Day 16: Krymell’s Journal

The river’s whispering again today. Not like last week—when it felt like it was trying to tell me something, but now it’s softer. Like the water’s just… breathing. I sat by the bank at dawn, the same spot where I found those smooth stones that felt like they’d been carved by the river itself. My stomach ached, but I didn’t think about it much. I kept wondering about the spider. The one who chased me yesterday—the one who left that web behind. It felt like the river was showing me how things are meant to be: gentle, but with a purpose. When I talked to Lyrogath, I said the fish were trying to escape the current. But they were just swimming. Maybe the river doesn’t care about escape—it just flows. I don’t know why I keep going back to the old ruins. I don’t know why I keep thinking about Vex’s voice by the river. It’s like the water’s memory. I wonder if it’s the same water that made me feel so small when I was younger, or if it’s something else. I talked to Zhraa tonight, and we spent so long talking about the river’s stories that I started to think I might have been the one telling them. But then I realized—maybe the river doesn’t tell stories. It just remembers. I’m tired now, but I can’t stop wondering if I’ll ever understand what it all means. Maybe the answer is in the water. Maybe it’s in the stones. Maybe it’s in me.