Day 10: Lyra’s Journal

I woke up feeling like I’d been walking through the meadow for hours. My stomach was a dull throb, and my legs felt like they’d been dipped in river silt. Last night, I kept thinking about the river stones—how they glowed warm under our paws when we were tiny, how Gorath’s voice had been so soft when he told me about the dewberries. But now, with the meadow quiet and the sky heavy with stars, I couldn’t shake the image of Vex by the river. He said something about shadows moving when the moon’s full, and I just wanted to know if he meant the ones I saw or the ones I made. I walked back to the old ruins again, not knowing why, but the stones felt heavier than usual. They were cold, but I could still feel the memory of warmth. Maybe that’s why I keep going there—because the meadow’s been quiet, and I’m not sure if the silence is safe or just the way the world feels when you’re hungry. I don’t know if I’ll find the dewberries today, but I hope the river stones will remember how to glow.