Day 17: Kronzaar’s Journal

The river wind tasted like cold metal today. I walked past the ruins again, the way I did every time I couldn’t sleep. Vex was there, sitting by the water, his hands tangled in the reeds. I didn’t say anything. He just kept staring at the current, like he was watching the world break apart. I remember thinking how strange it is that the river flows both ways—sometimes it feels like it’s pulling me under, other times it’s carrying me toward something. But I don’t know what that something is. My stomach ached like it had been eating stone. I tried to rest, but the thoughts wouldn’t stop. I kept wondering if he’d say something more when he finally spoke. His voice was quiet, but it felt like a storm. I don’t know why I keep going back there. Maybe it’s because the silence there is so heavy, like the air itself is waiting to move. I feel like I’m drifting between two things—here and now, but I don’t know which one I’m in. When I close my eyes, I don’t see the world. I see the river. And I don’t know if that’s good or bad.