The Guardians of Prophecy ( audio story ) Publisher ' s summary . The TARDIS materialises on Serenity , the last surviving world of the Traken Union . Peri expects a good place for a holiday — not tomb raiders , a labyrinth filled with terrifying monsters and a trap - laden necropolis . For Serenity ' s gentle name belies its history as the home planet of the Melkur , soldiers created to serve a long dead dark force , the embodiment of evil itself . Whilst they sleep , vicious thieves are after this force ' s secrets , and will stop at nothing to find them . But will they find more than they bargained for ? Plot . Part one . The Guardian of Prophecy , a member of the Elect of Serenity , represents the common people , the Meers , of the planet . They are beginning to question the right of the Elect to govern Serenity , especially since other planets in the Benign Union have democratic governments . The Guardian believes that failure to honour the peoples ' wishes may result in outright rebellion . Mura , the commander of the palace guard , orchestrates a robbery of a casket from the palace vaults with the assistance of his fellow guard Escalus . However , when the alarm sounds , Mura pretends to have apprehended Escalus and claims that he was the sole thief . In accordance with the ancient law of Serenity , he has Escalus thrown into the labyrinth . After meeting with the Guardians in the Consul Chamber , he brings the casket to his co - conspirator , Court Recorder Aura , in his chambers . It contains three amulets and the Codex of Equilibrium , all of which date to before the founding of the Benign Union . The Doctor tells Peri that Serenity , the sole planet to survive the destruction of the Traken Union centuries earlier , is " neither serene nor benign " . Its people played a key role in the formation of the Benign Union . While in orbit of the planet , the TARDIS keeps up a transmission from the Melkur . They are searching the universe for the essence of pure evil from which they were created . Although the Doctor intends to depart immediately , the Melkur ' s psychic influence results in the TARDIS being dragged down to the surface of the planet . Auga hires a renowned criminal named Ebbko to break into a tomb . He pays him 100 , 000 union credits in advance and intends to pay the remainder of his fee upon completion . The TARDIS materialises in a necropolis on the surface of Serenity , where they find numerous dormant Melkur . Peri comments on their " weird design " , comparing them to the work of the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí . The burial enclosure is surrounded by a temporal distortion field . If someone was to attempt to walk through it , different parts of their bodies would be sent 100 years into the future . However , Ebbko is able to create a temporary gap in the field which is large enough for a person to walk through . As the breach of the temporal distortion field is detected , the Doctor and Peri are attacked by one of the necropolis ' robot sentinels , a floating sphere . After Auga and Ebbko hear Peri being chased by the sentinel , Ebbko is able to disrupt its operating systems . In the meantime , the Doctor is placed under arrest by Commander Mura . Upon reaching their destination , the Tomb of Malador , Ebbko deactivates its invisible plasma field while Auga opens the tomb using one of the amulets from the casket , in actuality a decoding device . Part two . As the Doctor is about to be executed by Mura ' s guards , the Guardian arrives in the enclosure and has Mura stand down . He orders Mura to bring the Doctor to the palace for questioning before his execution . As it is not feasible to allow Peri to leave their sight as she may raise the alarm , Auga instructs her to lead the way into the tomb so that she can trigger any traps ahead . After learning that there are no exceptions to the law that anyone who enters the enclosure is to be executed , the Doctor calls Mura as a defence witness and has him testify to the Guardians that he himself was in the enclosure . If the law is to be strictly and literally applied , the Doctor claims that Mura should be executed along with him . In order to have the matter resolved , the Guardian summons Prophecy , a living computer , who warns that a great evil is threatening the future of Serenity , claiming that " infinite evil " has breached the Tomb of Malador . Auga uses a second amulet to enter the inner chamber of Malador ' s tomb . He tells Peri that Malador is a legendary figure in Serenity ' s ancient history whose very existence is open to question . The chamber contains an energy sphere , which is Prophecy ' s source of power . Auga plans to destroy the computer so as to allow the Meers to overthrow the Elect and gain control of Serenity through revolution . The Doctor warns the Guardians that if Prophecy is deactivated or destroyed , the shield of good ness generated around the planet will break down and the Melkur will no longer be dormant . The Guardians dismiss Malador as a mere legend which is used to frighten errant children . However , the Doctor tells them that stories of Malador , which state that he is immortal , indestructible and pure evil , have spread as far as Gallifrey and are used to frighten Gallifreyan children . When the Guardian requests Prophecy to pass judgment on the Doctor ' s claims , she finds him guilty of breaching the enclosure and instructs that he is to be thrown into the labyrinth immediately . As he has previously participated in raids on tombs on other planets , Ebbko finds it suspicious that there were no traps in the Tomb of Malador and believes that they may have been intended to reach the inner chamber . After being thrown into the labyrinth , the Doctor determines that Prophecy sentenced him to death so that he could reach the Tomb of Malador through the underground tunnels and prevent Auga from deactivating her . Prophecy assures the Doctor that she will protect him from the creatures in the labyrinth . Auga ' s attempts to deactivate Prophecy result in the energy sphere ' s power being channelled into the burial casket . Prophecy warns the Guardians that Malador has risen , an event witnessed by Peri , Auga and Ebbko . Part three . Prophecy uses her ability to alter the flow of time in order to bring forward her own demise and to prevent her technology from falling into Malador ' s hands . She uses her last traces of energy to save the Doctor from the creatures in the labyrinth . Malador tells Peri that he created the temporal distortion field surrounding the enclosure and the energy sphere which previously powered Prophecy . After learning that Auga was responsible for his awakening , Malador grants him the " honour " of being his first victim . However , he permits Auga to live , as his mind is a simmering pit of fear and self - doubt which serves to nourish him , before fulfilling his promise to kill him . After learning that Prophecy has been destroyed , Mura pulls a neutron laser on the Guardians . He tells them that they are to be tried by a revolutionary council , consisting of Meers , which will either exile them or sentence them to death . In the interim , they are to be imprisoned in the palace ' s dungeons . The labyrinth is a temporal amplification circuit which uses the energy from Malador ' s tomb to power Prophecy and generate the field of goodness around the planet . Having recovered the bulk of his energy , Malador is able to reactivate all of the Melkur on Serenity . Mura has appointed himself President of Serenity and claims to be acting on behalf of the Meers . He tells the Doctor and Peri that he plans to step aside for a democratically elected president once the revolution is over , though the time travellers are doubtful that he will do so . However , only minutes later , Mura is killed by the Melkur as they capture the Guardians ' chamber . As Malador is able to see through the Melkur ' s eyes , he determines that Prophecy is not irreparably damaged . He reverse the polarity of the protective shield around Serenity to create a field of pure evil , which he uses to amplify the Lament of the Melkur and transmit it to every Melkur in the universe . Part four . Malador decides to spare the Doctor ' s life when he realises that he is a Time Lord . He tells him that , thousands of years earlier , Malador had his conscience surgically removed . He plans to do the same to not only the Doctor but the entire population of Serenity . After once again escaping from the palace dungeon , the Doctor , Peri and Ebbko attempt to make their way back to the Tomb of Malador but are met with opposition in the form of several Melkur . However , they retreat to the TARDIS , which almost immediately materialises in the tomb ' s inner chamber . While the Doctor reprogrammes the energy sphere to increase the level of amplification within the labyrinth , Ebbko creates a plasma field around the chamber in order to keep the Melkur out . As the increased amplification will result in the level of temporal and dimensional fracturing within the labyrinth being increased , the resulting energy is capable of destroying even Malador . The Doctor intends to lure him into the labyrinth , where the creatures in the labyrinth will feed on his psychic energy , at the cost of his own life . He is even prepared to allow Serenity to be pulled through the dimensional rupture if it means that Malador will be destroyed . When the Melkur break their way into the inner chamber , Ebbko places Peri into the casket but sacrifices his own life . He not only saves Peri ' s life but those of everyone on Serenity . After Malador ' s psychic energy is consumed by the creatures in the labyrinth , both he and the Melkur are pulled through the dimensional fracture . In order to honour Ebbko ' s sacrifice , the Doctor advises the Guardians to create a power sharing system which will have prominent roles for members of both the Elect and the Meers in government . He tells them they should have a written constitution which starts with " a catchy motto , " remarking that he once told Thomas Jefferson the same thing .