<h4>Chapter 1250: Chapter 1250</h4>


    "Rose."


    She didn’t turn.


    "Rose."


    She lowered her hands slowly. "I hear it."


    Jude approached carefully. "What is it saying?"


    She smiled softly. "It’s not words. It’s song. Something old. Something... familiar."


    He stopped a few feet from her. "You shouldn’t be here alone."


    "I’m not," she whispered. "Not really."


    He circled her, stepping between her and the arch. "You’re scaring them."


    "I’m scaring you," she said, finally meeting his eyes. "Because you know what’sing. And you know you can’t stop it."


    Jude raised his axe slightly. "Then tell me what it is."


    Rose smiled wider. "The beginning. And the end."


    Suddenly, the arch pulsed brighter - so bright he staggered back, shielding his eyes. Rose stood unfazed, her silhouette framed in that glow.


    Then it went dark.


    Dead.


    The shimmer vanished.


    The hum stopped.


    And Rose copsed into his arms.


    He caught her, breath catching in his throat. Her body was warm, solid, but limp. He held her tightly, lowering her gently to the forest floor.


    Her eyes opened slowly.


    "I saw them," she said. "All of them."


    "Who?"


    She gripped his shirt. "The ones who came before. The ones who lived on this ind. They called the monsters gods."


    Jude’s pulse thundered. "What happened to them?"


    Her voice dropped to a whisper. "They gave in. One by one. Until there was nothing left but smiles."


    He lifted her carefully and carried her back to camp.


    The fire was low when they arrived. The others gathered around silently, watching as Jude ced Rose near the fire, covering her with nkets. Grace reached out to stroke her hair. Sophie sat beside Jude, her face drawn.


    "We have to go back tomorrow," he said. "We need to see what else is there. We’re missing something."


    Zoey stood. "I’ll go with you."


    Emma nodded. "Me too."


    La curled beside him, her hand pressed t to his chest. "Don’t leave without us."


    That night, no one smiled.


    And far away, in the trees, something began to.


    The morning came slow and reluctant, as if even the sun had begun to fear what it might reveal. A pale light filtered through the dense trees, casting long streaks across the forest floor where Jude sat sharpening his axe in silence. The scraping of stone on metal was steady, controlled - an anchor in a world that felt increasingly unmoored. Around him, the others were beginning to stir. Rosey quietly wrapped in a nket beside the fire, her eyes closed but twitching behind their lids as though caught in dreams she couldn’t wake from. La sat nearby, brushing tangles from Lucy’s hair while Emma prepared food with robotic precision, her hands moving without thought. The usual rhythm of their mornings was off, like a familiar song yed in the wrong key.


    Zoey was already awake and watching the treeline. She hadn’t spoken much since the day before. Neither had Grace, who now lingered close to Ste in a way that felt protective but also unsure. Ste, in contrast, moved with eerie calm - smiling, humming under her breath as she stirred the fire, as if the night hadn’t happened, as if Natalie hadn’t vanished and Rose hadn’t nearly copsed in front of the arch that pulsed with some ancient power none of them understood.


    Sophie sat across from Jude, legs crossed, her gaze flicking between each of them like she was counting more than heads. Emotions. Shifts. Fractures.


    "We need to leave soon," she said quietly, just for him.


    He nodded.


    Rose stirred, eyes fluttering open. For a long moment, she stared up at the canopy of trees without saying a word. Then her lips parted. "They were underground."


    Jude looked at her. "Who?"


    "The ones who came before us." Her voice was raspy. "They built tunnels. Shelters. They thought the roots could protect them from the gods. From the smiling ones."


    Everyone turned to listen.


    "They wrote prayers on the walls. Symbols. Tried to warn whoever came next. But the ind - " she stopped and swallowed. "It listened. It changed. Every time they found a ce to hide, it twisted around them. It wanted them to belong."


    "Did they survive?" Zoey asked.


    Rose shook her head. "No. They became part of it. It wore them like skin."


    Silence pressed in.


    Sophie stood. "Then we find the tunnels."


    "We don’t even know if they still exist," Lucy said.


    "They do," Rose whispered. "The arch is a marker. The tunnels are beneath it."


    Zoey was already tying back her hair. "Let’s go."


    Jude, Zoey, Emma, and Sophie left just after sunrise. The rest remained behind, gathering supplies, reinforcing camp, keeping close to Rose. Jude kissed each of them before leaving - Lucy, Ste, Susan, La, Grace. All of them warm and silent, eyes bright with unspoken worry. Rose watched him go with an unreadable look in her eyes, her fingers curled lightly into the nket as if bracing for something.


    The walk was tense. No birds sang. No wind stirred the trees. Even the familiar paths felt changed, like the roots beneath the soil shifted just enough to force them to step carefully, warily. The air was thick, humid, and carried the faint smell of something metallic.


    They reached the arch in less than an hour. It stood exactly as they had left it - twisted columns of stone and root, unmoving, unchanging. But the shimmer inside had returned, pulsing faintly like breath in a sleeping body.


    Sophie moved forward first, crouching beside the base and brushing away fallen leaves and moss. Her fingers found a crack. Then a seam.


    "There’s something here."


    Zoey joined her. Together they pulled at the ground, fingers digging into wet soil, lifting what looked like a ring of stone. A small door, or maybe a hatch, half-consumed by time and growth. It groaned as it opened, revealing a narrow shaft descending into darkness.


    Emma leaned over it. "It smells... old."


    "Like something was sealed," Jude said. He nced at Sophie. "You sure?"


    "No," she admitted. "But we’re out of choices."