"I would only wish to remind you, my Lord . . . our-arrangement. . ."
Lon glanced quickly at Lady Tanha. "Yes, yes. I have not forgotten."
"You promised - immediately after the ceremony, my Lord."
"Go away," snarled Lon.
Ambril recoiled, bowed, and hurried from the room.
Lady Tanha turned from the window, "Lon, what is this arrangement?
What did you promise him?"
"Nothing Mother. It really doesn"t matter."
"I know you, you"re planning something. Is it to be a surprise?"
Lon smiled. "Yes, Mother. A surprise." He pushed back the chair and Tanha"s eyes followed the movement.
Suddenly she leaned forward. "Lon - what"s wrong with your arm?"
The Doctor and his companions were resting in an abandoned archway behind the lines of market stalls. It was a quiet, gloomy place, and they welcomed the chance to get their breath back.
The Doctor peered out at the excited throng. The whole area was boiling with the excitement of the coming ceremony.
"It"s all right," gasped Chela. "I think we"ve shaken them off?
Suddenly a red-cloaked cat-faced apparition leaped at them out of the shadows, and they jumped back in alarm.
The creature darted forwards, tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and stood waiting expectandy, hand outstretched.
The Doctor and Nyssa peered apprehensively at it.
Chela was doubled up with laughter. "I"m sorry, Doctor, you look so surprised."
"Do you wonder? What is it?"
"You"ve been touched by an Attendant Demon," said Chela solemnly.
"You must forfeit a coin. It"s the custom, I"m afraid."
"The custom?"
"On the day of the ceremony, the Attendant Demons seek out the unwary. Anyone they "touch with evil" has to pay up or . . ."
"Or what?"
Chela grinned. "Or get water tipped over them. It"s part of the fun."
The Demon gibbered, and reached threateningly for a bucket of water at its feet.
The Doctor smiled, recognising a Ma.n.u.ssan version of trick or treat. "I"m afraid I haven"t got a coin."
Chela reached into the pouch at his belt and handed the Demon a coin.
"Here you are. "May you never feel the Serpent"s Tooth.""
The Demon picked up his bucket and moved off to look for fresh victims.
The Doctor said ruefully, "I wish it was that easy to deal with the Mara!"
"Doctor, what are we going to do?" said Nyssa.
The Doctor turned to Chela. "How long have we got -before the ceremony begins?"
"First the Great Snake has to be taken in procession through the street, before going up to the Cave of the Snake."
"How long?"
"A few hours, no more."
The Doctor stood for a long moment lost in thought. "I wonder. Is there still time?" He seemed to reach a decision. "Come on, you two."
"Now where are we going?" asked Chela.
"Change of plan," said the Doctor, "It"s too late to look for Tegan. There"s only one way to defeat the Mara now. We must find Dojjen."
Chela stared at him. "That"s impossible, Doctor. Dojjen hasn"t been seen for ten years or more. He could be anywhere."
T know. But we"ve got to find him. It"s our only-chance. If I"m to free Tegan and destroy the Mara, I must have Dojjen"s help."
11.
Dojjen
Lady Tanha was gentle, but she could also be very persistent, and she was quite determined to examine Lon"s arm.
"But if it"s nothing, why won"t you let me see?" "I"ve told you," said Lon sulkily. "It"s just a scratch." Tanha went on fussing. "But it could become infected. How did it happen? Why didn"t you tell me?" "It"s nothing I tell you. It was an accident." "What sort of accident? Show me Lon, I want to see." Lon turned on her, eyes blazing with anger. "Mother, for the last time, will you leave me alone?"
He strode from the room, leaving Lady Tanha staring after him in dismay.
Excitement was rising high in the crowd by now. The Ceremonial Snake, a brightly painted affair attached to sticks held high by three men, was winding its way to and fro through the streets. Attendant Demons darted through the crowd, claiming their tributes of coins, splashing reluctant payers with water to howls of laughter from the onlookers. At the head of the Snake walked the Voice of the Mara, a tall red-robed apparition carrying a large red megaphone.
As the Snake weaved through the crowd, the Voice strode by its fiercely-grimacing head, bawling out the words of the ritual chant. "Now the time has come for the Snake to claim his own. Who has the power to turn away his face?
Which one of you has the strength to resist? Who can protect us now?
Submit! Submit! Submit!"
The age-old terror of the Mara had been domesticated, turned into a comfortable, familiar ritual.
What no one realised as yet was that the Mara, the real Mara, was very close to its long-planned return.
The great snake coiled slowly round Tegan"s arm. Its time was near.
The Doctor, Nyssa and Chela were clambering up the rockface above the Cave of the Snake. The Doctor seemed determined to reach the summit of the hill behind the caves. He leaned down and pulled first Nyssa and then Chela on to a ledge beside him, and they paused for a moment to rest.
From the city spread out below them, there drifted the buzz of the crowd and the faint tinkling of bells, the low drone of the megaphone-amplified voice.
"Come on," said the Doctor. "On we go."
Chela didn"t move. "If you"d let me steal the Great Crystal when we had the chance this trek wouldn"t be necessary."
"You"d only have got yourself killed," the Doctor pointed out. "Besides, it"s not as simple as that."
"Why not?" asked Nyssa.
"We wouldn"t be preventing the Mara"s return, only postponing it. It would continue to exist as a mental force. No, this time we must destroy it completely."
Nyssa gave him a despairing look. "How?"
"I don"t know."
"But you think Dojjen will be able to tell us?"
"I can only hope so."
"But I told you, Doctor," protested Chela. "Dojjen hasn"t been seen for years. He could be anywhere. We don"t even know if he"s still alive."
The Doctor held up the Snakedancer pendant. "You"re forgetting, we have this!"
"How will that help us find him?"
"It won"t! But it will help him to find us. Now, trust me - and keep moving!"
They resumed their laborious climb.
Lady Tanha stood at the window, gazing out at the crowded city streets.
Lon lay on the couch, brooding. It was some time since they had spoken.
There was a discreet tap on the door, and Ambril entered, a neatly-folded pile of garments in his hands. "I have taken the liberty of bringing the clothes you must wear for the Ceremony, my Lord. The costume of the Sky Hero."
Lon sprang to his feet. "Oh good! Look, Mother."
Tanha didn"t move.
"It is an exact replica of the costume worn by your ancestor, the Founder of the Federation, who destroyed the Mara five hundred years ago."
"How very appropriate."
"I beg your pardon, my Lord?"
"Don"t you think so, Mother?" asked Lon.
Tanha ignored him.
Lon took the costume from Ambril"s arms. "Well, I"m going to try it on.
Mother, are you coming?"
Still there was no reply.
Lon shrugged. Tucking the costume under one arm, he scooped up the little chest containing the Great Crystal with the other, and left the room.
There was a shallow depression at the very top of the hill, rimmed with huge boulders.
The Doctor regarded it with satisfaction.
"Right. Here will do very well." The Doctor sat down, reached for the crystal around his neck, and held it up before his eyes.
Nyssa looked at him. "What now?"
"Sympathetic resonance!"
"Sympathetic what?"
"Thought, directed at this crystal, should set up a resonance which is picked up and echoed by others."
Chela sat cross-legged beside the Doctor. "So?"
"Well, the Snakedancers wear these crystals, don"t they?"
"I believe so."
Nyssa sat down as well. "Of course. The crystal will act like a radio wave, transmitting thoughts instead of words, establishing a mental link."
"With Dojjen?" asked Chela.
The Doctor nodded. "I very much hope so."
"But will it work?"