by Chris Fox
Back to Blair. He’s stabilizing the Nexus when an intruder arrives. He ambushes them, instantly regretting it when he realizes it’s Isis. She kicks his monkey ass, of course. Blair brings her up to speed, and Isis decides that they need a bold plan. They’re going to invade the Ark of the Cradle and get Steve, and his access key, back.
We get our first villain cut scene, showing the evil, demonic Set. He looks like a cross between the aliens from X-Files and a bobblehead. He’s annoyed that someone has stabilized the Nexus, which he wants to blow up because the Progeny of the Builders told him to. He vows to kick Blair’s ass as soon as he learns who Blair is. The Progeny of the Builders are the original bobbleheads, and while we don’t know why they’re back, we do know that Set works for them.
Trevor and Jordan are brought before Ra, the mega-hot ruler of the Ark of the Cradle. Also, Irakesh’s mother. She interrogates Trevor, asking him about Isis, and about his allegiances. In the end, she places a collar of Shi-Dun around Jordan’s neck, and gives Trevor the leash. She also gives Trevor free run of her court, treating him as an ally. Steve is given to Irakesh like a pet, also wearing a collar.
Trevor isn’t really sure what to make of this, and keeps looking for the catch. Jordan is understandably pissed, and assumes Trevor is joining the deathless side, since you know, he’s a deathless. Trevor meets a few new gods, including Anput, Anubis, and Isis’s son, Horus. In spite of himself, he finds himself becoming friends with Anput. Her husband, Anubis, even teaches him the basics of swordsmanship, starting with having Trevor eat a zombie, who was a skilled swordsman, to steal his memories.
This is common in Ra’s court, and they even have a banquet where they eat interesting people and then share the memories they gain from consuming them. Ewww. During this banquet Trevor learns about sunstorms, which are more intense versions of CMEs. Ra takes him to an observatory near the top of the Ark, which is far more advanced than anything our age has produced. Trevor figures out that the Ark must be getting this footage from an installation in space, and spoilers— he’s right. That’s the Black Knight satellite first mentioned in Hero Born, and also addressed in The Great Pack.
Blair and Isis return to San Francisco to get Liz, but before they can leave, Isis insists that they must create guardians to protect their flock. Against her better judgement, Liz offers the gift to anyone who wants it, including a ten-year-old girl named Alicia. She’s conflicted, but relieved, when Alicia is one of the ones to rise as a champion.
Now that the people on Angel Island are safe, Blair, Liz, and Isis assault the Ark of the Cradle. Isis knows that they’re not going to be strong enough to overcome Ra and her entire court, so when they arrive she sends Liz and Blair to barter with the sorcerer-kings of Olympus. She’s not entirely sure they’ve survived to the present, but if they are they’ll be found in modern day Turkey.
Isis stays behind at the light bridge to battle Horus, her own son. The fight is short, brutal, and ends with Isis having no choice but to incinerate her firstborn. Ra is understandably pissed by Isis’s attack, and mobilizes her forces to go to Olympus. This includes Trevor, who rides howdah on top of a giant undead elephant. Can you imagine how bad that thing would smell? Jesus.
Anyway, Isis wants to slow Ra down, so she uses the Primary Access Key to unleash the Ark’s guardian. This guardian is a sand worm of colossal size, reminiscent of the worms from Frank Herbert’s Dune. *Tips hat to the mighty Frank Herbert*. This sand worm attacks Ra’s army, giving Blair and Liz time to reach Olympus.
When they arrive they’re met by an old man in robes. He seems friendly, which just screams villain. We’re all totally shocked when he turns out to be Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. Hades leads Blair and Liz into his foundry, where they meet the god Vulcan. They’re building power armor that looks suspiciously like Mohn Corp’s, but theirs is made from a strange dark metal.
Hades tells them that Ra’s army is approaching. He can bargain with her, but they need to flee. Hades gives them a slipsail, a glittering silver vessel from the previous age. Blair wants to know what the catch is, of course. Hades wants them to ferry him up to Olympus. If they’ll do that, then they can keep the ship. They agree, and drop Hades off right as a massive sunstorm washes over the floating city.
On the other side of that storm is Ra’s army, moving to surround Olympus. Blair and Liz start flying away, but are pursued by the wolf-headed god Wepwawet. He’s kicking their asses when Isis shows up. She slaps him around and dumps his unconscious body over the side. They start flying away to safety.
Jordan makes an escape attempt, but Trevor shoots him in the face (again). When that doesn’t discourage Jordan, he uses the collar of Shi-Dun for the first time, inflicting unimaginable pain on Jordan. Trevor sees Ra in trouble, so he leaves Jordan to go help her against the sand worm. Jordan uses the opportunity to flee, and ends up running into Hades. Hades escorts him down to the foundry, and shows him the awesome power armor Vulcan has created.
Hades tells Jordan that the armor can protect him from the collar of Shi-Dun. Having no other option, Jordan accepts a set. He pilots the armor out, and sets off after Isis, Blair, and Liz. Isis flees to a set of caves in France that I learned about from a great Netflix documentary (Cave of Dreams I think it was called…I’m too lazy to go look it up).
We flash over to London, where Osiris is training Mark. He shows Mark footage of a demonic army marshaling from the First Ark. Set is finally on the move, DUN DUN DUN =O.
Ra finally catches up, and invites Isis to a parlay. Ra has learned from Hades that Osiris has gone rogue. She believes Osiris is the demonic ruler of the First Ark, and tries to convince Isis to help her take Osiris down. They’re still discussing things when Osiris makes a super-handsome, stylish entrance. Isis responds by dumping a glass of water on his head, something nearly every reader also wanted to do in the hopes that it would knock the smug out of Osiris.
Osiris explains that Set took the First Ark, and that we’re all really, really screwed. Set has been building an army for millennia, and is now unleashing that army on the world. He’s kind of a big deal, even if he does look like a bobblehead.
Ra, Isis, and Osiris agree to cooperate. They’re hammering out the details of just how screwed Steve is (he’s going to be a present from Ra to Isis), when *gasp*…Set attacks the meeting. He’s got dragons with fifty-caliber machine guns belted to their backs, plus masses of brutish demon-thingies (that’s their official name).
Our heroes get their asses kicked, but Anubis volunteers to delay Set while everyone else escapes. He heroically sacrifices himself in a duel with Set. Everyone else falls back to a plane Osiris has waiting, just barely escaping Set’s demonic army. They flee to Mohn’s London HQ, but not everyone makes it. Set captures Steve, Irakesh, Jordan, and Wepwawet. Steve immediately volunteers to work for Set. Set makes the same offer to Irakesh, who earns his first tiny little sliver of reader sympathy when he says no. He won’t be a demonic lackey to Set, so Set puts the collar of Shi-Dun on Irakesh and gives Steve the control bracelet.
Both Wepwawet and Jordan are wearing the demonic power armor created by Hades, and we learn just how bad that is. They are controlled by the armor, and can’t get out of it. They now serve Set, and will help him in his final battle against Isis and Osiris.
Set assaults Mohn HQ, but our heroes have laid the best trap they can. The Director leads the defense, which is designed to keep Set busy while everyone else assaults the First Ark. It works, but the Director is captured by Set. The others kill Set’s wife, Nephthys, but Set arrives before they can assault the First Ark.
That’s according to plan. Set is enraged, and Isis, Ra, and Osiris keep him busy while Blair and the others detonate the First Ark. Isis believes the resulting explosion will kill them all, but that the price is worth it to remove Set. His bobbleheaded-ness must be stopped.
Blair, Liz, and Trevor square off against Steve, Irakesh, and Wepwawet. This was one of my favorite fights of the en
tire series, because Captain Douchey himself is finally killed. He’s incinerated by Blair, who gets revenge for all the jacked up things Steve did to him. Irakesh defects to their side, helping to battle Wepwawet. Finally, Liz kills Wepwawet and consumes his essence (because that won’t have consequences, right?).
The First Ark explodes, and presumably Isis, Osiris and Ra are killed (I ain’t saying). Everyone else escapes using the light bridge, and they arrive in the Nexus. At this point many people were sure the series was over, but I threw a massive curve ball in the epilogue. The light walk had been affected by the exploding First Ark, and they’d been flung five years forward in time. The world is a completely new place, and they have no idea what’s changed.
So yeah, that’s pretty much it. I’m sure I missed some stuff. Even as the author I can’t remember everything that went down. If you think of anything I missed let me know and I’ll add it. You can reach me at [email protected]. On to The Great Pack.
The Great Pack
Wait, why am I recapping a book you haven’t read yet? I’m not. This page is the very last hurdle you have to get over to get into the book, but before you get there I just wanted to pass something along.
I worked hard on The Great Pack. I studied Miwok tribal lore. I learned about the Amazon Rainforest, and their local legends. You’re going to see many of those legends come to life. When you read about the Great Bear, for example, that’s a real Miwok myth. It dates back to the tribe that proceeded them, the Awaneechee, who lived in Yosemite Valley thousands of years ago.
The same is true of the Mapinguara in the Amazon. That too is an established myth. As I’ve done in each preceding book, the events are based as closely as possible on real world lore. Why did I bring this up? Because over the last two years so many of you have reached out. You seem to love history and the idea of vanished cultures just as much as I do.
One last note. The first several chapters may feel disjointed, particularly if it’s been a while since you read Vampires Don’t Sparkle. New characters are introduced, and I show quite a few points of view. If you stick with it, it will all come together. I promise.
Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble. Here’s the payoff. Enjoy The Great Pack.
Prologue
The Liwanu awakened slowly, warmth seeping into long unused muscles through the rock above. That rock had been cold for innumerable centuries, since the sun had changed and robbed the world of its true power. Now, it was warm again. The time had come. The world was ready for his return.
He stretched, rising to his full height—well, his full height as a man, anyway. He’d slept in human form, as that had given him the best chance of surviving the long hibernation that had carried him to the present.
The Liwanu’s shaggy black hair spilled down his back. His fingernails were long and unkempt. The furs he’d used for clothing had long since rotted away, leaving him naked.
No matter. He’d danced in the snow during the heart of winter; this lesser cold could not touch him.
The Liwanu yawned, walking sleepily to the mouth of his little cave. The entrance was still covered, which did not surprise him. He planted both hands against the warm stone, setting his feet against the floor as he began to strain. Pushing the boulder free was difficult—far more difficult than he’d have expected—but eventually, inch by agonizing inch, he forced it from its perch. It rolled free with a tremendous pop and bounded down the hillside into the thickly wooded valley below. The thunder of its passing resounded across the mountains, echoing into the distance.
A flock of ravens scattered into flight, winging up and away as they observed the boulder’s passing. The sight of the agile birds winging through the redwoods drew a smile from the Liwanu. He knew the world must have changed greatly, but, whatever was different, at least that piece was the same.
The wind, too, was the same: bitterly cold on his skin. It whistled over the valley, singing in the high places, and caressed his nakedness as he moved from the cave mouth. The Liwanu blinked in the thin sunlight, walking up the hillside toward Tissaack’s jutting granite crown.
The mountain was unchanged, the face of the young woman shedding tears down her granite slopes. Yet there were differences. What was that affixed to the back side of the mighty mountain?
The Liwanu leapt into the air, slinging himself from the tip of a great redwood. He bounded up the granite, landing in a crouch at the sub-dome beneath Tissaack herself. A pair of strange grey ropes extended up the back of the mountain, woven from something shiny. Every few paces a tree limb had been fashioned into a rung. It was a ladder, of sorts, allowing people to climb to the top of mighty Tissaack.
The Liwanu roared, lunging forward and grabbing one of the cables. He pulled, wrenching with all the fury the desecration wrought in him. The strange rope groaned, then pulled free from the rock. He yanked again, and again. The third yank pulled the rope loose, and the entire cabling tumbled to the rock near the Liwanu’s feet.
His initial ire was sated, but he still longed to find whoever had done this.
The wind brought the scent of man: a whiff of long-worn leather. The Liwanu turned from the wreckage of the strange ladder he’d destroyed. A pile of strange-colored leathers lay not far from the trail. There were hundreds of them, mismatched and of all sizes. He approached, picking up a glove the color of a strawberry in summer. The glove was cunningly shaped, and far more supple than the leathers his own people had worked. The Liwanu slid his fingers inside of it, surprised by how well it fit. It protected his skin from the cold, so he fished through the pile until he found the matching one.
Then he peered up at the mountain. “Forgive me, Tissaack. I will return to remove all traces of man from your holy visage. First, I must learn what has happened to the Ahwahnechee. I will return to remove this desecration.”
The Liwanu bounded up the rock face, extending long claws that bored into the granite. He was slightly winded by the time he reached the top—an unwelcome surprise. His slumber had stolen much, it seemed. He slowed his pace, catching his breath as he reached the flat part of the mountain, then walked to the edge, peering down into the valley below as he had countless times during his youth.
He had no words. Ahwahnee’s sacred beauty had been blemished. Sinuous black lines stretched across the valley floor like snakes. They were choked with strange boxy vehicles that belched clouds of filth into the air. There were many upon many, in a bedazzling array of strange colors. Were they some sort of slipsail, as Mother had used?
The strange slipsails congregated around large structures, far bigger than any mud hut. Those structures were numerous, dotting every corner of the valley. Men moved in and out of those structures, their clothing a riot of colors. Some of those colors were new to him, the bright hues found nowhere in nature that he knew of.
The Liwanu growled deep in his chest. He leapt from the mountain, shifting into an eagle as he fell. His arms became wings, nimbly guiding his body down into the valley. A few disinterested faces looked up, each dismissing him in the same way.
The Liwanu glided to a perch atop a wooden post outside one of the largest structures. Strange glyphs decorated the sign. He wished Mother were here to use her magic. She could no doubt understand the glyphs.
The Liwanu shifted again, back to human form, hopping to the ground. Many of the humans were staring. More than a few pointed in his direction. He studied them with puzzlement. Not a single face resembled his people. Instead, some had pale skin, and their hair came in colors he’d never seen. A few had golden locks, and one had the deep purple of twilight. Some faces were paler, some the color of dried mud.
A woman in a dark jacket and dun-colored pants approached. She wore an odd hat with a wide brim. The Liwanu watched her approach passively. She smelled wary, but didn’t seem hostile.
The woman said something, her voice rising at the end to indicate a question. He recognized none of the words, and simply shrugged in reply. The woman spoke again. This t
ime he recognized a word: Yosemite. It was a more formal version of his name, the one used in early stories about his transformation.
“My name has survived the sleep between ages?” the Liwanu asked.
The woman seemed just as puzzled by his words as he was by hers, and her scent changed. There was more fear now. The people around him were growing restless, clustering closer. They were a confusing jumble of scents, and carried odd smells that burned his eyes and nose. He did not like them. They were all speaking at once, pressing closer.
Someone touched his shoulder, and the Liwanu lashed out.
He shifted back to his native form, dark fur sprouting all over his body. His hide toughened as bones popped and cracked. He grew in height, towering over the crowd of people. His face split into a broad, ursine snout. Black claws burst from his paws, and his teeth elongated into fangs.
The humans began to scream, and run.
The Liwanu gave in to his rage, chasing down the closest. He knocked the woman who’d first spoken to him to the ground, pinning her with a massive paw.
Then the Great Bear knelt to feed.
Chapter 1- Five Years Later
Yukon bounded over a rock, sending up a spray of snow as he dodged between two pines. Behind him the pack flowed: dozens of dogs, coyotes, and even a few foxes. They continued their ascent, making for the high places. Yukon paused, giving an encouraging howl to those behind him.
The howl was taken up by the pack, and answering howls echoed from the hills on the far side of the valley.
What news, brothers? Yukon thought at them. He shivered, his thick fur not even protecting him from the bitter cold.