Angus McFife - The Fallen Soul

The irony of the place

"I'll prepare it." he smiled. "But where are we going? Straight to -"
"Dunkeld," I said, looking at him with a hard look. "Zargothrax is pulling there again. He wants to conquer the city and appropriate it."
"It's about forty-five minutes from here in Lundia," Ralathor said. "I don't like it. Why Dunkeld? Is that supposed to be some kind of irony?"
I understood what he meant. Dunkeld, Schiehallion, Dunfermline... In each of those places, either I or one of my ancestors fought with him.
I shook my head. "I have no idea. Maybe... Maybe he suspects my betrayal. That's why he wants to drag us to the battlefield where we've already been."
My right eye suddenly became very hot.
"Ouch!" I hissed, grabbing hold of it.
"Angus? What's going on?" blurted out Ralathor.
I saw… Zargothrax, his spaceships, the battlefield at Dunfermline, heard the drawing of a sword and quiet voices whispering: Go back to Crail. The Lord needs you in Crail. The king must go back to Crail.
Then suddenly, it stopped.
"Dunfermline," I said quietly.
"What?" asked the queen.
I couldn't hold back and scream. "Dunfermline! That is where Zargothrax is heading!"
Then I took a deep breath to calm down. "I have to go back to Crail. They'll realize I'm gone for a long time. I'm afraid that they will start questioning my loyalty, just like I told you."
"I understand," said the king. "Go." "I'll take you to the Galaxy," Ralathor said.
I nodded and off we went.
"I'd like to take Bone, but I'm afraid they'd recognize it," I said.
Without a word, he nodded.
"Why are you so quiet?" I asked.
"Because you're an idiot," he said suddenly.
"Pardon me?!" I blurted out.
"Why are you taking such a risk, Angus? It's not just to stay away from us because of the stab, is it?
There's more to it," he said quietly.
I looked at him quietly. He knew me very well. He knew it wasn't that easy.
"Recently..." I started quietly. "I have opened a crack into the future. A future in which I returned to Dundee and didn't play both sides... I slaughtered the whole castle and became an even worse dictator than Zargothrax."
He remained to stare at me. "What?"
"I don't want to be evil, Ralathor," I said. "I don't want to... Hootsman is trying to reverse the magic somehow, but..."
I shook my head. It was too strong. It didn't work.
"That's why I decided it would be safer to join Zargothrax's side. If I'm going to go crazy somewhere, I want it to be Crail. For something good to come out of it, you know?" I said.
He stared at me with his mouth open. Then, he bowed his head.
"I understand," he said quietly. "So... Will you head back to Crail?"
I nodded. "And you with Hootsforce go to Dunfermline. It will be a moment of surprise that could be very important for our side in this battle." We came to Galaxy. I stroked her skull and climbed into the saddle.
"Hey, Angus..." said Ralathor and handed me something.
I picked it up. It was a pendant in the shape of a hammer, wrapped in a cloak of a hermit. Ralathor was a hermit in my reality. I smiled. It was a symbol of friendship. But as I knew him, there was something more behind it.
"For protection," he said.
Thank you," I told him. "Hopefully we'll see each other again soon."
"Let Hootsman watch over you," he said.
"Over you too, my friend," I said, kicking Galaxy in the groin.
She rushed out of the camp. How will the resistance behave was entirely up to them. I couldn't give them more because I didn't know more myself. I was only worried about two things. When will it burst and what will be the consequences...