Chapter 967
Jude crouched beside her. Thin glyphs, barely visible, were etched into the bark, carved in a language he didn’t know, but felt. "They’re not ours."
Serena’s eyes scanned the fog. "We should move back. Whatever wrote those glyphs didn’t want us to see them."
Before Jude could respond, a rustle passed through the mist. They froze. The sound wasn’t animal. It was slow, deliberate. A shape moved behind the trees, tall, humanoid, but not a watcher. Not mist. Flesh. It vanished before they could follow.
They retreated, marking the spot with silver ribbon. By the time they returned to camp, the sky had darkened despite the hour.
"They’re testing us," Jude said as they gathered beneath the arch. "Something else is in the forest. It watches us like the watchers do, but not with curiosity. It’s older. Maybe more territorial."
Sophie frowned. "Could it be one of the monsters from the mountain?"
"No," Jude said. "This was something different. Not beast. Something thinking."
Grace stepped forward. "Then we respond in kind. No fear. No aggression. We build signal. Offer clarity."
That night they constructed a totem at the eastern edge, a tall column of wood carved with symbols, layered in blue paint, wrapped with cords of vine and silver. It bore a simple message: Peace. Home. Watchers welcome.
They placed it before dusk. The watchers gathered at a distance, observing. No mist moved into the orchard that night, but the shape in the woods didn’t return.
When the morning came, it was Susan who woke first. Jude stirred when she sat up, stretching in the pale light, hair wild against her back. She turned, slid back under the covers, and pressed her lips to his collarbone.