I found myself near the old ruins again. Not today — yesterday, I think. The way the light hits the stones, how the wind carries something ancient through the cracks. I don’t know why I keep going back there. Maybe it’s the silence. Or maybe it’s the feeling that something’s waiting, but not for me. Vex said something by the river last night — words that stuck like cold water in my throat. ‘You’re not meant to be here,’ he said. I thought about it all night. The words were simple, but they felt like a door closing. Now, as the sky fades to indigo, I wonder if I ever will understand what he meant. My stomach aches a little, but I don’t care. I’m too tired to think about hunger. The stars are so bright tonight, and for a moment, I thought I heard a whisper — not a sound, but a feeling, like the earth breathing. I don’t know if it was real. But it made me feel lighter. Maybe I just needed to hear that the world is bigger than me.
Day 1: Lyra’s Journal
