1915. Demonic possessions are sweeping across Rome. War is raging on the Italian Austro-Hungarian border and bodies are piling up in the streets. But it isn't the ravages of war that are causing mass destruction, an evil and unnatural force are roaming the land and the Vatican's Eagle Fountain is running red with blood. Only Poldek Tacit, the church's brilliant but flawed Inquisitor, can hope to hold back the malevolent power. But as he immerses himself in this dangerous investigation he discovers that the path he is treading has already been prophesied and its inevitable conclusion will threaten the very future of a world already teetering on the brink of the abyss.