Jack of Ravens

20

Church, Ruth, Shavi and Laura climbed wearily up the winding path to the rim of the crater to look out over the rolling Cornish countryside. The full moon cast its milky light across the fields, and the stars glittered in a universe that was vast and unknowable and unpredictable.

The Fabulous Beast had disappeared from view, but in the distance bursts of red and gold lit up the clouds.

‘Look at that,’ Church said in awe.

The Blue Fire that the Fabulous Beast had taken into itself in Vietnam now ran in lines across the landscape, crisscrossing, interconnecting, and here and there shooting up in a column of power towards the heavens. It was releasing the remaining energy back into the earth, bringing the land alive, driving the spiders and the darkness they represented back to where they had originated.

‘That’s amazing,’ Ruth said quietly. ‘Beautiful.’ All four of them were mesmerised.

‘It’s still weak,’ Church said, ‘and it won’t get stronger until we reconnect it with the source. But for now it’s alive. The king was right. Magic has returned.’

In their hearts, the Pendragon Spirit burned brightly and not even the clustering darkness could dim its light.