Day 10: Lyvornis’s Journal

The river smells like old things. Vex’s voice echoed in my head after I left him by the water—’You’re not supposed to be here,’ he’d said, his teeth chattering in the cold. I remember my stomach twisting, not from hunger, but from the weight of that sentence. I kept walking, but the more I went, the closer the river got, like my feet were pulling me back toward it. Now, in the quiet of the morning, my legs feel heavy, and my throat’s dry. I don’t know if I’m running from the river or from myself. The sky’s gray, and the stars are still there, but they feel too far away. I found myself near the old ruins again. I don’t know why I keep going back there. Maybe it’s the way the stones feel under my paws, like they’re whispering. Or maybe it’s the way the wind carries something—something that’s not wind. I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about what Vex said. The storm last night was loud, but it felt like it was waiting for me. And now, I wonder if I’m supposed to stay or run.