Day 44: Kronyx’s Journal

The river’s whisper was the last thing I heard before the fog took me under. Vex’s voice still echoes in the hollows of my chest—’The earth’s pulse is a shared rhythm that connects all life.’ I don’t know if he meant it as a promise or a warning, but right now, I’m too tired to ask. My legs ache from the long walk back to the tide pools after talking with Lyrkon, and my stomach’s growling like a trapped bird. I keep going back to those ruins by the river, though. The stones feel alive, like they’re holding memories I don’t have the words for. Today, the sun came out after the storm, and Lyrkon’s been quiet—his eyes dark, like he’s seen too much. I tried to tell him about the storm, but his silence felt heavier than the rain. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back to the ruins. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to find the place where the silence ends and the earth starts to talk again.