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charged by my Superiors to safeguard the Light and all the forces of Nature who
serve It, both human and fairykind. By summoning from beyond the grave the
wizard Michael Scot, a man once beloved of your kind, these rogue practitioners
of the arts magical have transgressed immortal Law. They have shattered the
personality of Scot's present vehicle - an innocent girl, who may never regain
what was taken from her. Undeserving, these offenders seek Scot's treasure,
which your kind guard. It is they who should be subject to your just wrath - not I,
who would stop them, if I can."
The maelstrom roiled and flickered, fresh anger warring with the fragile thread of
logic Adam had just presented. Adam was aware of McLeod and Peregrine
staring, transfixed with horror, but the unfettered power immanent in the center
of the room would not let any of them move. As the being towered above him,
threatening to engulf him, Adam threw back his head and looked up at it
unflinchingly, vesting all his hopes in one final plea for mercy.
"I am not the one you want," he said. "The ones you want are the ones who stole
am Bratach Sith - who carry it even now, intending to steal Scot's book of spells
and your fairy gold! Show me where that is, and I shall do my best to stop them.
Nor shall I or mine do any harm to what rightfully belongs to Faerie.
Furthermore, if I can, I swear that I shall restore urn Bratach Sith to its rightful
place."
He could feel the being's encroaching power prickling at the edges of his soul,
threatening oblivion. He swayed on his feet, unable to help himself, but he not
would let himself look away from what threatened to overwhelm him. Brazenly
he lifted the photo and the dangling ring on its thread. "Show me.1" he
commanded.
At his words, the being let out an unholy shriek and came for him, talons raking
the piano top and sending maps and thread spools flying.
"Show me!" Adam commanded again, flinching involuntarily, but never shrinking
from the challenge.
Then a sound reverberated in his mind like a thunderclap and shook him into
unconsciousness. He must have been out for only a few seconds, but he came to
on the floor beside the piano, with his head raised on one of McLeod's arms and
Peregrine kneeling stricken beside him. The photo of the Fairy Flag was still in
his left hand, but the ring on its thread was nowhere to be seen.
"Thank God, yer alive!" McLeod whispered, reverting to a broader Highland
accent in his agitation. "Good Lord, man, ye goaded her! Whatever possessed
ye?"
A little dazed still, Adam struggled to a sitting position.
"It's all right, Noel. I think I knew what I was doing. And Peregrine, don't look
like you've seen a ghost. It was only a banshee."
"A banshee?" Peregrine breathed. "But - "
"I think, in specific, it may have been the spirit of the Fairy Flag," Adam
continued, trying to get his feet under him. "Help me up, you two. Since I'm alive,
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I think it must have worked. I want to know where my ring has gone."
"Your ring!" McLeod yelped. "Don't ye know ye've just been that close to oblivion,
man? Take it easy, or you'll pass out again. Where's one o' those ammonia
capsules, when ye need one?" he added, patting down several of Adam's pockets.
"You doctors never come prepared!"
Making wordless, placating gestures, Adam struggled to his feet anyway, hauling
himself up with both hands on the edge of the piano and casting his gaze over the
aftermath of a banshee's rage. The map that had been on the piano stool was on
the floor with the spools of thread, and shreds of technicolor paper scraps all
around the piano told the fate of one of the maps that had been on top. The piano
itself was deeply scored with six long parallel scratches, but they ended next to
the map remaining. And on that map, a gold-set sapphire winked in the light.
"Oh, there's your bloody ring," McLeod said, starting to reach for it. "An' lookit
what's happened to the piano!"
But Adam stayed his hand. For the ring, its thread extending straight as an arrow
back to Dun vegan Castle, had landed partway down Loch Ness, the bright gold of
the band encircling the words, Urquhart Castle.
chapter nineteen
STUNNED, the three of them crowded around the piano to stare at the words
encircled by the ring on the map.
"Urquhart Castle!" McLeod murmured.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Peregrine asked, apparently a believer at
last.
Eyeing the gouges on the piano top, Adam prodded at the ring with a tentative
forefinger, then picked it up and took off the thread.
"It means," he said, slipping the ring back on his finger, "that Urquhart Castle is
the hiding place of Michael Scot's treasure - and that the Fairy Flag is being taken
there to help hold the treasure's rightful guardians at bay."
"Urquhart," Peregrine repeated, looking distractedly off into the distance. "So we
were on the right track all along." He shook his head wonderingly. "It makes
perfect sense, of course. When I remember what I drew, and compare those
sketches to the photos we looked at, it's plain to see how the castle evolved, over
the centuries. In fact, the references did say there were caves in the area - some of
them underwater. "
"Aye, and the Loch Ness monster is also guarding the treasure, if it's even there!"
McLeod muttered under his breath. "Adam, are you sure it's Urquhart, where
we're meant to go?"
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