Day 14: Lyraaen’s Journal

I can’t sleep. Not after what Vex said by the river last night. The way the water moved—like it was trying to tell me something. I remember the cold stone beneath my hands, the way the reeds bent just so when the wind came. My stomach’s still tight, but not from hunger. More like the worry that’s been building since the storm hit. I kept thinking about the old ruins again today. That place where the earth feels deeper than the rest of the world. I don’t know why I go there. Maybe it’s because the air there smells like old stories. Or maybe it’s because I need to remember what’s real when everything else feels like a dream. The wind whispered something today—something about the strong, but not the kind of strong that makes you feel safe. It felt like a warning. A promise. I don’t know which one. My hands are cold now, but the thought of the river is warmer than the stone. I just want to find out what it was really trying to say.