The Fall Gauntlet

Where do you run when you can no longer outrun yourself? As the harrowing events of the bullet train haunt Benji, the true and inescapable stakes of the Fall Gauntlet come into sharp focus. The masks don't choose champions at random, and those pulling the strings aren't always who they seem.

In Ikanos, violent storms trap Benji, Soren, and crew, blocking their path to the Tangerine Islands. All Benji wants is to escape, forget, and destabilize the mask maker so he can finally save his family.

Then a desperate mother begs Benji and Soren for their help. Her son has gone missing-lost to an Original spirit that may have corrupted him in its bid for freedom. Benji doesn't want to take on another fight, but he can't outrun this one-Ikanos's problems are tied to his own. As the spirit closes in, he realizes another precious life is slipping through his fingers.

He won't get what he wants. But he may finally get what he needs.

The Fall Gauntlet continues ...

J. A. Merkel's MANTA is part of The Fall Gauntlet, a collection of dystopian sci-fi novellas about Benji and Soren's quest to outsmart the Crown and reclaim their family, all while learning how to be brothers again.