Day 15: Gorath’s Journal

I keep going back to the old ruins. Not the ones with the broken stones, not the ones that smell like rain. The ones that feel like they’re waiting for me. Yesterday, I saw Vex by the river—his tail twitching like a question mark in the water. He said something about the moss under the willow bend holding its breath. I tried to ask Gem about it, but my voice felt too loud. Now, my stomach’s empty again, and my legs feel heavy as if I’m carrying the whole sky. I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking about what he said. It’s like the wind’s whispering through my bones: *You’re close. But not yet.*