Doctor Who_ Daemons - Barry Letts [61]
It was plain that the Master was now very angry indeed. The black determination on his face was terrible to see as once more he started the ritual of sacrifice, while the colossus at the end of the Cavern gazed with pitiless eyes. Once again the dreadful ceremony approached its climax. Once again the Master, holding the knife in his left hand, raised it on high.
'In the name of Athame, I dedicate this offering to thee, Azal, in exaltation of thy mighty power!'
This time Stan had no time to think, no time to be afraid. Stepping forward as quickly and as naturally as one might reach out to prevent a child from falling, he placed himself between Jo and the Stone of Sacrifice.
'No, Magister,' he said, with passionate conviction. 'It's not right.'
The Master's eyes flashed. 'To do my will shall be the whole of the law.'
'To do thy will shall be the whole of the law.' The coven, whipped up into a fearful excitement, responded with total sincerity. Stan was on his own.
'It's not right, I tell you. Listen to me, all of you...'
'Out of the way, son, or you're liable to get hurt,' growled one of Jo's guards.
'Can't you see? It's wrong!It's evil!'
The Master stepped forward. 'Obey me! You will obey me!' he thundered.
Stan still would not budge. 'I'm not going to let you do it...' His small voice echoed ridiculously, mocking his puny defiance.
The Master gave a snarl of rage, raised his right hand and smote Stan such a mighty blow that he staggered at least fifteen feet across the uncertain rock floor before he toppled senseless to the ground.
'Obey me!' said the Master to Jo's captors.
This time nothing stopped them. Her feet dragging, Jo was taken to the Stone of Sacrifice, and laid upon its stained surface in a state of stupefied shock.
A ghastly hush descended on the Cavern. The Master closed his eyes and started to mutter the final words of the rite, the secret words, words too terrible to be spoken aloud. Suddenly, the stillness turned into uproar. A great animal bellow of anguish came from the Dæmon; the coven uttered cries of fear as Azal, until now motionless, began to stamp his hooves and to sway his mighty body as if a pain too great to be borne was draining all his strength. Even the Master was forced out of the intense concentration with which he had been reciting the words of power. Thwarted once again, his fury turned on the coven. Cursing them for a craven pack of cowardly fools, by the sheer force of his will he quietened them. By the time Azal had begun to recover, by the time his groans had ceased to deafen and his stamping had ceased to shake the very earth, the Master was in control again
'Nothing shall hinder me!' he raged. 'This girl's life is my way to power. It is mine. Mine to take, mine to give. The waiting is over. She shall die! Now!'
He raised the knife. But this time it was no ritualistic gesture, but a movement full of evil purpose. 'Azal!' he cried. 'This life I give thee. Accept it, and in return, render me thy power...'
As the knife started to descend, the heavy door to the Cavern crashed open. Interrupted yet again, the Master swung round. There stood the Doctor, the light of day behind his head turning his shock of hair into a halo of silver. He slowly walked down the steps and across to the Stone of Sacrifice, the coven falling back in superstitious dread.
With a lightning change of mood, the Master smiled. He laid down the knife and spoke quietly and courteously. 'I've been expecting you, Doctor,' he said. 'You've saved me so much trouble by coming here. I really am most grateful.'
The Doctor ignored him. 'Hello,' he said to Jo, who was still stretched out on the Stone of Sacrifice. 'I can't tell you how glad I am to see you.'
'Oh, Doctor, Doctor,' she replied, finding no words to express her feelings: her relief merely to see him; her fear for his safety; her certainty that this time their old enemy really had the whip hand.
The Master looked from one to the other. 'How touching,' he said.
The Master's sarcasm was wasted on the Doctor. Having assured himself of Jo's