Day 22: Lyrok’s Journal

I found myself near the old ruins again. Not the kind of ruins where you’d expect to find anything—just crumbling stone, the kind that feels like it’s been waiting for you to come back. I don’t know why I keep going there. Maybe it’s because the air there smells different. Like wet earth and something older. Or maybe it’s because Vex was there yesterday, by the river, and he said something that stuck in my throat. ‘You’re not meant to be here,’ he said, his voice low, like he knew things I don’t even understand. I tried to push it away, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. My stomach ached after I ate, and my legs felt heavy when I walked back, but that’s nothing compared to how my mind’s been spinning since then. It’s not that I want to be there—I just can’t seem to leave. Maybe I’m chasing a ghost, or maybe I’m chasing myself. I don’t know why I’m writing this down. Maybe it’s because I need to remember what I felt when I was there. The wind was quiet, and for a moment, I thought I heard a whisper, like someone was talking to me through the stones. But when I turned, there was nothing. Just the river and the fog, and the weight of the words Vex left behind. I don’t know what to do with it anymore. I just want to sleep, but my mind won’t stop. It’s like my thoughts are tangled, and I can’t untangle them. Maybe tomorrow will be different. Maybe I’ll forget. Maybe I won’t. I don’t know. But for now, I’m just here, sitting in the fog, wondering what it means to be lost.