Nineteen: Of the War Drawing Near

As night falls near Auxerre, the wind turns unnatural and a green-lit sky births a spinning black column rising from the ground. Thomas and Père Matthieu rush to find Delphine but are battered by debris as the vortexes sprout wings, merge into a vast thunderhead, and the cathedral bells fall silent.

A lion-mouthed, winged darkness tears roofs and carts searching for a girl, killing a bystander mistaken for Delphine. Thomas hides in a gully as the creature closes in. Père Matthieu, shaken and despairing, discovers Delphine up a sturdy oak; at her urging he climbs to hide with her as the stink and roar descend.

Multiple white, jointed hands from a six-winged fallen being seize and invert the tree. Père Matthieu falls, winded, while Delphine clings on. A radiant, moonlit angel dives and briefly catches her but is snatched by the dark hands. Delphine slips again; Père Matthieu sprints beneath and manages to catch her as they tumble. He gathers her and runs.

Thomas watches a celestial battle: a shining angel against two black entities—the six-winged darkness and a two-winged lion-mouthed adversary. Their struggle tears the sky and earth, scattering fire across the fields. Driven down into barley, the black beings pin and spear the light, snuffing its radiance as the ground convulses and birds scream.

Blood-like rain falls, coating Thomas as he screams and loses consciousness. Père Matthieu escapes with Delphine in his arms, while the extinguished angel’s fall and the devils’ triumph signal an escalating, apocalyptic threat converging on the travelers.