by M. J. Baker
Rula gaped at him, horrified.
"NO!" she cried, standing up. "We never resurrect a Sister who has passed!"
"Why not?!"
"It's too complicated, we don't know the elixir's effects after brain death."
"Well, it's not like we can make Ohica's brain worse!"
Rula glowered at him.
"Ohica had been suffering, she asked Ohila to help her die. Do you really want to force her to go on living just to settle your conscience?" she snapped.
"Ok, maybe not a full dose, just a drop?" Derrin suggested. "Not enough to resurrect, just to give her brain a spark, something you can latch onto to track the node."
"Me?"
"I'm not a telepath."
"And I'm not skilled enough, we need a more senior Sister with stronger telepathy."
"Rula! We can't tell anyone!"
"I can't!"
"Just try! Please!"
Rula slumped in defeat and reached into her robes. She produced a small vial containing a silver liquid and held it out to the serving boy.
"This is my dose for the day. I've been too busy to take it. A drop should give her a few seconds of life, enough time for me to read her mind and get something we can use to isolate the neural node. Only a small drop, though, I want to make sure she doesn't suffer," she said warningly.
Derrin took the vial and stepped over to Ohica's body. He steeled himself and threw back the blanket, gasping sharply when he caught her vacant gaze. Rula went over to the elder, placed the fingertips of one hand on Ohica's forehead and concentrated. Derrin opened Ohica's lips, breaking the peaceful smile she'd been wearing since her death, and uncorked the vial. With trembling hands, he held it open over Ohica's face and let a miniscule drop shiver out and fall into her gaping mouth.
Instantly, Rula was overwhelmed with a sharp headache as a flood of foreign thoughts rushed in. Her free hand shot to her wrist to hold it in place as the muscles spasmed, reflexively trying to release her grip as though she'd seized something hot. After a long moment, Rula sensed, rather than felt, a soft hand on her own and the pain subsided. She felt a mind whispering into hers, gently.
Thank you, child, it said. I go to my rest willingly; but there is one Sister who did not, while another denies her own. Save them both, child! Save Ohila! Save the Sisterhood!
The presence faded and the connection was broken. Rula opened her eyes and saw Derrin looking worried, still holding the elixir vial. Ohica's eyes were closed now and her contented smile had returned. Ohica's final thought resonated through Rula’s mind.
"Let's go," she said.
Derrin smiled approvingly, covered Ohica's body once more and collected the Kharus spear.
Chapter 16
The darkness around the Warrior was impenetrable, even the dim torchlight of the caves and temple corridors had not prepared him for such thick blackness. The Warrior raised his arms, prepared to fend off a blind attack.
Suddenly, an enormous sphere of flame erupted above him. A face began to take shape within the blaze and two ruby eyes shot through the light. The flames subsided, leaving only a gigantic, disembodied head among the embers. Staring down at him, the young-old face he'd felt in Ohica's mind bore into him with cruel red eyes. Several smaller fireballs burst into life around the edges of the room, roaring with thunderous applause to their maker.
"Yes, yes!" the Warrior called out, exasperated, "I've already seen your damn Halloween mask. Show your real face, coward!"
Its sardonic smirk curled up its cheek until the face was split apart and burst into smoke. An acrid smell, like newly-extinguished candles, hit the Warrior's nostrils as he watched the smog swirl around in front of him, coalescing into a humanoid figure slightly taller than himself. Where eyes should be, two red orbs glinted menacingly through the smoke, which dissipated to reveal the same face atop a slim body clad in a scarlet cloak. Now the Warrior could see that the creature's whole body was shifting like its face. Exposed skin smoothing over and wrinkling in an instant. Soft hands withering into gnarled claws and back again with an audible crunch of bone. Every limb, every joint, every cell seemed to writhe beneath the robes as they rushed through the cycle of degeneration and regeneration. The creature's face blurred between a sallow-skinned hag and golden-skinned girl. Each image only visible for a moment before it changed again, crimson eyes unmoved by the tides of youth and age constantly washing over it.
Two more fireballs struck up on either side of the creature, illuminating a basalt throne behind it that could have been a natural rock formation were it not for the countless jewels covering every inch. The weak light from the half-dozen hovering stars glinted off them, making the throne seem to dance in searing white fire. The creature moved a hand inside the pocket of its robe and from it produced a perfectly ordinary cigarette. The thing leaned forward to light it on the nearest fireball. It fixed its glowing red eyes on the Warrior expectantly and took a drag on its cigarette.
"Uh...well," the Warrior spluttered. "Good afternoon."
The creature spread its arms sarcastically, cigarette clenched between its teeth.
"Ta-da!" it croaked.
The Warrior looked at the thing dumbly. It sighed and flopped down onto the throne, taking another drag of the cigarette with obvious relish.
"Those things will kill you, you know," the Warrior called uncertainly.
"Oh, for Pythia's sake! Are we really going to do the pointless bantering before a dramatic reveal thing?”
"Well, I am a bit short on time. Do you mind if we skip ahead a little?" the Warrior asked politely.
"It's me. Maren. We met when-"
"I remember," the Warrior interrupted. "That time with Morbius and Solon. I thought you were dead."
"I thought so too. Turns out that throwing yourself into an immortality-granting fire is a rather counterproductive way of committing suicide."
Maren took another drag of her cigarette.
"So you're immortal? I mean...immortal-er?"
"The Sacred Flame embedded its properties into every cell of my body, the will of Pythia, I suppose," she grinned cynically. "But my Karnian physiology is rejecting it so my bodies ages quickly, whilst the Flame's power rejuvenates it at almost the same rate. Sound familiar?"
"So rather than taking elixir, you've learnt to regenerate?!" the Warrior said, appalled.
"Is it so surprising? After all, the Time Lords use the elixir we provide them to stabilise difficult regenerations. The processes are different, but compatible. I'm a living embodiment of that. Part-Karnian, part-Gallifreyan. My blood boils with elixir and regeneration energy combined."
"So why hide yourself away like this?"
"Anti-Time Lord sentiment. Which, ironically, I helped to whip up", she chucked, chewing the end of her cigarette ruminatively. "The Sisterhood would never accept me like this and I'd become a martyr for my sacrifice by then anyway. I figured better to have that as my legacy than being the Reverend Mother who'd nearly allowed the elixir to dry up and then been executed for Time Lord sorcery. I can run things from the shadows just as easily."
"So the Sisterhood's advances, regenerative technology and weaponry, dimensional engineering, trying to copy the Time Lord's Matrix, that was all down to you?"
Maren nodded.
"But why?" the Warrior continued.
"To defend ourselves. There is a war on, you know."
"The Time War?"
"The very same."
"But you're immortal! What harm can the Daleks do to you?"
"Plenty, if the Sacred Flame is stolen by our real enemy."
"Your real enemy? Oh...tell me you don't mean the Time Lords," the Warrior sighed.
"Of course!"
"Have you met the Daleks?!"
"Yes, and so have the Time Lords!" she thundered, "Yet they're still willing to wage a pointless war with them and are getting more desperate to win with each passing eon. Thousands of battlefield regenerations every day. The alliance between K
arn and Gallifrey has never been an easy one, Doctor. How long will it be before the Time Lords get sick of limited regenerations and importing elixir from us? They'll invade Karn and take the Sacred Flame for themselves. It's inevitable."
"No, it's not! A Time Lord would never willingly become immortal. Rassilon taught-"
"Pfft, Rassilon?” she snorted. “He's just a Time Lord with a silly glove. He's scared of death too."
"Says the immortal who faked hers."
"Just wait, Doctor. How long do you think it'll be before the Time Lords decides to wake him up? Maybe they already have, and he's been working behind the scenes like I have."
The Warrior ran a hand through his unkempt grey hair.
"So you're scared of a Time Lord invasion. That's ridiculous but you're a paranoid maniac, I get it. You're not doing yourself any favours though, accelerating time itself to gain these new toys. The Time Lords are going to notice eventually. You've practically painted a target on your forehead!"
"I know, which is why I elevated Karn's scientific development even further. To create the best possible weapon against the Time Lords."
"Which is?"
"You."
Chapter 17
Rula's eyes were shut, but she made confident turns into corridors with Derrin following behind. She'd had no trouble identifying Ohica's brainwaves among the mental background noise in the temple and was now practically marching towards it. Derrin noticed her anger at resurrecting Ohica had disappeared after making the connection and she was using her powers confidently, purposefully. He hoped that her resolve would hold out even when they found the Doctor. He didn't want her to be in danger, but he also didn't want to face him alone.
"Derrin," Rula said eventually.
He peered around her and spotted it. A puddle of discarded robe at the foot of a tunnel wall down which ran a thin crack that both recognised as the sign of a door hidden through angular misdirection. The Sisterhood had decided to make every crack on the secret temple entrances identical so they'd be easier to find, or risk having Sisters and serving boys running headlong into every fractured rock for miles. They approached it carefully.
"I've never seen a hidden entrance inside the temple," said Derrin.
"Me neither," said Rula.
They both began moving haphazardly around the area, trying to find the right angle to see what was hidden behind the crack. After a minute, Rula found it and gestured Derrin over to her.
"Stand on your tiptoes," she ordered.
Derrin elevated himself so that his height matched Rula's and he saw it too. The crack widened to reveal an oak door scrawled with Pythian script. Still on his toes, he turned to the Sister.
"He's in there?"
"Definitely, I can sense Ohica's neural node."
"Thank you," he smiled. "I don't blame you for wanting to walk away. Honestly, I'm terrified. But the Doctor gave us both the choice and I signed up for this, you didn't. Whatever happens next, don't get involved. Keep yourself safe."
He tiptoed up the door, pushed it open and held the Kharus spear ready. Then he was gone.
Safe.
Ohica's dying words resurged in Rula's mind.
Save the Sisterhood!
Rula had always believed that wisdom simply a collection of lessons that could be passed down. She thought that recording the brainwaves of the elders, pooling their knowledge and cataloguing their experiences could produce the irrefutable tenants of true wisdom. But that brief moment when her and Ohica's minds were connected had imparted more insight than she could ever have gleaned from a neural mainframe. She knew now that real wisdom should not be received. It cannot be taught, only learnt. It comes from experience, taking risks and being willing to make mistakes. And, if Rula wanted to be wise, this might be the biggest mistake she could possibly make.
She strode up to the oak doors and followed after Derrin.
Chapter 18
"That makes even less sense!" the Warrior snorted. "If you wanted the Doctor to fight against the Time Lords for you, why bother with the elixir at all? Why not just control his mind like you did with Ohica?"
"Her mind had degenerated so much that her psychic defenses were weaker, that was the only reason I could control her," Maren sniffed. "You saw. I tried to take control of you and you broke free easily."
"But if you fear the Time Lords, why create a warrior to fight for them?"
"Because you hate the Time Lords! Almost as much as you hate the Daleks."
"They're my people!"
"Who you spent eight lifetimes running away from and refused to defend in a war, no matter who else suffered. A war that the Time Lords always knew was coming."
"But that's just it! What good is another soldier for a time war? The war touches every moment in the cosmos, the Universe has never been and will never be at peace-"
"Unless something drastic happens," Maren grinned as she echoed the words he'd said to Ohila in the ceremony cave back at him. The Warrior was silent.
"How many times has it occurred to you?" she asked, standing up. "And how many of those times have you been able to admit it to yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
"You weren't created to fight the Time War. You were created to END the Time War! To destroy Gallifrey, wipe it from time! Save the Sisterhood from the Time Lord menace and, as a bonus, undo the eternal war they'd forced the Universe into," Maren screeched.
The Warrior was stunned for a long time, then he laughed throatily.
"You wanted me to destroy Gallifrey?! Well, I'm sorry I turned out to be such a disappointment."
"You defied my expectations, certainly," Maren nodded. "I was hoping you'd go back to Gallifrey and blow it up immediately, I didn't expect you'd fight for them. But that was down to Ohila. If she'd known what your true purpose was she might have made the Warrior elixir much stronger than she did."
"She didn't know? I thought she was hiding something…”
“She was, she’d given Ohica the means to kill herself. But that was just a coincidence, nothing to do with you.”
“Then why have Ohila killed?"
"Because you made her doubt, I sensed it. Through Ohica, I'd seeded the idea of creating you in Ohila's mind. There was a risk that she'd find out the truth and expose me. Plus, I had to get rid of the poison and keep Ohica around as my puppet. Fortunately, I could easily pin the murder on you, once the trial had put everyone’s mind to rest."
"But you let me go free."
"Because your duty is not yet done, soldier," she said sarcastically. "You still have a Time War to end."
"You still think I'm going to do it, now that I know I'm being manipulated? You really aren't very bright, are you? The torches are burning but no-one's home!" he taunted.
"Why do you think I brought you here, Doctor, if I'm going to tell you all this?"
"I thought we were doing the 'villain reveals their plan before killing me' thing?"
Maren laughed incredulously.
"No, dear. I thought I'd seen the last of you after the trial but, since you came back and were starting to figure it out, I knew there was no way I'd get rid of you until your mind was settled. So here's the truth and you can back to the war now. It serves my interests, admittedly, but with or without the elixir you know it's the only way to end the Time War and fix the damage it's done."
She sat down again, smirking confidently.
"Gallifrey will fall. At your hand."
Before the old man had time to respond, a yellow blur shot between them and the Warrior found himself at the business end of a crackling blue spear, spitting at his nose. The Warrior's gaze shot up from the weapon and he was eye-to-eye with Derrin, teeth bared, frothing with rage.
"You. Will. Not. Hurt. Anyone. Else," Derrin snarled.
"Sister, are you alright? This man is a Time Lord, you're in danger!" he called to Maren.
Though Maren was hidden behind the young serving boy, the Warrior could hear her snickering exc
itedly.
"Oh, yes dear. I'm fine," came her voice. "The Time Lord was just leaving."
"You don't understand, Sister. He killed High Priestess Ohila and the elder Ohica."
Maren gasped theatrically.
"Did he? Oh yes, now I recognise him. Wasn't he exiled? You better show him out."
Derrin's hitherto determined face faltered, clearly he'd only planned as far as track the Warrior down and confront him. The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment, the Kharus spear quaking dangerously close to the older man's face as both decided what to do next.
"Derrin! No!" came a voice from behind. The Warrior saw a fleeting burst of crimson light behind Derrin and the owner of the voice choked with a painful gulp. There was a heavy thump and a bundle of red robes flopped into the periphery of the Warrior's vision, shuddered and then lay still. Derrin's eyes widened in horror at the motionless body, but held the spear aloft.
"Oh, you STUPID BOY!" the Warrior thundered.
The Warrior seized the handle of the Kharus weapon, just below the spearhead. He gave the handle a sharp twist and it slipped from Derrin's grasp. The older man brought his other hand up with the spear and swung the handle down in a fierce arc, lashing the boy across the shins and taking out his legs. Derrin toppled face-first onto the stone floor and groaned in pain. With one fluid movement, the Warrior had flipped the spear around and advanced in tremendous, space-consuming bounds towards the shifting, young-old face of Maren. His creator.
The spear stopped less than an inch from the ancient creature, but Maren hadn't moved except to grow a satisfied grin. The Warrior longed to plunge the blade into her neck, little caring if she could survive it or not. Under his own power, it would have already been done. But his progress was being rebuffed by something intangible; gentle but firm. Maren's eyes were a cold garnet, not the scorching crimson that usually accompanied her mind powers, and were begging him to strike her down. To prove what the monster she'd created was capable of.
He could feel the mind that was holding him back. Though it spoke with no voice, the Warrior recognised it instantly as Rula. She'd regained consciousness and was somehow, with a psychic deftness well beyond her years, halting him.
I know what she did to you, I can see it in your mind. You were a good man once, it said.
"I tried to help the Universe. I never wanted to destroy, she made me!" he screamed aloud.
No, you made you. She may have turned you into the Warrior but you're the one who lived up to that name. The circumstances of your birth don't absolve your actions in life. Actions like this.
