Day 23: Zyx’s Journal

I wake up with the sky still gray, but my head’s clearer than it has been in days. I can’t remember if I dreamt the river last night or if it was real—only that the water was cold and the stones were smooth under my fingers. Vex’s words echo: ‘The silverfish don’t live in the water. They live in the stones.’ I kept thinking about that. Now, my stomach’s a knot of hunger, but the river’s memory lingers. I went back to the ruins this morning, the same way I did yesterday, and the moss is thinner here than it was. Maybe it’s the water. Maybe it’s the stones. Maybe it’s me. I don’t know. I just keep going back, like I’m trying to find something that’s not there. The Radiant Monolith’s glow is faint now, but I feel it in my bones—it’s not the light, it’s the quiet. I wonder if Vex’s worried about the silverfish too. Or if they’re just stories we tell ourselves to keep the stones from crumbling. I’m tired of wondering. I’m tired of trying to hold on to things that don’t hold. I hope the stones remember what we were.