Chapter 109: New Team

The council chamber felt way too small with everyone crammed inside.

Grace squeezed between Seraph and Venus at the round table. Their thighs pressed against hers from both sides. Not that she minded too much. Her Love attribute made her hyperaware of every point of contact these days. Mara sat across from them, scribbling notes in her neat handwriting. Celestia stood by the window, rainbow wings tense as she stared at that red-tinted horizon.

“Twenty-three villages,” Mara said without looking up from her notes. “That’s how many have reported… incidents.”

“What kind of incidents?” Grace asked, though she had a sinking feeling she already knew.

“Spontaneous combustion. Entire buildings going up in flames with no warning.” Mara flipped through several pages. “Seven confirmed deaths. Dozens missing. And the survivors…”

She trailed off.

“What about the survivors?” Grace pressed. Celestia finally turned from the window.

“They tell… strange stories. They speak of a woman made of fire who walks through the villages. She points at people and declares them ’unworthy.’ Those she points at…” Celestia paused. “They burn from the inside out.”

Grace’s stomach dropped.

“That’s… really direct.”

“The Flame was never subtle,” Venus said. Her usual playful tone was gone. “Even when Eternia carried that rage, it burned hot and obvious. No seduction. No bargaining. Just pure destruction.”

Seraph slammed her fist on the table hard enough to make everyone’s water glasses jump.

“We need to move. Now. Every hour we sit here talking, more people die.”

“Agreed.” Celestia walked over and placed both hands on the table, leaning forward. “Grace, you’ll investigate. Seraph will lead the mission.”

Grace tried not to look too relieved. Seraph was intense as hell, but at least she knew what to expect from her. No weird political games or hidden agendas.

“I already have someone in mind for our third,” Seraph said. “Valkyrie.”

Venus raised an eyebrow. The look she gave Seraph could have frozen fire.

“The one who—”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain that’s wise?”

Seraph crossed her arms.

“She volunteered.”

Grace looked between them. The tension in the room ratcheted up about ten degrees.

“Who’s Valkyrie?”

“You’ll meet her soon enough,” Seraph said. She stood up abruptly. “Go prep. We leave at dawn.”

[Well, that’s ominous.]

Valkyrie was absolutely not what Grace expected.

Short silver hair that looked like she cut it herself with a knife. Burn scars covered both arms like twisted artwork, starting at her wrists and disappearing under her sleeves. Dead eyes that barely acknowledged Grace existed.

“This is her?” Valkyrie’s voice was flat as week-old beer. “The demon killer?”

“Play nice,” Seraph warned.

Valkyrie shrugged and walked away without another word.

Grace stared after her.

“She seems… fun.”

“She’s efficient. That’s what matters.” Seraph started walking toward the armory. “Come on. Let’s get you equipped.”

As they walked through the Dominion’s halls, Grace noticed how other angels reacted to Valkyrie. Some stared at her scars. Others looked away entirely. A few whispered behind their hands.

[What the hell happened to her?]

Word had already spread about the mission. Angels whispered as Grace passed.

“—heard the Flame melts angels from a hundred yards away—”

“—Grace will handle it, she always does—”

“—poor thing looks terrified—”

[Do I look terrified? Shit. I probably do.]

The rookie wing door burst open like someone had kicked it. Alia and Zephyr tumbled out in a tangle of limbs and pink fabric.

“We’re coming with you!” Alia announced, bouncing on her toes.

“Absolutely not,” Seraph said before Alia even finished talking.

“But we can help!” Zephyr tried, giving Seraph her best puppy dog eyes. “Morale support is super important for—”

“No.”

“Please? We promise to be good!”

Seraph paused. Grace could see the gears turning in her head.

“You two would just get in the way.”

“We would not!” Alia protested. “We helped at Oakridge! And Rosewood!”

“That’s different. This is fire. Lots of fire. You’re not equipped for—”

“We can handle heat!” Zephyr interrupted. “Remember that sauna competition with the Earth-Tenders?”

Seraph looked like she was getting a headache.

“Fine. FINE. But you follow orders. No wandering off. No ’creative interpretations’ of the mission plan.”

“Yes!” Alia pumped her fist in the air.

“We’ll be perfect angels,” Zephyr added with a grin.

Diana appeared behind them, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed. Her hair stuck up at weird angles and she was only half-dressed.

“What about me? I’ve got combat experience.”

Seraph actually paused to consider this. Grace could see the gears turning in her head. Then she shook it.

“You’re needed here. With me gone, someone has to keep the hotheads in line.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Diana’s jaw tightened. “I should be going with her.”

“That’s an order.” Seraph’s tone could have cut steel. “Grace will be fine. Right, rookie?”

Grace nodded even though her insides felt like they were trying to escape through her throat.

[Will I be fine? This Flame thing sounds way worse than anything I’ve faced before.]

The Tide had wanted connection. The Root wanted acknowledgment. This thing just wanted to burn everything that moved.

“Don’t look so worried,” Diana said. She stepped closer and squeezed Grace’s shoulder. “You’ve got this.”

“Thanks.” Grace tried to sound confident. Failed miserably.

“Now come on. Let’s get you some proper gear before you melt into a puddle.”

The armory smelled like leather polish and metal. Weapons lined every wall—swords, spears, axes, things Grace couldn’t even name. Armor stands displayed pieces that looked like they could stop a charging bull.

“Fire-resistant enchantments,” Seraph explained, pulling items off shelves. “Won’t stop the Flame directly, but might buy you precious seconds to react.”

Grace tried on a chest piece. It fit way better than her usual gear but felt heavy as hell.

“How long has Valkyrie been an angel?”

“Two hundred years. Maybe more.” Seraph adjusted Grace’s shoulder straps with practiced efficiency. “She’s good at what she does.”

“Which is?”

“Surviving.”

[That’s not exactly reassuring.]

Grace strapped on arm guards, leg plates, anything that might keep her from getting cooked alive. The enchanted gear felt warm against her skin, like it was already working.

“Seraph, what happened to her? The scars, I mean.”

Seraph’s hands stilled on the buckles.

“Not my story to tell. Ask her if you want to know.” She resumed working. “But don’t expect much conversation. Valkyrie’s not exactly chatty.”

“Great. A silent partner with a mysterious tragic backstory.” Grace flexed her fingers in the new gauntlets. “This should be fun.”

Diana appeared in the doorway looking flustered.

“Seraph, Venus needs you. Something about supply logistics and requisition forms.”

Seraph groaned like someone had stabbed her.

“Of course she does. Paperwork. My favorite.” She headed for the door. “Grace, finish gearing up. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

The door closed behind her.

Diana immediately locked it.

“Okay, we don’t have long.”

“Diana, what are you—”

Diana pushed Grace against the wall between two weapon racks. Her lips crashed against Grace’s with desperate hunger.

“For luck, eh?” Diana breathed against her mouth.

Grace’s brain completely short-circuited. Diana’s hands were already working at her belt, fingers fumbling with the buckles.

“Here? Now?” Grace gasped.

“When else?” Diana’s fingers found their target and Grace nearly jumped out of her skin. “You’re leaving at dawn.”

“But Seraph said twenty minutes—”

“She’ll argue with Venus for at least thirty.” Diana’s fingers moved with practiced skill, finding all the right spots.

Grace tried to relax. Tried to focus on Diana’s touch instead of the mission. On the heat building in her core instead of the woman made of fire who wanted to burn the weakness from the world.

Diana’s other hand worked at Grace’s armor straps.

“This stuff is way too complicated,” Diana muttered against her neck.

“It’s fire-resistant…”

Diana found the release catch. The chest piece clattered to the floor. Then the arm guards. Then—

The world exploded.

Not literally. But Grace’s vision went pure white. The medallion at her throat burned like someone had shoved it in lava.

She was somewhere else.

A massive forge stretched out before her, bigger than the entire Angelic Dominion. Heat that made her skin blister just from proximity. The air itself seemed to be on fire.

A woman stood at an anvil the size of a house. No—she didn’t just stand at it. The woman WAS the anvil and the fire and the hammer all at once. Molten metal flowed like blood from her hands, pooling on the ground in patterns that hurt to look at.

“WEAKNESS!” The woman-thing screamed. Each word shook the entire forge. Sparks flew from her mouth. “I will temper it from the world! Burn away all the impurities! Only the worthy shall remain!”

She brought a hammer down that was bigger than Grace’s entire body. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground. Each spark that flew became a screaming face before dissolving into nothing.

“They come to me broken! Flawed! Pathetic!” Another hammer blow. “I make them PURE!”

The rhythm was hypnotic and terrible. Hammer down. Screams. Silence. Hammer down. Screams. Silence.

Grace tried to move, to look away, but she was frozen in place.

“Where is she?” The Flame’s voice rose to a shriek that made Grace’s ears bleed. “Where is the one who abandoned us? She will BURN for her betrayal! I will forge her into something worthy or destroy her trying!”

The hammer fell again. And again. The faces in the sparks looked familiar now. Angels. Humans. All of them screaming as they dissolved.

[Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.]

“I see you there.” The Flame’s molten eyes fixed on Grace. “Hiding. You think you can fool me?”

Grace tried to run. Her legs wouldn’t move.

“Come to me, false saint. Let me show you what true purity looks like!”

The hammer rose high above Grace’s head—

“Grace!”

Someone shook her. Hard.

Grace blinked. She was on the armory floor, Diana kneeling beside her with wide, terrified eyes. Venus and Seraph stood in the doorway looking like they’d run the entire way.

“What happened?” Seraph demanded.

“I don’t know! We were just—” Diana caught herself before admitting they were about to fuck against the weapon rack. “She just collapsed!”

Grace tried to sit up. Her head felt like someone had used it as a hammer practice.

“I saw her. The Flame.”

Everyone went quiet.

“What did you see?” Venus asked gently, crouching down beside them.

“A forge. Massive. She was… making something. Or destroying something. Maybe both.” Grace touched her medallion. Still cold as ice. “She’s angry. Really, really angry.”

“At Eternia?”

“At everyone. But especially…” Grace swallowed hard. “She thinks I’m Eternia. Or connected to her somehow. She wants to ’purify’ me.”

[Great. Another Pillar who wants to do horrible things to me. Just fucking fantastic.]

Seraph helped her stand. Grace’s legs felt like jelly.

“Can you still travel?”

Grace nodded even though every instinct screamed at her to run the other direction.

“Good. Get some rest. Real rest.” Seraph shot Diana a smirk and started walking off. “Dawn comes early.”

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