Doctor Who_ Cats Cradle_ Witch Mark - Andrew Hunt [60]
After a long silence he clenched his sharp teeth around the stem of the pipe and growled,
'Humankind, I am Ydvig. Why are you trespassing upon our land when the Sidhe and the men of Dinorben are sworn enemies? What purpose have you in coming here?'
'What's it to you, scumbag?' Ace shouted, her side roaring with pain where a carelessly directed spear had crashed against her ribs.
'Quiet, Ace,' the Doctor suggested mildly. 'We have come ... '
'I do not wish to hear excuses from a humankind, , Ydvig said.
'Then why'd you ask?' snarled Ace.
Ydvig rose and stepped down from his makeshift seat. His eyes narrowed as he approached Ace. 'We have been hearing strange things ever since the bright Globe departed from the sky. Voices tell us that our master has turned against you humans, that he seeks to give the world back to those to whom it belongs.’
‘And who does it belong to?' the Doctor asked.
‘Why us,’ Ydvig replied. ‘Long millennia ago, Goibhnie created a world for the Sidhe, but the paradise was soon despoiled by the arrival of others. And then you humans came. There are those of the Sidhe who have befriended you but now Goibhnie will drive out like the vermin that you are. We shall hunt you down and purge the land of your foulness.' He spat on the Doctor’s feet and turned away.
‘Why do you harbour such hate?’ the Doctor asked. Ydvig rounded on him.
‘Because we were the first and now we are the lowliest. Now you know how it is to feel that your god has deserted you. I sent a warrior to Goibhnie to ask how we should deal with you humankind. He gave us an answer which was no answer but now he has taken the Globe and he has unleashed his demons to drive you out. He looked at his humblest children and saw that they were in need and he came to their aid.’
Ace looked away from Ydvig and examined the crowd of Sidhe around her. At the back of the crowd, peeping out from behind adults, children gazed with wide, fearful eyes at the humans; the older Sidhe, clutching their weapons tightly, looked at their captives with open contempt. It was human society in miniature – the adults seething with prejudice and the children free of such feelings but being prepared for them every day.
Ydvig motioned to some of his people. ‘Tie them up in the prisoners’ tent,’ he commanded. ‘They will be dealt with as we deal with all such – as our creator, Goibhnie, commanded.’ He dismissed them with a cursory wave.
The Doctor, Ace and Bathsheba were bundled unceremoniously away from their audience with the leader and pushed into a small tent which had been erected around the base of an oak. Then, backs to the tree, they were bound and left there.
‘Is your side all right, Ace?’ the Doctor asked.
She smiled at him. ‘It’s just bruised, really. Feels worse than it is. It only just broke the skin.’
‘And are you all right, Bats?’
'I think so '
'Professor:' Ace asked, ‘was it just my imagination or were they, well you know, foxes?' Ace had noticed how doglike the faces of the Sidhe were, how their bodies were covered with red fur and a thick brush of a tail.
‘Well, obviously they aren’t really foxes,’ the Doctor said.
‘Obviously.’
‘But they do appear to have some fox in their lineage. Strange that. I wonder how it happened. I mean, they have opposable digits, better developed cerebral cortex than your average fox, but on the whole they did appear to be foxes.’
‘What will the Sidhe do to us? Will they kill us? What would Goibhnie have them do?’ Bathsheba asked, her voice tremulous.
The Doctor twisted in his bonds to look at Bathsheba. ‘He’s turned against your people, Bats.’
‘Dryfid told us how he made the demons kill an army,’ Ace added. ‘Honestly Professor, I don’t know why you’re so keen to see him.’
There was a slight hesitation from the Doctor. ‘Tackle evil at its core,’ he said. ‘Goibhnie has caused all this