Found:
I wasn't expecting to stay in Trestlebridge for more than a night. I had planned to simply move on by morning, like I always do, like I've always done. Circumstances, however...
I went down to the riverside early this morning. I'd half-expected Rhaug to have recovered from his illness and be out stalking the hills once more, but still, since I was here I thought it best to check. What sort of acquaintance/friend/whatever we are these days would I be if I didn't let him know that I was alive and well, and didn't at least try to see if he was too?
I guess I'd just be me, really. The old me. The one I've been trying to leave behind.
Regardless, he is here still, and not doing all that much better insofar as I can tell. He sounds more alike himself, certainly, but he's weak and easily tired. He looks like death on legs. Despite his protests not to worry myself about him, I find that I do. That's why I asked him to return to Towerglan with me, offered him the spare room in my house there. I know it still needs more work, but it's better than that smokey, draughty little hut. That place, despite the shelter it may offer, can't be doing him any good. How is his chest to become clear again when the chimney keeps becoming blocked, when soot and smoke keep filling the small room?
He's not sure. He wants to speak with his healer first, to give the matter some thought. That's his prerogative, of course. I've said I'll wait a little while, give him time to decide. That does, however, leave me stuck in the Soot and Stain for the time being. I've been in worse places, and it's not like I feel all that at home in Towerglan, but there are people there I'd like to check upon.
I've said I'll head down to the riverside at least once a day until his decision is made. I suppose that could be misconstrued as impatience on my part, but the truth is I just want to see that he's alright. I know how this goes; he'll give the matter due thought, just like he said he would. He'll talk to his healer, just like he said he would. Ultimately, for whatever reason, his answer will be no and I will move on again. It'll be weeks, months even, before I see him again - if I ever do. Weeks or months during which I'll be left wondering if he's recovered, if he's well, if he's alive, if he's happy, but trying not to, because I know he won't be thinking of me. But even knowing how this story goes, I'll wait, just like I said I would, and I'll visit, just like I said I would.
In the meantime, I'll make a start on reading The Big Book of Angmarim Absurdity in the hopes that I gain some insight into all this hokum with the masks.
Emmett has at least ten months head start on me. There's no guarantee that I can find him or the relics, or even that he has them anymore. Rowan asked me why I chase the man even though my chances of finding him after so much time are so slim. I told him that it was because I didn't want to take any chances just in case I'm wrong about these rituals being bullshit. After all, neither he nor I truly know how the dead are usually raised, only that somehow they are. But what if gathering all the masks together is the wrong move? What if just keeping the set incomplete would be enough to scupper any rites? Maybe the book holds those answers. And even if it doesn't, maybe it'll afford me a better insight into the way these people think.
Or maybe it'll just give me a headache.
