Chapter 1556

The light of the new island pulsed in rhythm with their hearts, casting a gentle glow over their tangled bodies. Time didn't move here the way it did in the world before. There was no sun to chase across the sky, no moon to bow before night. Just breath. Just warmth. Just the slow unfolding of something ancient and utterly new.

Jude lay at the center, every nerve alive with the echo of creation. The space they'd shaped together vibrated with potential. It wasn't finished - not yet - but it was awake. Breathing. The world they'd seeded had roots now, and they pulsed with life beneath his back, threading through the invisible soil like veins seeking direction.