On the morning of Bea’s twenty-first birthday, the break of dawn arrived behind a thick layer of fog, burying the land beneath for most of the night. Bea, too, had been buried…stretched out under a thick, warm comforter, sleeping soundly - unmoving and dreamless - as the minute hand of her bedside clock ticked through its circular arc and the sun began to journey across the sky. The light outside her window had not yet attained the correct angle to enter her bedroom and nudge her awake, but it had brightened and warmed the air enough to fully dissipate the remaining fog and the bothersome midges that were much better suited to cool and dark than to sunlight. Beneath that same window, the earth and rocks of the meadows and forests of Bea’s family estate had also started to soak up the sun’s rays, releasing puffs of vaporous steam into the air and adding their own type of beauty to the morning. But Bea…she remained oblivious to it all.
The Alban Saga is a fantasy trilogy made up of Beatrice, Black Grotto and the new book that I’m writing entitled The Vortex. All three books take place at real locations in Scotland, with actual Scottish history woven into their plot lines. The Vortex begins just as Black Grotto ends. Bea Bauman, a young Druid Priestess, is brought into the future by an ancient prophet named Erin. She cannot resist his call. He reaches for her from the center of the Vortex inside the Black Grotto, and she takes his hand, leaving her family and friends behind as she travels with him through time and space.
Just as Bea enters the Vortex, Aran Brodie, who has become a close and dear companion, cannot let Bea go alone into the void. He jumps in after her. For a time, they travel together inside the violent maelstrom, but they cannot maintain their grip on one another and become separated and lose consciousness. When Bea finally awakens, she finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026 - three years in the future - staring into the eyes of Erin the prophet. In the meantime, Aran Brodie is expelled from the Vortex at the same location as Bea, but his exit casts him over 4500 years into the past where he finds himself surrounded by primordial Druids in search of a human sacrifice.
As all of this is going on, another character from the previous books also finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026. Her name is Obsidian. For years now, she has been an acolyte in the grove of an extraordinarily powerful Druid Priestess named Brenna. Brenna brought Obsidian with her to this time and place to help her battle her nemesis, but Brenna is overcome and vanishes. Saddened and distraught, Obsidian is left alone without a way to return to her own time. She wanders aimlessly for days, but then remembers something that Brenna once shared with her. A Druid, even more powerful than Brenna, lives somewhere near the Stones of Calanais. She is called The Keeper. Obsidian sets out to find her in the hope that she can bring Brenna back and restore her to her former greatness and power.
The Vortex carries forth the story of the Alban Saga, weaving the plot lines of the three books into a surprising and volatile romp through time, space, and Scottish history. This dangerous and risky journey will either end in the past being completely reshaped, leading to a malevolent and dire future, or… the current timeline will remain untouched and safe for the development of humankind. Bea Bauman will be at the center of this struggle. She will attempt to unravel and countermand whomever or whatever is trying to alter history, while also dealing with her feelings for Aran, her fear for his survival, and having to navigate the treacherous intricacies of traveling through time and space via The Vortex.
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