---

 

The Pendragons Issue #106	Brought together in defense of Avalon and the British Isles, the Pendragons are the officially-sanctioned heroes of Great Britain. Originally led by the Black Knight, the group is composed of the remnants of the old Knights of Pendragon group, as well as several other heroes. Willing to die for their beliefs, the Pendragons stand united as England's best defense against threats of a superhuman nature. Pendragons logo created by David Wheatley based on designs by Des Davies and Kell Carpenter!
Written by David Wheatley

"You don't understand, I'm a Pendragon."

Peter Hunter, the former Pendragon known as Albion, was handcuffed and bundled into the back of a police car, protesting as he went. He had been used to a great many things, but he had never experienced this and this event had left him deeply disturbed. Was this how heroes were treated in this new era? What had happened to the values that the Pendragons' had shown the world? Marvin Whitehook was being taken away in an ambulance as was his wife Angie, but Hunter had been arrested for assault and grievous bodily harm. He was lucky it was not attempted murder.

"Please," he begged the officer, "I am Peter Hunter, a Pendragon. I have come back to life. You must believe me."

Officer James Lasting gave a shake of his head as he got into his car. He wasn't impressed by this man's ravings and while he appreciated what the man had tried to do, taking the law into his own hands was not a good idea. True, the man had the best of intentions, but jobs like this should be left to the police. Superheroes had bigger things to worry about minor criminal cases should be dealt with by the police, and not by vigilantes. The man he had assaulted was indeed scum and he had deserved everything that the man had given to him, but he had crossed the line, and now it was a police matter. He was sure that the authorities would be gentle with him, considering that he had saved a woman's life, but that was not up to him. The thing that annoyed the officer more was the constant complaining that he was a Pendragon returned to life. Officer Lasting had had a sister, Elizabeth, who died during the Martian invasion, and she like so many others had not returned to life. What made superheroes, any different to normal people? Why was it that they should come back, and the people like its sister called not?

"Give it a rest," he said wearily. "I don't care if you're a Pendragon are not. I don't care if you've returned from the dead are not. You're under arrest, get over it."

Peter Hunter, buried his head in his hands and inwardly wept. This was not how it was supposed to be and he knew he needed to get to the other Pendragons before it was too late.

Officer Lasting started the car and began the journey to the station. He could see the prisoner in his rear view mirror, and he felt a little sorry for the man. If he had had superpowers he would have done the same thing that the prisoner had done and he couldn't fault for it. He also had to wonder about what it was like being dead, and how someone could come back from that. If the man truly was a Pendragon, who would come back to life, then maybe he could provide answers that he needed about what was after death. After a moment he plucked up the courage to speak to the man.

"Which Pendragon did you say you were again?" he asked.

Peter looked up. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he said to the officer.

"Which Pendragon were you?"

"They called me Albion. I was a Pendragon from a very long time, but I have been dead quite some time." He looked to the world as they drove by, contemplating what had happened. Since he had died so much had changed, the people he had worked with and all changed beyond his own recognition. Some had died, some had got married, some had had children, some had achieved positions beyond anything that any of them could have dreamed. "I died when the barrier went up. This is not the world I knew."

Lasting considered what had just been said and thought back to his knowledge of the Pendragons. He had been there at the ceremony that had commemorated those that had died and he remembered an Albion being mentioned. "Was that a new Albion that died just before the Martians came?"

"I trained him, from a certain point of view" Peter said, thinking of Cam. He knew the boy wasn't dead, just missing, but nobody else knew that. He and Cam were linked through the spirit of Albion. "He's a good boy, a credit to everything. He did me proud when he took the name of Albion."

"What's it like, being dead?"

"I don't really know," he said. "When I died, I joined the other Pendragon spirits in Avalon. In a sense, I didn't die as you're thinking."

"There must have been a time though, between when you went there and at the moment you died. It's just... I had a sister, I have a sister, I never know how to say it. I just wanted to know... she'd have been ok, that there was something after that, a place where we can meet. I know you supertypes come back all the time, but us normal people..." He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice as he spoke.

"It's ok," said Peter, "I know what you mean. When I was younger, I served during the war and I lost a lot of friends. It was the first thing I asked when I died, when can I see them." Pete's voiced trailed off. "I couldn't. My afterlife was on a different level to theirs, and to the other supertypes I'd known as well. I was in good company, but I didn't get to see the people I'd called friends, the people that I'd loved. When I was a child my grandfather had a dog, Samson. I loved him and always hoped I'd see him again with my grandfather. In the end, I couldn't see any of them."

"So how do you know they're all together?" Lasting asked.

"I heard their voices when I died," Peter said, "calling me home. You hear things about a light and going towards it, but there's no light as such. It's dark and you can't see anything, you just hear the voices of the people you love and you realise you're not hearing, and you're not seeing because you can't do either. You don't have ears and you don't have eyes, you sense things and that's when you find a realisation and the darkness lifts."

"And yours?"

"As it lifted the voices faded and were replaced by another voice." Peter thought back to his own death in the arms of Grace after his injuries at Blackheart's hand were too much for him. He had thought he had failed, but he had been wrong. Sometimes things happened for a reason, and of all those who had died and were at rest in Avalon, he had been the one chosen by the Green Knight to come back and gather his former team-mates in a mission to regain the fabled realm. "There was a sense of coming home, but at the same time I lost something as well."

"So there is peace, after everything?" Peter nodded.

"Don't get me wrong, not all Pendragons get to rest in Avalon," he said. "That's reserved for those who died in battle. There are Pendragons who died of natural causes, peacefully. They... gained something such as I've wished for." Peter closed his eyes and he wished things were different, that those who had been Pendragons and were not at rest in Avalon could have been and those who had been at rest in Avalon could have gained something else as well. "If I had been one of them, I wouldn't be alive now."

Lasting shrugged, but said nothing He felt some sympathy for the man, but he had come back and the car started to slow down and Lasting cursed. The technology they used at the moment was still in it's infancy, the adaptation of petrol engines to run on ambient magic was being tested on the law enforcement agencies before it was unleashed on the public, however it was unreliable and the engines sometimes couldn't handle the power, which was what was happening now. Now they had to wait for the car to cool down before they could carry on

"Sodding magic," he said, under his breath. "It never works the way it's supposed to."

"Now that we agree on," said Peter from the back. "I remember when it was all so easy, but things changed so much when the Barrier went up. Now it's down and things have changed again." The Green had withdrawn just when it was most needed by the realm. No, not just the realm, by the world. "What's happening to me?" he mused. In Avalon, he had respected the Green and the decisions that had been made, but now he was alive again he was seeing errors and mistakes that had been made by the Green, choices that were detrimental to the Green. "Is it the Bane?"

"No, young master," said a man outside the car. "The Bane is not part of your current thought process."

"Who the hell are you?" asked Lasting, getting out from the car, reaching for his baton.

"My name is Cole Hawlings, Officer Lasting," he said. "And I'm very sorry about your car, I'm afraid I made it stop."

"You did what?" said Lasting. "What's going on here?"

"I need to speak with Master Hunter here," Cole said and with a wave of his hand, Lasting froze. "Apologies," he said with a tip of a battered old hat to the officer, who couldn't move. "Master Hunter, my name is Cole Hawlings and I was once a Pendragon."

"Master Hunter?" Peter said. "I'm quite old, Mr Hawlings, I don't think I could be classed as Master."

"Perhaps," said Cole, with a wry smile. "However I am older than you think. Have you ever heard of Raymond Lully?"

"The Alchemist." Peter had heard the name mentioned in the Cathedral of Owls, a Pendragon of European descent, who had learnt the science of alchemy in the 13th century, and had been touched with the blessing and had gained insight in to magic and how the magic and sciences interacted. Even though he no longer had the power within him, he had gained much knowledge and it was rumoured he had possessed an elixir of life. "You're alive?"

"For the moment," he said. "There is a change coming, Lord Albion, and you have a great destiny."

"It's why I was sent back," he said. "I have to warn the Pendragons, let them know that Avalon has fallen."

"I know," said Cole. "However that is not the whole of it, as you are starting to learn. Just be aware of your thoughts, of your instincts. You alone have escaped Avalon, you alone are untouched by the Bane. Your time amongst the living may be temporary, but you have a window of opportunity that is beyond measure."

"But these thoughts I am having," Pete shook his head. "They don't seem right."

"Yes, they do," said Cole. "Believe in yourself, Master Hunter. You are no longer Albion, you are Peter Hunter. You have new powers, new abilities and with them come new responsibilities." He smiled. "You will understand, in time."

"I need to get to Darkmoor," Peter said. "Please, help me."

"You need to get to Cardiff," said Cole. "There the Pendragons fight for their lives, and they will need you." He gestured to Officer Lasting. "Master Lasting, you must take him to Cardiff, and you must hurry with all available speed. I wish I could assist you with this, but I do not have the means. Not anymore."

"I can't," said the police officer, "I have to take him in to custody."

"There is a man who will help you," said Cole. "His name is Tyrone Wilding."

"Commander of the Inter-Regional Taskforce," said Lasting. "I know of him."

"He will ensure there are no punishments for your actions," Cole said and then he looked about. "You must hurry." The words had a sense of urgency to them. "The wolves are running." He looked at Peter who had unknowingly uttered the words as well. Cole took a piece of chalk from his pocket and sketched a door on a nearby wall. "Two things – Officer Lasting, I have you a message. Elizabeth is at peace and while she misses you, she is waiting for you, yet knows you will not see her for some time, but she watches over you. Master Hunter, whatever happens in the days that will follow remember that, beyond Avalon, you are the voice of the Green." He took hold of the chalk door handle, opened the door and then he was gone.

"I don't understand what is happening here," said Lasting. "Who was that?"

"I don't know," said Peter, looking at the wall. "He seems to be... neutral." Was that possible, he wondered. He had always known that there had been the Green against the Bane, but he had always understood you were on one side or the other. Then again, what of those who knew nothing of it? Those caught between the sides, innocents. "Neutrals." He considered it. "Please, you must help me."

"How did he know about Elizabeth? How did he know about me?" Lasting was confused and Peter looked at him and there was a sense of calm emanating from him and Lasting looked at him, also feeling the calm. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," Peter admitted. He knew he had powers similar to those he had as Albion, but he also had the ability to heal bodies, perhaps minds and souls as well. "Your name is James."

"How?" Words failed Lasting, a man needing answers, answers that Peter couldn't answer.

"We need to get to Cardiff," said Peter. "I need you to help me. Please."

Lasting wanted to say no, but there was something about the request, something he wanted to do. "It will take time, between two and a half to up to four hours." There was some uncertainty in his voice, but it was more positive than he had been considering.

"Then we need to set off. The wolves are running and if they catch me all will be lost." Peter wasn't sure what the wolves were, but he knew that they weren't good and he could sense the taint of the Bane as he spoke the words. He wasn't afraid to fight, in fact he welcomed it, but if they were coming for him, then they knew he had escaped and that meant he would be hunted until they found him, knowing he must not get aid from the Pendragons. Once he reached his friends then the Bane would be in trouble.

"I should call it in," Lasting said, with uncertainty, but Peter shook his head.

"We're better off if they don't know," he said. Lasting looked at him, and then looked at his badge. The police crest had changed from when he had first joined the force and now it had the crest of a shield bearing the Union Flag, flanked by two dragons, with a knight's helm at the top surrounded by dragon wings. The police force was the police force of His Royal Highness Adam Crown, and Crown was a Pendragon.

"Ok," he said. "I just hope we can arrive in time." Peter nodded. Lasting got in to the car and started it and it purred in to life as Peter focused on the handcuffs that bound him and they opened and his hands were free once more. "You could have done that anytime?" Lasting asked and Peter nodded.

"I just have respect for the law, and what you do. You're just doing a very difficult job." Lasting nodded as they headed off towards Cardiff.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Lasting after a moment of silence and Peter looked up. "Why don't the Pendragons do anything run of the mill?"

"I'm sorry?" asked Peter.

"You, for example. You stopped a wife-beater. Why don't your friends do stuff like that? They always seem to be concerned with the big things, and the little things get left behind. Before the Barrier, the Pendragons looked out for the regular people as well, but now they're... they're like the Avengers in the US, taking on the next big thing to threaten the world. There are lots of members within the Pendragons but outside of the main group they don't seem to do anything. We don't have any heroes like Spider-Man, or... or... people like him who stop muggings, help find lost kids."

"Or stop wife-beaters." It was a good question. The Pendragons always seemed to look at the bigger picture.

"I know the UK seems to attract a fair few bad guys and that a team like the Pendragons need to sort it, but there's a lot that seems to be beneath their gaze, at least as a team. Look at the membership. There are people who made careers out of helping people but when they became Pendragons it seemed like those problems started being beneath them"

"I don't know the answer," said Peter. "They should be, but they don't. Big battles take it out of you, and even heroes need to rest, but I agree. The world would be much better if they focused inward from time to time."

"It's just that so much has changed," said Lasting. "First the place got bathed in magic, then the barrier fell and the aliens came, then there was a energy pulse that took out all electronic technology, and then there was a weird fire that made everything more natural. They say the air in London hasn't been this clean since before the Industrial Revolution." It was certainly true, mused Peter. This was nothing like the place he had left, and though he had seen many changes in his lifetime, there was always something shifting now. "Sometimes we can't cope," Lasting was saying. "There's even talk of a possible rebellion against Adam Crown, and that we might be plunged in to a civil war. I studied history, I know nothing good has ever come out of civil war."

"Adam is a good man at heart," said Peter. "He makes mistakes and he has a lot to bear. Imagine being told that you are the heir to Arthur Pendragon, someone who to most was legendary and looked like Richard Harris. Adam tries too hard to be... Arthur. He needs to just be Adam Crown."

Lasting said nothing. He had no feelings towards the king, or against him. He was just a bloke with a title. He'd felt the same way about the Queen and her family. He was an officer of the law, and while he wore their emblem, he wasn't tied to them as such. Then again, how could Pendragon crest on his badge make him feel so... needed by the crown? Silence descended once again.

After a while Lasting spoke again. "The old man said your time amongst the living wasn't... wasn't" he struggled for the words.

"I'm not back to life, as such," said Peter softly. "In truth I'm a spirit, resting in a body, even though I have powers. The poor soul whose body I now inhabit died in a mugging and I was placed inside him until I can complete my task."

"And when you do?"

"I go back to my resting place in Avalon. Or possibly in to oblivion if we fail." He hadn't considered that as he believed in the Pendragons, but if they failed, and if the Bane took Avalon as it's own, now and forever, what would happen? The Cathedral of Owls was currently the only safe sanctuary within Avalon and it was protected by powerful magics. If he couldn't get back in, or if the Cathedral were lost to them, what would happen to him? He was already dead, he couldn't move on. Or could he? He needed to speak with people who may be able to help him. Wynter would be the best bet, he was wise beyond his years and knew much of the ways of life and death. As he looked outside the window of the car he noticed something odd.

"Cole Hawlings," he said, softly. "What have you done?"

"You need to get to Cardiff," Cole's voice echoed in his head. "There the Pendragons fight for their lives, and they will need you." Then he heard the voice again, and this was no memory. "The Hunter is being hunted and the wolves are running."

Next Issue: The wolves are running and the race is on to not only beat the wolves, but also to get to the Pendragons, as the last time we saw them, there was only Union Jaq left standing...