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amie looked helplessly on as the corpse pulled Victoria’s head to within a hair’s breath of its slavering jaws, knowing that he was incapable of helping her.  Even so, he aimed another vicious kick at the living dead monster.  It flashed past his friends shoulder and connected with unliving bone and flesh, but the zombi took no notice of his effort.  It was akin to trying to kick a planet out of orbit.  The girl let forth a further scream as the mouth opened wide, bearing rows of decayed teeth that were ready to clamp down and shred.  But the expected bite never came. Long dreadful moments passed, but still the corpse held tight to the young Victorian’s hair with its mouth frozen over her jugular vain.  Sobbing, she attempted to free herself, but the zombi held her fast.  Jamie shuddered when a string of crimson drool cascaded on to her white cheek, and ran in channels to her pretty curls.  But still the bite never came. 

 

After what seemed like an age, Jamie noticed the dead eyes shift their gaze towards him. The Highlander feared the worst.  This was it.  The attack was immanent.  He was wrong. Instead, the eyes rolled in to the back of the corpse’s head and without warning the body of the deceased villager, with a clump of hair still in its clawed fist, collapsed heavily to the floor.  Freed from the iron grip at last, Victoria stumbled gratefully out of the cubbyhole, and Jamie was swift to join her.  To their immense relief, all the zombi were now as lifeless and still as the grave they belonged in.  Both of the time travellers broke in to broad grins.  The Doctor had done it.  The Loa must have been defeated.  Jamie knew that he would never let them down, but this time the old rascal had cut it a little too fine.

 

Behind them, Reverend Cunningham squeezed out of the gap that had saved all their lives, and stared bemused at the carnage.  He gave the impression that he wanted to be alone to think, so the time travellers left him to his own devices.  Briefly, Jamie wondered if this had been a life-changing situation for the vicar.  Would he continue to be an obnoxious, over weight waste of space, or would he become the good man that his position required?  And how would he explain the death toll that had befallen his congregation?  The Highlander knew that he would never find out, so pushed the idle thoughts away. 

 

Victoria was hurriedly redressing to protect her modesty, when a familiar sound swamped the church.  In the far corner, the welcome sight of the TARDIS materialised.  Grinning at the vicar’s surprised disbelief, Jamie strode to the blue box.  As if on cue, the door opened and the Doctor popped his head out.

 

‘Come on you two!  We’re not finished yet!’

 

‘Och, its good to see you too Doctor,’ moaned Jamie good naturedly, as the head vanished back in to the time machine. 

 

After a hasty goodbye to Reverend Cunningham, Victoria and Jamie disappeared in to the police box.  The TARDIS faded away, leaving the Reverend alone with only a pile of bodies for company.

 

* * * *

 

It was hot and sticky, just how the creatures liked it.  Through the towering ferns they moved, before halting just out of sight of their unsuspecting victim.  Only the leader of the pack moved closer to the prey, careful to remain downwind of the massive beast.  It flexed its claws, and waited.  Silently, its comrades joined its side, before splitting up to circle around the clearing.  All escape routes needed to be cut off if the task was to succeed.  Only then could they fill their bellies with still warm meat. 

 

The creature’s amber eye irritably blinked away a tiny carnivorous insect, as it sought the moisture contained underneath the thin membrane.  Unperturbed, the flying bug returned for another try, but this time was swatted against the reptile’s thick hide by a swished tail.  Now free of distractions, the creature shifted its scaly bulk slowly in the direction of the intended victim.   Moving on its powerful birdlike legs, it closed the gap, and waited for the others to follow suit.  Everything had to be exact.  The prey was strong.  Stronger than they were, but they were many and were linked telepathically to each other.  One thought was all thought. They were nearly ready. 

 

Its four long arms uncurled, revealing hooked claws.  Legs tensed.  And then at once the whole pack sprung.  The gigantic beast, more than five times the size of the stalking creatures, was caught unawares.  The mighty monster, normally nestling comfortably at the top of the food chain, struck out in defence.  It bared its massive fangs, rearing to its full height in defiance to the smaller reptiles.  Nimbly, the creatures sidestepped its crushing jaws and feeble arms, and leapt ten foot in to the air to grip down on their next meal’s throat. Sharp teeth sliced easily through its scaly hide, and punctured the prey’s windpipe.  Within seconds, it was over.  The pride of the tropical jungle collapsed, wheezing and choking to the ground.  In a planet full of carnivores, it had been the most feared and powerful, but it was no match for the teamwork of the small four-armed reptilians.  Evolution had equipped them too well.  Together they ripped in to the giant’s belly, and devoured hurriedly.  Soon, other predators would drive them from the meal, so they must eat fast.

 

An unfamiliar harsh groaning noise disturbed the leader in its gorging.  Turning, it watched a blue shape appear from thin air underneath an ancient purple conifer.  The creature’s amber eye glared at the strange gangly beings that stepped out of the blue contraption.  Its primitive mind didn’t see them as a threat, and immediately returned to its former position to complete the feast.  But this time, inexplicably it didn’t bite in to the meat.  The others looked quizzically at him, as his thoughts were suddenly snatched from them.  But the call of fresh blood was too powerful, and they swiftly returned to the carcass to rip and consume.

 

As they tucked in, their meal unexpectedly snapped at the smaller creatures with jerky, almost uncontrolled movements.  To the pack’s uttermost surprise, the dead beast rose to its feet.  Thick blood oozed from its many wounds, but it didn’t seem to care.  In alarm, the creatures scattered.  But they would not give up their food so easily.  When no connection of thought came from their former leader, another took his place and a plan was set in motion to kill the beast once and for all.  Instinctively, the new leader leapt for the area that should have contained the windpipe, but there was no throat to cling to.  The pack had eaten that morsel already, along with many vital internal organs.  Its grip faltered, and the new leader fell awkwardly to the undergrowth that littered the forest floor. 

 

Before it could scramble to its feet, the meal crashed down and gripped the fallen creature in its jaws, squeezing all life from the scaly body.  Dropping the corpse, the dead reptile attacked another victim.  Panic ensued.  Bones crushed.  Blood flowed.  Each creature’s death calls were felt by all the remaining pack.  All the pack other than its original leader, which was now nowhere to be seen. 

 

 * * * *

 

‘Do you think that was wise, Doctor?’ asked Victoria in a concerned tone, ‘Surely it will destroy all life on this planet.’

 

‘Aye, the lass has a point,’ chipped in Jamie.

 

The Doctor said nothing, and instead slapped his palm down on the shutting mechanism. With a whir of machinery, the gleaming white TARDIS doors swung shut, blissfully blocking the sounds of carnage from the time machine.  Without bothering to set any particular coordinates, the Time Lord set the ship in motion, patting the many-sided console as a simple thank you for its hard work.  So many precise journeys in one go.  The time machine had excelled itself.  Now, all the Doctor wanted was to be as far away from the Loa as possible.  Once they had emerged back in the space/time continuum, he began to notably relax.

 

Slipping his coat off, he walked up to Zara, who was propped against the wall.  Tenderly he slid the clothing under her head, providing both support and comfort.  The little girl had not regained consciousness since the entity had freed her from its grip.  Life appeared to be ebbing away.  The Doctor became aware of Victoria by his side.  She laid her hands in his.

 

‘Do you think she’ll be alright?’ she asked.

 

‘To be honest, I don’t know,’ replied the Doctor, looking directly in to his friend’s eyes.  ‘For a strong person, the will of a Dimensional Entity is damaging, but it is survivable.  As for an eight-year-old girl?  Well, who knows?’

 

‘There must be something we can do for the bairn,’ said Jamie from behind them.

 

The Doctor nodded.  There was one thing he could do.  Hopping to his feet, he went to the console and began to enter a new set of coordinates.

 

‘Just one more trip, old girl,’ he said under his breath.

 

‘What was that, Doctor?’ asked a confused Victoria. 

 

‘Oh… you were right,’ said the Doctor loudly with a sudden gleeful grin.  ‘It wasn’t very wise to leave the Loa out of control on that planet.  I could get in to huge trouble over it, and probably will one day.  But it isn’t as bad as it looks.  You see… well how can I put it?  The Loa didn’t get as good a deal as it thinks.  True its got free reign to kill over that particular globe, but only for the next few hours.  Pretty soon this whole area… in fact this entire galaxy… is due to be destroyed by an interstellar explosion.  A star is about to go nova, you see.  It’s part of history.’

 

‘So the Loa will be destroyed!’ exclaimed Jamie, portraying a huge smile at the Doctor’s deviousness.

 

‘Well, its new medium certainly will be, and that’s the best we can hope for.  It’ll be banished back to its rightful place, trapped in the fabric of the universe.’

 

‘What’s to stop it from going back to Earth?’ asked Victoria.

 

’Oh, without Zara as the medium, it’ll find that very hard to accomplish,’ said the Doctor sadly, looking down at the little one at his feet.  The ex-slave’s breathing became shallower as he watched, and then stopped altogether.  She was free at last.

 

 * * * *

 

The cool wind ruffled the Doctor’s jet-black hair, as the short service ended.  He hardly noticed the priest making his excuses, leaving for other pressing duties.  Soon the burly black man of God had disappeared in to the distance, but the Doctor remained lost in silent contemplation by the graveside.  Moments passed, but the Time Lord’s eyes lingered sadly on the epitaph.  Carved in words that he had chosen, but could hardly bare to read.  Yet he still could not look away.  ‘Zara, a loving granddaughter who died so others may live,’ it read.  Somehow, it didn’t do her justice.

 

The service had been brief, and he had been the only mourner.  It was hardly surprising.  It had been difficult enough to pilot the TARDIS to the right location, so a hundred years forwards in time hardly seemed to matter.  It was not as if he knew the names of any of her relatives back in the eighteenth century.  At least the little slave girl was laid to rest in her own native country of Hispaniola, in the sun-swept Caribbean.  It was the only one of his promises that he was able to keep.  She was at last home, even if it was the year 1971.  In a way it was fitting that she was to be buried here, with the international slave trade long past and her kinsmen free.  It was the world that she would have wanted. 

 

His train of thought was disrupted by the flight of a small yellow and white bird fluttering overhead.  It came to rest on a protruding leaf of a palm tree, where it began to sing sweetly, calling to a mate somewhere in the cemetery.  The Doctor found his eyes drawn towards it. The sacrifice of Zara helped to keep such life flourishing.  If the Loa had remained, then all life would have been extinguished.  What had happened was necessary, and he knew it. Nevertheless, many innocents had died.  A very heavy price had been paid to keep the timeline on course.  For him, however, it was not over, and it wouldn’t be for a very long time.  In the future he would have to make some difficult decisions, but in a way he knew that he had already made them.  When the signs were there, he knew what he must do.  On meeting a young girl called Ace, the event would be close.  The notion made his hearts beat heavy.  Taking one last look at the bird, he laid one red flower on the grave, and slowly walked away.  Victoria and Jamie would be waiting.