Highland Tales Series Box Set

by Rory B. Byrne

  “They’re coming.” Simon knew the alarm sounded through the whole facility. The mercenaries had their weapons. They were well-armed and trained, and Simon stood with Karen and the Cù-Sìth inside the enclosure with no way out. “We can’t escape.”

  “We need the Weatherspoons.”

  “They’re down the other hallway.”

  “Take me,” Karen said. She went to the door and pulled it open.

  Simon expected armed resistance. So far, they hadn’t reached the passageway. Quickly, he went to the pass lock, but it didn’t work. He felt the hot breath of the massive beast near him. The fetid breath washed over him. He felt cold sweat thinking that instantly the feral animal readied to tear him to shreds. For some reason, it waited. Its massive body took up the entire hallway. No one could move by it.

  Karen used her Elphame magic and unlocked the doors. They moved into the corridor. They heard the shouts from three people. Rory shouted obscenities from the other side of the locked door. Beth yelled and pounded her hands on another door. Amy Miller stopped screaming once she saw the Cù-Sìth step into the hallway.

  “There,” Karen said. She went to the holding cell for Beth Weatherspoon. Without delay, she yanked open the door.

  “Who—”

  It was all Beth could say as she stepped into the corridor. The moment she turned from Simon and Karen, that’s when she saw the monster behind them. It saw her, and before Simon could move, the jaws of the Cù-Sìth snapped down on Beth’s arm. It spun in the tight space and ran back through the doorway.

  Bewildered, shocked, Simon hurried after the Cù-Sìth and Karen. She moved fast over the debris in the hallway, her bare feet barely touching the floor, and Simon raced to keep up.

  The Cù-Sìth burst through the door at the end of the hall, and the chaos started. The military-trained men held fast, covering the exit. Weapons with laser sights covered the front of the animal. No one fired. The whimpering form of Beth Weatherspoon dangled from the monster’s snout. The Cù-Sìth had the woman by the right arm and some of her torso. It lifted her off the floor and carried her forward.

  “Move aside, or he will kill her.” The full form of the baobhan sìth showed through the human façade. Men of different backgrounds, races, and religions hesitated and shuttered at the sight of the baobhan sìth and the freed Cù-Sìth.

  “Please, don’t shoot,” Simon pleaded. “She’s from Elphame. She can get through the portal.” It was the truth. It was useless to resist or hold back any longer. “Let them by.”

  Standing behind Karen and the rear of the Cù-Sìth, Simon saw a few laser sights pointed at his chest. More covered Karen, and most covered the monster. So far, Beth was alive, in shock and bleeding. The blood pooled where the beast weaved her back and forth, waiting to get by the army.

  “Don’t shoot it,” Brian said.

  “Stand down,” Fraser said. Red lasers danced and hovered over the three of them, Simon now a fugitive and betrayer of humans. He knew once Karen left with the Cù-Sìth, Fraser wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his brainpan.

  Once the men made an opening and the corridor widened, Karen walked with purpose through the last of the passages toward the fairy mound chamber. Simon followed. He felt the eyes and trained guns on his back. He didn’t question Karen’s knowledge of the portal location, not after everything. He never looked back at Fraser or Brian.

  The Cù-Sìth bounded forward, carrying the mortally wounded Beth Weatherspoon. Simon knew that even if they managed to save the arm, the saliva of the beast still had toxins in it.

  “They’re coming,” Simon said. He caught up to Karen. She was taller, thinner, and more regal somehow. The clothes hung from her frame like an emaciated corpse. Simon walked beside and behind the monster.

  “They do not matter,” Karen said with confidence. She looked at Simon. She had more height. Her eyes shifted closer to the beaky bridge of her nose. The eyes were a brilliant golden color.

  “They’ll kill me if I stay.”

  She had a look of indifference but said nothing. The Cù-Sìth bounded through the last set of double doors. It leaped over the railing on the platform facing the Gaelic runes on the floor of the chamber. A few of Fraser’s men used stacked military supply boxes to shield them from the monster standing in the center of the floor mosaic. Simon saw the bloodless face of Beth blinking at him. She was lost in delirium, pasty and moist with fever. She was beyond the pain from the wounds.

  The Cù-Sìth dropped her on the ancient carved stones. Karen turned on the platform, still barefoot, and went down the stairs to join the Cù-Sìth. Her eyes found Simon. He stumbled down the steps.

  As he reached the ground, the portal between the two worlds opened. It wasn’t an explosion, only a tear in the fabric of time and space. He saw through the spherical hole into the other realm. He saw darkness and rain passing through the portal. He felt moisture and clean air on his face.

  Cù-Sìth did not wait. It whimpered with excitement and bounded into Elphame. Karen followed. At the last moment, standing on the precipice between two worlds, she reached her skeletal hand out to Simon. He didn’t think or hesitate. He took her hand and went into the unknown.

  The portal between Scotland and Elphame remained open and stable. The last breaths of Beth Weatherspoon stopped along with her heart, and her body lay in Scotland. It was the country of her birth, but not the home of her origins.

  Human Illusions

  Alice awoke when Marcia kicked the bed. She felt the heat and taut flesh from the areas over her body that shriveled and baked away. Alice saw glimpses of her face and some of her scarred body in the greasy hand mirror Marcia had on the vanity in the corner of the bedroom.

  “We must go now. They have opened the gate.”

  Marcia’s body modified slightly. The flabby flesh of her thighs and arms hung away from her frame, and she stood up a little straighter. The pech began to shred the skin like a caterpillar chrysalis. It came off in strips.

  Alice suspected Marcia took care when shedding the human form. Now it didn’t matter. If what she said made sense, Marcia couldn’t pass through the portal, so Alice had to make the journey to Elphame.

  The sound of wet bulbous flesh dropping to the floor made Alice gag. It was a horrible noise. The pech revealed its pure form in slimy bits and pieces. When it transformed, in the dim of the bedroom, Alice saw a pale young girl, tall, thin, and preternaturally beautiful. Her body flat with arms and legs more protracted than most humans, her naked torso looked condensed.

  “You’re beautiful,” Alice said. “Why wear that overweight human suit?”

  She saw the feet, still the same, wide three-toed feet as before. The elongated heels looked animalistic, athletic. When Marcia turned to the small dresser to grab different garments, Alice saw the swishing tail.

  “We are different from humans. People notice when you are the same person for generations. If I stayed in this form, people would take notice.” Marcia pulled a dress out and slipped it over her head. It covered all of her in an ugly patchwork pattern. It was a housecoat for skinny old ladies. Somehow, it was still part of Marcia’s human disguise. “I know people forget about their elders. It is easier to hide as an old person.”

  Somehow, that made sense.

  Marcia squatted on the floor and pulled back the rope rug. She balled her fist and drove it through the wood as quickly as a pencil stabbing a sheet of paper. Her fist came out with a fist-sized amethyst in a marquise cut.

  When Marcia dropped it into Alice’s hand, the weight of the giant precious stone surprised her. Heavy and massive, Alice lifted it to marvel at its beauty.

  “When you get to Elphame,” Marcia said, pulling open the bedroom door, “use the stone to look through. It will lead you to Nicneven. Tell her I have done everything in my power to stop the humans from returning.”

  Alice followed
Marcia into the cramped space of the stone wall dwelling. It was old and restricted with the clutter. It was the kind of place an old lady might live. Alice knew Marcia had adopted the perfect disguise for thousands of years.

  Marcia went to the wet wall where the kitchen sink backed against the tiny bathroom wall. She ripped away the interior drywall. She removed something long wrapped in a cloth. It looked heavy. Its tip banged against the low ceiling and gouged chunks of plastic that fell over both of them.

  Marcia unwrapped the long sword. It had a Celtic knot around the hilt and grip. The blade was as black as pitch.

  “This belonged to one of the queen’s guard. When she sees you have it and the amethyst, Nicneven will give you counsel. We must go. They are assembling at the portal. I can feel the winds of change.”

  “What happens if they keep the portal open?” Alice asked.

  “Nicneven will come. She will spare no human. She will release the likes of your hell on earth, and it will burn for eternity.”

  “Yeah, you could have said it’d be bad or something.” Alice lifted the sword inside the scabbard. It had a long strap and baldric for carrying the sword over her shoulder. Alice put it on. “I think I’d rather have a gun.”

  “You do not have to reload the sword.”

  “How are we going to get into the place?”

  “I can get you inside. I will start a distraction. You must go the rest of the way.”

  Marcia opened the front door. A blast of clean air washed over Alice. She wore a borrowed dress from Marcia. The pech didn’t believe in or wear pants, so Alice had to make do with the clothes she had on her. At least Marcia had a pair of sneakers for Alice. There was a box of footwear by the door. Alice didn’t want to know why Marcia had a collection of shoes when it was obvious they didn’t fit her feet.

  Alice grabbed Marcia’s long, skinny arm before they went into the night. “I think I can do something to help us get into the compound.”

  “We must hurry.”

  “Marcia, you entrusted me with a quest. You need to trust me now. I think I can get us both into the compound.”

  Marcia gave Alice a look that said she had to have faith in the person she saved from burning to death. After a heartbeat, she nodded.

  “I need to find a phone,” Alice said.

  When Constable James Abernathy heard Alice’s voice on the phone, she knew he didn’t believe it. They didn’t know each other very well or for very long. Alice considered James a new friend, only now after the fire and the scars and the quest that took Alice into another plane of existence, getting to know the guy any better wasn’t a real option anymore.

  “Listen, how fast can you get to Eskdale?” she asked. Alice avoided all the questions about defying death or coming back from the dead.

  “I’m in the car. I’m turning around now. I’m on A82. I’ll cut over Millburn Road and can be there in ten minutes.”

  “Don’t use your siren, James. Don’t tell anyone I’m here. Don’t let anyone follow you.”

  “Where have you been, Alice?” James asked. She heard the revving engine through the earpiece on the stolen phone. Marcia squatted beside her, half hidden in the shadow. “Your dad came up. He’s at the hotel.”

  “I can’t see him, James. Not now,” Alice said. She choked back the tears. She knew after everything that had happened, she likely wouldn’t see her father again.

  “What’s going on?” James asked.

  “I need you to trust me,” she said. Alice needed to end the call. She didn’t want James to hear her crying. “We’ll wait near the Weatherspoon Guesthouse.”

  “We? Who are we?”

  Alice ended the call. She handed it back to Marcia. The pech squeezed the smartphone in her fist. It broke up like a graham cracker in her hand. She threw the pieces over the hedges along the road.

  They slipped through the shadows away from the old cottage and made their way in the dark, avoiding the streetlights. Alice knew the few CCTV cameras in the area didn’t have low-light filters. It seemed Marcia knew the location of all the cameras in town as she helped Alice avoid detection.

  They found a place to wait near the burned out structure.

  “Beth will have to rebuild her home,” Alice said.

  “Beth died, lass.” It seemed strange to hear Marcia call Alice lass when the pech looked like a teenager. Hearing the news shocked her.

  “How do you know?”

  Marcia didn’t have to answer. She stirred burnt and broken wood with the talons on her fingers.

  “I’m sorry,” Alice said. She put her hand on Marcia’s shoulder. “They were your family.”

  “Rory lives,” she said. “I do not know for how much longer. I believe they used the blood of Beth Weatherspoon to wash the portal. It will remain open for as long as her blood stays on the stones. I will do my best to close the portal.”

  “What can you do alone?”

  “I can do more than you know, lass. But you must not worry about me. You must remain focused on your mission. Find the queen. Give her the stone. She will understand, and she will not cross over.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  Marcia didn’t answer immediately. Alice watched the road for passing vehicles. That late at night in Eskdale, no one traveled the single-lane roads. They sat together on the ground, quiet for minutes. Alice thought about her father, Donovan Lemont. The man spent time in Eskdale before when he saw a young girl pass through the illegal portal. Now his daughter readied to follow Morgan Goodlet into the fairy mound. Alice knew she’d never see her father again. She wondered briefly if Morgan survived in Elphame. Alice considered what happened if she met the woman again.

  The splash of headlights over the tree line and the squealing of tires on damp pavement told Alice that James had arrived.

  “Do you trust this man?” Marcia asked before she revealed her true form to the constable.

  “I think he’s a good man. He believes in fairytales. He’s lived here his whole life, and he took the same oath as me.” Alice stood up.

  “This is not a fairytale, Alice.”

  Somehow, hearing Marcia put those two things together made Alice feel like she had to go down more than a rabbit hole as she stepped from the shadow.

  James slammed on the brakes and jumped from the idling car. He ceased Alice in both hands to gaze at her like she had returned from the dead.

  “I know, I look hideous,” she whispered.

  “Are you joking, woman?” James embraced her. It wasn’t what she expected. His arms over the tender areas of her back made Alice blanch with mild pain and embarrassment. “You are incredible.”

  Alice broke the hug and looked into James’ eyes. He blinked at her several times. When Alice didn’t see him looking at the patches of missing scalp hair and the black shriveled patches of missing flesh, she looked at Marcia.

  The pech shrugged. “Fairy magic,” she said.

  “He can’t see?” Alice asked. It was the tea and the ointment. It was the enchantment from Elphame. It was exactly another reason to stop Brian MacIomhair and his mercenaries from exploiting the other world.

  James looked from Alice to Marcia. It was in his eyes. It was the way the young man drank in the whole image of the pech. He saw someone who was incredibly beautiful. At that moment, Alice understood the disguise Marcia had used over the years. It was easier to forget a decrepit old woman than a slender beautiful creature that passed for a fey human.

  “Earth to James,” Alice said. “Your mouth’s open.”

  “Um, right, yeah, sorry.” He put out his hand to Marica. “I’m Constable James—”

  “Save it,” Alice said. “She doesn’t care.” Alice slapped the Vauxhall. “Pop the boot.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re part of the ARV taskforce in the area.”

&
nbsp; “Yeah,” he said.

  James had a hard time tearing his eyes away from Marcia. Even with the elfish features and the lengthened limbs, she was otherworldly stunning. Alice tried to ignore it. What a terrible way to spend four thousand years on the planet, a trussed-up super model.

  “Open the boot,” Alice said. She pulled on James’ arm.

  “Wait, is that a sword on your back?”

  “Argh, James, just open the boot, please.”

  He finally complied. The ARV, or Armed Response Vehicles, were the certified special firearms unit for Scotland Police. James had a full arsenal in the trunk of the Vauxhall. Alice put on the bulletproof vest and grabbed the assault shotgun and extra shells. She then grabbed the taser and as many flash grenades as she could carry.

  “You can’t take that stuff,” James said.

  “Listen, I need you to trust me. Brian MacIomhair has Beth and Rory Weatherspoon hostage inside the compound. He has Amy Miller and Harper Biel in there, too.”

  “I’m calling back—”

  Marcia snatched the smartphone from James’ hand. She crushed it like a Styrofoam cup. Before he keyed the two-way radio, Alice pressed her hand over the microphone.

  She looked at James. He stopped trying to play cop and stared at her.

  “This isn’t anything you can call for backup. This is something we need to do alone. I need you to pull up to the front gate of the complex. Cole Fraser and his men will think they’re getting raided. You can use your siren, lights, and horn. I think some of the folks who live around here will start coming out to see what’s happening. It will take the rest of the police at least an hour to get here. Don’t talk to any of Fraser’s guys. They are heavily armed, and don’t get out of the car.”