Weavers of the Dark Paths: Chapters 1-7

The first 27 pages...

Angels of Shadow chapter 6 and 7

                                              Chapter

                                                   6

The Doctor stopped momentarily. A physic message came through to him and then he knew Tom, human Tom, was no more.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Amy looked upset as she wandered over to the Doctor and hugged him. Surprised, he hugged her back and held her tight. “Pond, he’s not human any more. Physic message, humans are not, umm, advanced enough yet.”

“Oi! What did he say?” The Doctor looked at Amy and smiled sadly. He whispered in Pond’s ear. “He said to me this. ‘I’m coming for your blood. Time Lord.’ We need to run. Now” He pulled Amy along, Amy giving a little scream as he did.

The Doctor and Amy caught up with Rory and Belle soon enough. The only thing was, they weren’t moving. The four of them found they were at a waterfall.

“A waterfall? I never knew and I’ve lived here all my life....”

“No time for that, we need to find another way out!” Several readings were taken on the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver then, for the second time in their visit, the Doctor licked something. Belle looked in confusion and Rory gave her a ‘this is normal’ look. The Doctor looked crest fallen. “The only way out is back, into the hands of my would be killer. We need to climb down.” Forbaith Tom burst through the crystal trees, followed by Gortail and the rest of his clan. Tom’s scarlet eyes looked around for the Doctor, who was hiding behind a tree.

“Come out; come out, where ever you are! You can’t hide forever!” Tom said as he sniffed the air. “I know you’re here! Now come out, or your red head friend gets it!!!” Tom grabbed Amy and pinned her to the ground, head over hanging the edge. His eyes raged like a forest fire and he looked about to bite into Amy.

“RORY!!! DOCTOR!!!” Screamed Amy. The other Forbaith looked for the time lord then a high pitched whirring screamed into the early morning. The Doctor casually stepped from behind his hiding place to see the Forbaith all in clutching their eyes with their paws. Amy nearly slid off the over hang but Rory caught her in an instant. Tom looked even angrier than before and he pounced at the Doctor, screwdriver flung out of his hand and coming so close to plummeting off the edge and down the waterfall. Tom’s claws were pressing into the Doctor’s chest and he couldn’t do anything, his screwdriver was under his foot, Amy and Rory were being pushed towards to waterfall’s edge and Belle... Where was she? Belle had gone and the Doctor feared for her. Sharp claws now were putting serious pressure on the Doctor’s chest and he felt about to choke. He swallowed. He never thought it would end this way, his friends on the edge of an abyss, another of his friends probably being hunted by the Forbaith and he was going to be stabbed through both hearts by a Forbaith who used to be his friend. Closing his eyes, the Doctor felt the pressure increase even more. Then it just stopped. Gasping for breath, the Doctor saw another Forbaith; it had knocked Tom off the Doctor’s chest. It was Belle. Her eyes were still blue and she smiled at the Time Lord. She then went on to make the Forbaith herding the Ponds towards the edge flee as she looked a cold stare at them. The Doctor picked up his screwdriver and stood up and he hugged Belle warmly, and then gave an equally warm hug to the Ponds.

“Feeling better?” Belle asked the TARDIS trio as they finished hugging. The smiles she received told her they were and she changed back to human form.

“How can you do that? I am loving that!!!”

“Like you said, strong will.” Behind them, Gortail and Tom looked murderous. Tom’s mouth was drooling as he looked in the direction of the Doctor, Gortail looked at Belle and Amy and Rory looked at each other, worried.

“If looks could kill.... Anyway, you had better run back to the rest of your pack, if you know what’s good for you,” the Doctor said to the two remaining Forbaith, brandishing the screwdriver.

“Next time. Doctor, I swear the next time we see I will you personally.” Tom snarled at the Doctor and left. Sighing, the Doctor returned the sonic screwdriver to his inside pocket. When the Doctor was sure all the Forbaith were out of ear shot, he ran off to get out of the forest. Amy ran after him, followed then by Belle. Rory stood for a minute, reluctant to run, yet again. Kicking at some of the crystal chips, he looked over the edge at the waterfall. And nearly fell off as what he saw sent a chill down his spine. Then he blacked out.

Tom had knocked out Rory. He knew what had happened but had no intention of keeping him. His only intention was taking the life of Time Lord and drinking his blood. He would this traitor and the blue box to get to the Doctor. As the Forbaith took the unconscious Rory back, he smiled grimly and licked his lips. He to his side as Gortail came to his side.

“Time lord for dinner tonight. My friend, we will shall be avenged with the death of the last of the time lords. All our families will be avenged. The Time Lords failed to stop our planet burning in the hands of the Daleks so the Doctor’s friends will fail to stop us ripping out his hearts. This ends tonight.”

                                              Chapter

                                                   7

“Doctor, why were Tom’s eyes red?” Amy was unsure as she entered the village behind the Doctor.

“He was changed with murder and rage in his mind. That’s all. That’s also why he took Rory,” Amy hadn’t even notice her husband’s absence and looked around as Belle came through.

“How do you know?”

“Physic message again. I have to meet them at first dawn.” The Doctor gazed at the half light sun, noticing that the beams of heavenly light were already peeking through. “That gives me half an hour until the sun rises....”

Rory awoke with a start. He found himself staring at a damp, black ceiling. He looked around the dimly lit room and wished he hadn’t. In the corner was a skeleton of a human, and the smell! Rory was nearly sick from the grotesque scent. He spotted a door with a small window and ran up to it to look out. The door was covered in green slime but Rory ignored it. Peering out, he saw he was being guarded by three Forbaith. He tried to break down the door but reckoned he would break himself before he did. One of the Forbaith looked around to him and growled. Rory lent against the door and slid down it. Sitting lent against the metal door, clothes covered in slime, he put his head in his arms and started to cry.

“Oh, Amy. I hope you and the Doctor are okay...”

The Doctor was pacing up and down the village centre, biting his nails, slapping his forehead, acting like a man possessed. Amy was biting her nails for a different reason. Rory. She was scared about what they might do to him. Amy looked up. The sun was rising and she heard a rustling in the woods behind her. Belle was alert and the Forbaith pack stepped out, lead by Tom and Gortail. A familiar voice came from behind Tom and Gortail as Rory was pushed forwards, clothes slimed. His hands were tied behind his back and Rory exclaimed in joy to see that Amy was alright. “Oh my god, Amy, never do that again!!!” Rory yelled out at Amy as the TARDIS came into view.

“TARDIS!!! Yes, my TARDIS is okay!!!” Amy just looked at the Doctor as he jumped up and down like a three year old at Christmas. He ran towards his beloved TARDIS but was pushed back by a Forbaith. He went back to join Amy and Belle and he slipped Amy the TARDIS key and his sonic screwdriver. “Just in case. You know what to do.” Amy looked up at the Doctor and slipped them in her back pocket.

“Time Lord. This ends now. Come with us and your friend and box will be released.”

“And if I don’t?”

“He dies and the box thrown into the waterfall,” Tom’s voice gave an annoying finality. The Doctor thought for a minute and gazed at Rory, then back to Amy and Belle. He mouthed a ‘sorry’ to them all and Amy knew what he was going to do. Rory seemed to know too and shook his head at Amy.

“Doctor, don’t.”

“Amy, I have to. I know what I’m doing,” he closed his eyes and Rory was let go. He stumbled as they pushed him away them he went over to Amy, who looked at him.

“Long story,” Rory said. “I’ll explain later,” Amy, Rory and Belle turned back to where the Doctor and the Forbaith were but they were gone. All that stood there now was the TARDIS. Amy pulled the key out of her pocket and stood looking at it. Walking over to the TARDIS, Amy knew she had to do something, as did Rory and Belle. Amy opened the TARDIS door and gestured for Rory and Belle to come in. Belle’s reaction was more than predictable as she stepped into the TARDIS. Belle looked at Amy.

“Big, yeah?”

“It’s bigger.... On the inside....”

“You’ll get used to it,” Amy said to her as the approached the console. Rory headed up the stairs to change his clothes and Amy pulled a lever. And it all went tonto.

The Doctor was being lead by Tom and Gortail. He wandered slowly, hands in pockets, head looking to the clear skies above him. He looked behind him and he couldn’t see the other Forbaith but he knew they were there. Every now and then amber eyes flitted by in the shadows of the crystal trees. The Doctor hoped Amy knew what she was doing and that she, Rory and Belle would keep his beloved TARDIS and faithful sonic screwdriver safe. Gaze floating back down, the Doctor found himself nearly walking into the Forbaith that was Tom.

“Watch it, Time Lord... You’re lucky that I don’t tear you limb from limb right here, right now,” the Doctor held up his hands in apology as Tom snarled at him. He found they had stopped at the Forbaith base. The door hissed open and the Doctor was pushed in from behind. Not wanting any more bruises from being shoved around, the Doctor walked on behind Tom and Gortail. The interior of the space ship was beautiful. When the Doctor had last been here he didn’t have time to look at the décor. He gazed around him, awestruck. He whistled. “Blimey, done a lot to your ship since the last time. Mind you, there was a war goin-umph!” The Doctor hit the floor hard as a Forbaith leapt out of the shadows at him, rendering the Doctor, for the third time, unconscious.

Angels if Shadow chapter 5

Chapter

5

Amy was being shaken about. She thought it was very sweet of Rory to give her a lift but it wasn’t very smooth. She shouldn’t complain, but she had to. About to speak, they stopped beside the lake in front of a space ship. Amy’s mouth hung open like a cave. The ship was a vast contrast to the violet forest of crystals. It was a pure, snowy white, save for the crystals that had started to grow on it. In the doorway stood a man, a man with wings of all things! Amy, jumping off Wolf Rory’s back, ran over to the Doctor, confused. Amy was about to ask the Doctor what was going on but the man spoke first.

“Doctor, I presume,” he spoke as he stepped into the moonlight. “How nice for the last of the Time Lords to pay humble, little me a visit.” Amy was struck by the man’s eyes immediately but Rory, his strong will changing him human again, covered her eyes.

“Don’t look. Amy, I don’t want this to happen to you too,” whispered Rory, wings fading as he spoke. Belle, now also human, looked around them for Tom as the Doctor spoke. “Well, Gortail. Long time, no see. Still up to your old tricks are you? Last time I saw you, you let your clan kill me. Well, they didn’t succeed. I’m still alive and well. Tell me, where are the humans you took? Hmm?”

“These two are strong,” he said, indicating Rory and Belle. “But the others are not. You are too late. They have turned already. The midnight solar storm was all I needed....” The Doctor looked at his watch. He flinched. It read 12:03. Three minutes too late to save the villagers. But he could still save Belle and Rory, maybe even Tom’s parents, if they were alive.

“But I wouldn’t worry about what I could do to your friends right now. I’d worry about that gun pointed at your head...”

Belle, Rory and the Doctor turned their heads as one, to see Tom aiming a gun at the Doctor’s head.

“Doctor? Rory?” Rory realised he still had his hands over his wife’s eyes. He released  his hands and Amy saw what Tom was doing. He had his crosshairs between the Doctor’s eyes.

“Tom! Stop it! He’s trying to help!”

“So he says. Look at the evidence. He’s an alien, he turns up at the time when villagers are vanishing, he know this, this, thing and he’s done NOTHING TO HELP US!!!” Tom’s shouts reverberated through the night, birds flying scared from their roosts.

“Tom, no! He is a good man. When Gortail turned me like this I saw his past. The Doctor nearly died to save a whole planet.” Tom didn’t care. His anger couldn’t control itself any more and Tom pulled the trigger.

The last thing the Doctor knew was happening was that Tom had fired at gun at his head and Amy was screaming. Then, blackness. But he was alive. Someone had threw the Doctor out of the way, into the ground, as Tom pulled the trigger. A man, someone different from Gortail, had saved the Doctor’s life and was struggling for his own.

“Oh, son. What has happened to you? You were such a bright child...” Tom dropped the gun. He looked at his hands, then to the (once again) unconscious Doctor, and finally at the Time Lord’s saviour.

“Dad? What... What’s going on?”

“We weren’t taking them , they volunteered. And Gortail only came to get us back.”

“But why Belle?”

“And why me?” Interjected Rory. Amy hushed him with a kiss. The Doctor came round, rubbing his head then pulling out his screwdriver. He was going to scan the bullet-wounded Forbaith but he pushed him away. “That was me. I was trying to save them. I got the others to volunteer but no more. Gortail wanted to take more people by force. Doctor, you’ve seen our war and I saw you be nearly killed by my brothers...”

“Raze, thanks again. This is the second time you’ve saved my life from him and his clan,” he looked sadly at Tom. “You’re half Forbaith. You dad was a brother of the Black Wolf Clan and your mm was human and...”

“Doctor, his mother was killed by Gortail. He wouldn’t allow her into the clan... I’m sorry son, I’m so...,” but he spoke no more. Nor did he breath. Rory and Belle felt a weight be lifted from them and knew when this Forbaith had just died, his control died with him. Belle’s eyes were brimming, Tom’s dad was the best man she knew. Even better than her own father, who left her. Tom again picked up the gun and aimed straight at the Doctor again.

Tom was shaking. This only made his anger worse. There was no-one left for him to go to now, and he knew his true self. Gortail smiled grimly at Tom, who had his finger tightly round the trigger.

“You could have saved him, but you didn’t! You coward!!!” Amy looked to Belle and Belle winked at her. She mouthed to Amy and she nodded back.

“Tom, he’s not a coward. He once sacrificed his life for the universe, was only able to come back because I remembered him, he’s been travelling the universe for centuries and seen many lives lost. And he’s saved unimaginable amounts of people.”

“And I has seen what war does to people. Tom, I’ve been there. You mourn but you live. My friends and family, gone. Lost in the time war. Like I said, last of my kind.” Tom believed none of this and tightened his finger just that much more.

“RUN!!!!” Yelled the Doctor in the nick of time. He had darted away into the depths of the forest as Tom fired. Amy, Rory and Belle all ran behind the Doctor, Tom still shooting from the clearing. A sudden silence washed over the forest as Tom stopped shooting. All bullets gone, he turned to Gortail and uttered his last words as a human. “I want to join you.” Gortail just looked at him, and then Tom changed. But Tom was different from the rest of the clan. His eyes were scarlet and he was thirsty for blood. Time Lord blood.

Angels of Shadow chapter 4

                                                  Chapter

                                                       4

“This is how I remember it. I’m standing in the forest, by the lake and see this wolf. Massive, with wings. Then I felt all weird, like I was in a dream. I tried moving but I couldn’t. I remember seeing the Doctor’s face then he was on the floor the next moment and taking his screwdriver. But it wasn’t my hand. I had a paw! And I was a wolf! I was in shock and if I was in control of my body I would have fainted. Then I took his screwdriver to the wolf over the lake and he took it from me, keeping it in his pocket when he changed into an angel person. Quite a lot of walking through the forest. A spaceship. Being made to guard the door of the room they put the Doctor in. Suddenly, I had to come back here. Walked back then I woke here. That’s all I remember.”

“So, that’s how you tell two hours of your life to me then?”

“Two hours?!”

“Yep.”

“Ohhh.....,” moaned Rory. He looked at his wife and mouthed a ‘sorry’. He looked behind Amy and saw the sun was setting. The Doctor paced up and down the room like a caged tiger thinking up an escape plan. The Doctor was making an escape plan, but not for him.

“Think, think, think!!!” The Doctor was still pacing, hitting his head and nearly pulling his hair out like a maniac. Rory felt as if a cricket bat hit him on the head as he watched the sky darken with the lowering sun. Belle felt it too, head in hands, moaning. Tom and Amy just watched the Doctor with awe as he carried on whacking his head, unaware of Belle and Rory. Only when the door creaked open did the Doctor stop. Rory and Belle were walking out the door, acting like zombies. The Doctor tried to stop them but they were too fast. Poking his head around the door, he caught a glimpse of Wolf Rory and Belle run, together, towards the forest. The Doctor just stared for a long moment then turned back in. He looked worriedly at Amy, then at Tom.

“If we’re going after them, it’s going to be a long night...”

Tom just smiled and said to them “Stay here tonight and we can look around tomorrow.” Nodding, the Doctor and Amy followed Tom up the stairs.

Gortail stood in the doorway of his base, waiting for his pack to come. He had a new plan. He was going to finish start making these humans his. Forever.

“Chief, are you sure you want to accelerate the plans?” It was Gortail’s second-in-command. A grim smile washed over Gortail’s face. “Yes. We have been discovered and we will need as many fighters as possible and I can’t control their individual wills forever. Taking them tonight will allow me to save my powers for the oncoming fight and tonight is the only night that will allow me that. The solar storm will make them mine. Forever....”

Standing at the window of the bedroom Tom let them stay in, the Doctor pondered about how to get his friends and the villagers back to normal. He looked to the sky and then over his shoulder to a sleeping Amy. Looking at the sky again, as if for answers, a sudden flush of realisation flooded over him. Horrified, he looked at his watch. Ten past nine. He had just under three hours to get everyone back.

“Good thing I put a tracker on Rory.... I need to get the villagers and Rory back before midnight tonight or they’ll never be back. Solar storms, beautiful event but any power craving alien will want to use that....” He looked at Amy again, blissful in her sleep. Smiling, he walked over to the door and quietly walked out and down the stairs. To his surprise, Tom was waiting at the bottom, holding two guns.

“I knew you would go out looking for them, you wouldn’t leave your friend. Not tonight.”

“Not any night. What’s the gun for?” Tom just handed him a pistol. Flapping his arms and looking worried, the Doctor just looked Tom in the eyes and said, “I’m not taking a gun and neither are you. You say it’s for protection but I know you want to kill them. I don’t carry guns and I don’t kill either. We would be out numbered and dead in an instant.” Reluctantly, Tom left the guns. Smiling his mad ‘I have a plan’ smile, the Doctor darted off, followed shortly after by a bemused Tom.

Gortail fingered the device. All he had succeeded in doing was making the thing extent and buzz. The green end fascinated him but apart from going green and buzzing, Gortail found it useless. Reports had come to him about a mysterious blue box that was not too far from the forest. He thought deeply, nearly too deeply as he nearly fell asleep, if the buzzing green device and blue wooden box had anything to do with the strangers in his forest. He dismissed the thought and the box came through the doorway with the wolves, but two of them were missing....

As Tom and the Doctor ran through the forest to catch up with Wolf Rory, the Doctor thought about what Tom said when he first met him. He lost both parents then this happens.... Something occurred to the Doctor and he froze with shock. The Forbaith had used his parents so they knew how to do all of this!

“Tom! Stop, it’s got to be a trap!”

“How is it a trap? Doctor, they have our friends!” The Doctor shook his head as Tom turned to face him. He spoke softly. “Exactly. They want us! Tom, you told me you lost your parents then this started happening. They used your parents Tom, only so they could do all of this. They must have experimented on them, to find out how long it took to control humans and all that mambo jambo.”

“Are they alive?”

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure. But I can be sure that we have to stop here. Now. Right this second.”

“Doctor....”

“What is it now!?” Tom pointed over his shoulder and the Doctor turned. One of the wolves stumbled toward them. The Doctor crouched down and gave a mad smile as another wolf came from behind. And to Tom’s surprise, it was Wolf Rory!

“Doctor, help us....” Wolf Rory collapsed beside the other wolf, which the Doctor knew was Belle.

“Blimey, you two must have strong wills to come here and actually talk to me!!!” Wolf Rory opened his mouth and in his mouth was the Doctor’s beloved sonic screwdriver. It was the Doctor’s turn to be surprised. It fell to the ground and the Doctor, with a handy tissue from his pocket picked it up. Cleaning it thoroughly, he activated it. Wolf Rory and Wolf Belle covered their eyes, as did Tom. The Doctor looked around and saw them, ears covered, moaning in pain, though Wolf Rory was yelping at him.

“Doctor, STOP!!!” As the Doctor stopped the buzzing which he was unaffected by, he saw Amy in the clearing. The Doctor scratched the back of his head and smiled like the madman Amy knew when she was seven.

“Pond! Umm, how did you know we were here?”

“Woke up, saw you left me, ran out here then followed that horrid noise.” Amy looked at the Doctor, giving him that ‘how could you be so stupid’ face.

“Time Lord hearing. Must be narrower than human hearing....” Adjusting the settings on his screwdriver, he tried again. Wolf Rory stood up, shaking his head.

“Amy!” His eyes lit up, but they were no longer amber. Amy ran over to her husband and gave him a massive hug, despite the fact he was a winged wolf. The Doctor sat on a fallen crystal tree and closed his eyes. “How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Fight the influence of the Forbaith.”

“They made us get the TARDIS, and something just clicked when I saw it. Like a light bulb inside me switched on. I dragged Belle away but it took a while for her to get, you know, like how I am.” Wolf Belle woke up and saw Tom, who looked like a volcano about to explode.

“Tom?”

“Belle, he’s an alien.”

“What?”

“I thought we’d established that!!! Before you do anything, I’m the last of the Time Lords from the lost planet Gallifrey and I’m trying to help, so! Lets go,” the Doctor ran off, Wolf Rory following (with Amy on his back...) then Wolf Belle. Tom stood there. He no longer trusted the Doctor. He never told them this. And what sort of name is ‘The Doctor’? Tom knew there must have been something he wasn’t telling them. He drew out a pistol which he had hidden under his shirt and went after the Doctor for a very different reason. He had to be rid of him, he must have been in a league with the Forbaith for all this time! That was the only way he knew about what happened to his parents and he must be lying about them being dead. A thousand reasons in his head, some about his mum and dad still alive but imprisoned, he set off, gun fully loaded, for the Doctor. And he was going to take him down.

Angels of Shadow part 2 and 3

Chapter

                                                    2

Gortail entered his base, his clan sitting in there, waiting.

“Warriors of my clan. We are discovered. Intruders are in the forest and in time will find us. We must stop the humans!” A cry went up in their base. Gortail changed into his wolf form and, followed by the rest of his clan, ran off in the direction of Rory and the Doctor....

“What are we actually up against?” Rory asked the Doctor, unsure.

“From what Belle told me, bright girl, very detailed, we are dealing with Forbaith. Their different clans give them different shape shifting powers. Belle said they were black wolves so this clan must be the Black Wolf Clan. I met them once, nasty bunch. Never fully answered your questions. Always trying to turn you into one of them to avoid full answers,” stated the Doctor, still running. But then they found they could run no more for they found they were at a lake.

“So, Doctor, is this the lake Belle was talking about?” As way of reply the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and started to take readings. While the Doctor was busying himself Rory gazed across the lake. Standing there was a large, black wolf. With wings. Rory was about to speak but felt so entranced by the creature he just stood and stared. Noticing something wasn’t right, or rather noticing Rory wasn’t asking stupid questions again, the Doctor turned back to Rory to find him gazing across the lake, stalk still. And his eyes. They were amber.

“Rory, ignore the wolf over the lake and focus on me,” the Doctor said to Rory, holding his shoulders, shaking him. He walked round the back of Rory and, to his horror; found wings had grown from his back.

“No..... Amy will kill you! Rory, SNAP OUT OF IT!!!” The Doctor yelled in Rory’s face, waving around his screwdriver. The Doctor blinked and a controlled Rory took this chance because in that exact moment the Doctor blinked, Rory’s eyes turned red. The Doctor fell to the ground, screwdriver nearly rolling into the lake. Rory reached down to pick it up, but it wasn’t a hand that retrieved the sonic. It was a black wolf paw. Sonic in paw, Wolf Rory flew over the lake to Gortail. Just as he did, the rest of Gortail’s clan stood over the unconscious Doctor........

                                        Chapter

                                             3

Amy was bored. She sighed as she tapped her pencil against the table. All the girls she talked told her either the same as Belle them or that they couldn’t remember anything at all. She waited for her boys to come back; they had been gone 2 hours.

“Oh, Doctor. What could the pair of you be doing that takes this long.... I’m not waited for years again. Doctor, I wish you and Rory could hurry up....,” Amy muttered as she remembered all those years ago waiting twelve for her Doctor. “Come on, stupid face..... Doctor, you better get back here now or just you wait ‘til I get my hands on you!”

“Did you say my name?” Amy turned and saw the Doctor poking his head around the doorway. She thought Rory would be behind him but he wasn’t.

“Doctor, where’s Rory? And, more importantly, where were the pair you?” Amy asked the Doctor as she hugged him.

“Ah.... Well...,” the Doctor sat down and started to explain.

After the Doctor’s story of what happened to Rory, he then went on to explain what happened afterwards. He told that Amy he remembered waking up in an empty room.

“It was weird. One minute I’m talking to Rory, telling him to snap out of it and the next I was in a room on a spaceship.”

“How did you know it was a space ship?”

“I licked it.”

“Should’ve known.”

“Anyway, I looked through the window in door and it was guarded by Wolf Rory and one of the Forbaith.”

“Okay, again, how did you know who guarded you? Meaning, how did you know it was Rory and a Forbaith?”

“Wolf Rory still had light brown fur on the top of his head and the Forbaith is just really quite big, twice the size of any of the vanished girls when they were wolves. Okay, so I’m trying to figure out what to do then Wolf Rory wandered off, back in human form, wings gone. The Forbaith seemed went of too and I picked the lock because my sonic screwdriver was gone. I got out and ran back here but I saw no sign of Wolf Rory or normal Rory.”

“Do you know where he is?” Amy asked the Doctor, worry showing in her eyes. The Doctor shook his head then got up to look for him, Amy in tow.

Rory woke up and saw Belle, Tom, Amy and the Doctor near by. The Doctor sat eating a Jammy Dodger, Amy was standing over him and Belle and Tom sat talking to the Doctor.

“Amy...”

“Come here, stupid face!” Rory was hauled up by Amy and they hugged. Tom got up and walked over to the Ponds.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, head’s a bit, you know, sore. It’s all better know ‘cause I’m back with Amy!” Walking over, hands in pockets, chewing, the Doctor asked Rory one question;

“What happened from your point of view?” Rory flopped back down on the sofa from which he was asleep on only moments before. He thought for a minute. Thinking about how to tell his story, he took a deep breath and started to tell his story.

Angels of Shadow chapter 1

A metallic throbbing cut through the quiet, dewy morning. A bright blue police box appeared out of thin air, whipping up a slight breeze as it landed. The door swung open and the Doctor stepped out. His brown hair flopped over his eyes and red bowtie was wonky. He straightened it and reached into his inside pocket for his sonic screwdriver. Finding it missing, he turned around to head back into the TARDIS to fetch it but he found his way in blocked by his two companions, Amy and Rory Pond.

“Could you let me past? I really need to get in,” The Doctor asked them, flapping his arms.

“Looking for this?” Amy asked him, holding up his screwdriver. The Doctor just smiled sheepishly, took the screwdriver and stuck it in his jacket pocket.

“Thanks.”

“It’s okay. You’re always leaving it lying around.” Feeling sheepish again, the Doctor turned and headed off, Amy following.

“Rory, shut the door on your way out!” the Doctor shouted over his shoulder. Rory turned to shut the door and when he turned to follow his wife and the Doctor, he found they were already far ahead. Sighing, he ran after them.

When Rory caught up with Amy and the Doctor, he found the Doctor licking a fence.

“Umm, Doctor, what are you doing?”

“Finding out where we are. Amy asked.”

“So you have all this scanning equipment in the TARDIS but you lick a shed to find out where we are?”

Turning round, the Doctor just looked at Rory, then to Amy.

“Answers. We are in the year 3145, on Earth near some village. And, yes, I suppose I do lick something to find out where and when I am.”

“Like when you licked my shed all those years ago?”

“Yes, I suppose....” the Doctor trailed off. He then headed off and entered the village. And immediately wished he hadn’t. Amy and Rory looked on as a villager, who looked like a teenage boy, held a shotgun at the Doctor. Holding up his hands, the Doctor asked carefully,

“So, what have I done to make the first person we see on this planet point a gun at me? Already.”

“Strangers at this awful time. The vanishings at night. The crystal forest and its lake. Mysterious, shadowy figures. Need I go on sir?”

“Fair point. Vanishings? I can help there,” the Doctor pulled out his physic paper. “See? I’m the Doctor, from the Universal Ministry of Planetary Defence. Speciality, villages. I’m trained to deal with, umm, village protection. These are my companions, Amy and Rory Pond. I call them Pond 1 and Pond 2. You can call them Amy and Rory. But, tell me, vanishings?”

“You better come with me sir. And you’re friends. We can talk to Belle. She’s the most recent to fall victim of the vanishings at night.”

“Okay, cool. But first, don’t call me ‘sir’ and I could do with a cup of tea and maybe some Jammy Dodgers. Oh, and what’s your name?”

“Name’s Tom and I know what you’re thinking. I’m too young to run a village but I have to. But I can’t cope with the vanishings and all the things the vanished tell us and it was hard enough before. Losing both parents now this.....”

Belle sat at the table, head in hands. She smelt tea and sat up. Then nearly fell off her chair. Tom sat across the table, with a strange man with an even stranger dress taste next to him. Behind them stood two more strangers, a fiery haired girl and an ordinary looking man next to her, stood in the door way.

“What’s going on?” asked Belle, wary. The Doctor sipped his tea then introduced himself.

“I’m the Doctor and I need your help. Tell me everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, if you can.”

“Well, it started with the Big Bang and then....”

“Not everything from the beginning of the universe. Everything about these vanishings and shadowy figures. Please?” Belle nodded then started her story. She told the Doctor about how she ran from black, winged wolves, the angel with the dark wings and how he enchanted her. She then went on to say about that she herself turned into one of the wolves and felt she had no control over her body. That she couldn’t do what she actually wanted to do and that when the sun rose she awoke in her bed, like it was a dream. Then every night then after, she turned into one of the wolves and went into the crystal forest with the other wolves and could only do what Gortail told them.

“Gortail?” Amy asked Belle.

“That’s what the angel called himself,” Belle carried on her story. It was this point her story got really interesting. She described that whenever the sun rose and she turned back into a human, the other six wolves did too, all into the other girls who had vanished too. Belle also told the Doctor about how she knew it wasn’t just a dream. She said one night she left the house and was spotted by Tom himself.

“Didn’t you Tom?” Belle asked a nervous Tom.

“Indeed I did...”

“How did you know it was Belle?” Asked the Doctor, fiddling his bowtie.

“Her eyes Doctor. They may have been a different colour but it was in her eyes!”

“Belle, you mentioned all of the wolves, or the vanished if you prefer, like yourself, were girls?”

“All from the village and, yes, all the vanished!” The Doctor sat back in his chair, thinking up a plan. Jumping up (spilling his half drunk tea over his plate of Jammy Dodgers in the process) he pulled a notebook and pencil from his inner pocket and handed them to Amy.

“Pond, take notes and stay here. Pond 2, with me. We’re going to the crystal forest....”

“Umm, why me and not Amy?”

“You know why Rory, now come along!” The Doctor bounded off through the door then immediately back in. “Which way to the forest...” Tom pointed and the Doctor leapt off again. Rory kissed his wife on the cheek and ran to catch up with the Doctor.

Ten minutes later Rory and the Doctor entered the forest. Rory gazed in wonder at the violet trees of crystal. Unknown to the Doctor and to Rory, they were being watched by a pair of amber eyes.....

Angels of Shadow prologue

“Keep running. I have to keep running!” panted Belle as she tore through the violet crystal forest in the near pitch blackness. She knew not where she was going or what was behind her but she knew she was being chased by something and she had to get away. She risked a look behind her and saw she was being chased by six figures, animals of some sort.   One of them entered the moonlight and Belle saw what was chasing her for the first time. Wolves, fur as black as the night they chased her through. The only thing that alerted Belle to them at first was their strange, amber eyes. Something else was wrong with these wolves though. It was the fact they had a pair of feathered wings, black like their fur. Belle carried on running as fast as she could, barely able to see through her tears. She glanced over her shoulder momentarily and tripped. She scrambled to get up then started to run again but as she turned a corner she found that she was at the lake in the heart of the crystal forest.

“Teardrop Lake! No! I’ve heading in the wrong direction!” cried Belle in despair. She turned around but a figure stood in front of her. She couldn’t see what this person looked like; he stood in the shadows being careful no light hit him. Behind him, the wolves were approaching. The man opened his eyes and Belle nearly fainted with shock. His eyes were exactly like the wolves’, bright amber. Belle couldn’t help but be entranced by them. Still holding Belle, he stepped into the moonlight. Belle peered over his shoulder to see just how close the wolves were but saw something else. This man had black, feathered wings.

“Who and what are you and why are you here?!” Belle asked the man in as brave a voice as she could muster but hearing it out loud, Belle thought her voice sounded slightly pathetic. The man smiled and answered her questions.

“I am Gortail and I am a Forbaith, which roughly translated into your language means angel of the shadows. As for why I’m here, well, I’ll tell you this much. My clan of warriors crashed here and we need help....” Gortail’s eyes turned red, just for a second, then he let go of Belle. But her eyes were amber. Gortail headed off, the wolves in tow. Belle took a step that wasn’t hers. She too now had wings. And was a wolf. Belle had joined the pack and followed Gortail like the others, who had turned towards the lake. He closed his eyes and shifted into a wolf, identical to the others save the fact he was twice as big. He took off, flying over the lake, the pack following. The wolf that was, or is, Belle looked confused, like she wanted to leave but had no control over what she did. The sun was rising and Belle returned to her normal self, eyes still amber. She headed towards the edge of the forest, toward her village, as the rest of the pack changed too and also headed back to the village....