The Spear of Destiny Read Free Page B

eddying currents. Ice crusted its banks, and even looking at it
     seemed to sap the warmth from Jo’s blood. She shivered.
    As they approached the first of
     the waterwheels a bridge came into view beyond it, but before
     they could get any further they heard shouts from across the
     water and quickly threw themselves in the snow behind some tree
     stumps on the riverbank.
    The Doctor lifted his head. ‘It’s
     all right. They haven’t seen us.’
    ‘Who?’ Jo couldn’t hide the worry
     in her voice.
    ‘There’s a group of men on the
     other side, beyond the wheels.’ The Doctor took another look.
     ‘It’s safe, Jo. Have a look.’
    Jo peered across the water.
     ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said the Doctor.
     ‘I think there are two groups. They don’t seem to like each
     other.’
    Jo saw what he meant. There were
     definitely two groups of warriors facing off in a clearing
     between the waterwheels and the forest. They wore leather and
     furs: boots up to the knee strapped round with cloth bindings,
     thick furred tunics and fur-lined caps.
    They were shouting at each other
     and waving metal – swords and axes. Not actually fighting, but
     clearly no love was lost between them, and they appeared to be
     on the verge of a scuffle at the very least. One man in the
     left-hand group waved an enormous hammer above his head, roaring
     like thunder as he did so.
    ‘Posturing, that’s all,’ said the
     Doctor. ‘Although …’ He hesitated. ‘Maybe more to come.’
    He was right. Without warning, one
     of the hammer-man’s group charged forward, wielding a war-axe
     above his head, screaming.
    There was sudden silence from all
     the other men, a silence into which one voice rang out. It
     sounded like a shout of warning, but it came from
behind
the charging
     man.
    He alone ignored it.
    And then, whistling through the
     snow-still air, a spear came from nowhere. A huge throw, an
     impossible throw, and the spear stuck into the man’s
     back.
    He took one more step and then
     pitched forward into the snow, as dead as the landscape around
     him.
    There was silence. No one moved on
     either side.
    ‘Gungnir?’ whispered Jo.
    Before the Doctor could answer,
     the thrower of the spear came into view, walking out of the
     trees. It was hard to be sure at the distance they were looking
     from, but the Doctor and Jo could see he was a tall man, taller
     than the others. He appeared to be older too, with a long beard,
     but no less powerful for that.
    His own men moved away from him as
     he approached; their enemies backed away too, heading for the
     bridge back across to the side of the river where the Doctor and
     Jo were hiding.
    The spear-thrower walked slowly up
     to the man he’d killed – his
own
man – and, putting a boot on his
     back, pulled his spear free. He shouted a word to his men, and
     they turned to go.
    ‘Oh my –’ said Jo, but she didn’t
     finish because hands grabbed her.
    She tried to scream, but a hand
     clamped across her mouth and as she was pulled to her feet she
     saw the Doctor being grasped by two men, who were dressed like
     the ones they’d just seen. They dragged him towards the
     river.
    The Doctor struggled to fight his
     way free, and Jo managed to bite the hand over her mouth. She
     got a cuff to the back of her head, and her vision swam. As she
     struggled to stay conscious, Jo saw the Doctor wrench free of
     one of his attackers and dispatch a firm blow to the man’s neck,
     sending him to his knees.
    Then the other man swung at the
     Doctor, who ducked. The man flailed past him, catching the
     Doctor’s jacket as he fell. Jo watched in horror as both he and
     the Doctor tumbled into the fast and icy river, and were swept
     away.
    Jo fainted, and her attacker
     allowed her to fall limply to the ground.

6
    When Jo woke up, the world was
     upside-down. It also seemed that there was an earthquake in
     mid-rumble. It took her a moment to realise