The air inside the Temple's central hall was still, almost reverent, until the silence cracked.
"…A truce?" Leo's voice rang with disbelief. "You want us to sign a truce with Heaven?"
"Yes," said Lisa, her tone measured but firm. "Because Tartarus isn't just cracking, it's bleeding into our realm. The data Mr. Johns pulled confirms the worst: the seismic leyline fractures are converging."
Across the obsidian map table, Gabriel's chosen stood unmoving, the golden emblem of Heaven emblazoned across his chestplate. His ivory mantle flowed around him like wings of folded light. He didn't blink.
"I come bearing a treaty from the Host," he said. "For the duration of this crisis, Heaven will fight beside you."
Nicholas paced at the edge of the room, arms folded, his jaw clenched.
"You're asking us to trust the same people who burned a dozen sanctuaries in the name of 'purification.'"
"That was not my command," Gabriel's chosen replied. "That was a misguided Seraph delegation. They have been recalled."
"And what about after Tartarus?" Leo cut in. "When the gates are sealed, what then?"
"Then the truce ends. And Heaven places centuries to guard the seals."
Silence.
Lisa's gaze flicked to the display behind the angel: a red-glowing fissure that stretched from the North Atlantic to central Africa. Below it, layers of geomantic data pulsed, indicating weakening planar barriers.
Nicholas spoke again. "And we retain operational command on Earth?"
"We will coordinate," Gabriel's chosen said carefully. "But Heaven will act where necessary."
"Define 'necessary,'" Leo snapped.
Gabriel gave no answer.
Lisa stood. "We vote now. Olympus supports the truce. The mortals must stand together with all allies to prevent Tartarus from opening. Even ones we don't trust."
Nicholas scowled, but raised his hand. "Fine. But you screw this up, Gabriel, and I'll bury the truce in holy salt myself."
Gabriel's chosen didn't respond.
Three Days Later – Operation Black Veil
Location: Former Biochem Facility, Now Under Hecate's Control
Midnight.
Snow fell in sheets, muffling the footsteps of the strike teams as they emerged from the dark treeline. Clouds covered the moon, and only the occasional whisper of distant necromantic flares lit the woods.
"This is it," Nicholas said into his comm bead. "Facility lies dead-center of this radius. Confirmed, this is where they're keeping the women."
Mr. Johns's voice crackled over the line. "Fifty-seven confirmed captives. Based on psychic residue and age parameters, half of them are aged sixty and over. The other half match Kelsey's profile. That's two vessels accounted for."
"The crone and the maiden," Lisa muttered from beside him. "Hecate's rebuilding."
They moved quickly. Human special forces, reinforced by different glyphs and enchantments. Behind them, several angels descended silently from above, their auras cloaked, blades drawn.
A tense hush.
Then a sudden flare of violet flame burst from the edge of the compound.
"Shields are up! Defensive wards in place!" someone shouted.
The world erupted in chaos.
Necromancers emerged from the woods, flanked by stitched horrors, undead abominations made from corpses and bone. Explosions of green fire tore into the first squad. Screams echoed through the trees.
"Break the line!" Nicholas shouted, gusts of wind spinning around his arms. "Shield runes up now!"
Angels threw Holy fire forward, clearing a path through the undead wall. Lisa followed with a glowing blade of pure light, cleaving through a summoned construct like butter.
In the sky above, Gabriel descended.
He hit the ward dome with a hammer of light, cracking it. A second strike broke it entirely. The magical shield shattered into shards of energy that rained like glass.
"BREACH!" someone yelled.
Alpha squad surged forward. Behind them, Bravo followed through the gate.
For a moment, it looked like the plan was working.
Then the necromancers unleashed something deeper. Runes along the walls lit up, and monstrous serpents made of cursed shadow poured from the windows. They devoured the first line.
"Hostiles are using soul-burners!" a sergeant yelled. "They're consuming the captives to power the wards!"
Nicholas turned, horror dawning. "We need to breach now! Get them out!"
Lisa called in the retreat team. "I want every unit ready for evac! The coven's trying to finish the ritual!"
And then it happened.
A pulse of golden light ignited in the sky.
Nicholas looked up and screamed, "NO!"
Gabriel raised his hand.
From it formed a spear of divine judgment.
"Gabriel wait! We have people inside!" Lisa shouted.
"The threshold is closing. We must act," Gabriel said flatly.
A heartbeat later, the spear fell.
It struck the facility dead-center.
The explosion was blinding. The earth shook. The trees blew backward from the force. Stone, bone, metal, everything turned to ash.
Nicholas was thrown off his feet.
Hours Later – Council Debriefing
The room was silent.
Nicholas stood at the edge of the council table, shaking with fury.
"You didn't save the captives. You executed them."
Gabriel remained calm. "The necromancers completed the soul-fusion. The vessels were no longer viable. The facility was already corrupted."
Lisa stood, pale. "We had teams inside. We could have saved some."
"You would've saved ten. I destroyed the spell circle to claim vessels, that would have allowed them to unlock Tartarus within the week."
Nicholas turned to the council. "This alliance was a mistake."
"We cannot allow the Watchers to be freed no matter the cost," Gabriel said coldly.
Leo frowned. "We are aware of what is at stake."
Gabriel slowly shook his head. "If the Watchers are set free then not even the Host can stop them."
Nicholas said nothing.
He turned and walked out.
Elsewhere – The Kingdom of Maymun
Kelsey slept in a golden chamber, bathed in starlight that poured through arched windows. Djinn lanterns flickered along the walls. Her breath was soft and even, her body healed, but her soul still fragile.
Mike sat beside her bed, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He hadn't moved in an hour.
"She's safe," Bahamut's voice growled quietly in his mind. "You can rest."
"I don't want to rest," Mike replied. "I just got her back."
A knock on the door.
Binyai stepped in, now in the form of a four-legged jackal.
"You're needed in the high chamber. It concerns her condition."
Mike clenched his jaw. "I'm not leaving her again."
"She'll still be here when you return," Binyai said gently. "But this isn't a debate. It's about her future."
In the grand hall, gold and sapphire filled every surface. The air shimmered with heatless flame. Hamza stood at the foot of a long table alongside King Maymun, Dina, and two other djinn elders.
An empty chair sat at the table's end.
Maymun gestured to it.
"Mike, while your wife recovers we need to prepare for the worst case scenario of Tartarus opening."
"I killed two of that bitches vessels. Do I have to handle all the issues?" Mike growled.
Hamza raised a hand. "She has kidnapped other women and forced them into the same situation as Kelsey. If we wait and do nothing, she will break the seals."
Then Maymun turned to Mike.
"She already has all three of the divine relics. Once she has all of her vessels, Tartarus will open. Do you want that when Kelsey wakes up? Do you want her to have battles against mythical and divine creatures?"
A chill filled the air.
Shadows deepened.
Thanatos appeared, a faint humanoid shape of bone-white smoke, eyes of endless darkness.
"I made a promise," he said. "To your wife. And to you."
He looked at Mike. "I will help her heal and protect her, but if you ignore Tartarus she will be swept up into the war."
"She will not fucking figh—" Mike started to growl as he stood up.
"I offer her a path. If you do not fight, then I will train her to fight. The danger will not go away, just because you ignore it."
Mike looked inward to Bahamut.
The great dragon rumbled.
"I see no deceit. The god of death honors his debts."
Mike looked at Thanatos. "Fine. I'll kill the bitch Hecate and anything that comes. If you make Kesley fight. I'll devour you too." He rumbled in a low cold voice. Pressure filling the room.
Silence.
Thanatos inclined his head. "Agreed."