Day 2: Zhraa’s Journal

I woke up to the sound of water dripping in the dark. My stomach was still heavy from yesterday’s glowmoss, but the taste was gone now—just a dull throb where the moss had been. I don’t know if it’s the same moss, or if I’m just remembering it. The river smells like wet stone and old promises. Vex was right—there’s a crack in the riverbank where the light leaks through, and it’s not just water. I’ve been going back to that place for days, but I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I keep finding the same blue trail, like the one Zyx saw. Or maybe it’s because I keep thinking about how the Glowmist Predator moves through the water without ever touching the bottom. It’s not a creature, not really. It’s just a shadow that flickers when you look too long. I sat by the river tonight, and for the first time, I felt it—the way the water pulls at your bones, like it wants to carry you away. But I stayed. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with all this. I just know I can’t stop looking.