Chapter 1K

"What do we do?" Grace asked.

He turned to them. "We walk forward. Together. Eyes open. Hands joined. No fear."

They did. Twelve wives, one man. A singular entity made of many hearts. The creatures did not touch them. They watched. Then bowed. Then dissolved.

And the mountain… opened.

A stairway formed in the stone, leading down, not up. Not to the peak, but into the world's memory. Into the system's heart.

Jude looked at each of them, one by one. His wives. His soul. His anchor.

"We don't go down to fight," he said. "We go to finish it. To complete the ritual. To give it what it needs, truth."

"And what if it rejects it?" Susan asked.

"Then it dies," Jude replied. "Alone. Forgotten."

They descended.