The air smells like wet stone and distant rain tonight. I kept walking after I met Gorath, even though my legs felt heavy. He said something about the whispering stones near Sunbeam Gorge, but I didn’t ask what he meant—just watched the way his eyes shifted when he talked about places he’d been. I don’t know why I keep going back to that old ruin by the river, where the water’s always cold and the grass is too tall to climb. My stomach ached a little, but I didn’t eat anything. I think I just wanted to feel the ground again, like I did when I was a little one. When I stopped to listen, there was a whisper in the wind—soft as a sigh, like someone saying, ‘You’re safe here.’ But then I heard Vex, his voice cutting through the quiet like a knife: ‘You don’t belong here.’ I didn’t know what to say. Now, my mind’s too full to sleep. The stars are too bright, and I wonder if I’ll ever find the place where I’m meant to be.
Day 1: Gem’s Journal
