.
"It had gone mad here," he spoke softly, "all alone and so far from home."
"Home? What do you mean?" asked Arthur impatiently, wiping at his face with a sleeve that was just as grimy.
"Nothing," the Doctor said glumly, "but that this creature wasn't evil. It just wanted to live. Someone else was using its fear and hunger." He turned to look at them. "Someone who could control its mind."
"These are dark times and we have many enemies who want to spread fear and confusion," Arthur said, and Merlin recognised the anger in his voice. "This just screams sorcery to me. Will we never be rid of the threat of magic?"
Merlin's heart sank at his words, and looking at the Doctor he thought he could read pity in his eyes. A shiver ran through him. Could this stranger who already seemed to know more than he should also know his secret? His gaze seemed to bore into Merlin's very soul, but it was a kind gaze, and out loud the Doctor said nothing.
"What we ask ourselves, Pendragon," a new voice rang, ragged and shrill, and they all turned as one to its source, "is - will magic ever be rid of you?"
The newcomer was a tall, bald man, clad in something that might have once been a beautiful robe, dirty and torn now over a peasant's rough clothes.
He raised a hand and hissed something, and before Merlin could do anything about it, the vines on the wall closed around him and Arthur again.
"You killed my servant, so I shall have to finish the work myself, Pendragon. And as for you," he said turning a cruel grin to Merlin, "I have great plans for you, boy."
Merlin tried to move his hands, ready to throw all caution to the wind, but found he could not budge a finger under the tight grip of the ropes. He cast his eyes about desperately for something to throw, but Arthur's sword had been seized by the vines too, and the cave was otherwise barren.
"Stop this," the Doctor yelled, "you don't have to use your magic like this!"
"No one tells me how to use my magic, least of all you or any other weakling," the warlock snarled, flicking his wrist and throwing the Doctor to the ground.
Donna tried to fling herself at the sorcerer, but he barely looked at her and she stumbled and fell, giving a sharp cry.
"Oh no, now you've gone and made me mad," the Doctor said in a low, menacing voice, picking himself off the ground. "Why don't you take on someone your size?" he growled, and gripped one of the warlock's arms in his.
He was looking the warlock in the eyes too, and Merlin wondered if the supposed nobleman was a wizard too, because the fight seemed to be carrying on inside, while they seemed locked in a staring contest from the outside.
Merlin used the time that their silent fight gained him to focus desperately on a portion of the ceiling, whispering words of power. He was trying not to look over at Arthur, who was hanging limply in the hold of the vines - he must have passed out when he hit the wall, or maybe they were too tight over his chest, and if Merlin could only strike down the warlock...
The rock cracked, and a piece of it dangled hesitantly for a second; then, at last, it broke loose and flew heavily through the air, and Merlin spared no mercy in making it hit the sorcerer as heavy as he could. He fell heavily to the ground, and Merlin felt the grip of the vines loosen, and he struggled free so he could run and catch Arthur. Arthur was breathing, thank God, and Merlin heaved a sigh of relief.
He hooked his arms under Arthur's shoulders, supporting him while he came to his senses. He looked to see the Doctor helping up Donna, and checked to see if the warlock was still down. The Doctor smiled and nodded to him, and then they heard voices from outside, and a few moments later three guards ran in. It was over. They were all alive and it was over.
"Sire, are you well, sire?"
"Arthur!"
Morgana and Gwen were there too, and soon they were all fussing around Arthur and him. Well, it was mostly Gwen who squeezed his hand and smiled gratefully at him, and all the others who fussed about Arthur, but considering that he was fussing about his friend as well, he couldn't really fault them.
"Well done, Arthur," a strong and powerful voice said, and Merlin froze.
Of course King Uther would be there too. While he didn't show anything overtly, Merlin saw his hawk's eyes assess Arthur's state, and then sweep the entire scene of the fight.
"I didn't do anything," Arthur muttered. Merlin could tell he was in a sour mood.
"What do you mean nothing, you killed the creature!" Merlin said.
"I didn't kill the wizard though, and neither did you," Arthur replied, scowling. "We were stuck to the wall like a pair of stupid mosquitoes."
"Who killed the warlock then?" Uther asked. "We owe him a debt of gratitude."
"I don't know, I was admiring the floor and looking for something to hit him with," Donna said, leaning against the cave wall so she could massage her ankle.
Merlin threw a quick, pleading look at the Doctor, and the Doctor took a step forward.
"I had something I could hit him with," he said vaguely, brandishing a short metal stick. He still had that sadness about him, and nothing of the pride of the victor in his face. He'd lied so much about his magic, and had Gaius lie for him too, that it hadn't occurred to him that others might find it a harder and bitter thing to do.
Merlin caught Donna look at the Doctor suspiciously, then at him.
"Well, you could've hit him before he wiped the floor with me," she said peevishly, and everyone else seemed to accept the implicit conclusion without any suspicion.
*****
"So what was it, Doctor?"
The Doctor was leaning on the console, gazing somewhere in its depth and probably not seeing it.
"A Hrung, a rather young one. Slipped through the rift, probably. Went mad with the scare and the loneliness, and that's how the wizard snatched it."
Donna knew how the Doctor got about these things, so she clung to the other thing he said to distract his attention.
"The Rift, as in the Cardiff Rift? Wasn't that supposed to be later?"
"Early activity, I think. It doesn't always start with a bang."
She could see the faint beginning of a grin on his face.
"Speaking of which, how about we got back to some more modern times? I think I've had quite enough of legends, thank you very much. I kind of miss running water and sleeping on beds."
"As the lady commands," the Doctor said, and began plotting the coordinates of the next magnificent adventure.
Main Cast: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Morgana
Gen, PG, 5,400 words
Notes: Inspired by doyle_sb4's fandom_stocking prompts. Thanks to blue_ant for the beta!
The Doctor and his companion go back in time. What could possibly go wrong?
The TARDIS was back to its regular soft humming, the console bathed in warm yellow light.
"So, where are we now, Doctor?" Donna asked, while fixing her new green scarf around her shoulders.
The Doctor's eyes glinted with pride.
"Today," he said, "we've gone beyond history, into myth and magnificence. Once we step out that door, we're going to be in the heart of a legend."
"Oy, those are some high expectations you're building up here!"
He winked at her.
"And don't I always deliver?"
The Doctor went to the door and held it open for her with an unusual flourishing bow.
"After you, my lady!"
She snorted, but straightened her back and stepped out, on thick, lush grass; she was closely followed by the Doctor.
"Donna Noble," he said emphatically, "welcome to Camelot!"
She took in the sight of hills sprinkled with houses, more and more numerous as they got closer to the top, and the castle overseeing them, round towers and high crenellated walls sharply drawn against a pale blue sky.
"You mean, like, Camelot-Camelot, with the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin and all? Not some random planet called Camelot?"
The Doctor's grin got even wider.
"Oh no, that very Camelot."
"Hm," said Donna. "I thought it would be bigger."
*****
The shadows had began to lengthen by the time they were within the walls of the city. The guards at the gate had looked at them suspiciously, but there were still a few people hurrying about. They were all walking intently, with their eyes focused on the ground, and very few hushed words could be heard.
Soon they were the only ones left, and Donna was just about to comment about the suspicious nature of that, when heavy steps approaching them made Donna and the Doctor turn in unison.
"Hey, you, stop right now! Why are you out after curfew?"
"Curfew? What curfew?" said Donna. "It's still light outside!"
"We're travelers from far, far away. We've only just arrived," the Doctor said glibly.
Donna picked up quickly.
"We don't know about any curfew."
"Travelers, hm? These are not good times for good people to be traveling," one of the guards said, eying them darkly.
"Hey, are you calling us bad people?" protested Donna. "You don't even know us!"
"Why don't you introduce yourselves then?" a new voice interfered, smoother and with an ironic inflection.
The guards stepped apart respectfully before the newcomer, their stance straightening. Donna looked at him with interest - and she couldn't believe her eyes. He was barely a boy! Not even very tall, with blond hair and very blue eyes, and looking like he barely filled his impressive armour. She was about to say something about that, but the Doctor elbowed her delicately and stepped up.
"I am the Doctor - sir Doctor of Tardis," he said, "and this is Donna Noble."
"Tardis? I've never heard of it," the boy said suspiciously.
"It's really rather small," the Doctor said, "from the outside."
"What, you mean it could be greater on the inside?" he asked in a jesting tone, and that was quite enough for Donna.
"Actually..." she began in a sharp voice.
"I mean, a man's home is his castle and all that," the Doctor cut her off brightly while elbowing her again.
"Oy!" hissed Donna. "That's enough!" She turned back to the boy. "And who are you to boss us around like you own the place?"
"Well," he began, mimicking her tone, "actually, I own the place. Or will, at some point. I am Prince Arthur, and you will show us some respect."
His attempt at dignity might have been more efficient if another boy hadn't chosen that moment to sneak into the forefront, managing to bump into Arthur and make him hop to maintain his balance.
"And I'm Merlin, his manservant," the boy said, grinning in a friendly manner.
"And resident idiot," Arthur said, turning to him with an irritated glare. "What are you doing here?"
"I... thought you might need my assistance," Merlin said, shuffling awkwardly.
"In doing my guard duty? How could I have ever managed all these years without you, I wonder."
The Doctor coughed allusively, and the two heads turned to them again.
"If you don't mind me asking, what was that about a curfew?" the Doctor asked. "It does seem rather early for that."
Arthur regarded them with the same cold suspicion.
"There are reasons for it, and it applies to you whether you knew about it or not. You shall be escorted to the dungeon."
Merlin whispered something to him and Arthur made a long-suffering face and shoved at him half-heartedly. He then turned to the guards and added: "Give them the best cell, the one for the nobles. Who knows, maybe pigs fly and sir Doctor of Tardis is telling the truth, and I don't want to hear Merlin nag me about how ignoble it is to put a woman of her age into a cold dank cell."
"Hey, what about my age?" huffed Donna, but the Doctor shushed her imperiously until they were well away from Arthur and Merlin.
The guards escorting them didn't seem too interested, merely content to show them on their way as long as they were complying, so she turned to the Doctor and hissed in a passable attempt at discretion.
"My age, as if those school kids can talk!" Something else came to her mind as well. "Doctor, if we're in Camelot, am I supposed to believe that that prat," Donna pointed an accusing finger in the vague direction of the blond boy, "was the Arthur, King Arthur, and Ears over there the wizard Merlin?"
"Shhh," the Doctor said, with a vaguely guilty look. "I think... we're a bit early."
*****
Opening the cell door was easy work for the sonic screwdriver. Getting out, however, proved more difficult.
"Does anyone go in and out of my dungeons at will these days? Granted, more out rather than in, but one can always hope."
Donna recognised the unmistakable smug voice of Prince Arthur, and looked to see him holding a rather sharp and menacing sword. The boy they'd seen earlier - Merlin? thought Donna incredulously - was hovering by Arthur's side, looking curious and concerned.
"Since when is lock picking a skill for a nobleman?" Arthur drawled.
"You wouldn't believe how often it comes up when one is traveling," the Doctor replied in kind. "You can't keep peaceful visitors locked up for no good reason and expect them to just sit around meekly. Besides, we're experienced travelers, maybe we could help."
The prince narrowed his eyes at them.
"Who says we need help?"
"Well, one doesn't put a pre-dawn curfew for nothing." The Doctor stared him down unblinkingly. "And those were some really unhappy subjects we came across in your city, sire."
Arthur sheathed the sword and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
"Very well. We might as well tell them, Merlin."
"There is a strange beast on the loose," Merlin told them. "It started with a few cattle killings, but then it went to people. Men, women, children, it makes no difference. All we ever find are dried-up, shrivelled bodies, and sometimes not even that. We've never seen anything like it. The attacks started at night, but became bolder and bolder. Only two days ago a farmer was snatched when he was feeding the chicken the last meal of the day. Which is... rather early," Merlin added, looking dubiously at Donna's attire, as if he wasn't sure she knew much about a farmer's life.
"The beast grows stronger with every kill," Arthur intervened, "stronger and more vicious. That's why the curfew is so severe - every victim is not just another life lost, but it makes our work more difficult."
"Your work being, I suppose, to kill it," the Doctor said, not a question as much as an assertion.
"Of course!" said Arthur. "If only we could. Every time we went hunting it, it's like it knew."
"Maybe it did," the Doctor said. "Have you considered that?"
"It is a clever beast, no doubt about that, but cleverer beasts than this one have fallen into traps. We'll catch it. And we'll catch it tonight," Arthur said with determination.
"Oh, if things were done by being spoken firmly about them," the Doctor said, tilting his head to gaze at Arthur.
"I'm doing more than speaking," Arthur replied sharply, "as soon as people stop wasting my time. Walk back to your cell unless you want to be thrown back. Guards!"
Two men stood up at attention at his command.
"I'm making you personally responsible for these two miscreants. See to it that they stay put this time."
The guards turned to Donna and the Doctor with grim, determined expressions, and Donna scoffed after the fast departing Arthur.
*****
Merlin had just finished adjusting Arthur's armour, fiddling needlessly with some bit or another in that way which he knew was going to annoy Arthur, but couldn't help himself doing nonetheless, when Morgana burst into the chamber. She looked pale and troubled, and Gwen was trailing unhappily behind her. Merlin forgot to tie Arthur's mantle, his attention stolen by Morgana's appearance.
"Arthur, you shouldn't go on this hunt," she said, her voice shaky.
"Oh, here it is again, more 'Arthur, don't do that, I have a feeling,' or 'Arthur, don't go there, I've had a dream' - what is it this time, Morgana?"
"A dream," she said, glowering at Arthur. "But it felt so real! I saw you, caught as if in a spider web, you and Merlin both, and..." Her voice cracked and she put a hand to her forehead. "There was something else I couldn't quite see, like there was a... presence, old and powerful."
"Was it a good or maleficent presence?" Merlin asked, while Gwen handed Morgana a cup of water.
The presence of the strange traveler who called himself Sir Doctor was making Merlin uneasy in a way he couldn't quite explain, for different reasons than those of most people who were eying the stranger suspiciously.
"I... don't know," Morgana said, "it was..."
"What it was, Merlin, was a dream," Arthur interjected crossly. "Could you find something more useless to concern yourself with, say, I hear we're out of rotten fruit, how about that?"
"I just like hearing other people's dreams," Merlin said, smiling benignly. "They're always more interesting than dreaming about being put in the stocks."
Arthur rolled his eyes and poked him in the ribs.
"We don't have time for this! Come on, if you insist on taking part to the hunting trip, that is. Or are you keeping your two left feet out of it?"
"No, of course I'm coming," Merlin said.
"Arthur, don't go!" cried Morgana, and Gwen had to restrain her in her arms.
"Morgana, you know he has to go," Gwen said softly.
"I know," Morgana whispered. "I just wish he'd listen to me at least. I wish someone would listen to me."
Merlin would have liked to say something, to reassure her that he minded every word she'd said, but he closed his mouth again and hurried after Arthur.
*****
The guards were standing like statues in front of the cell door. Donna sat primly on the only bed - a makeshift construction of crates put together - while the Doctor sprawled on the thick layer of straw.
"Hm, do you think they change it every day? Seems rather fresh to me," he said, twirling a straw in his fingers. "Or does that only happen in the cell for royalty? We're just nobles, after all."
"Focus, Doctor!" hissed Donna in what she must have thought of as a conspiratorial manner. "How are we getting out of here?"
"Oh, but we're not," the Doctor said cheerily.
"What? Shouldn't we go out there and see what it's all about?"
"They don't want us out there, they want us in here," he said gesturing with the straw, "so this is where we're staying."
"But they're in danger, and they've no idea what they're facing!"
"Well, we don't either, to be honest."
"We don't?" Donna asked.
"How should I know? I haven't even seen the creature in action! It could be anything - well, not anything," he said, making a face, "but a great many deal of things." He started to count on his fingers. "It could be a Hvath, in which case it's going to go away on its own as soon as its wings develop, or it could be a Zikos, in which case," he stopped and coughed. "Weeell, I don't think it's a Zikos, I hope so anyway, but it could be a Hrung, or a Verber, or a..."
He was interrupted by a commotion in the corridor - a door clanging open, the distant sounds of people shouting, and then quick footsteps approaching. The guards straightened their backs and readied their lances.
A commanding voice rose above all the din.
"I am Lady Morgana, and you will let me through!"
The Doctor stood up to look out the bars of the cell, and he was met with the sight of a pale young woman clad in a deep blue dress, closely flanked by a brown-skinned girl in a bright yellow attire.
"Lady Morgana, as in Morgan leF..." Donna began next to him, but the Doctor stepped unceremoniously on her foot and she stopped, glaring at him angrily.
"Are you Sir Doctor of Tardis, the man who came in today after curfew?" Morgana asked him.
"That's me," the Doctor said, grabbing the bars of the cell in his hands. "What's happened, my lady?"
Morgana was about to reply, but another guard chose that moment to rush in, almost bumping into Morgana.
"'scuse me, my lady," he gasped hurriedly and kept running and shouting. "It's the prince! It's taken Prince Arthur! All guards to join the search for the Prince!"
The corridor was filled with the sounds of men running and arms clanging, and then only the Doctor and Donna's guardians remained.
"What are you waiting for?" the man from before yelled at them. "Have you not heard the summons?"
"But we're under strict orders from the prince himself to guard these two," the taller of the guards said uncertainly, pointing at them.
"They're locked! And how do you think the prince will like to hear that you've been standing here doing nothing while he was in peril, in mortal peril perhaps?"
Morgana let out a muffled whimper at those words, and the Doctor looked in time to see her biting her lip and clenching her fists.
The guards looked at each other uncertainly, and then grabbed their lances and ran out, followed by the messenger.
The Doctor turned his full attention on Morgana.
"How can I help you, Lady Morgana?"
"You've heard what happened. You..." she said then stopped and looked at the other girl as if for reassurance. The dark-skinned girl nodded and Morgana went on. "Merlin said, if anything should happen, to bring you. That you might be able to help."
"He said that?" the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"Yes. Can you, sir Doctor?" Morgana was fixing him with wide, hopeful eyes, but he sensed a deeper, searching gaze behind it.
"There's not much I can do from within this cell, that's certain."
"Can we trust you?" the other girl spoke suddenly.
"And you are...?" he asked her with interest.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Gwen," she said, smiling slightly and looking down.
"Gwen," the Doctor repeated, and she must have thought he considered it a strange name, for she explained further.
"Short for Guinevere," she added.
"Guinevere?" Donna said sharply. "But that's..."
"A beautiful name!" the Doctor interrupted. "But I like Gwen too, and it's shorter and we might be short on time." He looked in turn at Morgana and Gwen.
"I can promise that I am a friend, and that I'll do everything in my power to help Prince Arthur. If you trust me or not, that is for you to decide."
"Strange," Morgana said with a small, mirthless smile, "but I trust you all the more for having said that."
She and Gwen drew closer to the door, and Morgana pulled a key out of the large sleeve of her dress.
"And would you help Merlin too?" Gwen added, while she turned the key in the lock. "He too has been taken, though no one is concerned about that."
"Oh, I am," the Doctor said, frowning. "I definitely am. Let's go!" he said and set a very quick pace for the four of them.
*****
Outside the flurry of motion continued, worried servants and maids gathering in small groups to chatter and cast furtive glances around. Most guards had already mounted their horses and sprinted out, but more kept being summoned.
Morgana led them through a less open path, behind what must have been the kitchens.
"Where are they all going?" asked the Doctor.
"To the forest, where they were last seen," said Morgana. "That's where we must go too, if we mean to help them."
"No," the Doctor said, "they won't be there anymore, and it's not we, it's just me and Donna."
"Sir Doctor, you promised you'd help!" Morgana cried.
"Of course we're going too," Gwen said.
The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"I am going to help, and you're going to help too, both of you. Listen to me."
*****
"Are you sure it's going to go to a cave?" Donna whispered.
The forest was dark and uniform around them, eerily quiet except for the twigs and leaves crushed under their feet as they climbed.
"Fairly sure," he whispered back.
"But why are you sure it's going to go to this cave? What does it have that's so special?"
"Well, by this point I figure it's either a Hvath or a Hrung, and they need more water than the people they snatch can provide, so it's going to go near a river."
"And how do you know it's a..."
"Shh!" the Doctor shushed urgently. "Always so many questions. The Hvath's got a great sense of hearing, you know."
The ground was sloping upwards the more they walked, until they came to a fork in the path.
"That's it," the Doctor hissed, pointing theatrically to his left and beckoning Donna to follow him.
"Yes, I remember," she hissed, "I was there when they told us. I just don't have two hearts like some people, to hop around like a mountain goat." She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. "Do you think it was a good idea to tell them to call the guards?"
"We're going to need the backup," the Doctor said with a small wince.
He pulled his sonic screwdriver in front of him like a sword, and winked to Donna with his trademark manic grin.
"On my mark, one, two, allons-y!"
*****
Merlin could never get used to Morgana's visions being quite so literal. He'd thought the spider web in her dream was some metaphor of the intrigue and danger behind the creature's existence - he was certain it was a magical creature - and yet there he was, trapped like a fly in a really big spider's web, and he could barely turn his head to see Arthur struggling to his right in a similar knot. Except the creature didn't look like a magically overgrown spider, and the web was not sticky but really, really thick, more like grapevines than anything else. Knobbly, slimy, very resilient grapevines.
He'd tried to glare his magic at them, and they hadn't even budged. He'd even tried to hex them away, under the guise of muttering some swearwords, which Arthur was doing abundantly, and they'd barely twitched.
The creature hadn't consumed them yet, which brought him some small hope that maybe they'd been considered inedible and be let go - yeah, right. It hadn't released them, although it had devoured one of the knights that it had managed to snatch. Ephrain, the man's name had been, Merlin remembered sadly. He'd tried to stop the monster from grabbing Arthur.
Merlin heard a noise from the entrance and raised his head wearily, fearing he'd see the creature bring in one more victim to devour while it kept them for who knew what other purposes.
The mysterious traveler and his companion barged in, brandishing a strange-looking knife (Merlin guessed) and a stick, and his heart skipped with renewed hope.
"Sir Doctor, Lady Donna!" he exclaimed. "They've found you, then! Quickly, see if you can pull us free, maybe we can leave before it returns!"
"Merlin?" Arthur asked, a note of menace in his voice. "What did you tell and to whom, and what are they doing here?"
"There's no time now, Arthur, but he's here to help us! We must be fast," he told the man while he was using the knife in a very peculiar way against the vines, "I think the cave's got two entries and it's gone out by the other one, but it could be back any moment!"
The knife was making a very strange noise too, but it was another sound that made Merlin's stomach drop in despair.
"Oh, Doctor?" Donna warned.
"Too late! Watch out, sir whoever you are!" shouted Arthur.
The monster was back, looming and heavy, hissing steam through the many boils on its skin, and the Doctor gaped his mouth in what Merlin thought was justified horror.
"Oh, my giddy aunt!" he said, and to Merlin he sounded strangely awed and amazed.
"Sir Doctor, get away from it!" yelled Merlin, struggling to free himself although he knew it was futile.
"But I haven't seen one of these in years," he said, and he really sounded enticed. He passed the knife to his companion and went in the path of the monster. "Come on," he addressed the creature, "come here, slowly, there's a good boy."
Merlin watched with wide eyes as the monstrous thing slowly bowed its head, small compared to the rest of its body, to the Doctor's level. The Doctor touched the creature's head with both hands, unheeding of its slimy-looking skin or the spikes and unnatural ripples that seemed to bob under the surface of that skin.
"What are you doing here?" he murmured in a soft chiding tone. "Why are you doing this?"
Merlin had seen the creature devour Ephrain in the space of a minute, leaving nothing but a dried-out husk behind, and yet the man who claimed he knew what it was touched it fearlessly. He was either insane, or... he knew what he was doing, Merlin thought, seeing that it hadn't tried to grasp him in its limbs yet. He'd closed his eyes and scrunched his face into an expression of deep concentration, like the one Merlin had when he was trying to do a particularly difficult spell just right.
"Ooh, someone has been messing with your mind. So unfair."
His words didn't make any sense to Merlin, unless... was this man a sorcerer too?
They were all frozen into an uneasy expectation for a long minute, and then he opened his eyes and smiled wide.
"There, you're free now."
It still didn't make any sense, except that the tangle of vines suddenly released them, and both Merlin and Arthur spilled forward without its support, landing on arms and knees on the floor of the cave.
"What did you do?" Arthur asked, already suspicious before even climbing to his feet.
"Oh, just a bit of applied science," the Doctor said, "I'm the Doctor, remember? Sir is just a title, but doctoring is what I do."
"Uh, Doctor?" Donna said, and Merlin turned to see what was she looking at.
"Oh no, oh, no no no!" the Doctor yelled.
"What?" Arthur asked too, and then it became obvious.
The monster had been silent for a moment, and it had seemed that whatever the Doctor had done to it had been effective, but now more steam began rising from its skin, and its spikes rolled threateningly with the rippling of its muscles.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but it's not us! Aie!" the Doctor shrieked. "Run!"
"Where?" screamed Merlin, because the creature had blocked their path and seemed to have expanded and grown, and there was no way that wouldn't pass too dangerously close to it.
"There!" he heard Arthur shout, and turned to see him with his sword, pointing it at the creature with fierce determination.
Arthur grabbed Merlin with his left hand and shoved him behind, where the Doctor was shielding Donna, and advanced firmly to the seething mass of monster in front of him.
Merlin closed his eyes and prayed - and then he was showered with thousands of warm slimy bits, in the thunderous sound of something exploding. When he could see again, he saw that Arthur much dirtier than he was, and that only an elongated carcass remained of the monster.
The Doctor was crouching next to it, an expression of infinite sadness in his eyes. It made him look old, thought Merlin, old beyond the years written on his face.
"It had gone mad here," he spoke softly, "all alone and so far from home."
"Home? What do you mean?" asked Arthur impatiently, wiping at his face with a sleeve that was just as grimy.
"Nothing," the Doctor said glumly, "but that this creature wasn't evil. It just wanted to live. Someone else was using its fear and hunger." He turned to look at them. "Someone who could control its mind."
"These are dark times and we have many enemies who want to spread fear and confusion," Arthur said, and Merlin recognised the anger in his voice. "This just screams sorcery to me. Will we never be rid of the threat of magic?"
Merlin's heart sank at his words, and looking at the Doctor he thought he could read pity in his eyes. A shiver ran through him. Could this stranger who already seemed to know more than he should also know his secret? His gaze seemed to bore into Merlin's very soul, but it was a kind gaze, and out loud the Doctor said nothing.
"What we ask ourselves, Pendragon," a new voice rang, ragged and shrill, and they all turned as one to its source, "is - will magic ever be rid of you?"
The newcomer was a tall, bald man, clad in something that might have once been a beautiful robe, dirty and torn now over a peasant's rough clothes.
He raised a hand and hissed something, and before Merlin could do anything about it, the vines on the wall closed around him and Arthur again.
"You killed my servant, so I shall have to finish the work myself, Pendragon. And as for you," he said turning a cruel grin to Merlin, "I have great plans for you, boy."
Merlin tried to move his hands, ready to throw all caution to the wind, but found he could not budge a finger under the tight grip of the ropes. He cast his eyes about desperately for something to throw, but Arthur's sword had been seized by the vines too, and the cave was otherwise barren.
"Stop this," the Doctor yelled, "you don't have to use your magic like this!"
"No one tells me how to use my magic, least of all you or any other weakling," the warlock snarled, flicking his wrist and throwing the Doctor to the ground.
Donna tried to fling herself at the sorcerer, but he barely looked at her and she stumbled and fell, giving a sharp cry.
"Oh no, now you've gone and made me mad," the Doctor said in a low, menacing voice, picking himself off the ground. "Why don't you take on someone your size?" he growled, and gripped one of the warlock's arms in his.
He was looking the warlock in the eyes too, and Merlin wondered if the supposed nobleman was a wizard too, because the fight seemed to be carrying on inside, while they seemed locked in a staring contest from the outside.
Merlin used the time that their silent fight gained him to focus desperately on a portion of the ceiling, whispering words of power. He was trying not to look over at Arthur, who was hanging limply in the hold of the vines - he must have passed out when he hit the wall, or maybe they were too tight over his chest, and if Merlin could only strike down the warlock...
The rock cracked, and a piece of it dangled hesitantly for a second; then, at last, it broke loose and flew heavily through the air, and Merlin spared no mercy in making it hit the sorcerer as heavy as he could. He fell heavily to the ground, and Merlin felt the grip of the vines loosen, and he struggled free so he could run and catch Arthur. Arthur was breathing, thank God, and Merlin heaved a sigh of relief.
He hooked his arms under Arthur's shoulders, supporting him while he came to his senses. He looked to see the Doctor helping up Donna, and checked to see if the warlock was still down. The Doctor smiled and nodded to him, and then they heard voices from outside, and a few moments later three guards ran in. It was over. They were all alive and it was over.
"Sire, are you well, sire?"
"Arthur!"
Morgana and Gwen were there too, and soon they were all fussing around Arthur and him. Well, it was mostly Gwen who squeezed his hand and smiled gratefully at him, and all the others who fussed about Arthur, but considering that he was fussing about his friend as well, he couldn't really fault them.
"Well done, Arthur," a strong and powerful voice said, and Merlin froze.
Of course King Uther would be there too. While he didn't show anything overtly, Merlin saw his hawk's eyes assess Arthur's state, and then sweep the entire scene of the fight.
"I didn't do anything," Arthur muttered. Merlin could tell he was in a sour mood.
"What do you mean nothing, you killed the creature!" Merlin said.
"I didn't kill the wizard though, and neither did you," Arthur replied, scowling. "We were stuck to the wall like a pair of stupid mosquitoes."
"Who killed the warlock then?" Uther asked. "We owe him a debt of gratitude."
"I don't know, I was admiring the floor and looking for something to hit him with," Donna said, leaning against the cave wall so she could massage her ankle.
Merlin threw a quick, pleading look at the Doctor, and the Doctor took a step forward.
"I had something I could hit him with," he said vaguely, brandishing a short metal stick. He still had that sadness about him, and nothing of the pride of the victor in his face. He'd lied so much about his magic, and had Gaius lie for him too, that it hadn't occurred to him that others might find it a harder and bitter thing to do.
Merlin caught Donna look at the Doctor suspiciously, then at him.
"Well, you could've hit him before he wiped the floor with me," she said peevishly, and everyone else seemed to accept the implicit conclusion without any suspicion.
*****
"So what was it, Doctor?"
The Doctor was leaning on the console, gazing somewhere in its depth and probably not seeing it.
"A Hrung, a rather young one. Slipped through the rift, probably. Went mad with the scare and the loneliness, and that's how the wizard snatched it."
Donna knew how the Doctor got about these things, so she clung to the other thing he said to distract his attention.
"The Rift, as in the Cardiff Rift? Wasn't that supposed to be later?"
"Early activity, I think. It doesn't always start with a bang."
She could see the faint beginning of a grin on his face.
"Speaking of which, how about we got back to some more modern times? I think I've had quite enough of legends, thank you very much. I kind of miss running water and sleeping on beds."
"As the lady commands," the Doctor said, and began plotting the coordinates of the next magnificent adventure.