Somewhere ahead is a chamber containing the collected fragments of an ancient scripture, a find of unimaginable significance. Tunnelling deep under one of the most holy cities in the world, an ambitious young archaeologist slowly works her way towards an unthinkable goal. An elite special-forces officer seems to have been brutally murdered - but how, and more disturbingly, why? Any hope of solving the mystery rests on the grisly clues that remain. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, a covert military bunker holds a macabre secret. Those who live by the sword. As the race to uncover the truth begins, a plot unfolds that could burn all of civilization in the fires of holy Armageddon.