Dragon's Claws #37

"To leave great themes unfinished is
Perhaps the most satisfying exercise
Of power. "
- George MacBeth, The Spider's Nest

Pen Dragon, Elsa Bloodstone, Kylun, and Meggan were touring around the new location that Adam Crown had gifted them as a base of operations for the Dragon’s Claws. He had designated them the sole use of a former ministerial retreat generally favoured by the British Deputy Prime Minister, a large estate known as Dorneywood. Dorneywood was located in Buckinghamshire, not too far from Darkmoor or London and it was very ornate. There was a comfortable standard of living in this house, and while there was very little in the way of technology, there was the feeling that this was a place that wasn’t going to need it.

There had been a large refit of the house after the Martian Invasion, for the house had been damaged somewhat, but it had been lovingly restored and this was the new home for the Claws and their guests. The team had returned here after the memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral for those lost in the Wars, and Pen was telling them of what was going on, how the War had been won, about himself and the Time War, and the Bane as well. They needed to know everything that was going on, what was going to happen and what the risks involved would be. He was going to be asking them to risk their lives, so they needed as much information as possible.

“So let me get this right,” Kylun said. “You broke Time?”

“Kind of,” Pen admitted. “The pressures we put on it by sealing the rift to the successful Martian future caused Time to become seriously damaged, and that damage means that nothing is impossible where the time stream is concerned.”

“It destroyed the Martian’s time line?” Meggan asked and Pen nodded.

“I didn’t know that would happen. It caused a chain reaction, a temporal meltdown that consumed their reality. The timeline still exists; it just came to an end at that point and is nothing more than a void, and with Time damaged as it is, that universe isn’t going to be reborn. The cycle ends.”

“You destroyed a universe though,” Elsa said. “How do you sleep at night?”

“I don’t.” Pen’s eyes were old and tired, even if his body looked as young as it ever had. “I’ve blood on my hands from long, long ago, and it might look like I sleep, but it’s little more than rest. There are images in my head when I dream nobody should see, but that’s what I’ve done. That’s what I live with. I’m a monster, and I’m trying to balance the scales.”

“You’re not a monster,” Meggan said, looking at him. “True monsters don’t have remorse, or feel guilt, or take responsibility for their actions.”

“Maybe,” said Pen, shaking himself out of it, “but that’s something I’ll live with another time. Right now, we have to source some stuff. Some temporal scanning equipment, something we can use to keep an eye out for things that are happening in time.”

“Where will we get that?” asked Elsa. “We’re not exactly flush with tech these days. It’s amazing work that we have running vehicles, powered by magic.”

“Living under the barrier for so long meant we adapted to the lack of science and resources,” Elsa said. “And a lot of very smart people learnt how to harness the magic in the air.”

“Which is why Britain and Europe are helping rebuild the rest of the world,” said Pen. “The other heroes are working on that aspect of things and the Pendragons are keeping the peace so that leaves us to deal with the Time War.” He mused for a while. “I wonder if the Walkers can open a pathway, between here and Otherworld.”

“The leylines?” asked Meggan and Pen nodded.

“The old pathways still exist, it’s how the magical beings can move from place to place so quickly, but most of that lore was lost,” Elsa said. “We’re only just rediscovering the paths.”

“If we could access the leylines, we could go anywhere we needed, anytime,” Pen pondered.

“It’s quick, but it not like a magical teleporter,” said Kylun. “They’re more shortcuts and I’ve had experience of walking the leylines. Things can happen, dark and unexpected things. The leylines were closed to us for so long, and chaos settled there.”

“Maybe I can see them, through the Alshra,” Meggan suggested.

“That might help us navigate them, but it won’t show us how to open the leylines,” Elsa answered. “We need to be able to open a rift and access them.”

“It’s never easy,” said Pen with a sigh and he winced as a sharp pain occurred in his head. “Ow…” he muttered and he looked around the room, and noted something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite tell.

“What is it?” Kylun asked in concern.

“Something has changed,” Meggan answered, looking at the world through the Alshra. “Reality changed, but I don’t know how.”

“It’s a temporal change,” said Pen. “Someone just fired the first shot in the Time War. The world just became a different place.”

London was in chaos. Just outside what remained of the former Houses of Parliament, a temporal rift had opened and Neanderthal Homo Sapiens were coming through, entering the present from the past. The world they arrived in was scaring them and in their terror, they were lashing out. The local law enforcement officers were being overwhelmed by them, though they had shot a couple of the them and some lay dead, but the Neanderthals learnt quickly and seemed to have a speed that defied belief, a speed they used to dodge the bullets that were fired.

They learnt quickly and there was a call out to the Pendragons but they were unavailable and there was a sense of panic growing in London. Where were their heroes? Why was Crown not doing anything, considering he had not been far from London earlier? Fear and discontent was growing, but there was a more insidious reasoning to this unleashing of pre-historic man upon his ancestors, and Escalus smiled. The Neanderthals that had died were not supposed to have died and chunks of history had been changed. People had vanished, as their ancestors died and there were things that were that could not be. Paradox was occurring, and the temporal stability around this era grew weaker, but even better was something that Escalus had not foreseen occurring and he could feel his own memories changing as the time changes swept to the future and back. They caught up with him and he knew that there were five Proudwalkers, but he also knew quite clearly that their number had once been six. One of those that had died had been one of their ancestors and that would indeed affect Otherworld and New Camelot.

He smiled, knowing the first true blow of the Time War had been struck and he made his way to the train station to wait for his ride back to Scotland. He wasn’t sure what was happening with the Pendragons and why they hadn’t turned up, but some heroes would soon enough, perhaps Pen Dragon and his amazing friends…

That was a conflict he wasn’t really ready for, not yet, but when he was, he would exact a cold justice on the man who had once been Pete Wisdom. Their battle wasn’t over yet…

“We have got to get some kind of communications devices,” Pen muttered as they headed for London. They’d listened to the reports on the radio of what was happening, and how there was no Pendragon support either, which concerned him, as Jessica was supposed to be in London visiting Kate McLellan, and he wasn’t hearing from Wynter either. It had to mean their attention was elsewhere, but that was very little use and soon they were in the former capital, where there were fires, riots, and other events of disorder.

“This isn’t good,” said Kylun.

“The Neanderthals are scared,” said Meggan, her empathic powers coming to the fore. “They don’t know how they got here, but they think it’s a kind of magic, and we are evil wizards.” She looked at the others. “Some of them have died and that’s what’s caused the changes to time.”

Dragon sighed. “Oh crap.”

“What do we do?” Elsa asked.

“Round them up somehow,” said Pen. “Elsa, Kylun, do what you can to contain them, without riling them much more because I want Meggan to try to expand her empathic powers and calm them down. I know you’ve some residual Otherworld energies in you.” She nodded that she would try and the plan was made. “I’ll let someone know the heroes are here and we’re taking care of it, then find the temporal breach and see if we can close it.”

Commander Tyrone Wilding of His Royal Majesty’s Inter-regional Taskforce was trying to get hold of some super hero support, because the only way he could see of his men stopping the incursion of Neanderthals was to kill them and he didn’t want to do that. He already regretted the lives that had been lost, but his direct line to Darkmoor was not being answered.

“Where are the damn Pendragons?” he muttered and there was a cough and he turned to see a man standing there, and he recognised him from the briefings he received. “Pen Dragon.”

“You’re good,” said Dragon. “I can see why you’re the boss.”

“Commander Tyrone Wilding,” he said, holding his hand out, and Dragon accepted it. “I was hoping you’d show up, we were needing Pendragon support.”

“Ah, well, I’m not a Pendragon, I’m Pen Dragon and my people aren’t Pendragons either, but you’ve got support from the spandex brigade now.”

Wilding was surprised, and he didn’t like that. His job involved him being aware of surprises before they surprised him. “Dragon’s Claws? I’d heard you’d disbanded?”

“The old team have, but you know us super-types, we have a rota change every few months, just to keep you guessing.”

“Point,” said Tyrone. “The Pendragons have changed their membership more times than my wife changes her mind, and you’ve not met my wife.” Dragon smiled. “Thanks for letting me know you’re in the area though. I appreciate the heads up.”

“No problem,” Dragon replied. “Gonna go to work, but if you get through to Darkmoor let them know we might need a hand.” Wilding nodded and Dragon vanished as if he had turned invisible.

“I really hate it when they do that,” Wilding muttered, wishing the Dragon’s Claws luck. They were going to need it.

Kylun and Elsa were working hard, trying to herd the Neanderthals in to one area that could be contained and they’d chosen the nearby underground station. It had been sealed off during the Invasion, due to structural damage from the Martian warships, but there was the ability to get them in to the place and from there they could keep the ancestors of mankind safe from harm. The problem was that there were many and it was hard work, however they were not of ill intent – just lost and frightened and out of time in a strange land. Kylun could comprehend what they were feeling, for he had been through similar feelings when he had been exiled to Ee’rath when he was but a child. His feline appearance was a secondary manifestation of his mutant abilities, which allowed him to perfectly replicate any sound he heard with his own vocal chords, no matter how difficult or obscure the sound was. He had wondered, since his return, what could have been developed with that power, what else could he have done other than becoming a warrior. However it was his skill with his swords and his mimicry of sound that was helping to herd the ancestors of man, and progress was being made. Once they were inside the station, Meggan was using her powers to create an aura of calm around them and it was working well so far.

It was odd to think that these were the same kind of people that reacted to Cro-Magnon man in the same way that Cro-Magnon man had reacted to mutants. That kind of racial hatred had seemingly been forgotten with the alien invasion, but Kylun had to wonder how long it would be before the old tensions returned. It was in the nature of mankind to react that way, or perhaps they would fear and hate those who were blessed, or cursed, by magic. They always needed to fear and hate something or someone different. However there were some things that never really changed, and that was man’s need to possess a woman. Elsa was using her physical assets to distract and attract the Neanderthals, and her charms were doing their work well. Her enhanced physical skills allowed her to keep just ahead of her pursuers, skills granted from the Bloodstone and her own natural skills, inherited from her father. She was a combination of mutant and magic, something that would become more common as things progressed and they were working to contain them.

The problem was that they were unsure of how to get them to go back through the temporal portal.

“We need to sort this put an’ quickly,” she called to him. “We can’t keep this up forever.” Kylun nodded in agreement. They were gathering them in small groups, and Kylun approached another group, but these seemed different from the men they had been gathering, and his highly developed instincts warned him that there was trouble, and he was not wrong as the men changed shape, becoming more lizard like in their appearance.

“Oh no,” said Pen, who had arrived on the scene to help his team. “Serpent Men.”

“Serpent Men?” asked Kylun.

“Kill them, and don’t argue,” said Pen, almost in a state of panic. “We can’t allow any of them to get away.” Then he heard a scream and he turned to see that some of the Neanderthals had Elsa, and her shapely form was what they wanted. They couldn’t let the Serpent Men get free, but he couldn’t let Elsa be raped by what could be her great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather and his friends. “Kylun, help Elsa, I’ll sort these,” he said, readying his hot knives and Kylun was running to help her and Dragon prepared to slaughter the Serpents, but then they were gone snatched from before his very eyes. He’d waited too long and now they were out there and he knew the energy signature that had taken them. “Thanatos,” he muttered and closed his eyes. The Bane had a link to Set, the Elder God. As far as he could tell, this world had very few Serpent Men remaining, and were mostly extinct as a race, and those that still existed were as far removed from Set as current humanity was from those who had been experimented on by the Celestials at the birth of humankind.

“Pen!” said Meggan, appearing above him. “The Neanderthals are resting, but I can feel the gap in time through the Alshra.”

“”Ideas?” he said, dwelling on what had just happened.

“I think I can use my powers and command reality itself to close the portal. If I am right it will create a temporal vortex that sucks in those who do not belong here.”

“If you’re wrong?” he asked, and she shrugged.

“It is just a feeling,” Meggan said. “But a strong one.”

“We so need expert help on this…” Kylun brought a shaky Elsa over to them and he looked to see the Neanderthals unconscious on the floor. “We have a plan,” he said, hoping that it would work…

The Red Lord smiled as he addressed the Serpent Men, feeling their connection to Set himself.

“Welcome,” he said as he walked in front on them. “You know who I am, and what I represent. The spells I have cast allow you to speak and be understood.”

“We know who you are,” the lead Serpent Man said. “You are the Bane.”

“Set and the Bane have always had a long association,” the Red Lord said, “and you are out of time, in a world that no longer holds sway for your kind. Set was defeated many years ago as he tried to rise and claim this world as his own, but there were none such as you there to restore him, direct descendants of Set himself.”

“What do you offer us?” the Serpent Man asked.

“Protection. This world is newly born of magic and those such as Set will return. His defeat meant that his heads were cast throughout the multiverse but the damage to Time and the weakening of the boundaries has hastened his recovery. There is a war for Time, a great conflict and we may be able to work together and restructure events to our liking, so your kind do not become extinct and that the forces of the Green, forces allied to Gaea herself, do not rise to prominence.”

“And in return?”

The Red Lord smiled.

“I will use your mystic energies and work to gain dominance, and bring together the great forces. The Green is in decline, and in this time we will gather our forces and prepare to strike. You are the direct link to the power of the Elder Gods, and the lines are being drawn.”

The Red Lord looked at his new guests, thinking that whoever had truck the first blow in the Time War had gifted the Bane a great advantage.

“Is that all of them?” asked Pen as the team did a final sweep of the area for Neanderthals.

“We think so,” said Kylun. “The IRT have a pretty tight cordon in the area.”

“Okay,” he said, “let’s get clear and let Meggan do her thing.” He kissed her cheek. “Good luck.” He knew how this kind of thing happened, so he wanted to be well clear of it and they withdrew to where Commander Wilding was waiting for them. Meggan let them go before finding the rip in time and to anyone else it looked just like a shimmering of the light, as if the ground were warm and giving off a haze, but through the Alshra she could see the void in reality itself. She could call on elemental forces and her powers were connected to time and space, or it was with them that she had been able to work to bring Brian home, when he had been lost in time, and while on Otherworld she had learnt she was far more powerful than anyone had originally believed. She did not just connect with the elemental forces of the world, but the elemental forces of the universe and she drew her power from the Earth itself. Here was where she was strongest and she called upon her powers, seeing the threads of order that surrounded the void and she began to manipulate them, and time, to start to close the hole, but first she knew she needed to reverse the vortex and she reached in to the void and with her powers commanded it to twist.

Great elemental forces were summoned, as storms and lightning filled the area. An incredible gale blew up and a funnel of air grew around the void, reclaiming everything that had come through it. The Neanderthals were quickly roused from their calm states but there was nothing that they could do about it and they were sucked through the vortex and in to the void, screaming in terror and anguish at things they had no understanding of, not even realising that they were being helped and the closer they got to the time vortex the less in synchronisation they became with things and they were intangible as they fell in to the gap, and then it closed with a mighty clap, sending out a sonic shockwave that shattered every pane of glass in the area, caused buildings still unsteady from the invasion to finally collapse and threw everyone in the immediate area to the floor. When it was all over only Meggan was still standing, her true form revealed and the sparkles of energy surrounding her as if she had changed her shape.

“Fuck me,” whispered Wilding as he got to his feet, scarcely believing what had just happened.

“Ditto,” said Pen, in open-mouthed admiration. “I need a cigarette.”

“Here,” said Elsa, handing him one.

“Who needs the Pendragons,” said Kylun, as amazed as anyone thinking that Brian would be proud of his wife.

“Sorry about the mess,” said Dragon looking at Wilding. “Did a bit of damage then.”

“No problem,” said Tyrone, but he looked at Dragon who looked perplexed. “Something is still wrong, isn’t it?”

“Time isn’t right,” he said. “I can feel it.”

“You’re right,” said a voice and he turned to see Kate Pryde-Rasputin standing there in her new body, rebuilt for her using the technology of Otherworld and created from shards of a counterpart of herself from in the Omniverse. She was a young and vibrant version of herself, and her spirit had been blended with the body to restore her to life. “You’re needed. New Camelot is on the verge of collapse, and only the Dragon’s Claws can fix it.”