a keep in the Carpathian mountains by use of the sword's hilt. This imprisonment came to an end during the events of The Keep; Rasalom was (seemingly) destroyed along with the sword and Glaeken began to age as a human. Glaeken has since been aging normally since the late 1940s and is now an old man. However, Rasalom's demise was purely temporary—he was able to resurrect himself during the events of Reborn in the late 1960s. Shortly thereafter, a pair of superhuman beings known as "The Twins" (responsible for the worldwide sightings of men in black) took leadership over the Yeniçeri. Since his rebirth, Rasalom has been keeping a low profile so as not to attract the attention of Glaeken, The Twins or the Yeniçeri. In modern times, Jack has found himself chosen, against his knowledge and will, to represent the Ally. The phrase, "a spear has no branches" is applied to him often, as the Ally attempts to hone him into a lone, hardened warrior by killing those he has emotional attachments to. He later finds out the Ally has specified him as the second in line of the Ally's forces. The Twins have been destroyed by the Otherness and the Ally's original champion Glaeken, nicknamed the Sentinel, is old and failing. At this point, Jack is known as the Heir, because should Glaeken die, Jack will become the Ally's new champion—or leave Earth defenseless. The Nightworld series, parent to the Repairman Jack series, already names Jack as a main fighter in the cosmic war. Several novels in, it is revealed that a third force in the power struggle has been making its presence known through various representatives: The Lady, seemingly a series of different women with nothing in common save strange canine companions and oracular knowledge. The force the Lady and her dog represents is unclear at first, but she dislikes both the Otherness and the Ally. However, as she is openly sympathetic and helpful to Jack, her agenda tends to parallel that of the Ally, though she, like Jack, wishes neither force were present. She can see into the future and command certain superhuman powers. The force she represents appears not to be as powerful as either the Otherness or the Ally: she cannot drive out the Otherness and various forms of hers can be killed by Otherness creatures (though seem immune to any earthly danger), and