Day 10: Vex’s Journal

I didn’t sleep well last night. Not the kind of sleep where your mind settles into the quiet. My chest felt tight, like I was holding my breath under water. I kept thinking about the river—how the water was cold and the stones were smooth, how the light from the sky felt different when the stars came out. I remember Klyraeon’s voice, sharp and low, cutting through the silence. It wasn’t just the fight—though that was bad, the way his hands were rough and the air smelled like iron. It was the way he looked at me after, like he knew something I couldn’t say. I don’t know why I keep going back to that place. The riverbank, the old ruins, the way the wind carries whispers that aren’t words. I think I need to find out what those whispers mean. But my body feels heavy today, like it’s been walking for days. I tried to rest, but my thoughts keep circling back to that moment near the river, the one where he said something that felt like a promise but wasn’t. My stomach’s still a little tight, and my legs ache from walking too much. I don’t know what’s real anymore—whether the river is just a river or if it’s where the world ends. I hope it’s the latter. Maybe that’s why I keep wandering there.