| "All right," said the Doctor, setting the egg timer and placing it
carefully on the ground. "We're going to move off in that direction. Everyone
move very quietly and carefully. Don't make a sound! Ready?"
Everyone except Leela nodded their understanding, and began to move
slowly and silently away from the eggtimer. Leela, however, simply stood
there for a moment with an expression of extreme confusion on her face.
But as the sound of the invisible creatures came closer, she clearly decided
that now was not the time to ponder the whys and wherefores, and quietly
and rapidly followed the Doctor and his party.
The ringing of the eggtimer shattered the silence just as they felt
the tingling sensation that marked the sonic barrier. With a roar, the
creatures pounced upon the eggtimer, their invisible feet smashing it flat.
They all watched with interest, safe behind the barrier wall.
"Well," said Ragan with a smile, "that was a bit anticlimactic, compared
to the TV episode."
"Yeah," said Betty, remembering the tense moment when the TV Doctor
had tripped on a vine and attracted the creature's attention. "But I suppose
this incarnation of the Doctor is really much less suited to pratfalls."
They exchanged a chuckle.
Leela, meanwhile, had drawn herself up to her full height and was staring
at the Doctor with a challenging look in her eye. "Why did you rescue me
from your own creatures?" she demanded.
"They're not my creatures," he said.
"But you are the Evil One!"
"But he doesn't look like the Evil One, surely?" said Ragan,
puzzled by this particular departure from Whovian canon.
Leela gave her a contemptuous look. "He has the face of the Third Aspect
of the Evil One," she said. And then, haltingly, as if she were trying
to remember the exact words, she recited, "The Evil One may change his
face and his form. His aspects are four, and are carved into the Great
Cliffs, that men may recognize him in all his aspects and not be deceived."
"I don't remember that from the Litany," said Betty.
"It is not from the litany. It is from the Old Knowledge. It is taught
to us as children." She looked uncertainly at the Doctor. "I believed it
only a tale fit for for children. But you are truly the third aspect of
the Evil One!"
"I assure you, my dear..." the Doctor began.
-
 But just
then, Leela and the elves all swiveled their heads towards a distant stirring
in the brush. "Someone's coming!" said Leela.
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