Blind Fury (short story)

Blind Fury was a short story printed in Doctor Who The Official Annual 2011.

Summary
Blind Fury is set in the village of Slothe, which is full of lazy people. They overhunted the wild game in the region and over-harvested the wild fruits, as the villagers were too lazy to plant crops and keep livestock. Due to the villagers' laziness, Death sent her messenger, who was invisible to the villagers, to punish them.

Death's messenger killed many people on its first two attacks. The few surviving villagers appealed to Presus to help them, but Presus refused all three times and went to bathe in a river. He saw the reflection of Death's messenger in the water and ran home, terrified. The Seer, a prophetess whom Presus had often made fun of before, met him and told him to kill Death's messenger so that the message "the sons of Gallifrey will sleep no more" can be sent to Death. She died soon afterwards from the injuries the Krafayis inflicted on her.

Presus discovered that all the remaining people in Slothe, his parents included, had been killed by Death's messenger while he was bathing in the river. He took a long sword from the wall of the Opticon and his father's shield, which he covered in the leaves of the ulanda tree so that it would be able to reflect the image of the Krafayis in it. Presus tracked Death's messenger to a cave, where he fought the creature without rest for three days.

When Presus finally killed Death's Messenger, he broke his sword and threw away his shield. He built a funeral pyre for all the dead villagers of Slothe and burned it. Presus finally lay down to sleep beside the pyre, content that this is the first and last time he cared for others. He dreamt of his dead parents, the Seer's prophecy that the people of Gallifrey would no longer need to fear death, and of a mysterious figure holding a broken sword and an hourglass watching him.

Characters

 * Presus
 * Death's Messenger
 * Seer

Worldbuilding

 * Gallifreyan life forms included broakirs, trunkikes, yaddlefish, and ulanda.
 * Gallifreyan landscapes mentioned include the Continent of Wild Endeavour and the Mountains of Solace and Solitude.

Continuity

 * Gallifrey has two suns, and the leaves on the trees on Gallifrey are silver. (TV: Gridlock)