Xaghra's Revenge
An outline of an historical fantasy. Fantasy work in progress. Magic Realism

Copyright Geoff Nelder 2008

Fact:
" The world's most ancient building is on Gozo (Ggantija temple at Xaghra, (c. 3600-2500 BC predates Stonehenge and the pyramids)
" In 1551 the Turkish buccaneer, Dragut, sailed a pirate fleet to Gozo and abducted the entire population of 5000, except a few elderly people, and sailed them to North Africa.
" The abducted were kept on the ships while Dragut won a siege against the Knights of St John at Tripoli. The surviving abducted were taken and sold into slavery probably at Constantinople, Tripoli and Tarhuna, Libya.
" Some of the abducted had relatives on Malta sufficiently rich to buy them back, but most lost contact with their families.
Fiction:

• A man (Reece Inguanez-de-Ragu*) and woman (Zita Feratti) meet in contemporary Lyon, and become lovers.
• After an idyllic few weeks, they both have disturbing nightmares in addition to inexplicable flashes of terror. (these are the manifestation of spirits from the terrible actions of their ancestors in 1551) The couple cannot believe the nightmares are significant but have doubts. Complications arise from a former fiancee of Reece.
• Their meeting has created a rift in normality that unleashes the fantasy element – demon spirits.
• Reece’s family name contains the word Dragut.
• Zita is left some papers by a dying relative. They are C16th deeds for property on Gozo.
• Zita researches what happens on Gozo and is incensed. She seeks revenge on behalf of “her people”.
• The reader assumes, because of their names and the deeds that Reece Inguanez-de-Ragu is descended from Rais Dragut while Zita is related to a Gozo abducted but it is the other way around though this revelation comes late on.
• Zita plans a self-righteous campaign against the man and his family. He doesn’t realise what is going on or why for weeks. His property is destroyed.. People get hurt and some die. Zita seems possessed with a bloodlust.
• Reece discovers her research and does some of his own. He is sent (not just a coincidence) by his Agency to Tarhuna in Libya, where he realises he is descended from one of the abducted whose descendent was obliged to carry Dragut’s name (maybe so as not to forget the catastrophe.) He is given a crystal, which is a talisman, by a discovered relative in Libya.
• Their ancestors' stories are also told as one becomes a slave and the other struggles with the Gozo spirits.
• Endgame: When back in 1565 Dragut masterplans the seige of Malta, he loses when the ancient spirits having worked by bringing Reece and Zita together in the future (our present) take their revenge on the Barbary corsairs. Two time zones coming together - quantum entanglement.

This summary is apt to be flexible.