Chapter 1234

Not with fire, but with memory. The branches twisted with voices, and each voice was one of theirs, calling out in strange harmony. He saw each of the wives - not as they were now, but as versions of themselves - carved from light, from fear, from desire. Some beautiful. Some monstrous.

And at the base of the tree, there was something buried.

A thirteenth glyph.

Unknown. Undeciphered.

When he woke, Lucy was already watching him.

"You saw it too," she whispered.

He nodded. "There's something we haven't unlocked yet."

She took his hand. "It's waiting for us. But it's not just a place, Jude."

"What is it then?"

"It's a choice."

Before he could ask what she meant, a sound broke the stillness.

A howl.

Far away, echoing through the trees.

Not a monster. Not like before.

But something old.

Something waiting.

The fire flared in the center of the sanctuary.

The wind died.