In the gleaming spires of the Celestial Court's hidden realm — a place suspended between what mortals called Heaven and the void beyond — Seraphina sat upon the central throne. The marble seat, once shared in council by elders like Aurelius, now bore only her presence. The old guard had faded or fallen in the long silence after the Flood. She had risen as the unchallenged voice of the nephilim, the last fierce guardian of the old order.
The grand chamber's tapestries still depicted cosmic histories, but newer banners hung beside them — symbols of pre-Flood victories and warnings against corruption. Below the throne, a mix of veteran nephilim and a younger generation stood in disciplined ranks. The elders carried the weight of ancient grudges. The new blood — born in the safer enclaves after the old wars — burned with inherited righteousness but trembled with something deeper.
Fear.
