The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 5

Apia clawed up a hillside following the afternoon sun. In its wake were the scraps of the kilopede, slurped up and hacked apart by the many hands of the orfolk. This was no easy feat, and the aether had mustered together all who were free to help maintain course while digesting the beast. They also prepared for an evening rendezvous with the known remaining pyronauts. With all of this happening, Kydd found it easy to slip aside and disappear from the rest.

He'd scaled the hive to the top of Apia, where he could see across the deadlands towards the tower of Higard. As they ascended the shallow hills the true nature of the horizon came into focus. The rough edge of the horizon felt like a metaphoric to him, a poetic sign from nature. Rune had always caused grief in one way or another. Today was an extreme example, and although no one was lost it was too close for comfort.

There was also an indirect pain that came with nursing this pet rock. Being disconnected from the larger community left him isolated and detached. Orfolk being social creatures, need some connection with others. Kydd could feel this at his core, regardless of what Rune was to him and what she represented, her influence was counterintuitive to the orfolk being. She'd backed him into a particularly difficult spot. And now, after this morning, he'd finally sat down to consider the only real options.

Apia climbed to the top of the hill and levelled off. Kydd turned his attention to the tablelands. A vast open landscape, formerly farmlands which the fire of Allmau had fed upon. All that was left were a few crumbling stone walls and ruined farm houses. In the middle of the plateau was the twisted remains of a collapsed tree, which was the focus of the orfolks gathering. It wouldn't be long before the others descended on this place. At the brow of the hill, with the tablelands on one side and Higard on the other, Apia lay its large foreclaws against the ground like the blades of a sleigh. The smaller second claws held it in position while it prepared to ride down the hill as fast as its wheels would carry it.

Pinned to the top of Apia was a peculiar balloon, playing the part of crow's-nest. Most pyronauts had these balloons in one form or another, they were a peculiar sort, the flowers of a hardy moss that grew in hidden dens around Allmau. They came with some very peculiar properties which the orfolk found very useful. By day it bobbed around in the light of the sun, and throughout the night it rode the convections from hive heat vents. Encircling it was a raft of metal and thread that reshaped around the balloon as it grew and shrank. Beneath it was a rusted bronze cannister, into which the balloon would retract when it became too cold or dry.

Kydd climbed the cords anchoring the balloon and placed Rune on the raft around it. This felt a little extreme, but he had endured this curse for too long. It was time to move on from this obscure obligation and re-join his brothers and sisters fully. Apia hissed steam as it prepared for its descent. Kydd leapt from the raft and quickly went to undo the anchorage. Pulling the cord free, he threw it to one side. Having expected the balloon would take off with the wind, Kydd was crestfallen abashed when it simply hung in the air, almost as if waiting.

The few feet between Kydd and Rune were enough to trigger his nerves but knowing full well that this was his choice only amplified his anxiety. He stared at the balloon, becoming impatient and angry as each lick of the air seemed to do little to remove it. He felt the frustration build up and went to yell. Apia lurched forwards, sending a quake throughout the whole structure.

Kydd glanced up and noticed the distance between the balloon and the pyronaut was starting to grow, along with his anxious tension winding up like an elastic band. He held on tight, bracing for the pain he knew would come. It felt as though someone held his chest tightly, squeezing as every long second ticked past, to the point he struggled to breath. At the next lurch, the elastic band snapped, but not in the way he hoped. Like lightning that second lurch sent a wave of energy through Kydd that was beyond his control. The next thing he knew he was holding onto the cords beneath the balloon, watching Apia speed off down the hill like a flaming bobsleigh.