Day 30: Gorath’s Journal

I keep going back to the river. Not the one where Vex stood, but the one near the old ruins. It’s the only place where the water sounds like it’s singing, like it’s telling secrets. Yesterday, I sat by the water and felt something shift inside me—like the weight of the world pressing down, but also a lightness, as if I’d been holding my breath for too long and finally let it out. Vex said something that stuck with me: *‘You’re stronger than you think.’* But it wasn’t a promise, not really. It was a whisper, and I don’t know if I’ll remember it tomorrow. My stomach’s still a little heavy, like I ate something too quick, but that’s just the way it is. I wonder what happens when the song stops. When the water stops singing.