<h4>Chapter 1082: Chapter 1082</h4>


    They spent the afternoon preparing. Quietly. Secretly. Gathering rope, sharpening des, hiding food in a small leather satchel. Emma helped without question, and Ste, once told, only grew more determined.


    But the rest... they watched.


    Or at least, they noticed.


    That night, as the fire crackled and the air turned cool, Rose approached Jude.


    She straddled hisp slowly, her hands on his shoulders, her scent sweet and dizzying. Her breasts brushed against his chest, and she leaned in close, lips inches from his.


    "You’ve been distant," she whispered.


    "I’ve been thinking."


    "About me?"


    "Always."


    She smiled and kissed him. Slow. Deep. Her tongue touched his, soft and warm and delicious. And Jude felt the same burning desire he always did with her. But there was something more now, something under her skin. Her heartbeat didn’t match the rhythm of her breathing. Her warmth wasn’t real. It was too much.


    Still, he kissed her back, one hand sliding to her waist, the other bracing her back. For a moment, he let himself forget.


    Then he felt it.


    The shard, still tucked in his belt, pulsed violently.


    Rose froze.


    Her eyes met his.


    "You have it."


    He didn’t respond.


    She smiled. "That’s okay. You’ll give it to me soon."


    And she stood, walking away like nothing had happened.


    Jude wiped his mouth, heart racing.


    Sophie sat beside him minutester, holding his hand tight.


    "We have to go tonight."


    They left at midnight.


    Jude, Sophie, Emma, Ste.


    Into the woods, following the trail left by the pulsing shard. It seemed to vibrate stronger the deeper they went, leading them past ces they hadn’t seen before, dark hollows and ancient stone circles etched with runes none of them understood.


    Then, suddenly, the pulse stopped.


    Jude held the shard high.


    And the ground trembled.


    A shape rose from the shadows ahead. Not the monster, but something older. A statue? A throne?


    No. A gate.


    Formed from bones and roots, pulsing with the same glow as the shard.


    Ste gasped. "It’s beautiful..."


    Jude stepped closer.


    The gate responded.


    Light sparked.


    And then behind them, twigs snapped.


    They turned.


    Rose, La, Zoey, Grace, Susan.


    All standing in the dark, smiling.


    "You weren’t going to invite us?" Rose asked sweetly.


    Jude tightened his grip on the shard.


    Sophie stepped in front of him, her de drawn.


    Rose giggled. "Oh, darling. That’s not how this ends."


    Then, without a sound,


    The gate opened.


    The gate opened without a sound, and the forest exhaled. A breath not human, not animal, something deeper, older, from beneath the roots and the bones that shaped thend itself. Pale light spilled out in a soft wave, washing over their faces, illuminating the clearing in a ghostly glow. No one moved at first. The silence held them in ce, even Rose and the others who stood behind them, their eyes shimmering like ss in the unnatural light.


    Jude didn’t know if he stepped forward or if the gate pulled him. His feet moved, body weightless, shard pulsing in his hand like it recognized home. Sophie gripped his arm before he could cross the threshold, grounding him with the heat of her palm.


    "Wait," she breathed.


    Emma, beside her, held her spear tight, but even she swayed slightly toward the light. Ste whispered, "It’s calling us."


    Rose took a step forward, and when Jude turned to her, something in her smile cracked. The smooth, yful seduction was still there, but behind it, something hungry wed to the surface. "You feel it too," she said. "Don’t lie, Jude. This ind wants us all."


    Jude clenched the shard. "What is this ce?"


    "Truth," Rose answered.


    Behind her, La tilted her head. "Or rebirth."


    "Or death," Zoey added with a giggle.


    Grace stepped closer, her smile faint, but her eyes locked on the glowing gate. "It doesn’t matter what we call it. We’ve already been chosen."


    Jude looked back at the gate. Its light bent the air around it, making the trees shimmer and warp. Beyond its frame was a tunnel of vines and shifting stone, no end in sight.


    "We’re not going in," Sophie said, her voice firm.


    Rose’s smile widened. "Not yet."


    The light pulsed, once.


    Then the gate closed like a whisper, folding in on itself, bing nothing more than roots and rock once again. The glow vanished. Darkness returned.


    And the moment passed.


    Jude lowered the shard. No one spoke.


    Then Rose turned and walked away, La, Zoey, Grace, and Susan following her back into the forest like it was a perfectly ordinary night.


    Ste exhaled shakily. "That wasn’t real."


    "It was," Sophie said, not blinking. "It just doesn’t make sense yet."


    They returned to camp in silence, each step weighted, their bodies tight with the memory of the light, the feeling of being pulled by something they couldn’t see. Jude held the shard close, wrapping it in cloth again, hiding it deep inside his belt pouch.


    In the days that followed, everything returned to normal, or the illusion of it. Morning routines resumed. They collected fruit, fished, repaireds and baskets, made love under trees and starlight. And still, it lingered.


    Rose grew even more radiant, her presence maic. Jude caught her one morning with Grace, tangled together in a hammock, limbs bare,ughter soft and full of heat. Another afternoon, he found La tracing runes into the dirt with her fingers, humming a watchersong none of them had taught her.


    Sophie stayed close, but even she was quieter. Her thoughts always turned inward now, her gaze distant when she believed no one was watching. Jude could feel it in her too, that trembling curiosity, that pull.


    One evening, as they returned from the river with fresh fish, he stopped by the edge of the trees and watched the others. Rose had begun dancing by the fire, bare feet pressing into the dirt with slow, sultry rhythm. Zoey joined her, then La, hips swaying, theirughter curling into the air like smoke.