The Inverness Courier would later pen the moment as the press conference of "the dead, a dead man walking, and the thrice dead man."

Theresa fainted and had to be carried into the hospital. Angus demanded to be released, threatening to sue the High Court. The judge ordered him to the cardiac unit and sent Johnny C.'s remains to the lab for a forensics evaluation.

It was a bizarre ending to a bizarre trial, one I would have enjoyed more had I not collapsed.

Rushed into the Emergency Room, I was placed on a ventilator and spent the next twenty-four hours in Intensive Care, suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and a concussion.

* * *

I awoke with an all-too-familiar tube down my throat as Brandy entered my private room.

"Gosh, Zack, you look awful."

It was like bad déjà vu.

"Rar roo reaking rup rith ree?"

Brandy smacked me hard on top of my bandaged head.

"Oww."

"That's for tossin' me overboard, ye bastard. An' no, I'm no' breakin' up wi' ye, though I should, after all ye put me through."

"Rarry ree?"

"Marry ye? Is that how ye want tae ask me, wi' a bloody pipe shoved down yer throat? No, we'll wait "til ye get out o' here, then ye can buy me a nice ring, get down on yer knees, an' ask me properly."

Brandy talked, and I listened. The ambulance driver, James Fox, had released a statement explaining that he had diverted from taking Angus to the hospital only because "the old man convinced me his son was in serious trouble." Both Fox and Nurse Kasa swore that they had found me unconscious on the eastern banks of Loch Ness with Johnny C.'s remains.

For my part, I claimed a loss of memory as to where the Guivre's cave actually was.

Forensics confirmed John Cialino's identity and his cause of death. The High Court of the Justiciary wasted little time in reversing its jury's decision, and Angus was now a free man… and a local hero. There was even talk about the Council hiring him as their official "Ambassador of Tourism."

I imagined Angus, dressed in his kilt, eating haggis. "Come tae Loch Ness, where the haggis is aye fresh, an' oor fish bite back." That one brought a smile to my face.

A brush fire in the forest adjacent to Aldourie Castle had been traced to a broken pipeline owned by Cialino Oil. Scotland's EPA had shut down the leak, and a full investigation was under way.

Through tears of happiness, Brandy described how she and Alban had reconciled. She was staying with him at the lodge, and it was the first time she felt whole again since her childhood.

In truth, it was the first time I had felt whole again, too.

* * *

My father came by later the next day with copies of the Inverness Courier. His photo was featured on the front page, under the headlines: VINDICATED!

"So, how're ye feelin', Dragonslayer?"