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underneath this temple. This device has been
     storing the power from the wheels for a very long time, and it
     will explode when he wants it to, at his command. If it does so,
     it will not only destroy you and everyone here, your temple and
     your village, but also create a wound in the time stream,
     preventing anyone from ever travelling in and out of here ever
     again. No doubt that was his intention: to steal the spear and
     cover his tracks.’
    Odin stared at the Doctor. ‘You
     are talking nonsense, Healer.’
    ‘I speak the truth. You may not
     understand everything I’m telling you, but understand this: Frey
     has betrayed you! Do not trust him!’
    ‘Enough of this,’ cried Njord.
     ‘It is Odin who has betrayed
us
!’
    ‘No!’ roared Odin. ‘You and Frey
     have been angling for war from the very start, and you shall
     have it!’
    He waved Gungnir above his head
     and seemed about to hurl it at the Vanir.
    ‘Doctor!’ cried Jo. ‘It’s the
     start of the war!’
    ‘Not yet, it isn’t,’ he said.
     ‘Odin! Aren’t you forgetting something? Shouldn’t you make your
     sacrifice for victory before going to war? That must come first,
     correct?’
    Odin wheeled round, his eyes wide
     with rage, but he lowered his spear as he spoke to the Doctor.
     ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You are right. You are right … Very well! And
     which of you shall I sacrifice first? The traitor, Frey? Or your
     woman?’
    ‘No!’ cried the Doctor. ‘You will
     take me. I give myself to you, upon one condition.’
    ‘Which is?’
    The Doctor waved a hand at the
     priest. ‘Do not insult me with this man. If I am to be a
     sacrifice, I request – no, I
demand
– the honour of dying at the hand
     of the king, and by the power of Gungnir itself!’
    ‘Doctor! No!’ screamed Jo,
     fighting but failing to break free of the men who held
     her.
    Odin stared at the Doctor as the
     seconds ticked by, and then he began to chuckle. He lifted his
     spear high above his head and bellowed its name: ‘
Gungnir!
’
    His shout was taken up by his
     men, and Odin stepped forward. The Doctor began to edge
     sideways, backing away, backing away. Odin smiled, relishing the
     game – the cat and mouse, the hunter and hunted – as the Doctor
     opened up some distance between them.
    ‘No!’ cried Jo again.
     ‘No!’
    And then she fell silent, because
     she saw what the Doctor had done, and where he was now
     standing.
    Odin pulled back his arm and
     flung Gungnir with all his might. The spear flew from his hand
     and headed straight for the Doctor. It could not miss. It would
     not.
    Jo screamed as she saw the Doctor
     watch it for a split second. Then he took two neat steps
     backwards and pushed through the unlocked door of the TARDIS,
     disappearing from sight.
    The spear hurtled in after him,
     it too vanishing.
    Everyone gasped, and then fell
     silent.
    Nothing and no one moved for
     three long heartbeats, and then the Doctor stepped out of the
     TARDIS, holding the spear.
    His voice was deep and strong.
     ‘You threw the spear that cannot miss, Odin. And you missed. Now
     it is my turn.’
    He pulled back his arm, then
     paused and grinned. ‘Or, I can give you Gungnir back on one
     condition.’
    Odin began to roar his
     displeasure, but the Doctor again made as if to throw the spear.
     ‘Are you so sure I will miss, too?’ he asked.
    Odin’s roar settled into a
     rumble, and through clenched teeth he hissed, ‘What is it that
     you want, Healer?’
    The Doctor turned to Jo and
     smiled.

12
    Safely inside, the Doctor
     closed the door of the TARDIS, and Jo ran to his side. ‘We can’t
     leave the spear!’ she cried. ‘It’s more important than I
     am!’
    The Doctor held her by the
     shoulders. ‘My dear girl,’ he said. ‘That is very noble of you.
     You were right. Your aspirations
are
the very noblest. But you’re wrong
     about something. Nothing is more important than you.’
    ‘Oh, Doctor. I … But the