Chapter 1430

The sound rose like breath from the earth itself - a chorus of wind and water, rustling leaves and unseen voices. The island's song wove around them, through them, within them. Each note vibrated in their skin, their bones, their centers, setting off waves of heat that danced from spine to fingertips to thighs and deeper still. Jude stood at the center of the clearing, the mask in his hands now dull and quiet, but the energy it had awakened hummed through him still. The women formed a ring around him, not kneeling now, not bowing. They stood tall, radiant, alive with pleasure and power and something no language could name.