Pendragon Comics - The Pendragons #109

Albion removed his hands from Adam Crown and for the first time since the battle with the Dark Phoenix, the king was mobile again, the use of his legs restored with the power of the Green.

“Thank you, my friend,” he said and Peter nodded. “Just a shame we’re meeting under such circumstances.”

“I know,” Albion said, “but the Pendragons are needed. In all the centuries, Avalon has never fallen to the Bane, until now.” The two of them made their way to the main council chamber, where the other Pendragons would be waiting for them to arrive.

“I’d thought the Bane never had the power, even with the Black Mass Barrier,” Adam said.

“Oh, it had the power, but then so did the Green to match it.” Albion looked at him. “It was just a gradual weakening of the power base by other forces.” Adam considered it, remembering the words of the Green Knight the last time he had been in Avalon. The waters of the lake had been polluted, the previous guardians of the Lake had been killed or had abandoned the post, leaving the Lake unguarded and not truly healed after Roma had attempted to poison it. “Nobody realised just how much damage had been done, or how much of himself Dane Whitman was truly giving to maintain the waters.”

“Then the Barrier fell and wild magic was released,” Adam said.

“The truth was revealed, and there was nothing that could be done while the Martians attacked,” Albion said softly. “The Green gave the last energies it could to ensure that the Pendragons could carry on the fight on Otherworld, but that was all.”

“It needed to heal,” Adam said.

Peter nodded. “However there were darker plans afoot and nobody saw it coming.” The heralds opened the door to the chamber where the King and the Knight-Errant entered the room. “That’s why we’re here, to bring you up to date with the fall of Avalon. Did you do as I ask and get rid of the sword?”

Adam nodded. “It’s been thrown out to sea.”

“No,” sighed Peter. “I should have done been more explicit.” He cursed himself, inwardly. "Throwing it out to sea was possibly the worst thing that could have been done."

“But surely it’s gone,” said Adam and Peter shook his head.

“Allow me to explain,” he said as they sat down, with the other Pendragons who had gathered, and Albion began to tell his tale.

The Pendragons

Issue #109

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

The Red Lord of the Bane roared in anger. This was not supposed to have happened, he was supposed to have killed the Pendragons, not been driven out of Crown’s body.

“DAMN THEM!” he shouted. “DAMN THEM ALL!” His fury was like a terrible fire as he lashed out with his powers, destroying minions, sending dark eldritch energies throughout his throne room and not for the first time, Thanatos wondered how he had ended up as the minion of someone like this. Outside of this place, the Red Lord was little more than a shade, his physical body destroyed. He had taken on many hosts over the years but few had been able to contain the power for long. The Red Lord was more than a force of the Bane, but he was not the Bane itself. He spoke for the Bane, commanded the forces in the Bane’s name, but the Lord was also a servant of a higher master.

“My Lord,” Thanatos started, as the Lord’s rage cooled and the Red Lord turned his ire on the man.

“If it so pleases, my Lord,” he continued, “I do not believe that you have failed.”

“I haven’t failed?” the Red Lord sneered. “I had Adam Crown as my host body, Caliburn was mine and Darkmoor was once again my seat of power. Now I have none of these!” Thanatos was held and squeezed in a mystical grip. “Tell me how have I not failed?” There was more fear than anger now, fear of the retribution of the Bane.

“Caliburn is broken, Crown’s wife is mortally wounded,” Thanatos gasped. “And more importantly, the Bane has not punished you.” The Red Lord considered this and released Thanatos. “Whatever happened, it has been in favour of the Bane.”

“You speak wisely, Richard Jones,” the Red Lord said, and Thanatos inwardly recoiled at the use of his true name. “Perhaps something has occurred that I am as yet unaware of.” Thanatos bowed.

“As ever, I live to serve.” The Red Lord waved him away, knowing he needed to commune with the Bane. Thanatos walked off, thinking that he needed to find a way of getting out of this arrangement, but even with the Destiny Force at his disposal, how far would he have to run to escape the Bane?

In Avalon, the Pendragons had left the seat of power of the Green, and in truth there was an emptiness without them there. The Green Knight knew that this was the way it had to be, but at the same time they were his children, his chosen, and he missed them. With luck, now that he had a new Lady of the Lake in Ginny Halpin, the restoration of the Green would continue apace.

“She’s a nice woman,” Albion said. “A little uncertain of her place in the Pendragons, definitely not sure about the whole heir of Arthur and legacy of the Green, but there’s a nobility to her. I’d heard of her, as Spider-Woman, but she seems so… normal.”

The Green Knight smiled. That was what he had expected. “The Lady Jessica is normal. She has a sense of humanity that perhaps Adam and the others do not. She is a daughter of the Green, and perhaps had she been allowed to develop in her own time, she would have become one of the greatest heroes of her age.”

“Of my age,” the former Albion said. “She would certainly have helped greatly during the war.” He contemplated her, having seen her next to Adam. “She’s a bit… American though.”

“That is not necessarily a bad thing,” the Green Knight said, with a smile. “Her parentage is American and British, but British in itself gave rise to the American populace.”

“And the British are made up of many other nationalities,” Hunter said, conceding the point. The blood that ran through them all came from a single source in the beginning. They could not and should not deny evolution; the sciences of the world, anymore than the sciences could not and should not deny the existence of magic. It had tried, but now it was impossible.

The Knight was in contemplation, considering the changing world. Things were moving faster than any of them had predicted and events on the other side of the world had repercussions in their heartlands. “The Green has always sprung from the British Isles, but with the recent changes to the world, and given the global reach these days of the bloodlines of old, perhaps a change is needed. The Bane is not and has never been limited to these isles, but it is where the powers have lain” The Green Knight looked at his favoured son. “When the Lake is restored, and the waters cleansed, I think it will be time for something different, a new approach. The nature of magic has changed with the fall of the Barrier, and we must adapt.”

“The rest of the world may not recognise the Green,” Albion said, cautioning the Knight. There were too many examples of how a different nation perceived a false religion or false beliefs as an act of aggression against them, and while mankind was currently in a state of unity, it would be so easy for them all to fall in to the same patterns. There was no longer a common enemy, just a common need to survive. “In an effort to save the world, we don’t want to break it apart.”

“I concur, though there are disciples already out there,” the Knight said, “even if they do not consider themselves to be. There are Pendragons who have left these isles and gone elsewhere.” He knew this would not be easy, but the Knight knew that there was opportunity here, but the window of opportunity was slight and the Green needed to be at full strength for it to achieve this goal. “I understand and share your concerns, yet I sense a need for change, out on the horizon, and while change is a certainty, we must be ready for what comes. Avalon will rise once more.”

“I have faith,” said Peter. “I have always had faith.” The Green Knight nodded.

“I know,” he said. “Now I must work with Ginny Halpin. She has much training to undertake.”

“What is the significance of the water?” Ginny asked the Knight during one of their instruction sessions. In the past few days he had been taught her of the magic within the water and how she was the guardian of it. She could use the water to travel to wherever water was, or use it to see the world through the water. It was not easy as the waters were still polluted, a sickly orange colour and there were various forces at work trying to restore it, but it was hard and slow work. The darkness had a power within it of it’s own and it resisted the work being done to remove it, but Ginny’s soul was combating the darkness in the water and she was working with the others to cleanse the waters. It did not help that there was still a great wound in her spirit from where the wound had been inflicted by the Red Lord, but she was slowly healing and as she healed so did the waters, the two of them bonding and becoming linked in a symbiotic embrace.

“A good question, my Lady,” the Knight said. “The waters of the Lake are the embodiment of waters of life itself. It is well known that without water there would be no life on the planet, and that humans are made of mostly water themselves. It works within a great circle – water falls from the sky, runs from the land to the sea, where it is taken in to the sky again to restore the cycle. Water – in the form of vapour, solid or liquid is almost everywhere – and where there is water there is magic.”

The Knight smiled. “No, but it is a conduit for it. It is one of the four classic elements, along with earth, fire and air; it has been featured in mythology and legends of various peoples. There is a reason that water and magic are associated.”

“The Lady of the Lake,” the Knight replied. “All stories and myths have a base origin in reality, and the magic is no different.”

“Magic and water have many similar qualities,” the Knight said. “Both have instability, mobility, they have no fixed shape but adapting themselves to other shapes. Magic and water can both dissolve solid bodies and re-precipitate them. Long ago, before the rise of humanity, when life was basic on this world, there were two forces – the Green and the Bane. The world was not as it currently is, the landmasses were different, and water distribution was different.”

“The embodiment of the two elemental forces of order and chaos,” the Knight said. “Every world has them, for without them there is no growth, and each adopted an element. The Green felt there was power in the Water, the Bane saw power in the Fire. Opposite and equal, fundamentally opposed, as is the way of things.”

“Because there can never be a true balance, or things will stagnate – true balance is the same as inertia, for there is nothing to occur.” The Knight looked at her. “It is simply the way of things.”

“And the water just became infused and saturated with magic over time,” said Ginny, starting to understand.

“Yes,” the Knight answered. “And the Bane attacked the water time and again, hoping to use it against us, so a guardian was appointed.”

“Not always a lady.” The Knight said this with a smile. “The Green and the Bane existed before the rise of humanity.”

“What of the Earth? What guardian does it have?” asked Ginny. “There is a Lady of the Lake, what of the equivalent.”

“There is simply the Red Lord,” said the Knight. “He is counterpart to myself and the Lady of the Lake in equal measure.”

“I thought you were the embodiment of the Green, as he was the embodiment of the Bane.”

“I am the conduit of the Green,” the Knight said. “I guard the power of the Green, and unlike the Red Lord, I am mortal. The Red Lord is a shade bound by the fire of the Bane, unable to move on. His power may diminish, but it does not take much to restore dying embers.”

“I am not the first Knight of the Green, and I will not be the last. In truth the Green Knight has not always been a Knight, but the Green Guardian. The Green Guardian and the Defender of the Lake are the two prime figures of the Green, directly connected to the greater power.”

“Mankind came in to being through evolution and manipulation of celestial hosts and their subsequent creations, but the Green and the Bane were still there, and while the Green saw the greater good and potential of the creature called man, the Bane saw a chance for exploitation. Remember, mankind’s origins are the primordial soup, water. Life sprang from the availability of water and the essence of prehistoric fire which allowed the chemicals within the water to bond and change and develop. Man is born of the two elements that are in diametric opposition, and in their own way would always be a pawn of either the Green or the Bane.”

“You use them?” Ginny asked and the Knight nodded, his head heavy with the guilt of it all.

“We use them for mutual benefit, the Bane for their sole gain, but we both act in similar fashions.”

Ginny was silent as she considered what she was learning, as well as how complicated the battle was. It wasn’t simply good and evil as she had always believed. There were definite shades of grey within the Green. “So how does Otherworld fit in to all this?”

“That is a story for another time,” the Knight answered, with a smile, but the smile was for her benefit, not his. “We will continue your training later, my Lady. Both of us must rest some.” Ginny nodded and her water form dissipated back in to the Lake and the Green Knight sighed. Something was wrong and he ran his hand through the waters, drawing on it’s strength. “You can come out of hiding, Mephisto.”

“The girl has a dark soul,” said the demon, appearing beside the Knight from the shadows. “Interesting she should bind herself to your cause.”

“The darkness is not of her making,” the Green Knight said. “It is a wound from the Bane.”

“And you truly believe that?” Mephisto said. “Once upon a time, the wards and power of the Green would never have allowed me to walk the halls of Avalon. You grow weak, and the Bane grows stronger.”

“Gloating is beneath you,” the Green Knight scowled. “What do you want here?”

“To see how weak you have become,” the demon smiled and trailed a snake-like arm around the Knight’s shoulder. “And to find the best seat in the house for the fall of Avalon.”

“BEGONE!” the Knight commanded and Mephisto vanished, his mocking laughter hanging in the air and the Green Knight shook his head. Mephisto could never die, not as long as his realm existed and it was only a matter of time before he challenged Blackheart, especially now the Barrier was down. “But what did he want here?” the Knight mused. It did not bode well.

The Red Lord emerged from his commune in much better spirits than when he had returned from Darkmoor. He had spoken with the Bane and he knew what was going to happen. There was a much larger prize on offer for them now, and he knew that there would never be a greater opportunity. The woman he had run through with Caliburn had been left with a mark of the Bane within her spirit, a mark that would have made her a Queen of the Bane, had she died. She would become a shade in her own right and he would have owned her for all eternity. Ginny Halpin would have been the Red Lady of the Bane, but there was an opportunity.

She had not died, but had been transformed in to the Lady of the Lake, in the hope that the Lake would restore her and that she would in turn restore the Lake, the symbiosis of the two recreated, but the Green was not strong enough. The fall of the Black Mass Barrier had done more damage than they had considered possible and the mark of the Bane on her soul was simply being covered by the pollution of the waters. The Bane still had a hold on her, and through her, they had a foothold in Avalon. Never had such an occurrence happened before – the Bane had been able to corrupt many who had served the Green but never a Knight or a Lady. They would use her to gain entry to Avalon and imprison the Green. They knew they could not destroy the Green, the divine right of the cosmic balance forbade it, but they could put themselves in to an unrivalled position of dominance. There were no Pendragons to defend the realm, the Green Knight was weak and the Lady was theirs.

Once Avalon fell, the Bane would have direct influence over the Pendragons themselves, and he would have his revenge for the recent indignities, but they had to choose the moment well, and the Bane knew that the moment was coming. When the Dark Phoenix arrived, then they would make their move, but for the moment the Red Lord had been given two tasks. His first task was to prepare the armies of the Bane for war, and the second was to corrupt the soul of Ginny Halpin, and turn her from the Lady of the Lake to his Red Lady.

While Ginny was not in a human form, she was at one with the waters of the Lake, and while she was in this state she could see visions, almost dreams, and the thing she enjoyed most was seeing her child, the son she had been forced to leave behind. Little Peter was sleeping, dreaming and she watched over him and she felt as if she were being drawn in to his dream and what she saw in the boy’s head scared her.

Violent images he could never truly understand were haunting him, and because he did not know what they were, he was treating them as if they were normal, which begged the question how long had he been dreamed of these things. Demons and massacres were all over, London was burning and around the child were the Pendragons, dead or dying. Peter was seeing things no child should ever see and then she saw the Red Lord and Adam, grappling and locked in mortal combat.

“Adam!” she called out, but he made no indication of hearing her, and she knew she was merely an observer in the dream of a child. No, not a dream, a nightmare, but not a nightmare to him. How was he not awake, screaming in terror? What was wrong with her child? Then it happened – the Red Lord grabbed the Adam and simply snapped his neck, letting him fall to the floor dead. Peter gurgled in what could only be delight as he clapped his hands. “NO!” she shouted, and ran towards him but she couldn’t touch him, couldn’t hold her boy and the Red Lord knelt down and picked him up.

“My son,” the Red Lord said. “My heir.” He removed his helmet and Ginny screamed as she saw Adam’s face revealed. Her son did not cry for the death of his father because his father hadn’t died. Peter saw Adam as the Red Lord, and accepted this as normal. The boy was in the thrall of the Bane and she knew she had to do something.

“You have no power here,” the Red Lord said, addressing her directly. “You abandoned your son, and now he belongs to me.” His eyes sparkled with dark eldritch energies. “I CAST YOU OUT!” The link was severed between herself and her boy and she knew she was back in the Lake once more, but Ginny knew that this wasn’t over and as much as Adam was the King, she was the Queen and she was as sworn to defend the Crown against the Bane as he was. There would be a rematch and she would regain the soul of her son.

Ginny wasn’t seeing in to the boy’s mind at all, just seeing the visions he was giving her. The Red Lord was the master manipulator, the ultimate corrupter and he was aiming for the greatest prize imaginable and stage one of the plan was complete. All he needed to do was to get her to tap in to the darkness within her, let it flow through her and strike him down.

The darkness would consume her, and the Lake, and finally the Bane would have a portal in to Avalon itself and they would attack the Green through their most sacrosanct of emblems and of all the potential outcomes, he was most looking forward to the direct battle with the Green Knight himself. To defeat him in his own fortress… The Green would take decades to recover from this, if ever and the Bane could then turn it’s attention to the other prize - Otherworld.

“Intriguing,” the Green Knight said as Ginny told him of what she had seen. “The Lord or Lady of the Lake has many abilities and powers, but I was unaware of this one.”

“In truth, none,” said the Knight. “Most of those who have been chosen were chosen without attachments, or that they had a higher calling. You were chosen because of serendipity – you were dying, we needed a lady and the paths converged.”

“Could I be a mistake?” Ginny asked, and the Knight contemplated. Dane had been an error in judgement because he had a past that overrode his duties to the Lake. Perhaps Ginny was the same.

“No,” he said, after a moment. “You are not a mistake. You were meant to be the Lady of the Lake, in the same way Adam Crown was meant to be the heir of Arthur. All is as it should be.” Ginny nodded, accepting what the Knight had told her. “However, if the Red Lord is targeting your son, there is little we can do from Avalon. We must trust that the Pendragons will know what to do.”

“My Lord,” said Peter. “We have a visitor.” The Green Knight looked at him and Peter stepped aside to a hooded figure.

“Well well,” the Knight said. “This is an unexpected surprise. It has been an age since you walked the halls of Avalon.”

“Peter, Ginny,” said the Knight. “I must speak with our guest alone.” Ginny returned to the water and Peter left and when they were alone, the man removed his hood to reveal a scruffy, bearded visage. “Welcome home, Cole Hawlings.”

“I wish it were under better circumstances,” Hawlings answered. “The Green is weakening beyond a tolerable level.”

“It is not their concern, Cole,” said the Knight. “The Arbiters have no need to become involved in this.”

“The Arbiters are already involved, my Lord,” Cole replied. “The Pendragons are fracturing, and the bonds of the source magic are growing wild. Time is wounded, the planet is scarred, and the Green is no in a position to engineer a resolution.”

“The world has survived without an active presence before,” the Knight said, gently.

“Never in such a time of crisis,” answered Cole. “I have been tasked to mentor the Pendragons as and when required.”

“The Arbiters cannot usurp the power of the Green,” the Knight said, with slight menace and Cole shook his head.

“It is not their intent to do so, but they will not let things fracture. Withdrawing Avalon was a mistake, and the Bane is in the Ascendancy.”

The Green Knight was growing annoyed by this. “The Bane has been in the Ascendancy for quite some time, or have the Arbiters not noticed?” Hawlings looked at the Knight, the uncharacteristic outburst unbecoming and they both knew it. “I’m sorry, Cole,” the Knight said. “You were a Pendragon; I should not speak to you in such a manner.”

“You are tired, and old, my Lord,” said Cole. “Take it from one who knows, it is not the best state of mind to make large judgements.”

“I have served as the Green Knight since the time of Arthur,” the Knight said softly. “I have seen the Bane’s power rise and fall, Pendragons have come and gone, but for the first time I feel as if it is all beyond my wit to bring order to the chaos. I have my faith in the Green and I have my power, but I am stretched so thinly.”

Cole looked at the Green Knight, a pang of sympathy running through him, but this was not why he was here. He needed to deliver this message. “Do not let your tiredness neglect the obligation to the source magic,” he said softly. “Magic turns and magic changes, and my magic is old and out of place in these modern times. The Green is like water, it flows and adapts.”

“Everything has it’s moment in time,” he answered. “Good luck, my Lord.” The scruffy old man fiddled with a small box and seemed to vanish from sight, but the Knight knew he had simply shrunk and moved at rapid speed, using the powers within the Box of Delights. Now he was alone to contemplate what was happening, and he knew that if the Arbiters were making warnings, then something was certainly amiss. Had he erred with Ginny Halpin? Should he have let her die? Within him he knew without a shadow of a doubt the answer was no, and he knew that answer came from the Green, but the Knight was not a fool.

He knew that something was wrong, and that the Bane would attack. He also knew that he might not be enough to stop them, even in Avalon and a contingency plan needed to be made.

For three further nights, the Red Lord touched the spirit of Ginny Halpin, pushing her further towards the darkness inside her, manipulating her. It was his environment to work with, and her relative inexperience as the Lady of the Lake was helping him. The Green Knight was indeed an excellent tutor, and Ginny was a masterful student, but there was knowledge and there was practice. As he worked to forge a gateway to Avalon, he was gathering his forces. Avalon was well protected, and there were very few times in history had the Bane tried a direct assault on Avalon, but this would be different – it would be an assault and they would never even see them coming.

The moment he had waited for happened on the night of the memorial to Ginny’s memory and to the others who had died in the war. It was that event that the Red Lord used against her, playing on her hopes and fears for everything that had happened. In Ginny’s imagination, the Red Lord and his forces had descended on the Bane, wiping out anyone and everyone who was there. Jessica and Adam had fought side by side against the Red Lord, but they had not been enough and he had torn out Jessica’s heart and crushed the neck of Adam as he made his way to the child. The Pendragons had done what they could but the forces of the Bane overwhelmed them and the Red Lord took baby Peter to where his father lay dying.

“Your child is mine, play-King,” the Red Lord said and he placed the boy on the ground and held Adam aloft and slashed open his throat him. Blood drained from the exposed wound, flowing down on to the child. “Blood to blood,” he said as the child swallowed some of the blood of his birth-father and the Red Lord lifted him high above his head. “The heir of Arthur is corrupted!” he cried. “I claim this child as mine! All hell the Red Heir, successor of the Bane!” The forces of the Bane cowed low on one knee to the child, chanting ‘Hail!” over and over and Ginny manifested, too late to save her husband or her friends.

“He will never be yours,” she said and threw as much of her power as she could at the Red Lord, but he laughed and waved it away.

“Little girl,” he said. “Run to your master and tell him his champions are dead and his heir is mine. The son of Arthur is, now and forever, mine.”

“Never!” screamed Ginny and lashed out again, but the Red Lord simply vanished and Peter’s eyes seemed to become scarlet in colour and the toddler seemed to be enveloped in a dark armour. “Leave my son alone!”

“The Lady of the Lake is no match for the Red Lord,” the Red Lord’s voice echoed. “Perhaps if you had been Dane Whitman, it might have amused me, but you’re nothing more than the spoilt brat of an irrelevant politician. You’re not even worth using as a whore.”

Ginny snapped, her grief and anger overwhelming her and she lashed out at the Red Lord. The Lake didn’t have power, but the pollution of the waters did, a evil stain but perhaps if she used it for good, then it would be purified, and if not the Red Lord would know fear. The Red Lord marvelled at the power the woman was channelling here and he knew that the choice of the Lady of the Lake had been well made. It was just a shame that she would never have the chance to show what she could have been capable of as a force for good, because he knew she would have been a worthy foil in time, but the Red Lord needed his Red Lady.

He watched as the replica of himself was assaulted by the dark-energies that were within the lake and her power increased in range and scope, overwhelming all of the forces of the Bane in the area.

“Mercy, I beg you!” the Red Lord pleaded, but Ginny was no longer listening and the Red Lord screamed and writhed in agony before there was a powerful explosion of dark eldritch power and everything within the area was gone, save for Ginny who was left holding her son.

“Could Dane have done that?” she whispered and the real Red Lord laughed. It had happened.

Ginny awoke and manifested to see the waters of Avalon were clear, and the Lake was free of the evil pollution that had tainted it. There was quite a commotion as the Green Knight and several other key figures arrived to see how this miracle had taken place.

“Incredible,” said Peter Hunter as he looked on. “It’s as normal as it ever was.”

“Tell me what happened,” the Knight commanded of Ginny. Even her soul was in balance, the wound inflicted by the Bane was gone, and she told him of the dream and what she had seen and done and how she had drawn on the poison within the Lake and cast it at the Bane, which was something that filled the Green Knight with dread. “I am amazed that it worked so well,” he said. “The bond between a mother and her son, the protection afforded by a primal, mutual love…” Yet he knew that the Green was still weakened. The waters were healed, but the power was not returning, not even slowly. “How do you feel?” he asked her.

“Relaxed,” she said. “I know in my heart my son is safe and the Bane cannot touch him.”

“I must consider this further,” the Green Knight said. “Perhaps the removal of the pollution was only the first step in restoring our former glory. It may be there is something else required.” He nodded to his people and they departed and went to work, leaving Ginny and Peter alone.

“Good work,” Albion said and Ginny smiled and there was something about the smile that gave Peter a chill. It was not simply the smile of a pleased young woman, but there seemed to be something cold and hard behind it. “You ok?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Peter shrugged and made his way back to the Cathedral, but he couldn’t escape the sensation that somehow he had just stared the devil right in the eye and flinched.

The Red Lord surveyed his troops, ready for the coming battle, his new Red Lady at his side. The waters of the Lake were clean as the true Lady of the Lake was not there; she had turned to the Bane, the corruption of her soul complete. She was no longer Ginny Halpin, she was the Red Lady and she would be the conduit of the Bane, not only against the Green, but against the Pendragons as well. He pulled the Lady towards him and they kissed passionately to the cheers of the army.

“Behold, my minions, the power of the Bane!” he said, his voice booming out to them all. “The Lady of the Lake - turned from the Green to the Bane. Behold the Red Lady!”

“The Green is weak,” she said. “We will never have a better time to strike…”

“The time is not yet right,” the Red Lord said. “Do you not feel it coming? The presence reaches out and touches the Bane and everything connected with it. The Dark Phoenix rises.” The Lady nodded. “When the Phoenix arrives we will strike, but as we attack, you must ensure the Pendragons do not interfere.” He nodded to Thanatos who produced a blade. “Behold the Ebony Blade, forged by Merlin, cursed by the Bane.” He gripped it, focused on it and altered it subtly with his powers so it no longer looked like the cursed sword, but was similar in form to Caliburn. “While he wears the sword, Adam Crown will never know peace and he will be cut off from the Green.”

“I will present it to my former husband,” she said, “when the time is right.” The Red Lord nodded.

“Weaken them, my kindred, and together we will bring about the end of the Green’s dominion of this era.”

The Green Knight felt the coming of the Phoenix and grieved. This was all because of the Bane and the Black Mass, and he hoped that the Pendragons had power enough to stop the young lady, then he realised something was wrong and he rushed to the lake, where Ginny was forming from the waters.

“What have you done?” he asked. “You have been to Darkmoor, passed Adam a sword of evil.”

“You know so much, my Lord,” she said, venom in her voice and the Green Knight recoiled. “Yet you know so very little.” Fire flashed from her hands, bombarding the Green Knight, who quickly crafted a mystical shield.

“This is a treachery unheard of,” he said, with sadness. “Never before have the Knight and the Lady struck at each other.” The darkness was radiating from her and he knew why he magic had not become whole with the healing of the Lake – the Lake had been cured by the darkness entering the Lady and he cursed himself for not having sensed this before.

“Your powers are weak, old man,” she said. “Dyer of Monmouth, the man who became the Green Knight.” The Green Knight looked at her astounded at her audacity and disrespect. No-one had used his mortal name in many centuries and he knew that the good within her had been swallowed whole.

“I am the Red Lady, and these are my minions!” From the waters leapt the forces of the Bane and the Green Knight knew they were in trouble and the Red Lord emerged and took his place by the Red Lady.

“The endgame begins,” he said as the Green Knight fought to keep the enemy at bay, while reinforcements arrived. All over Avalon, bells were ringing as never before, indicating the Bane had arrived in Avalon and the Green Knight knew he had to get to the Cathedral of Owls, and secure the Pendragon spirits within the heart of Avalon. The Pendragons would want to fight, but he dared not unleash them and he had to keep them safe. If he was in the Cathedral he would be able to keep them secure and while he survived, Avalon would not fall to the Bane.

How could this be happening? he asked himself and he finally understood the warnings. They had seen this coming and he had not. Avalon was alone, cut off from it’s allies and the Green was in danger of falling to the Bane. There would be survivors, but the rebuilding of the power base would take many generations.

“To the Cathedral and hurry,” he said. “We’re no good to anyone if we fall.” They hurried and once inside the Knight closed and sealed the doors of the Cathedral. They were safe, but trapped and he explained what was going on. In here, none could touch them, but they could not get free either.

“If the fallen Pendragons are taken, then the Bane will have direct influence over the Pendragon spirits and that cannot be allowed,” the Knight explained, grieving over all those out there who were being slaughtered. “Our only hope is the current generation of Pendragons.”

“What happened was that the Green Knight used his powers to send me out to get you,” Peter said, a deathly hush had come over the others as the true horror of what had occurred settled on them all. “He used what little powers he could muster to send me out in to the world, infusing my spirit in to a new body, but I think he gave me something else as well.”

“You have the power of the Green within you,” said Molly. “I can sense it through the Phoenix force. Now, at least.” He nodded.

“While I am here, the Cathedral is sealed,” he said. “The Pendragons are safe.”

“In order for me to be free, he had to leave the Cathedral, and break the seal.” Peter closed his eyes in silent prayer for the Green Knight. “He’s surrendered himself to the Bane, and I have the last of his power.”

“Or they keep the Pendragons locked up for all eternity,” said Feron. “It would amuse the Bane to have the souls of those who had fought against them, given their lives, trapped for all time within their fortress.”

“What about Ginny?” Adam asked. “How do you know what happened with the Bane and what it was thinking?”

“I just do,” said Peter. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I have knowledge coming through in small pieces that I shouldn’t know but I do.”

“It’s as if the Green is telling you,” said Jackie. “We’ll get Ginny back, Adam. We’ll release her, retake Avalon and restore the Green.”

“It will take both the heirs of Arthur,” said Adam. “The only way we’re a match for the Bane is if Jessica and I fight side by side.”

“We find her,” said Adam. “Effective immediately, I’m retaking charge of the Pendragons.”