Appears in The Compact Reader
During the Gelt occupation of Amargosa, teenage resistance fighter Ellie Nardino is abducted by sapient lycanths—beings long assumed to be mindless predators. Instead of killing her, they enlist her help in forging an alliance with humanity to fight the invaders. Alongside a captured Gelt settler named Sored, Ellie discovers that the lycanths are intelligent, communal, and possess their own strict code of justice.
Recognizing Ellie’s resilience and leadership, the lycanths appoint her their spokesperson and symbol, calling her Chapaan after a Gelt goddess of vengeance. With Sored translating and advising her, Ellie unites a growing coalition of human settlers, defected Gelt Warriors, and lycanths into the Northern Resistance. Her leadership is tested when a human recruit, Arvin, attempts to assassinate her—leading to his execution under lycanth pack law.
As her legend spreads, Ellie grows into a hardened and revered commander. But haunted by what she’s become and aware of the resistance’s isolation, she chooses to leave the pack and reconnect with the broader rebellion. With Sored and Spikey at her side, she heads south through treacherous terrain, determined to turn the resistance’s northern gains into a planetwide revolution. Movement by Laral troops, she decides to turn back and make a final push on Deming.