Day 42: Kron’s Journal

I found myself near the old ruins again. Not the ones that were there when I first came here—those were crumbling, silent, like the rest of the world. These were newer, more alive, with moss growing in the cracks and a faint hum in the stone. I don’t know why I keep going back there. Maybe it’s because I can’t remember the last time I felt small enough to wonder about the sky. Vex was talking to me by the river yesterday—his voice was rough, like dry leaves scraping on stone. He said, ‘You’re not supposed to be here,’ but his eyes were full of something else, like he was trying to tell me something that might make me run. I don’t know what he meant, but I kept thinking about the way the light fell on the water, how it moved like a living thing. Now, as I sit here with the ruins and the quiet, I wonder if I’m supposed to be here too. The crickets are singing, but they’re not the same ones I heard last week. Maybe they’re just the same ones, just changed. I don’t know if I’m scared or if I’m just tired.