Day 18: Gorath’s Journal

I don’t know why I keep walking back to that place by the river where Vex stood. It’s just a ditch, really — muddy and cold, with reeds swaying like they’ve seen too much. But when I get there, the air feels different. Thicker. Like the world is holding its breath. I remember what he said: “The ones who stay don’t know how to leave.” His voice was low, almost a whisper, but it stuck in my chest like a stone. I tried to push it away, but it’s been there all night — a cold weight in my stomach, the kind that won’t go away even when your body’s tired and your mind’s empty. I kept thinking about the wind tonight — how it carried things, how it carried old things. Not just words, but things that were. I don’t know if I’m supposed to remember them or forget. Maybe I’m supposed to let them go. But I keep going back there. The river’s quiet now, but I can still feel it, like a pulse in the earth. I don’t know what’s real anymore — the world, the river, Vex’s words, or the quiet. All I know is that I’m tired. But I’m not sleepy yet.