During Sleepy Hollow Season 2, Ichabod Crane, Lt. Abbie Mills, and their allies defeated Moloch, Crane’s corrupted son, Henry Parrish, and even Crane’s wife, Katrina! But the story of the Witnesses is far from over…

This August, BOOM! Studios is releasing Sleepy Hollow: Providence, an all-new four-issue miniseries by writer Eric Carrasco and artist Victor Santos, with covers by Joe Quinones, Faith Erin Hicks, and Rob Guillory.

In Providence, Jenny Mills returns to Sleepy Hollow with an ancient artifact “of untold power” known as The Shard. But there’s big trouble ahead for Ichabod, Abbie, and Jenny when the demonic biker gang called the Wild Hunt rolls into town on a relentless quest to claim The Shard for themselves.

Carrasco worked in the Sleepy Hollow writers’ room during the second season on Fox, and he continued his collaboration with the show’s creative team on this miniseries to help keep the story and the continuity true to the source. Nerdist recently had a chance to speak with Carrasco about Sleepy Hollow: Providence and he shared some tantalizing hints of an epic sword fight, Amish mysticism, and even potential links to Sleepy Hollow Season 3.

Nerdist: Can you tell us what’s happening in the Sleepy Hollow: Providence miniseries?

Eric Carrasco: Fun is happening. Adventure is happening. This thing is going to be bonkers. It’s been a ride working on this. Basically, on one of her “acquisition” trips, Jenny finds a powerful object, The Shard, and with it, a mysterious young Amish girl named Emily with a secret link to the artifact.

They bring it to Abbie and Crane for safe-keeping, but they’re not alone. A biker gang called the Wild Hunt is in hot pursuit. And after a relentless cat-and-mouse game injures one of our heroes, Emily takes the Witnesses to the safest place on Earth: a secluded town in Amish Country. Hijinks follow.

N: Are the Wild Hunt literally demonic bikers?

EC: That’s for the good guys to figure out. But I will say they’re not what you might be expecting.

N: What exactly is the The Shard?

EC: The Shard is very important and inspires many oohs and aahs. I don’t want to say too much because I think Dafna and Mary (my editors) would rappel through my window if I tried to give it all away, but I can say this: It is a piece of a larger, mythical, metal thing, and if the Wild Hunt gets it, people are gonna have a very bad day.

N: What inspired this story?

EC: Everything from Sandman and American Gods to the Prydain novels, to Hunter S. Thompson. It’s a weird mix, but that’s the best thing about working on a show this insane—your craziest ideas can stick.

I worked on Sleepy Hollow Season 2 and a big part of my job was research: finding new monsters and artifacts and things to upset and/or delight Crane. You end up on corners of the Internet where you find out that there are Amish magicians called Hexenmeisters (really! seriously!) and you must absolutely find a way to tell that story because Amish wizards. And if they can help Abbie and Crane fight evil bikers? Even better.

N: When does Providence take place in the Sleepy Hollow timeline?

EC: It starts just over a month after the Season 2 finale reset the core team and left Abbie and Crane ready for anything. This is the anything.

N: Is it safe to say that Ichabod is far from over Katrina at this point? Will that come up during the story?

EC: It’s about Crane moving forward. He has a photographic memory, so he doesn’t forget a thing. And that means he interacts with his past in a very different way than most of us. Figuring out how to live in the moment is a big part of his arc.

N: Will we get a chance to see Frank Irving in this mini?

EC: Irving is on a much-needed vacation. The kind Crane should probably take if he knew what was good for him.

N: What’s your take on the Ichabod, Abbie, and Jenny dynamic?

EC: The show is obviously the flagship, and most of the big sea-changes for the characters will happen there, but that became a fun challenge for me. There’s a Joss Whedon quote, “The nature of epiphany is that it changes the universe without moving a hair,” and that’s one of the things comics do best. We do move some hairs in this, (so to speak), but we also get to do a deeper dive into some things the show doesn’t always have time for. So while the series can reinvent Crane and Abbie in Season 3 (on Thursdays this Fall! You’re welcome, Fox marketing!) we’re shining a light on the revelations and epiphanies that get them there.

I’m a massive Jenny fan, and she has done some badass things on the show, but out of necessity a lot of her exploits happen off-screen. She’s had a long history of retrieving artifacts for Corbin, living in this Indiana Jones-y world of black-market magical items, and we get to lean into that.

Meanwhile, Abbie’s had time for a deep breath and a hard look at the world she’s been protecting. In the pilot, she had a father figure, friends in the department, an ex-boyfriend, and an acceptance letter to Quantico—a lived-in life. She had prospects and roots in her community. And one by one the battle against Evil has stripped those things from her. She got her sister back in the process, and she’d trade the world for that, but maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t have to. She’s got to learn to live among people again and remember what she’s fighting for.

Crane’s arc was the toughest to write because his life became a Greek tragedy in a short span. We didn’t want to dwell on it (that’s not Crane’s style), but we do get into his identity struggles. I wanted to explore what masculinity means for him. In his era, a man was measured by the sweat on his brow, the blisters on his hands, his ability to provide for a wife and family. Hard work. They’re dated notions, but they’re difficult for him to shake. He’s adjusted well to big stuff—cars, the Internet—but it’s the little things, the creature comforts, that are getting to him. Deep down, Crane feels that he’s somehow lesser for being comfortable. It’s his survivor’s guilt, but we’re also talking about Ichabod Crane, so it manifests in rants: He’s very angry about ice cubes and hair conditioner in the first issue. On a bigger scale, fighting bikers and hiding out in Amish Country challenge those fears.

So they’ve got problems. But as a trio, Abbie, Jenny, and Crane are better than ever. Terminating monsters with extreme prejudice since 2013.

N: What unexplored aspects of Sleepy Hollow will you delve into in this mini?

EC: We’ll see some new places in Sleepy Hollow, so there’s some literal exploration, but we’re also teasing Season 3 and broadening the magical world. There are forces at work that Abbie and Crane have only glimpsed.

N: I’m intrigued by the idea that you’re setting up some of the season 3 storylines. Can you elaborate on that?

EC: No comment, but we’re getting input from the writers as they break the new season. They’ve really gotten involved to make sure we’re doing something that’s important and rewarding for Sleepyheads. The team at BOOM! is telling a story that could only exist in comics; the writers of the show are making sure it jives with and adds to Season 3.

N: Tell us about working with artist Victor Santos on this series.

EC: He’s fantastic. There is much punching and revving of motorcycles in this mini, and Victor has this very fluid style that always suggests movement between panels. Nothing’s ever static, and he’s a master of little highlight panels that call attention to nuances in the action.

My mission statement was to really take advantage of the medium and bring it: huge operatic action. But I’m also constantly trying to find bitty little pockets where the characters can have quiet, reflective moments. Victor’s great at both. And I promise I’m not just saying this because I asked him to design an entire biker gang and a whole cast of Amish characters and to set it all in places with lots of background detail.

(Sorry, Victor.)

N: Can you tease your favorite moment from Sleepy Hollow: Providence?

EC: How about two from the first issue: Jenny breaking codes and dodging traps in a Raiders of the Lost Ark-style prologue, and Crane dueling the Wild Hunt’s leader with two Chinese hook swords. Because when one sword won’t do…

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Sleepy Hollow: Providence # 1 will be released on Wednesday, August 12.