VIRI TEMPLARI: The Relic of the Broken Cross follows the rise of a hidden brotherhood in the year 1185, when strange accents, foreign customs, and unseen enemies begin infiltrating the quiet Italian town of Frontiera Maggiore. Father Aurelius - once a soldier, now a priest - senses the danger first as he hears "Latin, yes... but broken. Bent. Twisted by tongues that had not been raised in Christendom" . What begins as unease becomes certainty when he witnesses a foreign ritual of violence in the town square, realizing "the enemy was already here... wearing borrowed faces" .
When the Marquese di Cesena arrives with news of Baldwin's death and rising Eastern shadows, Aurelius joins him - and soon the two are joined by legendary warriors: Roger McAndrews, the giant of Malta; Allan of Chesterfield, a Welsh archer whose arrows strike like fate; and Giovanni di Mantova, a disgraced knight seeking redemption. Together they uncover a growing infiltration across Italy, exposing impostors, rescuing towns, and gathering forgotten heroes into a single force.
Their journey leads them to the ruined chapel of San Galgano Vecchio, where an ancient monk reveals the Prophecy of the Thirteen - a divine foretelling naming each of them as guardians chosen to stand against the rising Crescent. "A priest with the heart of a soldier... a noble whose mind sees beyond crowns... a giant whose strength defies death... an archer whose arrows silence the night" .
As the brotherhood grows, they confront an invading shadow army whose retreat becomes legend - fleeing in panic across the Mediterranean after facing the Thirteen. With prophecy awakened and war in the shadows ignited, the Guardians of the Holy Cross rise to defend Christendom from an enemy that moves unseen.
Epic, mythic, and spiritually charged, VIRI TEMPLARI blends medieval warfare, prophecy, and brotherhood into a cinematic tale of faith, destiny, and the warriors chosen to carry the last light before the dawn.
In 1185, an unseen enemy infiltrates Italy in borrowed faces - until a priest-soldier, a noble commander, a giant warrior, and a Welsh archer unite to expose the rising darkness. When an ancient prophecy reveals they are the Thirteen chosen to defend Christendom, a hidden brotherhood rises to wage war in the shadows. Epic, mythic, and fiercely cinematic, VIRI TEMPLARI is the birth of a legendary order destined to stand as the last light before the dawn.
