THE WARRIOR GODDESS

Chapter Eleven

The Doctor groaned and slowly opened his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light, but he finally worked out that he was bound hand and foot and was sitting in a rectangular hut. He looked over and noticed Rose was beside him, also tied up. On the other side of the hut sat Martha and Donna.

"Oh, there you are," the Doctor said. "We were looking for you."

"Yes, and thanks so much for rescuing me. I really appreciate it," Donna shot back.

The Doctor studied his companion's faces. Someone had covered their whole face with purple war paint and had drawn tribal symbols on their cheeks and forehead.

"Let me guess, I have the same," the Doctor said.

"Yup," Martha replied. "The only difference is you have a big line of dried blood running down the side of your face from where you got hit."

"Yes and I can practically feel the knot growing bigger as we speak," the Doctor replied.

He looked at Donna.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly.

"As alright as I can be, tied up and moments away from getting my heart stabbed," she replied.

"What about Gelik? Is he alright?" the Doctor asked.

Donna shrugged.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since he told me he was going to go drug the chief."

"Apparently, he didn't make it to your hut in time then," the Doctor said. "He was on his way to free you and bring you back to us when we got in trouble."

"Do you think they suspect him?" Rose asked.

"Dunno, I hope not. He may be our best chance of escaping now," the Doctor said. "In any case, just keep calm and keep a level head until we can figure out how to get out of here."

He shut up when the blanket was pulled back and Pavan stepped inside. He gritted his teeth and glared at the Doctor.

"Hello again," the Doctor said," I see you made a full recovery. That's fantastic. Sometimes I go a bit too far and don't know my own strength. I normally don't resort to fisticuffs, you know. It hurts my hands, not to mention you have to clean up and get the body out of the front room in case guests come to visit, but you probably don't know much about that since I'm sure you sacrifice anyone who comes through the door and…"

"SILENCE, WOMAN!"

The Doctor frowned.

"I'm sorry, my hearing must have been damaged from the blow to the head, did you just refer to me as a woman?"

Pavan smirked and bent down next to him.

"That's right, little girl, I did."

"Ooooooh, it's the old emasculate and taunt your enemy to demoralize them and break their spirit completely before you shish kabob their heart maneuver, I get it. Very effective means of tormenting your foes, I must say. I do much the same with my taunts, jibes and witty repartee. There's nothing better than facing someone like the Master and calling him Chesty McBoobicles before the battle begins. Confuses the heck out of em, not to mention they get so mad at the thought that someone out there might think they are endowed with female parts, that they just up and make a mistake every time. I'm assuming since I'm not a gigantic, tattooed, pierced, testosterone-laden nightmare like you, that I must be someone of the opposite sex. Hmmm, very clever indeed. Takes a lot of courage for someone like you to stand there and call someone who is tied up, defenseless and completely at your mercy a girl. Bravo to you for having the courage to stand up to me and make me feel like less than a man. I salute you…or I would if my slender, girly arms weren't behind my back. Also, that's another thing I find puzzling, if I'm a weak, helpless, spineless girl, why did you lot feel the need to sneak up behind me and hit me on the head then? Could it be that you're the one who's less of a man since you choose to knock women like little ol' me out when they're not looking? The nerve of you to do that. It's a good thing it's not my time of the month or you would have had to deal with my flaming PMS and let me tell you, it's hell on a person when I'm just about to start my womanly cycle."

Pavan whipped out his dagger and pressed it against his cheek.

"YOU WILL BE SILENT OR YOU WILL DIE!"

"Oh my, you mean I might die before I die? How horrifying. There's nothing worse than preparing yourself for death and then someone comes along and kills you prematurely. I'm a creature of habit and there are a trillion things I have to do in a very precise order before I go to meet my maker. Dying before I'm scheduled to die just messes up my whole day and…"

Rose, Martha and Donna gasped when he sliced open his right cheek with the dagger. The Doctor winced at the pain as blood trickled down his face onto his neck. Pavan smirked.

"Now, maybe you'll listen to me," he said. "I'm warning you, if you don't keep quiet, I will cut your tongue out of your head."

The Doctor's eyes bore into him.

"And I'm warning you, you touch one hair on any of my friend's heads and I will show you all who's really the warrior around here!"

There was a moment of tense silence as Pavan and the Doctor gazed into each other's eyes. For a moment, Rose was scared that Pavan was going to make good on his threat. But then, with a snort, he lowered the blade.

"It's not worth getting any more of your feminine blood on my nice, clean knife," he said. "I will just wait for the moment they rip your heart from your body and take pleasure in that."

He chuckled as he reached over and fingered Rose's hair.

"Perhaps I will even spare this one, so I can take her as a mate. They told me you turned and ran back to her; do you care for her, puny one? If I had my way with her, would that destroy your soul?"

"If you don't leave her alone, you'll be the one who ends up with the destroyed soul along with a destroyed body," the Doctor snarled.

Pavan chuckled. He ran his finger down Rose's cheek and with a smug grin, stood up and went back outside. The Doctor gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't listen to him, Rose. I promise I won't let any harm come to you or Martha or Donna, even if I have to lose a life in the process."

Rose smiled. She laid her head on his shoulder while he gave her a tender look. He looked around when someone moved the blanket aside.

"Oh goody, more feminine jokes at my expense," the Doctor said.

They breathed a sigh of relief when Gelik stepped inside.

"My friends, are you alright?" he whispered.

He gasped when he saw the blood on the Doctor's face.

"Doctor, I'm sorry I was not able to prevent them hurting you," he said, sadly.

"It's okay; I've had worse, trust me. I'm more concerned about my friends; do you know a way we can escape?"

"I'm working on it, but you are in the hut at the top of the sacrificial pyramid and my people have surrounded it now. In addition to that, there are several warriors just outside the door getting everything ready. In order to escape, you'll have to go through all of them."

"Gee, can't help wondering where BW is right at this moment," Donna said.

Gelik frowned.

"BW?"

"Never mind, inside joke," the Doctor said.

"It's not a joke; I want the Bad Wolf to show up right now!" Donna said, staring at Rose intently.

The Doctor sighed when nothing happened.

"There, you have your answer, she's not intervening, which means it's up to us to save ourselves," he said.

"She saved us from the zombies, didn't she?"

"Yes, but apparently she feels that we don't need her help right now."

"P'eh, speak for yourself."

"I'm sorry, who is this "she" you are speaking of?" Gelik asked.

Rose sighed.

"Her name is the Bad Wolf. She's a…spirit that lives inside me and watches over me and my friends," she said.

Gelik shuffled over and knelt down beside her. He looked deeply into Rose's eyes.

"I knew there was something strange about you, little one," he said, gazing into her eyes. "Your eyes are much older than you are; you carry wisdom and power far beyond your years. Yes, I have no doubt that a powerful spirit resides within you."

"Good, since you can see the spirit, will you tell her to get her Bad Wolf butt out here and save us all?" Donna said.

"Donna!" the Doctor hissed at her.

Gelik stood up.

"I may have found the way to save you all, my friends," he said to them. "If this one carries a spirit within her body, then it would be sacrilege to destroy her. The moment she died, the gods would bring catastrophe on our village. I must speak to the others and implore them to let you go before they do something we will all regret."

He quickly hurried outside. The Doctor looked at Donna.

"Now see, the whole situation is resolving itself without the Bad Wolf having to intervene and disintegrate everyone. I believe she knows what's she's doing, so calm down."

They looked over at the door when they heard a heated argument between Gelik and the warriors. A few minutes later, Pavan burst into the room. Gelik followed him as he walked over to Rose and bent down beside her. The Doctor's jaw tightened when Pavan grabbed hold of Rose's chin and stared into her eyes.

"What spirit? I see no spirit inside this whelp!" he said, looking up at Gelik.

"I don't expect you to see it, you are not trained to see the spirit world," Gelik replied.

"Then how do I know you are telling the truth?" Pavan said, standing up.

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you are soft, old one. You have no taste for blood, that's why you became a shaman."

'I became a shaman because the gods picked me to be one at birth. As for having a taste for blood, I believe enough blood has been shed over the years to keep the gods satisfied. This child harbors a powerful spirit; I believe it is an emissary from the gods. The gods are warning us that if we don't stop killing innocents, there will be untold misery brought to our people."

"What about these three, do they carry spirits also?"

Gelik looked around.

"No," the Doctor said. "Rose is the only one who has a spirit inside her."

Pavan looked at him.

"Then, we can sacrifice you and these two over here. As long as we keep the spirit bearer alive, no harm will come to us."

"No, you can't," Rose said. "Because the Bad Wolf watches over all of us and if you harm one of them, then it'll be the same as harming me."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Pavan said, kneeling back down. "You come into our village, try to steal our sacrifices and the moment you get caught, you start telling everyone these lies about a spirit living within you that watches over you and your friends. Well, I don't believe any spirit would choose to live inside a pale, freakish thing like you and it certainly wouldn't choose to live inside a woman. I think you think that I'm stupid enough to fall for this and let you all go out of fear. Well, I'm sorry, whelp, but I didn't get to be a great warrior by falling for stupid tricks. You and your friends will die, so prepare yourselves for the spirit world."

"If we're to die, then I go first," the Doctor said.

Pavan looked at him.

"Why you?"

"Because I said so."

"Well, shouldn't we kill the spirit bearer first, so this Bad Wolf can lead you all into the Land of Dreams?" he sneered.

"No, you're going to deal with me and only me," the Doctor replied.

Pavan stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Very well, if the little girl wants to act like a man and go first, then I will grant his wish."

"Pavan, wait, you don't know what you're doing!" Gelik said. "You will destroy us all!"

"Out of my way, old man!" he snarled, as he jerked the Doctor to his feet. "I have waited long enough and now I'm going to both honor the gods and get my revenge on this freak for what he did to me!"

The three women struggled to break free of their bonds as the Doctor was picked up and carried outside the hut. Gelik turned and gave them a sad look.

"I'm sorry," he said. "There is nothing more I can do. They won't listen to reason. We can only pray that the gods will intervene and save your friend before it's too late."

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