Chapter 993
Jude spoke last, his gaze sweeping the wives. "Tomorrow we ascend further. Climb the mountain. We will take watchers with us. We will meet horizon."
The wives nodded, somber but unafraid. The children yawned as wives lifted them to slings.
Grace brushed his cheek. "We’ll go together."
He touched her hand. "Together."
They slept under watchers’ light. Mist filtered through tents.
When dawn came, it was frigid and bright. Jude wrapped the staff in cloak, loaded backpacks with glyph stones and supplies, and shouldered Laurel. Grace carried Raven. Wives and watchers formed a column of light.
They climbed the basalt steps, each etched with watchers’ spirals. The air thinned, crisp as bone. The watchers brightened; each step they paused, waiting for them, then rose ahead again, guiding the way on moon-washed stone.
Midmorning they reached a plateau ringed by jagged rock teeth. A deep cave slit opened into mountain’s belly. Here watchers formed a circle, stepping aside. Jude and Grace looked to each other. Boys and girls huddled beside them.
Jude raised his voice, summoning gravity. "We stand at the mouth of tomorrow. We will enter together, not to flee, but to remember truth."
Each wife dropped her token onto stone near the cave’s entrance. Children placed lilies in a ring. Watchers pulsed, then retreated, giving space.
Jude stepped forward. The cave was dark but for flickering lights, ribbon reflections on wet walls. He moved inside, Grace at his side, the wives behind.