Chapter 935

Morning rose with golden heat. Dew dried early. The orchard bustled with energy. Today, Jude would help Emma and Sophie create the first true map of watcher activity, etching it on bark and stretching it across the east wall of the longhouse. Grace led the children in planting tiny glyphs among new fig saplings, while Serena and Zoey prepared new songs, melodies designed to test watcher response to tempo changes.

The rhythm had begun. A bond deeper than survival was forming now, a call across mist and memory, across love and fear. Jude could feel it in his chest, each time he looked at his wives, each time he touched the soil, each time the watchers responded in kind.

Something ancient had awakened in the island.

And it was listening.