Book Synopsis

Benji may have defeated the last Fall Gauntlet threat, but a new, more sinister champion rises ... After defeating the malevolent chrysix totem, Benji and Soren finally have a chance to recover, but the hunt for the brothers who broke the Fall Gauntlet rages on. In the desert oasis town of Oajin, both the Crown and a murderous condor totem appear, forcing Benji, Soren, and their new companion, Lyaza, to flee.

When Benji learns his friend Daniil is still alive and holds vital information about the night Benji defeated the chrysix, Soren and Lyaza warn him to stay away. Ignoring their caution, Benji secretly meets Daniil, who gives him a dire warning: if you put on your mask, you risk the condor finding you.

As Benji uncovers more about Daniil’s past and the Fall Gauntlet, his beliefs about the totem masks, the Crown, and the Dei are turned upside-down again. The Crown, an enemy responsible for his family's downfall, is far more complex than he knows. Benji must face this new enemy head-on, but as the lines between friend, foe, and lover blur, he risks being ensnared in a web of lies that will send him down a one-way track to an endless black hole of pain, one more excruciating than death itself. The Fall Gauntlet continues …

J. A. Merkel’s Bear is part of The Fall Gauntlet, a dystopian sci-fi short story collection about Benji and Soren’s misadventures to outsmart the Crown and save a family lost to them, all while learning how to be brothers again.