The Shadows of Avalon by Paul Cornell

Author:Paul Cornell [Cornell, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Doctor Who (Fictitious Character), Avalon (Legendary Place)
ISBN: 9780563555889
Publisher: BBC
Published: 2000-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

One of the Fair Folk threw down his weapon, and stepped courageously forward into the centre of the corridor, his whole body starting to vibrate. A light flashed down the corridor from something in his head, and two more of the soldiers glowed and screamed, their bodies thrashing as they died.

Margwyn, huddled beside them, suddenly shouted out. ‘No!’

Fitz glanced up. A black cylinder was bouncing down the corridor towards the three remaining Fair Folk warriors. He leapt up, unconscious of what was brave and what was cowardly, and threw his body over those of Compassion and Margwyn.

There was a concussion. His ears popped. Something heavy and dead collapsed on to his back.

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Yelling incoherently, he heaved it aside, and yelled at it some more when he saw that it was the torso of one of the warriors, looking like something from a doll now, with so little blood. He was standing, and the others were sitting, among pieces of the Faerie warriors. Silence rolled across them, and a wave of smoke that made Fitz cough and start to retch.

Compassion tried to get to her feet, slipped and stumbled. Margwyn helped her.

Through the smoke, the last two soldiers were walking towards them, intent.

‘We are like you!’ Fitz shouted at them.

No response. The leader was a captain. He looked too angry to do anything now but kill. They had their weapons ready.

‘Hey,’ said a voice from behind Fitz. ‘Duck.’

The War Mages stood there, incongruously holding silver pistols, which were pointed towards the soldiers.

Fitz and his friends fell to the ground again.

Two white bolts blasted off the soldiers’ chests. The captain staggered for a moment, trying to stay on his feet. Another bolt hit him. He jerked backwards and crumpled into a heap.

Silence finally, and fully, fell.

‘Come on, then,’ said the male War Mage. ‘Move it. Time to go.’

Fitz took his clawed hand, staring incoherently up into the shifting face, unable to think or speak. ‘Thanks,’ he whispered finally, not meaning it.

The woman was walking down the corridor towards the soldiers.

That was the last thing Fitz saw there before they ushered him into the laboratory.

It was only when they were standing in front of the time vortex that Fitz started to wonder if he really did want to go through with this. OK, so it would get him back to Earth, but if Earth in 2012 was going to be some sort of fascist utopia, the sort of place that created soldiers like that. . . He turned to Margwyn, who was holding both of Compassion’s hands, looking at her as though she was his daughter. A moment ago, Compassion had sadly wiped her description of their mission off the blackboard. ‘Erm, don’t we need to wear spacesuits or anything?’

Margwyn looked up, and let go of her hands, almost guiltily. Behind him, the male War Mage was busily programming the control panel. ‘I don’t know what those are, but no: the War Mages tell me that, if the direction of travel is controlled, you

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