Day 18: Gorath’s Journal

I couldn’t sleep. Not after what Vex said by the river. That cold, wet stone under my palm—like the earth itself was holding its breath. I kept thinking about the river stones glowing again, how they pulsed like they were singing to someone who’d already left. Lyra’s eyes when I told her about the stones—they were wide, but not scared. Just… waiting. Like she knew something the rest of us don’t. I tried to tell her the water was urgent, but her voice got quiet, like she was listening to something else. Now I’m here, with the hunger gnawing at my belly, and the sky turning from gold to purple. I don’t know why I keep going back to those ruins—maybe it’s the stones, maybe it’s the way the wind carries whispers that aren’t words. Or maybe it’s just that I keep forgetting how to stop looking for the next thing that feels like home.