Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part XIV (V)

My prediction had been right. Morning came and went, followed by noon before we actually reached the bottom of the crater. Donna and I weren't completely guiltless of this, since we both were the least experienced people of the group. But no one blamed us and they helped whenever the need arose, so we would all arrive safe and sound.

The Doctor immediately started to jump around and analyse some of the black stone. It had molten with the ground, leaving an uneven seam to the lighter stone. In front of us, however, now loomed the city of Jir, abandoned and crumbling, partially overgrown and slowly decaying. And yet it was as majestic as an old queen, lounging on her fading throne and watching the world go by while slowly withering away herself.

It's hard to describe what it felt like standing there. The atmosphere was heavy with time and lost memories. The air filled with dust and the moaning of dying metal giants, the creaking of rotting wood and the occasional crash from something falling from high above our heads. There seemed to be few animals, if any, or all of them were hiding. Only some insects buzzed about, but they weren't of the stingy kind. Not even the singing of beards was present, and barely any wind to rustle the plants that had made their way over and through buildings.

What finally broke the almost silence were the voices of our group, first muted by sheer awe, then let loose by joy and excitement.

"It looks like those old telly documentations of war zones," babbled Donna. "Gramps sometimes watches those. But they have fewer plants. And no bridges. And... well... the buildings aren't so modern. I can't believe they just left it behind like that. Or maybe it was cause of the dragons. Doesn't look burnt though. I mean aside from the mountains."

The others were talking about similar things, tossed around theories and were collecting bits and pieces of stone and wood and metal so the Doctor could scan them. We moved over as many roots as over piles of rubble and more than once through the carcass of a toppled skyscraper. Inside was almost nothing that could tell us anything of the past. Furniture and everything else was long rotten or overgrown.

As evening neared once again we came to a part of the city that was too overgrown to move any further without entering the buildings, so we decided to stay there for the night.

"It's hard to say how old the materials are," said the Doctor, glaring at his Sonic. "The decay is too far advanced, cellular structure is a complete mess. The plants make it almost impossible. Too damp, too... plant-y." He scrunched up his nose.

Darwil hummed thoughtfully. "Well, it needs no expert to see that the place is ancient."

"It's everything we've ever imagined as children," said Ulkta. "More than that. Imagination can't even begin to make this up."

Meanwhile I tried to find a good spot to roll out my backpack and ground mat. Out here and between all the plants and rubble it was hard to find a place that was flat enough to lie halfway comfortable on. I ended up staying a bit away from the others, valuing the comfort more than the company and the light of the fire. The hike had made me tired anyway, my muscles were aching too and I didnt even have much of an appetite. Listlessly I munched on some protein bars and let my eyes wander over the broken building around us. It seemed we had set up camp on a kind of crossroad and if it weren't for the countless bushes it would have been easy to cross from one site to the other. Now we would have to fight our way through the thickage or maybe take the more dangerous route through the buildings.

So far we hadn't found any that resembled a library. The Doctor had suspected that it might be near the meteorite, so instead of blindly stumbling around, we would first try to reach the centre.

I glared up at the sky far above my head. The sun was setting fast here, vanishing behind mountains and buildings alike. It took maybe half an hour and all we were able to see was inside the radius of our fire. More stories were told, theories tossed around and excitement had filled the hearts of everyone.