The Doctor held back a branch to look at the main South Country road. It was normally a wide stretch of cleared land with several rutted passages showing both the age and the well-honed use of the path. But at this moment, there was nothing to stir the air except the bird song, a gentle spring breeze and, much to his dismay, a steady light rain.

To his right, the underbrush suddenly rustled and he frowned as Kilred appeared at his elbow.

"Anything, Doctor?"

"Nothing…" the Time Lord answered, rubbing his hands together for warmth. "This is the main road to Hill's End? You are sure?"

"As I am of my own name," the warrior answered. He shook his head. "This road should be well traversed; I have never seen no horses here."

"Hmm. It appears that there is something going on here that we are not aware of…"

Kilred balanced on the balls of his feet, adjusting his sword. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"As do I, Kilred, but unfortunately, we are in need of transportation. Tegan cannot go much further."

The warrior nodded, biting his lip. "Your woman is very ill, isn't she?"

"Yes…well…" the Doctor sighed, "what might have been just a cold, Kilred, has been worsened by four days walking on foot in water and rain. She was not well to begin with…now…" he shook his head. "I don't know what her illness is, but I do know that she will worsen still if we cannot get her shelter soon." He glanced at his friend and slapped his shoulder with a smile. "Cheer up, Kilred…it will take much more than what she has to kill Tegan."

"You should check on her; Jessica sent me here to find you."

That made the Doctor's smile disappear. "Worsened, has she?"

Kilred nodded and moved aside to let the Time Lord slide out of the underbrush. The warrior watched him go and returned to staring at the road. The illness of the woman worried him. He liked the Time Lord's woman well enough; she had as much spunk as the Doctor did knowledge. But the lack of traffic on such a major thorough way was even more worrisome.

**

Tegan awoke with her head on the Doctor's shoulder. She tried to move her legs, but found them trapped between the Doctor's calves and another pair of bare legs. They were rocking back and forth slowly. Her fever was higher, she thought and reached to adjust the coat for cool air, but the Doctor stilled her hand.

Voices came to her as far away and then became recognizable.

"But why so few travelers on this road?" The Doctor was saying. "I am to understand from my friend here that this is a major road in the South Country."

"Yes, it is…but with all the combat in the East…"

"Combat?" Tegan heard Kilred say; he sounded angry. She shifted, trying to sit up. Her hand bunched the Doctor's sweater, but he stilled her hand again.

"Eh….haven't you heard? You must have been under a stone…where do you think we are all from? The royals and the houses are warring all over the place."

"Yeah…had to leave the village…"

"Which one?" Tegan felt rather than heard the Doctor ask. "Which village?"

"River Fall."

"Eh…they were moving west from there. What with the pirates, the houses, and the royals…"

"Yeah…they were fightin' all over the place…"

Tegan had had enough and fought to sit. The Doctor relented and helped her up, leaning her back into the side of the wagon as she saw when she blinked her eyes open. Jessica sat to her immediate right, wrapped up in a cloak. Immediately racked with coughing, she was unable to talk.

"I know what you are going to ask, Tegan," the Doctor said, quietly, adjusting his lapels to cover her completely. "You have been asleep for a day. These good people…" she turned her head slightly to see the three women, two men and children that littered the bin of the open wagon. She trained her eyes back on the Doctor's face. "These good people offered us a lift. They were headed in our direction in rather a hurry."

"Am…" she cleared her throat. The Doctor leaned in to hear her. "Am I better?"

He bit his lip. "I was rather hoping the illness was viral, Tegan. It isn't. Somehow you have ended up with pneumonia."

"Great," she whispered back with a frown. "I'm hot…" she tried to pull back on his lapels, but he shook his head. Jessica stilled her hands. "No, Tegan."

"No?" she coughed.

"Ah…no, Tegan," the Doctor agreed with Jessica. "I need to keep you warm and dry, if that is at all possible in this weather." He drew the coat tight about her. "We are a day and a half outside of Hill's End. When we reach there, we can gather up Nyssa and Adric and get you back to the TARDIS. Until then, I need you to remain covered, warm and as still as possible. Back in the TARDIS, all this would require is a shot…here…"

"I've had…pneumonia before…" she took a deep breath and coughed. "Just feel like a bloody truck has hit me…"

"Your woman…?" a man leaned forward, holding out a blanket. "She is very ill…"

"Yes…" the Doctor took the blanket with a smile and tucked it about her. Tegan frowned, but found that she could not keep her eyes open. As she blinked, the Doctor sat back against the wagon side and eased her against his flank. "And don't argue."

"I feel too awful…to argue…" she stated. Before she could say anymore and before the Doctor was completely settled next to her, she was asleep.

The last thing she heard was the Doctor telling her: "If the worst thing we have to worry about on this adventure, Tegan, is you ill…all things considered…this is practically a vacation. At least I don't have to worry about Nyssa and Adric…"

**

Nyssa ran.

Her skirts were held up, but even with no hampering of her steps, she was still unable to match Adric's strides. He was a good ten yards ahead of her as he sprinted to the door. He stopped there, dodging out of the way as several young men and a couple of children barreled through the small portal. He reached out, ushering the girl in. As she cleared the door, it was slammed shut and barricaded.

A split second later a series of loud clanging and the grating sound of metal on metal sounded outside the door.

Adric gripped Nyssa's hand and ran through the corridor. When they broke into the main camp, they were surrounded with armed men and men on horses. Nyssa screamed as a rain of arrows went over their head and into the wall.

"To the keep!" Elrind was shouting. Adric squinted, looking around for the place of which the Elder spoke. There was a solid looking stone building, older than the surrounding buildings. Elrind was riding his horse at a dead gallop toward the gate. With a shout, Adric ran after the horse, dodging horses and men, swords and arrows and errant flames.

The Elder stopped inside wall, next to an ancient well and dismounted, landing in mud. He ran back to the door and yelled for Adric. The boy launched Nyssa ahead of him, despite her scream. When she was safely inside, Adric dove through the door.

…and was bodily moved out of the way as the gate was rolled down.

Nyssa leaned against the wall, her hair loose about her head and her hands pressed against the stones. She panted.

"Are you all right?" Adric asked, pushing to his feet. He tried to brush off his legs, but realized that there was just as much dirt on his hands.

Nyssa nodded with her mouth wide. "What is going on?"

Adric limped over to her and shook his head. "I think…it appears we are under attack."

"From whom?"

He shook his head and reached to lead her into the main part of the building. Elrind followed along, pushing Adric and Nyssa aside gently. When the two friends were by a small arrow slit, they looked out. The Elder took a moment of pity on them and stopped to tell them one piece of information: "They are not attacking us, Adric. They are attacking each other…we, I think, are simply in the middle of it." He pointed out the slot and ran up the stairs.

Adric leaned into the stone to look out, keeping Nyssa tight against his front. As far as they could see in a straight line out the slot were men and horses. There were several banners flying. Adric whistled lowly, but Nyssa turned away. "Horrible."

The boy wasted no time, however, running after Elrind. "But why attack each other? And why here?"

Elrind grit out from ahead. "Heavens and Gods knows, Adric. Heavens and Gods. Now, get Nyssa below with the women and then come up to the top of the stairs…we need all men we can."

**

The Doctor levered away from the side of the wagon with surprisingly shaky arms. He made sure Tegan's head gently lay against the wagon before he joined Kilred and another man named Urbak at the other side of the wagon. All around them and the dirt road, the wagon, were hallowed out homes, fields afire, the skeletal remains of a Goddess Shrine, and the most ghastly of all was the pile of bodies. They lay covered in crimson and mud.

Urbak gasped in surprise and shock. Kilred rhythmically flexed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The Doctor breathed an expression of outrage. The smell as they neared the bodies was horrible and he eased his sweater against mouth to keep from retching.

"What is it?"

Tegan's voice was gritty and weak, but her twang was still recognizable. He shook his head and patted the air alongside of him to tell her to stay where she was, but she appeared at his arm nonetheless. She gazed out at the landscape, the darkening, smoke-filled, horrific landscape and gasped. She tried to cover her nose quickly, but not before she inhaled the smell.

For long minutes, she stared out sights, feeling the Doctor's hand on her shoulder. He didn't try to turn her away, but rather existed there for support. With a choked gasp, she closed her eyes. "Horrible…" she muttered in between coughs. "So horrible…"

"This was River Fall…" Kilred said, his voice tight.

The Doctor closed his eyes and released a long exhale. "Family?"

"Not mine, Jessica's…" the warrior stated, glancing at his sleeping wife. "I praise the Gods she is asleep."

Urbak swore. "And they be lying out on the ground…not even a decent burial…"

Kilred frowned, his chin setting. "An insult above insults. A blood oath I will swear for this."

Tegan swallowed, tried to breathe and ended up grabbing the Doctor's arm. "It's…" Her breath was tight in her chest and she leaned into him.

He nodded, his face set. As the last of the burned homes disappeared from sight, she eased back to the side of the wagon and he followed suit. "It’s like the Holocaust," she grit out, coughing. "All those bodies…horrible…"

"It happens on many planets in many societies, Tegan," the Doctor said, tucking the blanket about her again.

"There must be something we can do," she said, quietly.

"If you pray, I would advise praying for the families, children and those poor souls back there," he said, easing back against the wagon. "And pray that this hasn't happened to Hill's End."

"And if I don't?"

He slipped his arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. His silence told her more than words ever could. After a little while, he sighed. "Where there is life there is hope, you know. And so long as one alive remembers, Tegan, there is the hope that something like that will not happen again. If we can stop this from happening somewhere else, we will. Brave heart."

Tegan lifted a hand to her cheek and realized that she was crying.

**

The child that held her neck had long since gone to sleep, but Nyssa kept her in her arms. She looked out the window to the masses of tents, horses and men that had conglomerated as far as the eye could see. Long before attempts on entry of the keep by either side had ceased, but they were still trapped within the walls. She thought back to their arrival in Hill's End just twelve hours previous. There had been no warning of the coming plague of war. She had even had time to show Cassi the TARDIS and explain of her travels before there had been shouts of warning and then the running and bloodshed and terror…

Cassi laid her hand on her shoulder in the grim of the room. Both girls had busied themselves taking care of children that had been separated from their parents.

"We are safe here," Cassi quietly reassured her.

"I know," Nyssa said, easing to the ground. "I just worry for those out there…"

**

Adric rested back against the wall, holding the crossbow that he was given. He hadn't pointed out that he had no idea of how fire the thing. In his mind, violence had never helped anything and he couldn't see how killing another person would, in the end, fix the situation. Elrind sat next to him, occasionally looking back over the wall.

"Well?" Adric asked.

"We are secure," Elrind answered quietly. "They are not trying to attack us, Adric. But if we get in the way, or put ourselves in their way…"

"But why do they fight?" Adric asked, his voice disbelieving. "What reason do they have?"

"Those on the left and on the fields are the King's men. He commands the legions. On the opposite side are the pirates and the Houses of Lords that rebel against the King," Elrind shook his head. "And they fight for what all men fight for, boy…power." Elrind sighed and stared heavenward for a few moments. "It has happened before here, just never on this scale. Our village will be wiped from the face of the planet."

"And you are calm about this?" Adric asked, incredulously.

Elrind shook his head. "I can keep as many of my people safe and alive as I can. Fields and homes come and go. But life? That is a bit more important."

**

The morning broke over the hills and mountains as the horse drawn wagon slowed and stopped at the apex of the foothills. The Doctor laid his hand on the driver to lend his support. He squinted into the new morning and then lowered his head. Tegan levered herself next to the Time Lord to stare at the scene below. It had been Hill's End; she remembered the statue next to the milemarker when she and the others had passed it on their way exploring.

Now…there was nothing by tents and men. Houses, homes, and fields had disappeared under a sea of bodies. The only permanent building standing was the stone keep.