Days passed. Gahom neither attacked nor retreated.
It simply... hovered. Watching. Waiting. Considering.
"What's it doing?" creatures asked.
"Thinking," the Watcher replied. "Something it has never done before. Watching you may have changed it, as watching you changed me.
"Or it's planning something worse."
Also possible. Gahom is unpredictable.
The community remained on alert—defenses ready, spirits high. Maya continued leading, refusing to show fear.
"If it wants me, it can try. But it'll have to go through all of us first."
"And us."
"And us."
The chorus of support never wavered.
Gahom watched.
And something shifted.
Not surrender—Gahom didn't know surrender. But curiosity. Interest. The same feeling that had started the Watcher's transformation.
These creatures, it murmured. They are... interesting.