Nearly twelve hours had passed since this madness began.
We arrived at the hidden hangar. From the outside, it didn't look like anything special: cracked concrete, a couple of flickering yellow lights, and the heavy silence of a place that didn't appear on any map.
We stopped and hurried out of the car that had brought us there.
"Is everything ready?" Sophie asked.
Suddenly, a roar shattered the silence.
A private jet was waiting for us with its hatch open.
It was elegant, matte black, with no visible insignias. Too large for a simple transfer and far too discreet to belong to anyone ordinary. Technicians wearing headsets moved quickly, checking systems, loading sealed metal crates marked with symbols I didn't recognize—but that made an uncomfortable tingling run up the back of my neck.
"We have fifteen minutes," Sophie said, checking her watch. "After that, this place ceases to exist."
"What do you mean, ceases to exist?" I asked.
Eleonor didn't slow her pace.
"Explosives are already set. Total cleanup. We can't leave any traces."
I climbed the aircraft stairs with a mix of adrenaline and fear that was already starting to feel familiar. Inside, the atmosphere was tense.
Leather seats, dim lighting, and a central table covered with unfolded maps, glowing tablets, and classified documents.
Sophie went straight to the cockpit.
"Our first destination is a point in Alaska. Quick refueling, then we'll change course if necessary."
"And after that?" I asked.
Eleonor took a seat beside me.
"After that, we cross over. Russia will be our destination."
The plane began to move. I felt the vibration beneath my feet, the steadily rising noise, and then that strange sensation in my stomach as the wheels left the ground. I looked out the window as the hangar grew smaller and smaller—until it disappeared.
Meanwhile, in New York.United Nations Headquarters.
The meeting continued, revealing new data that sounded like lies, yet the atmosphere was thick, charged with tension.
Diplomats, military officers, scientists, and advisors all spoke at once, while giant screens displayed images of destruction: collapsed buildings, civilians being evacuated, rescue teams working without rest.
The Secretary-General struck the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "the attacks of the past twelve hours have exceeded every projected risk scenario. Coordinated strikes in more than five countries. Critical infrastructure damaged. Thousands of casualties."
France's representative spoke immediately.
"This is not conventional terrorism. Reports mention energy anomalies—weaponry we cannot identify."
"With all due respect," replied a U.S. general, "what are you implying? That this is an extraterrestrial attack?"
He said it with unsettling seriousness.
At that moment, Japan's delegate stood up.
"We lost two coastal cities. The sea literally receded before the attack. We have no scientific explanation."
A murmur spread through the room.
"What we need," another diplomat said, "is to admit that we are not prepared. We don't know what we're fighting."
The Secretary-General took a deep breath.
"There are unconfirmed reports," he continued, "about ancient groups, organizations operating outside public knowledge, artifacts that do not obey the laws of physics. If this is true, then we are facing something that goes beyond politics and conventional warfare."
"Are you suggesting…?" someone asked.
"I'm saying the world we thought we knew is not what we believed it to be."
No one answered. The screens displayed a new map: red points lighting up.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Japan.
Beneath the city, in an underground facility that officially did not exist, the Prime Minister, his cabinet, and a small group of selected individuals watched data update in real time.
Screens filled with symbols, energy readings, and distorted recordings.
"The losses at the Hokkaido base are severe," said a man in a dark suit. "We lost half of Kuro Squad."
"They weren't prepared," replied a young woman in tactical uniform. "What they faced wasn't human."
"None of this should exist," another voice said. "And yet, it was there."
A recording played silently: shadows moving at impossible speeds, a flash of blue light, then static.
"Our ancestors spoke of this," the woman finally said. "Of guardians, seals, and balance."
"Pure myths," the Minister of Defense replied. "We don't make decisions based on myths."
"Maybe that was our mistake," she said. "Ignoring them."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room.
"We have confirmation," another analyst added. "The same thing is happening in Ireland, Canada, France, Russia, and Brazil."
Brazil. Amazon Rainforest.
The air was heavy and humid, filled with the constant sounds of wildlife. At a base deep in the Amazon, soldiers and scientists stared at a smoking crater that hadn't appeared on any satellite images two days earlier.
"We've lost contact with three teams," a soldier reported. "It's like something woke it up."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"None of this does."
An older woman stood silently at the edge of the camp. She wore no uniform and carried no weapons, yet no one dared to ignore her.
"For over a century, they warned you," she said. "But no one wanted to listen."
"What are you talking about?" an officer asked.
"About what you call legends. About what sleeps beneath the land and the water. About the pacts that were forgotten."
The officer clenched his jaw.
"With all due respect, we need real solutions."
She met his gaze without blinking.
"Then start by accepting reality."
Back on the plane,
the atmosphere was tense. Eleonor reviewed reports arriving in real time. Sophie spoke quietly to someone over an encrypted channel.
"Things are worse than we thought," Eleonor finally said. "They're not just after us. They're hitting key locations."
"Who?" I asked.
"Several factions," Sophie replied. "Some we believed were extinct. Others… new."
"And the UN?" Eleonor asked. "What are the governments planning?"
"They're in complete chaos," Sophie answered.
I looked at the map spread across the table. Red lines crossed continents. Zones marked as unstable.
"And us?" I asked. "What role do we play in all this?"
Eleonor looked at me seriously.
"You are one of the reasons this started moving so fast."
A weight settled in my chest.
"The second guardian," she continued. "If he falls… the balance breaks completely."
"And if he already fell?" I asked quietly.
No one answered right away.
Sophie closed her communicator.
"We just lost contact with a cell in Eastern Europe," she said. "There were no survivors."
The plane kept moving forward.
Far away, in a place without a name, Valerius watched a screen.
The pieces are moving on their own.