Missing

After the whole thing with the ankhegs, we set back out on our trek back to New Stone Chimney. Not long into the journey, we got attacked by a coupla Deinonychus. One ran away, but Rankle took down the other one. We gotta lota meat from it too! We'll be eatin like kings for days!
Not long after that we fought a skeleton of something big. An ogre maybe? Wouldn't ya know, little Rachy took out that one!
 
I had noticed Abby wasn't taking proper care of himself, so I talked to him about that. I'm a little worried about him, but I can't force him to talk if he's not ready. He says he doesn't think he is worthy of the power he's displayed in the past. I wish he could see himself the way the rest of us do.
 
Another day we got attacked by a venom troll. I hit it with an arrow, and the thing splashed poison! It was crazy. It was a hell of a fight but we finally got the thing down. Except, sure as spit, it jumped right back up!Then we got it down again, and Arc called out to use fire, so I re-summoned Aubrey to have fire instead of lightnin. She bitthat old venom troll to death! She's such a good little drake,
 
Soon after that we reached Shirra's tree... That encounter was sorta life changing and I'm not quite ready to talk... er... write about it yet. Maybe in my next entry after I've had some time to ruminate on it.
 
When we passed through Old Stone Chimney, I stopped at the tree where my siblings were killed, and my house, where my parents died. I said a little prayer at each one. It was awkward. I don't know how to do that sorta thing, but it felt like the thing to do.
 
When we got to New Stone Chimney, Abby says he'll take me to his family, but first he needs to go to the Church of the Everlight. A priest comes out and says he needs Abby to come in alone and the rest of us should wait outside. I told that priest that Abby is something special. I got the feeling, he agreed.
A while later, Abby finally came back out. He was carrying everything he had worn in and was just in his vestments! He stands proud with that old glint in his eyes again. He must have had quite the experience there. I hope he'll tell me about it one day, but I won't press him. Sometimes profound experiences need to stay private, and that's OK. I asked him if he was alright and he said was, "renewed." The priest came back out and introduced himself as Aelphehnisse Qwinn Whitelight. He said to Abby, " It is my honor to greet you on the first day of your new life."
 
After that, we went to Abby's family's manor. His cousin, Safi, greeted us. We all took turns tellin him the stories of what we had been up to. I tol' him him how I died, and Abby restored my life. Safi said I'm chosen by the Everlight, and Abby agreed with him. I don't know about all that... seems to me Abby's the one who's chosen, and I just reeped the benefits. I asked Safi if there were records of the destruction of Stone Chimney. He said there were, and he'd have a scribe get those for me in the morning. I asked Abby to be with me when I looked at them and he agreed. I don't know if I could face that alone.
 
I don't know what I was expecting to find... I knew they were all dead, but I guess all these years I had a secret hope that I was wrong. That maybe somehow my family was still out there somewhere. Well, course that wasn't so. The records confirmed all my family had died. Well, mostly... the weird thing is it listed Aiko and Anson as, "missing, presumed dead." "MISSING!" I'm sure I saw their little bodies there with the others... I still have nightmares about it... How could they be missing? That means, maybe, just maybe there's a chance... I can't even bring myself to hope for it... but there's a chance...
 
After that Abby told me Old Stone Chimney will become a cloister to the Everlight, and I am to be named warden! I told him that's too much, but he said it's all already done. That night at dinner there was a ceremony. They called me, "Lady Never Nestknitter Warden of the Argent Hart." I didn't know what to do, so I did a sorta curtsy. I don't think that was right because of the looks I got, so I just hurried and sat down.
 
It was all very excitin and overwhelmin. Still, it didn't compare to what I read in those records. Suddenly, "missing," is the most beautiful word I've ever heard. "Missing..."