This is the fifth installment in a series about the characters of Phantoms of Vendôme – the pilots and mechanics of the once-famous and unstoppable “Wolf Flight”, now fallen and disgraced alongside their flight leader, Richard. Determined to win back their military honor and expose the true enemies of France, they fight on.

Jean-Luc was born under the mountain. The colossal silvery mountain on the banks of the mighty Meuse river is the earliest memory of his childhood. The mountain was his home and Jean-Luc would always return to his under-the-mountain dwelling from his military exploits.

In sordid and mundane reality his family lived in a spacious house with a high roof and a pretty facade painted red and blue. It was situated at the bottom of the mountain next to the local cathedral in the small town of Dinant, Belgium. But this middle class prosperity was not for Jean-Luc. His real home was much deeper in the mysterious cavern known as the Grotte La Merveilleuse.

A maze of huge underground chambers lit by shimmering stalagmites and stalactites, an underground river and stone waterfalls cascading down the cliffs – all this belonged to him and his dwarf brothers until the caves were “discovered” by some ignorant construction workers. Only then did Jean-Luc’s Major General father realize where his rebellious son disappeared for days on end. Jean-Luc was sent to a military academy, but his heart remained deep under the mountain with his true people.

When the horrors of WWI arrived on Belgian soil, Jean-Luc insisted on fighting in the trenches. He belonged underground. He was not discouraged by his towering height of 6″4″. He belonged to a tribe of giant dwarves.

Nobody knows for sure why or how Jean-Luc’s sword ended up deep in the chest of his commanding officer. The other trench dwellers whispered that the giant dwarf had tried to protect them from the heartless rank-climber, but the official papers said otherwise.
The dishonored dwarf lost his people, his country and his caves. He had nothing left to live for. Stranded in France, he learned that the average lifespan of a newly trained pilot was 2 hours. He decided that burning in the sky would be an honorable death. To his disappointment he didn’t die, but was dishonored for the second time, already in France.
He needs his honor back. Only then can he return to the shimmering caves of his childhood and rejoin his people, who hide behind the stone waterfalls.

If you missed any of the previous Wolves and their tragic, adventurous, and sometimes gruesome tales, you can catch up on them right here –

Guillaume the Toymaker. Wolf #1.
François the Cyborg Pirate. Wolf #2.
Pippin the Spit Cake Slasher. Wolf #3.
César the Scent Hunter. Wolf #4.