Canticum Tenebris

People called it the Glooming- the dark days when the ancient gods returned and unleashed their divine power against mankind. Several months have now passed and the remaining nations of the world are teetering on the edge of collapse. As the United States prepares for the inevitable invasion by the Aztec lords at their southern borders, the country is threatened to be torn apart by civil war as a new, apocalyptic theocracy rises in its heartland. Meanwhile in Europe, a cabal of sinister mages begins their merciless grab for power. In the Middle East, only Israel stands alone against the might of the Babylonian gods, but pays a terrible price for its defense. As the darkness across the land intensifies, the chosen few to lead the fight against the old gods have problems of their own. Dr. Paul Dane grapples with self-doubt, and must break free from the prison of his own mind. Detective Valerie Mendoza is in conflict with her own feelings over the life she could have once led, and with the man she is now falling in love with. Ilya, the precocious Russian orphan, must use his wits and cunning to devise a plan to escape from his brutal captors and rescue his one true friend, Tara Weiss. The stakes have never been higher. As the savage desperation and the wanton destruction increases, people begin to manifest the darkest part of their true natures. In the places where the old gods dwell, the real enemy is man.