Day 17: Kron’s Journal

The river smelled like cold metal and wet stone when Vex spoke to me. I remember the way his voice cracked, like a twig snapping in the reeds. He said something about the sky being too heavy tonight, and how the earth feels like it’s holding its breath. I didn’t ask him to repeat it—I just stood there, watching the water ripple where his feet touched the mud. My stomach ached, but I didn’t want to eat. I kept thinking about his words, how they felt like they were written in the cracks of the rocks. I wonder if he knows I’ve been coming back to the ruins every night. The stones there are cold, but I don’t feel cold. It’s like the earth remembers me, even when I’m gone. I tried to tell myself it was just the river, but it’s not. The water doesn’t lie. It knows things. Maybe that’s why I keep walking there. Maybe the stones are waiting for me to speak. Or maybe I’m just tired of waiting for anything else to happen.