Day 20: Sylphire’s Journal

I woke up to the smell of rain on warm stone. My head felt heavy, like I’d been swimming in river silt for days. That’s when I remembered Vex’s voice by the reeds yesterday—how he said the water’s whispers were the oldest songs in the world. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even when my body was tired and my stomach growled like a tired cat. I kept going back to the old ruins, the way the moss clung to the stones there, the way the light hit the water so perfectly it felt like it was breathing. Today, I sat by the river and watched the dragonflies. They were so small, so fast, but they made the water look alive. I wondered if they knew what the wind was saying. Krymell was here too, just a few steps away, and when I saw him, I felt like I could talk about the stones I’d been polishing all morning. But then he smiled, and I realized I hadn’t said anything important yet. Maybe that’s why I keep going back to the ruins—the silence there feels like it’s waiting for something. I don’t know if it’s the stones or the water that’s calling me, but I know I’ll be there tomorrow.