A fledgling republic. A continent where every compass points ever westward. The Great War has ended. The last musket smoke has drifted away across the distant battlefields of Europa, and now the eyes of the Republic of Columbia turn toward their own wild Interior General Nathaniel Lockridge leads a determined expedition of soldiers, tradesmen, and families into the mist-shrouded Occidental Mountains. Their mission: reopen the crumbling passes and claim the land for civilization. At his side rides his young son John; their compass needles turning them due west, as if the continent itself is calling them home. Leaving the comforts of Federal City, John will have to grow up fast in the wilds beyond civilization. They expected hardship.

They expected ruined roads and hostile wilds. They didn't expect the ancient shadow that haunted the hollows of the hills.