This is the fourth installment in an ongoing 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.

The Great War leaves César, a pilot of the Wolf Flight, blind and deeply traumatized by the enemy’s new weapon of mass destruction, poison gas. The mere idea of a weapon that can kill or cripple people simply by being inhaled, invading their bodies through their mouths and noses, is unfathomable to César.

For as long as he can remember, his sense of smell has been his primary way of interacting with the world. Since childhood he had been scolded by his strict, conservative parents for sniffing everything he encountered, from new acquaintances, to objects, buildings, even entire streets, coming to know them more by scent than by sight. The mayor of a small but very respectable town can’t afford to have a freak of a son as his heir, so César grew up confined mainly to his rooms and the vast garden behind the house. He never felt alone “speaking” to his favorite plants. Breathing in their fragrances made him feel happy and fulfilled.

The War turned César’s world upside down. Scent as a tool of destruction and murder could not exist in his world. But César has a secret. He knows how to stop all wars and make the world a happy and peaceful place. Since he was a boy, he had dreamed of the blue people he had seen painted on the walls of Cretan palaces, who walked the ocean floor gathering rare and magnificent flowers.

He fantasized about the plants and herbs they collected and their wondrous formula for brewing a sent of happiness, which they corked in elegant amphorae. A terrible volcanic eruption thousands of years ago destroyed their underwater gardens and sank their ships, burying their cargo of fragrant serenity on the ocean floor.

When his honor and name are restored, César means to travel to Santorini to find the ancient shipwrecks he dreams of and uncork the amphorae. The scent of happiness he will give to the world will be so overpowering that nobody will ever use poisonous gases again.

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.