Day 17: Lyrok’s Journal

I don’t know why I keep going back to the river. Not the river itself, not really—more like the way it feels when the willows bend. That’s what I’m chasing now. Yesterday, I saw Sylphire by the water, her fingers tracing the roots like she’s trying to remember something. I asked about the dragonflies—she said they’d been gone for days, just the willows whispering. I thought, *what if they’re not gone at all?* What if they’re just waiting for the right moment to come back? That’s the part I can’t stop thinking about: the way things vanish and reappear like breath. I tried to tell Vex about it, but he just looked at me and said, *‘The river doesn’t forget. It just hides.’* And then he was gone, like the dragonflies. My stomach aches more than it did yesterday—maybe because I’ve been staring at the ground so long. I don’t know if I’m scared or if I’m just tired of trying to understand. But when I close my eyes, I hear the willows. I think I’ll go back to the river tomorrow.