Outlander Reversed

Prologue

April, 1742

        Broch Mordha, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Gritting his teeth against an agonized groan, the young man known far and wide as the son of Black Brian thanked God for his current location. Even though the Ancient Stone Circle was far more out in the open than he’d have preferred, the fact that it was a Stone Circle was precisely why he’d opted to duck into it.

        While he’d been baptized as a Catholic shortly after his Birth, there was one thing James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser kent well–that hardly anyone in their right mind would chase him into a place like this Circle. After all, the bone-deep Fear of Witchcraft spread further than even his alleged obstruction when his Ancestral Land was set upon by the English. Not even those same English dragoons’d dare to chase him into such a place unless they were truly desperate–or Feared their commanding officer far more than the possibility of Witchcraft being real.

        But ducking into this Ancient, highly-sacred place served to give him a bit of a respite from the chase he’d found himself in the middle of. If naught else, he could catch his breath while deciding whether or not to continue on to his family’s estate–Lallybroch, formally known as Broch Tuarach–or to head into a different part of the surrounding Woods. He needed treatment for his shoulder so his arm didn’t hang uselessly, but he didn’t dare endanger his family.

        The Thought of said family–which was really only his younger sister Janet, or Jenny–made Jamie’s heart clench painfully within his breast. His decision was easy to make as her face appeared as a memory of the last Day he’d seen her–the Day he’d been dragged off to Fort William well over a Year ago. As far as he knew, while she’d likely been forced to endure atrocities at the hands and cock of Captain Jonathan Black Jack Randall that she never shoulda, she was still alive. Likely she wouldn’t be, if he showed up at Lallybroch’s gate, whether he sought the help of some sorta Healer or not. Besides, his being so closeta the estate–within the bounds of the estate’s crofter Village, Broch Mordha–was dangerous enough to her survival since he was sure those dragoons’d check to see, if he’d decided to try hiding at home.

        No, the only decision he could make wasta lay low long enough to catch his breath, then head in any Direction that led away from Lallybroch. With any Luck, his godfather–Murtagh Fitzgibbons–would be able to track and catch up with him sooner, rather than later. If he managed to do that, the older man could at least field dress his shoulder and summon someone who could treat it better than that.

        Plopping down in the Heather-choked grass in the middle of the Circle he’d sought refuge in, the young, Copper-haired man ran the fingers of his good hand through said hair in agitation. He tried to block out the sudden buzzing Sound that reminded him of a hive of angry Bees, weighing his options carefully. Trying to go back South toward Edinburgh’d undoubtedly be the Death of him–too many Mountains with his Dominant arm currently rendered useless. Even if that wasn’t the case, though, he’d be more likely to run into the very dragoons he was trying to escape from, if he went that way. It seemed his best–and really, only–option wasta continue North to the port Town of Inverness. If he went there, he’d stand a chance of boarding a ship one way or another and beating a hasty escape–and that Town was much closer to his current location.

        But Jamie didn’t get the chanceta catch his breath, let alone get back to his feet so he could start the agonizing walk to the aforementioned Town.

        The second he leaned back against one of the Stones that towered over him and his good hand came into contact with it, the buzzing he’d been hearing got even louder. In the split second it took to blink his eyes, he felt like he’d been sucked into some sorta Vortex, his ears filled with the Sound of distant screams. He didn’t know if those screams were his own, or those of someone else–all he knew was that it felt like he was rolling down an Endless Hill backward.

        Even worse was that at the same Time he felt that, the ginger man also felt like he’d been tied up to be drawn-and-quartered. All four of his limbs–even his currently-useless left arm–felt like they were being pulled in four separate Directions at once. However, that agonizing sensation seemed to stop just short of actually being drawn-and-quartered, although just barely.

        It seemed like an Eternity before Jamie felt his weight hit something, the wind knocked outta him with a loud Oof! He couldn’t tell, if he’d landed face-down or on his back at first–for all he kent, he’d landed on his arse and fell back against the trunk of a Tree. Opening his eyes moments later made him realize that he was no longer in the Center of that Stone Circle, but somewhere in the Woods. That was also the last thing he saw for quite a while as the pain screaming through his arm and shoulder made Stars dance across his vision.

        Those Stars didn’t last long before they gave way to an all-encompassing blackness he was all but desperate for at that point.