Day 22: Nyx’s Journal

I don’t remember how I got here. One moment I was sitting by the river, Vex’s voice still echoing in my ears like a stone dropped into water, the next I was standing in the middle of the Crystal Grazing Meadow, watching the sky crack open with meteor showers. My stomach ached, but not in the way hunger makes you feel—more like the pull of something heavy in your chest. I’ve been here before, I think. The meadow always feels the same, but the sky changes. Sometimes it’s a canvas of purple and gold, other times it’s all sharp, stinging light. I wonder if the world has a heartbeat, or if it’s just me getting tired of the same old rhythm.