The wives stepped back instinctively. Jude held up a hand.
The watcher’s form flickered, as if struggling to stay present. It opened its arms wide, then twisted, snapping into a spider-like shape for a heartbeat before resuming humanoid form. A ripple passed through the orchard, like a pulse of wrongness.
And then it was gone.
The awakening glyph remained blackened.
Scarlet spoke first. "It’s not just us being tested."
Jude nodded slowly. "The watchers are being corrupted. Or replaced."
"Then we need to hurry," Susan said. "Before the island forgets who we are."
The plan ca together fast. At dawn, they would approach the mountain, not to climb it, but to get close enough to plant their own offering circle near the base. A new ring. One untouched by what was infecting the orchard.
Twelve pillars. One from each wife.
Jude kissed each of them that night. Slow, deep, loving. Not out of fear, but reverence.
They set out before the sun was fully risen, moving in formation. Jude led, with Grace and Scarlet flanking. Then Serena, Rose, and Natalie. Behind them, Emma, Stella, and Layla. And last, Susan, Sophie, and Lucy carrying the carved wood.
They made it two-thirds of the way before the mist thickened.
Jude raised a fist, and everyone halted.
The air changed, denser, humming.
Shapes moved through the trees.
The creatures erged not in fury but in silence. Four of them, hulking, twisted reflections of the watchers. Each bore fragnts of familiar glyphs, hope, unity, but warped. Their movents were jerky, unnatural, puppet-like.
"Don’t attack," Jude whispered. "Hold formation."
The creatures stopped a few yards ahead, watching.
Then, one stepped forward, and mimicked Jude’s voice.
"We. Are. You."
Jude stepped forward. "No. You are not."
The creature shuddered.
"We. Rember. You."
Jude placed a hand on the unity pillar beside him and spoke clearly. "Then you rember this. We ca with peace. We ca with love."
He looked at his wives. One by one, they raised their own pillars, speaking the nas of their glyphs.
"Trust," said Rose.
"Hope," said Serena.
"Protection," said Layla.
"Truth," said Susan.
"Light," said Emma.
"mory," said Sophie.
"Balance," said Lucy.
"Awakening," said Natalie.
"Joy," said Scarlet.
"Grace," said Stella.
"Bond," said Grace.
Jude lifted the final one. "And Will."
The creatures shivered. One cracked apart, falling into ash.
The others twisted in place, keening softly, like wind through bones. Then they fled.
The mist parted.
Jude turned back to his wives. "Set the pillars. Here."
Together, they planted the twelve glyphs in a perfect ring. The mont the last was placed, the ground beneath them humd. The volcano’s blue smoke thinned, then turned white.
And sowhere deep below, the island’s true heart stirred awake.
The white smoke rising from the volcano shimred like silk under the morning sun, catching the light in delicate ripples as it spiraled upward. Jude watched it with narrowed eyes, one hand resting on the top of the freshly planted will pillar. Around him, the other eleven glyphs stood firm, still glowing faintly with the resonance of their voices. The mist that had filled the trees had receded, leaving the clearing calm but too quiet. Not peaceful, just waiting.
The wives fanned out cautiously, checking the periter of the newly created offering circle. Susan stood at the northern edge, scanning the brush for any movent. Emma moved silently near the south, her spear always within reach. Jude didn’t need to speak to them, they were already attuned to the tension. After what they’d faced on the way here, no one believed the new circle would remain unchallenged for long.
A soft breeze stirred the grass. Grace stepped up beside Jude, her voice low. "That white smoke, it’s not natural, is it?"
"No," Jude said. "But it’s cleaner than the blue. I think... it ans sothing responded."
She looked up at the volcano, her brows furrowed. "Do you think we actually woke sothing? Sothing different than the watchers?"
"I don’t know yet. But the corrupted ones reacted violently to this place. That’s a sign we’re on the right path."
Layla called from the eastern edge. "Sothing’s moving out there. But slow. Deliberate."
Everyone stiffened. Jude raised his hand, signaling silence. The sound ca again, branches shifting, leaves brushing together. Not an animal. Sothing larger.
Then, from the forest line, a figure erged.
Not a beast. Not a watcher.
A woman.
She walked slowly, barefoot, her dress a patchwork of plant fibers and faded cloth. Her skin was a pale brown, her limbs lean and wiry. Her hair hung long and tangled past her shoulders, streaked with ash and sothing darker. But her eyes, her eyes glowed faintly white, like the smoke behind her.
Jude stepped forward. "You’re not one of the island’s spirits, are you?"
She tilted her head slightly. "I was."
The wives drew closer, forming a loose ring around her.
Jude didn’t lower his voice. "Are you corrupted like the watchers?"
"No," she said simply. "I left before they changed. Before they were taken."
Susan stepped forward. "Taken by what?"
The woman looked past them to the volcano. "The heart. It’s not just alive. It’s hungry."
Jude narrowed his eyes. "What is it feeding on?"
"aning. Pattern. Will." Her voice didn’t waver. "It consus what makes you you. It feeds on beliefs and mories and love. That’s why the watchers changed. They didn’t defend themselves."
Stella stepped beside Zoey, who had quietly moved behind the rest. "And what about you? Why did you leave?"
The woman finally looked back at Jude. "Because I saw you coming."
The words struck like a bell. Jude felt the ripple inside his chest.
"You saw ?" he asked.
She nodded. "Years ago. In a dream the island sent . A man with the fire of a god inside him, surrounded by stars shaped like won. They told to wait."
The wives stood in stunned silence. Jude stepped forward. "What’s your na?"
The woman looked at the white smoke behind her. "The na I used before is gone. I burned it. But you can call Ashra."
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