Doctor Who_ Wolfsbane - Jac Rayner [82]
The dryad darted forward, hissing at her. Sarah hurriedly took a step back. „What‟s that for?‟
„All the land wants is to sleep again!‟ The dryad tugged at her own hair, a gesture of despair. „This is not our time. The air is poison, choking us. The soil tastes of metal and unnatural things!‟
„The joy of the industrial revolution,‟ boomed the Doctor, gesturing around them with an expressive arm. „Did you hear that Sarah? Your world tastes of metal and unnatural things.‟
„Don‟t you go blaming me for any of this!‟ she said, indignantly.
„So you don‟t think we should sort it out?‟
„Well, of course we should, but...‟
He sighed. „Typical human. Won‟t accept any of the blame, but expects someone else to come and sort it all out.‟
She wasn‟t standing for that. „Hang on, I said we should sort it out, didn‟t I...‟
But the Doctor had leapt to his feet and was already striding off somewhere else. „Come on, Sarah,‟ he called back over his shoulder. „We‟ve got a wolf to find and a land to put to sleep.‟
She glanced at the dryad and gave a shrug. „See you again a fortnight ago.‟ Then, accepting the inevitable, she trotted off after the Doctor.
„What are we going to do?‟
„Put the land back to sleep, just as it wants.‟
„Yes, but how are we going to do that? Don‟t I get to know the plan beforehand?‟
The Doctor stopped abruptly, and Sarah almost barrelled into him.
She straightened her jacket. „So?‟
He looked down at her. „How did Hester Stanton wake up the land in the first place?‟
She ticked it off on her fingers. „Werewolf. Blood. Spells.‟
„The werewolf is connected to the land in some supernatural way. Getting a werewolf to spill blood - even if only that of a sheep -‟
„There‟s nothing “only” about a sheep,‟ interrupted Sarah.
„For the poor farmers concerned, anyway.‟
The Doctor dismissed that with a wave of the hand. „The werewolf and the blood combined woke the land, although not to the extent Hester required. Just enough so its slumber wasn‟t as deep as it had been for the past few centuries. So she fed it with more powerful human blood and cast her spells to control it, but that still wasn‟t enough. She needed more human blood fed to the very heart of the land through the supernatural connection that the werewolf possesses, and then she could use her magic to reach in and take hold of that heart, do with it whatever she liked.‟
„From what you told me,‟ Sarah shivered, „that just about sums it up. But, thanks to Harry, she didn‟t.‟ And then she thought about what he‟d said. „Are you saying that the only way we can control the land enough to send it back to sleep is to get this wolf-woman to start spilling human blood again?‟
The Doctor shrugged. „Without ancient magic such as Hester had, I doubt even that would be enough.‟
She struggled to find another solution. „Couldn‟t we cast the spells?‟
„Do you know the spells, Sarah?‟
She had to admit that she did not. „But perhaps there are some books lying around somewhere... Back at the Manor, or wherever her lair is.‟
„Magic isn‟t something you read out of a book. It‟s something that is learned and practised over the years, until it‟s a part of you.‟
She struggled to keep calm. „Ah. And you‟re telling me it‟s not a part of you, either?‟
He didn‟t answer. But she had another plan. „So, we take the TARDIS back to Arthurian times, find Morgan le Fay, get her to come back here and cast the right spells...‟
The Doctor stopped and stared at her. „Give a powerful evil sorceress access to time and space technology and stand back while she casts powerful magic a millennium after her time just as the world is about to be plunged into war?‟
„Oh, all right. Bad idea. You come up with a better one, then.‟
He smiled. „I rather think I have. Come on!‟
They set off through the wood again. „We‟re hunting a werewolf!‟ cried the Doctor.
Sarah jogged after him, grumbling. „We know I‟ve not been infected. I don‟t see why we still need to go out of our way to find