At the heart of the strange new post-nuclear world known as Deathlands lie the mysteries of pre-dark society—secrets that may hold the key to a future of peace...or peril. Armed with rare knowledge of top secret twenty-first-century technology, Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior survivalists traverse the new America, seeking to claim something beyond the grim reality of Deathlands. In the radiation-blasted heart of the northwest, Ryan and his companions form a tenuous alliance with a society of women warriors in what may be the stunning culmination of their quest. After years of searching, they have found the gateway to the pre-dark cabal of the Illuminated Ones—and perhaps their one chance to reclaim the future from the jaws of madness. But to seize tomorrow, they must confront its deadly guardians: what is left of the constitutional Government of the United States of America. (The Illuminated Ones - 1 of 2)