With lightning speed the Doctor sprinted over to Ayla, "ai yai" he shouted and karate chopped the Ogron, grabbing her and Kallie, he ran in the direction of the TARDIS.

Reaching the machine, he pushed the women in and was just about to go in himself, when he saw the woman who had propositioned him running for her life, being chased by a Dalek.

"You are an enemy of the Daleks", it droned, "Exterminate" and Marona was enveloped by the laser, killing her outright.

Shaking his head, the Doctor moved into the TARDIS.

"Where did you learn that move?" Kallie confronted him, before he was hardly through the door, "that ai yai" and she motioned the karate chop he had used.

"Oh, that's just Venusian Aikido, one of my past lives was a master in it, and I suppose some of it has remained with me throughout the changes" he enlightened her.

Deciding she would ignore this eccentric answer, she demanded to know if he had a plan to rid this world of the Daleks.

"No" he said, "but we have to find something, we can't just leave the Zelendonii in the control of those metal monsters."

He hurried over to the console, stroking it, he said, "how about giving us a bit of help, old girl" he crooned, and started flicking switches.

"Come on girl" he whispered, "we need your help" and print started to appear on the console screen, the Doctor read it intentely, "there is a root that can stop the Daleks, it can immobilise them," flicking another switch, an image appeared, pointing at it the Doctor asked "have you ever seen that root?"

"Yes" Ayla gasped, "pulling out of her otter skin bag, the clan's sacred root.

The Doctor grabbed it, shocked he said, "Ayla this is it, have you got any more?"

"Iza gave me this" she told them, "It is sacred to the clan, the only place I have ever seen it is around the cave that I grew up in."

The Doctor looked excited, "well, let's go there then" and ran back to the console. Soon the centre of it was raising up and down, lights were flashing and then he said, "we're here."

Ayla was amazed, "so quick?" she asked, "It took no time at all."

Striding to the door, he glanced back at the two women, "are you coming then?"

Grinning, they hurried after him.

Ayla immediately smelled the salt in the air, and she knew she was home; smiling her memories whisked her back to the time of her childhood, to Creb, Iza and Uba, and then forward to her son.

Fear for her mate, and daughter broke her out of her daydream and back to reality, "I must find the root" she told herself and started searching, under every leaf, and bit of grass.

Soon, she had found about a dozen of the plants, and was just starting to head back when she heard the sound of boots squiging on wet mud. Looking up, she saw him, her enemy, her antagonist, the man that had tried to make her childhood a misery, it was Broud.

He was staring at her, recognition in his eyes, his face bloated with anger, and he was coming her way.

"Spirit" he signed with fury, "you are death cursed, I will not let you come back."

As he drew level with her, she saw he had his fist up, ready to strike her, but she showed no fear, just staring at him in the eye.

If it was possible, Broud was even more enraged, pulling his fist back, he started to throw it forward towards her.

Before he had managed to beat the arrogant spirit, his arm was grabbed around the wrist, and held back.

Pulling the Neanderthal's arm behind his back, the Doctor muttered in his ear, "Don't ever try to hurt Ayla again." With disgust he then pushed him away, right into a muddy puddle.

Ayla looking at the leader in such a predicament, had trouble holding back the laughter that was filling her, turning away so he could not see her mirth, she saw others of the clan approaching.

The clan members felt a jolt of disbelief on seeing Ayla, and even more so on seeing the state of their floundering leader. Uba seeing her sister, started to rush forward feeling alive with joy, but then she remembered and with anxiety she glance around at the mog ur, Goov.

Seeing Uba look at him, he shook his head, and signed "after the death curse, after Ayla had left us, I went back into the old cave, I was in the sacred place, there was a after tremor, and when it stopped I saw that the bones of the death curse had been disturbed, Urses, the great cave bear himself had broken the curse. I never told Broud, he is too much like his woolly rhinoceros totem, he would have hunted Ayla down and killed her himself."

Ayla seeing this speech, first of all could not understand it, then she felt disbelief, and finally exhilaration, the curse was gone, she was free.

Kallie, who had been watching, felt tears prickle in her eyes when she saw Ayla rush towards another woman and enveloped her in her arms.

"Goov," a voice grunted.

The mog ur looked at their fallen leader, as he signed "I will not allowed this"

The Doctor understanding everything turned to look at the sludge coated man, and bellowed at him, "You will be quiet" which Broud understood because of the TARDIS's universal translator.

For the first time Goov saw the Doctor, and immediately fall on his face, in the mud, "oh spirit of guidance, I have seen you many times when I am meditating, but why have you come to see this lowly man," he signed.

The Doctor pulled him up, and started signing to Goov, "Goov, I have guided you for many years, and I guided the mog ur before you, Creb."

Ayla gasped "you knew Creb?"

The Doctor smiles an ancient smile, "I know everyone" he added mysteriously.

"Goov" he continued, "your leader is no leader to you, as your spirit guide I command you to appoint another."

An angry Broud, understanding that his leadership was being taken away from him, stood up and appearing just like his totem, charged at the spirit.

The Doctor grabbed him, and looked deeply into his eyes, cowering Broud dropped to the floor, shaking with insight of his many years of fear and hatred.

Durc, carrying his pack, had taken up the rear of the hunt, and he had seemed to have lost the rest of the group, he was walking through the forest, when he came to a clearing, filled with people, he saw the one person he thought he would never see again. Hardly able to believe his eyes, he screamed "Mama" and she, seeing him, ran over to him faster than she ever had before, and cried, "Durc, my son" and mother and son sank to the floor is a mass of tears and joy.

Giving them time, the Doctor eventually approached them, holding out his hands, he pulled them to their feet, and signed "Durc, this is not your place anymore; you are meant to be with Ayla."

If Ayla could have felt any more joy she would have, but her heart was already swelled, nearly beyond endurance

The doctor carried on, "we have to hurry, we have to save the Zelendonii, and your mate, and daughter, have you got the roots?"

Ayla nodded, and tried to tell Durc about everything that had happened; though she knew seeing would be believing.

Returning to the TARDIS, Ayla hugged her old friends and family, as did Durc, and then they entered the TARDIS.

"It's bigger on the inside, than the outside" he signed.

The Doctor laughed, "I told you" he said, "everyone always says that, except you Ayla."

The Doctor prepared the roots and made a fine mist, he put it in light weight containers, with a spray lid attached.

The team, Ayla, Kallie, Durc and the Doctor assembled at the door of the TARDIS, loading themselves up with their new weapons, they march out to be confronted with a scene from hell.

Bodies littered the grass, and in front of the Zelendonia's tent was huddled the survivors of the Zelendonii, surrounded with Ogrons, Daleks and the master. And a mechanical voice was saying, "You are enemies of the Daleks, but you will be changed to become like us, a new race of supreme beings."

"So that's their plan" muttered the Doctor as they crept up on them.

"Now" shouted the Doctor, and they sprayed the root mist over the area, Daleks, and people were literally covered in it.

"What have you done?" yelled the master.

The Daleks in the meantime could not move, they could not operate their equipment; their metal shells were literally dead to the world, "Ogrons, we are defeated, get us back to our ships" came the weak scratchy voice of a Dalek.

The Ogrons surrounded the Daleks, and pushed their masters into their ship, which took off and soon became a small dot on the horizon, which vanished.

"You have destroyed our plans" shriek his old friend, as he ran into a tree, his own TARDIS. That too faded away, with a whirl of engines.

Ayla stood in front of her people for the last six years; they seemed to be in a trance. Waving her hands in front of her mate and daughter, they started to come around, but were confused; looking at the rest of the perplexed Zelendonii, she realised that the mist had wiped their memories of the last day.

The Doctor knew he had other adventures awaiting him and others to save, told Ayla it was time that he moved on.

Kallie was upset at this, she had not appreciated that her time with Ayla was so short, but she knew that her sister belonged to this time, and Kallie, was very much a future girl.

At the TARDIS, Kallie hugged Ayla for the last time, and walked into the TARDIS.

The Doctor not wanting to be outdone, also embraced her, and was just about to enter his machine, when he heard Johorran call out to him, "Doctor, what about the dead, what killed them?"

"It was the disease, a lesser form of it anyway," he fibbed "I will give you a cure" he disappeared for a moment, and came back carrying a box filled with little jelly like babies. "Take a couple each, and you will be okay," he thought for a moment, "in fact, to be on the safe side, give the children a few more" waving at the Zelendonii, he entered the blue box, and shut the door.

The people watched as the entity, vanished with a roar and blue flashing lights.

In the TARDIS, Kallie asked, "what did you give them?"

"Jelly babies" he answered.

THE END.