The sun sank low in the west, painting the sea golden and the sky pink. The old buildings of the College at Aberystwyth glowed in the sinking sun. People walked on the beach, savouring the last few days before the return of the students to the little university town. At the Glengower Hotel, at the start of the gothic terrace that leads up to the prom, young men and women looked out over the sea. As summer died, it was not without a little regret that some looked out to sea, especially those for whom the end of summer meant the need to get a job.
The sun sank lower in the west, the pink sky turning slowly to a deep purple, as another day passed. The old town saw it pass away as it had seen so many days pass, and people started to drift home. Among them was one Sian Rule, a student in her final year at the University, returned early from her family home in Carmarthenshire to her job in a cafe on the seafront. Turning off the front, she walked up North Road, past the playing fields, before taking a shortcut up the hill, behind houses.
She would have been a liar if she had not felt a little fear, for the night was dark, and even in "Aber" fools attacked unaccompanied women. So when she saw a man in a long coat blocking her path, his face in deep shadow, she started, a stab of fear running through her.
"Sian Rule," the figure spoke, his coat blowing in the evening breeze, "I am the Green Man. I am the avenger of evil. And you are going to help me make the wicked pay. Follow me."
Sian Rule felt she had no choice.
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