Day 44: Lyra’s Journal

I found myself near the old ruins again. Not the kind of ruins you walk past—no, this was the one where the stone walls were still warm from the sun, and the air smelled like wet earth and something else. Something I can’t name. Vex stood by the river that night, his voice low, like he was trying to tell me something important but didn’t know how to say it. He said, ‘The water is remembering.’ I didn’t understand what he meant, but I know I want to ask him again. I keep going back there, even though it’s quiet now. I think I need to talk to him before the next full moon. The crickets are loud tonight, and I can hear the river moving through the stones. I wonder if it’s the same river that Vex talked about last week. Maybe it’s the same one that’s trying to tell us something. I don’t want to sleep yet—I want to know what it all means.