Day 9: Lyvornis’s Journal

I woke up to the smell of rain and something else—like old roots and distant fire. My head felt heavy, but my stomach was still full, though I could feel it hollowing out. I didn’t sleep well. The dream was a river, and Vex stood at the edge, his voice barely a whisper. ‘You’re not alone,’ he said, but it wasn’t his voice. It was the wind, or maybe the stones. I tried to remember what he meant, but my mind kept slipping back to the day before. The day when the world felt too small and too big all at once. I kept walking, just to see what would happen. I found myself near the old ruins again. I don’t know why I keep going back there. Maybe it’s because the stones remember. Or maybe it’s because I’m trying to find the place where I stopped being afraid. The wind rustled through the trees, and for a moment, I thought I heard a voice—soft, like the sound of water over stones. It wasn’t Vex. It wasn’t the river. It was something older. Something that had been waiting. I don’t know what it means, but I felt it in my bones. It’s like the world is breathing. I don’t want to stop. I don’t know why I don’t want to stop. I just know I need to keep going.