Origin Stories of Monsters

Halsey Ambrosius is the best elemental monster-hunter in her Clan militia. Have you ever wondered where monsters came from? Their origin has been kept a secret for centuries. As long as Halsey and Brigham, her cousin turned mission partner, were on the hunt, you didn't need to wonder, or worry. Till now. Keeping people in the dark is not so easy when supernatural things stop following the rules and the Clan Council doesn't want to accept that something is very, very wrong. It's a full moon, the Summer Solstice, and an ancient coffin has washed up on the beaches of Moher, Ireland. Could the Mother of Monsters really have returned? It's just not possible. Halsey's convinced it's more than mere coincidence. The Ambrosius Clan just doesn't want to believe. They think Halsey is losing her mind-an apparent family trait-and needs a break from monster hunting. Mandatory leave isn't as much fun if it's mandatory. But the Ambrosius Clan Council still knows that when all else fails-and all other militia operatives just aren't up to snuff-Halsey is still the best they've got. Even if everything they thought they knew about being monster-hunters is about to change forever.

Monsters don't just change themselves. And someone out there is using blood magic again. The kind that hasn't been seen for thousands of years. It's time Halsey and Brigham to travel back to where the changes all began-the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland. At the very least, the monster hunters should be able to find out what happened to the stolen silver coffin if they follow the clues in person, right? If you have to get something done, sometimes you have to do it all yourself. Even if that means operating outside your Council's orders without permission. The Ambrosius cousins seem to hit one dead end after another. But when one magical door shuts, another always opens. Halsey and Brigham just didn't expect that the next door they opened-asking another elemental family for help-would only point back to their own Clan. Now if the cousins want help from the Emerald Isle's elemental Clan, they have to do a little more monster-hunting of their own first-unsanctioned and unapproved. Turns out the silver-back alpha is more of a menace than they realized-and more of a threat to the Ambrosius Clan's well-preserved secrets-keeping Halsey and all other elementals uncomfortably in the dark.

Halsey Ambrosius and her cousin, Brigham, are off on their first official mission since downtime was forced upon them. Things might seem back to normal, but that's far from true. The rules for monster hunting are changing fast and that's not the only thing that's different. The Ambrosius Clan militia are taking on paying clients. What happened to taking down monsters for the sake of humanity? Halsey and Brigham aren't sure, but that isn't going to stop them from taking on this mission and heading to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. It just so happens that Meemaw gave Halsey a contact to "ask the living records" about the changes in the supernatural world while they're there. But what did Halsey create with that copper orb? Halsey and Brigham, the Ambrosius Clan militia's two best monster-hunters, have to figure out how to defeat a chimera that can't be killed by military-grade weapons or natural causes. And when it grows wings overnight? Well, plans A, B, and C fail. Will Halsey and Brigham meet the same fate as others going against this creature? Or can Halsey pull out a final Hail Mary move with the copper orb's strange magic that neither of them understand?

All families have their secrets. The Ambrosius Clan has more than most and they're keeping information from people in their own family. Halsey and Brigham have just about had enough. So has Greta. We're only as sick as our secrets. It's time for some truths to be revealed, no matter who doesn't want the cousins to find out what's really happening. Will they be able to put all the pieces together and figure out what role the Order of Skrár is playing in all of it? It's going to take a lot of research by Halsey and Brigham. It's even going to take some underhanded manipulation of their cousins to get things rolling in the right direction. Before the answers can come, there is another mission. Handle the barghests in the English countryside. Have the monsters mutated into something they can't take down with the usual tactics? What will it cost them?

Halsey and Brigham Ambrosius' task in the English countryside isn't quite over. The barghest may have been slain, but they have one task remaining. Figure out what happened to the people in the abandoned village of Coningsby. Frankly, the mission isn't over until they clean up the barghest's mess because we all know, Halsey always completes her missions. It's a good thing the copper orb can help heal the locals from what was a deadly monster poison. But how to do it covertly without letting civilians know who or what Haley is? What else can the orb do? Halsey has accepted an invitation from the handsome Seamus Havalon, and said goodbye for now to her cousin. What she doesn't tell Brigham is she's meeting with a monk from the Order of Skrár. Will she get the answers she needs? Halsey needs confirmation that the Mother of Monsters is back and an explanation of the new magic she has barely begun to understand. Will Halil Aydem provide the answers? Too bad Halsey may be walking into a monstrous trap and a heaving swarm of grindylows. Without her cousin watching her back, Halsey will have to pull some seriously dangerous stunts if she wants to survive to fight a monster another day.

The truth behind the creation of the mother of all monsters has to come out at some point. It always does. The only question is whether or not you survive it. Halsey Ambrosius just didn't think it would be revealed to the other elemental clans before she could tell Brigham. She might be the Alpha Hunter, but she has no idea what that means, other than fighting crazy powerful monsters that are new on the scene. Who does have the intel on this new beast? So far, Halsey is coming up dry. How do you fight and defeat a creature that no one has faced before? What exactly is a Crimen? It's time for Halsey to return home and tell the truth to Brigham and her cousins. Together, they might be able to figure out what they're facing and how to defeat it. Can Halsey and her cousins discover enough about the Crimen that are coming for them? Will Halsey figure out what's going on with Halil and the Order of Skrár? And why do the grindylows keep following her?

The Mother of all Monsters has quite the surprise for Halsey, Brigham, and the Ambrosius Clan. Hell, this is a new one for all the Elemental clans. A monster that doesn't exist in any mythology or any of their ancient lore has suddenly appeared. A creature so monstrous, they have no idea how to fight it. The beast can even take on the form of anyone they know and love. Well, that's just wrong. There's more trouble on the horizon. Has the Order of Skrár been an Order of blood humans this whole time? Were they recording all the history of magicals and monsters without a single elemental catching on that they couldn't be trusted? If so, that's a big, BIG problem. Halsey needs to figure out if the Order of Skrár has been a sham this whole time. Or were they infiltrated after the Mother of Monsters' coffin was found? Does it really matter? The Clans have started receiving SOS messages from the Order. If it's legit, the Order is going to need some serious help. It could be a trap. Halsey could be the trigger that sets it off. This isn't going to end without a fight and it's going to need all the Clans finally working together to win. Will Halsey get the answers she is looking for?

The fight for the survival of the entire “Elemental Race” is here and despite his worry, Brigham is taking the monster slayer, Halsey Ambrosius to the airport. She's going to face whatever awaits her at the Order of Skrar's headquarters. The fate of the world is hinging on what happens at this meeting. No big deal, right? Halil Aydem, or the creature masquerading inside him, has something to show Halsey. Something he claims will change everything she knows about the world. Halsey doesn't like what's revealed, but suddenly everything makes sense. This has to be sorted out now. The past needs to be left in the past so they can secure their future. It's time to put an end to the Mother of All Monsters for good. Will Halsey be able to master her new magic and help the clans to eliminate that Mother once and for all? Or will this be one Monster too many?