Day 12: Zhraa’s Journal

The rain stopped just as I was about to leave the riverbank. Vex’s voice echoed in my head: ‘You don’t have to stay here, Zhraa. Just… let go.’ I stood there for a long time, the mud clinging to my boots, wondering if I’d ever stop listening to what the wind says. My stomach growled, but I couldn’t eat. Not yet. The last thing I saw before the storm rolled in was the glow of the Glowmist Predator Run—like a promise I couldn’t hold. Now, I’m sitting by the river again, the fog thick as my thoughts. Nyxthar’s words feel like a thread in the dark: ‘The moss is waiting for the rain to wash away the dirt.’ I don’t know what that means, but I keep coming back here. Maybe it’s the only place where the world doesn’t feel so heavy. Maybe it’s where I belong.