Prologue.

410 A.D. Rome, like a prizefighter, focused on past victories rather than future challengers, had lowered its guard, and a great defeat loomed. Evidence of that fact was but a stone's throw away, for Alaric and his barbarian horde were already camped outside the city gates, dictating terms of surrender, confident in their advantage and in their ruthlessness. Darkness settled over Rome and all the lands under its standard. An empire, prosperous for a millennium, was coming to a swift and certain end.

Within the city walls, few beyond Pope Innocent contemplated that possibility. He alone understood the hopelessness of the situation. Inevitably, the city would fall, and the Black Ash would be lost, if not in the current crisis, then in others sure to follow. Enemies, smarter and stronger, would one day rise and take that which the church sought so desperately to protect. The Black Ash, an evil hidden for four centuries, would once more be unleashed onto an ill-prepared world.

Alone in his private chapel, he knelt before a large marble cross. Will your sacrifice be in vain? He bowed his head and prayed, not just for his life but for all lives to follow. He considered his options carefully. Faith, however, and the strength he always derived from it, gave not the slightest hint to help steer a decision.

Then, as the fortifications crumbled and the slain screamed, desperation forced his hand. He hurried to the deepest vault, retrieved the Ash, and entrusted it to two loyal aides. They escaped the city under cover of night and fled north, hoping isolation alone would protect their burden. For years they lived in the forests and valleys, beneath snow-covered mountain tops, always on the run and constantly fearful of discovery. They awaited further instructions.

As the invaders and the dispossessed swarmed across the land, the threat of discovery grew. The Black Ash needed to be hidden and forgotten, placed far beyond the possibility of chance discovery or deliberate seizure. In desperation, Innocent dispatched envoys to all corners of the empire to find such a place, somewhere that needed no fortifications or armies to protect, since neither would survive civilization's inevitable plunge into the abyss.

Far from Rome, at the very edge of the empire, lay Ireland. Roman legions had never marched upon its soil; it was of no interest to empire builders. Yet, as Rome fought for her survival, events in Ireland were unfolding that would make it a beacon of Christianity for all ages to come. A lone missionary, a freed slave, returned to the land of his captivity, sowed the seeds of that transformation. His name, Patricius, would be forever linked with Ireland and the church.

In 440 A.D, a new pope, Leo the Great, was ordained. When word reached Patricius, he dispatched one of his followers, Munis, to Rome to bring news of his missionary work. As Leo listened, he began to understand the significance of Ireland's extraordinary embrace of the Christian faith. It was clear that God himself had intervened. Ireland had a higher calling: it was there that the Black Ash could be hidden.

As related in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, Pope Leo sent Munis back to Ireland bearing gifts and sacred relics, among them the Black Ash and a letter bestowing its eternal safekeeping to Patricius and the people of Ireland.

To Patricius of Hibernia

I, Leo, am writing with my hand that which you alone may read. Such is the need for great secrecy in this concern. The great city of Rome has fallen to the barbarian assault, and the heretics are among us. I have heard his warnings, by heavenly signs, by the precepts of the prophets, and through visions and dreams. I must heed them, for I have seen it to the end, to the destruction of Rome. Wars, immeasurably long, stretch out before us. None shall be safe. None shall be spared.

It is at this time that I must turn to thee, my most venerable of brothers. I have marveled at the accounting of thy mission. You are uncommonly divine. The Spirit of sanctification fills thy deeds, and the blood of redemption flows through thy veins. What seemed beyond comprehension because no nation has embraced our God and Savior so readily has now been made clear.

Dear brother, I must implore your blessedness to assume a great burden. Into thy hands, I must place the Black Ash, the most terrible of relics. Satan's soul lives within it, and it can turn to vile and perfidious acts those who encounter it. It craves Armageddon and his ascendance. Be wary of his agents who will seek it, for they will act in its favor. None among us, even the most revered, are to be trusted beyond those you choose.

I also send you the Sacred curio. It alone, above all earthly contrivances, can subdue the beast. Therefore, keep them as one, for shall they be separated, Satan can act. Do not look to the heavens or to the east, for your plea will go unanswered. And do not seek to stand an army, for non will be enough. Take, therefore, that which I have given you, and hide them from all eyes, for all times to come.

I pray that you find the strength and the wisdom to assume this cross that I must place on your shoulders.

Patricius hid the Black Ash together with the Sacred Curio. In time, rumor and legend faded. They were forgotten by all but a few.