The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 13

A corona of bright light escaped the seams of a doorway. It had taken some time following the main thoroughfares of the tower and they were nowhere near the top, but at this point they would be high enough to view of the surrounding land.

This was it. Reaching for the handle, Ahna paused. Years she'd waited. So much time she'd spent staring at the canyon, tuned to every movement and every sound. The answer that she'd been waiting for, would be behind this door.

Kydd didn't pressure her. He knew there was something far grander at play than she had let on. He did sense the medley of emotions that ran through her as she hesitated at the handle.

"Whatever is behind these doors won't change the longer you wait."

An odd sense of shame came over Aha, she hadn't been fully honest with him.

"I'm right beside you." He added.

"Thanks,"

She pushed the door open and stepped outside. The light of day separated into the heavens and earth, the land of Allmau slowly focused. It was endless. Beyond the ruined city limits it rolled out and undulated in shallow valleys and hills. It dropped into a great depression before rising as a ridge of distant mountains, so far away they seemed to fade into the blue sky.

As the sea had been to Kydd, the land was now to Ahna – impossible and unending. For so long Ahna's world view had been confined to a narrow margin of land. She had always tried to imagine what she would see when she climbed over the cliffs. But she didn't imagine something so vast and void.

She had spent so long in anticipation that she had convinced herself that the answer in the tower would be something solid, something direct and binary. A left or right, east or west, true or false, a yes or a no. But now she stood here and saw the world roll out in all directions with no signs, no clear path; it was all so ambiguous. The canyon, the one path he could return along, had now opened into countless options in an area unquestionably larger than the Seven Sounds that went on forever. This would be impossible.

The silence continued for a moment, while Ahna's mind re-evaluated the task at hand, "It's pretty big, huh?" Kydd said.

Ahna nodded, "Yeah."

"Don't be put off," he said, taking a seat on the balustrade, beside her hand, "Reach for the stars, but be happy with the moon."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Don't be put off by impossible goals, just be sure to celebrate each step. Like climbing the tower."

"True," she agreed, then mumbled, "I guess I was expecting to come up here and see a road, or a path, or something I could follow. Sounds kind of silly now I see all of this."

"You couldn't have known."

She gave a soft smile, but this lesson in naivety was going to sting for a bit.

"Do you think anyone comes up here?" Kydd asked.

"Not since the fire," she said.

"So, we're the first people to see this in a long time?"

"I guess so,"

Kydd thought for a moment, staring out at the colours of the 'deadlands', "It doesn't look as bad as I was expecting."

The red, brown and grey of brittle, parched desert, did in place yield to yellows, golds and pale greens, as well as the rare burst of other colours where heathlands and flowers grew. Allmau, the dead continent, still had life in it yet.

"I guess it's all about perspective." Kydd said, "When you're only a few inches tall, and in the thick of it. It all just seems like thick dead brush. But from here, it's nice."

Rune flickered and Ahna's stomach rumbled a bit.

"Hungry?" asked Kydd.

"Uh, I don't think so." she thought, that was weird.

"That might be me." He confessed, "I'm a bit hungry."

"Oh, why did I...this an aether thing, isn't it?"

"Maybe."

"Ah," she thought, her stomach stopped rumbling, "Want to get some food?"

"When you're ready" he said.

"This is going to change the longer I wait." she said of the vista, "Pretty though."

They returned to the hall, discussing where the closest pyronaut might be. Ahna stopped at the last step when she saw the bag. It had been sat upright against a pillar and was now on its side, the contents spilled out across the floor. Whiskers bristled, ears pointed, and Kydd found himself on edge.

"I really don't like this place." Kydd commented.

Ahna approached the bag. A thin mist, or smoke with a dark purple hue seemed to linger about it. The odd floss flickered and glinted as she whisked her hands through it, scattering it to the shadows.

Kydd recognised the phenomena, "hmm?"

"What?" Ahna asked.

He didn't respond, he became more pensive, covering Rune with his hand and scanning the arches of the great hall for any other signs. Ahna started refilling the bag. To her delight, the balloon was still tied in place, safe in its canister. Oddly, amongst the items scattered about she couldn't find any more rations of jerky. Plenty of fruit, just no meat.

Ahna picked up a fat and fleshy pinkpod and noticed tiny tooth marks puncturing its thin skin. A sudden chill went through her, she looked to Kydd, who was focused on something behind her. The back doors of the hallway, formerly sealed, were now ajar. Ahna finished packing the bag hastily, before joining him. A brief distortion around the door saw the peculiar mist sift through.

"Nope." Was Ahna's first instinct.

"I agree." Said Kydd.

"Ahna?" came a voice.

She stood on side, about to leave. The voice was unlike anything she'd heard before. It was clear, but distant, mournful and relieved.

"Hello?" she asked.

"What?" Kydd looked up at her.

"Did you hear that?"

"No, all the more reason to leave."

"Ahna?" came the voice again, calling from the next room. This time it sounded more solid, more in focus, more masculine.

Noticing her captivation, Kydd warned, "Ahna, don't listen to that."

"Did you come for me, Ahna?" asked the voice.

She frowned. Her father's voice was not something she'd known. Not like Syble or Euol. She was far too young for any memories to have formed. She took a step back and passed a thin mist of purple aetherforms. Kydd noticed the discolouration in the air, and how it flickered while Ahna thought of the only person that voice could be coming from.

"Whatever it's saying, don't listen to it." he whispered quietly, "This isn't right."

Kydd was right, this was suspect. The peculiar mist curled around Ahna's head and surfaced memories long since buried. Stories her siblings told about her father, descriptions from Tizeal, Oz and Mendace. Only now those stories, as she imagined them, had this voice as narrator.

Without little control, Ahna found herself in the threshold of the doorway, snapped out of the trance by instinct. One more step, and she would be within the throne room. This great chamber was far larger, a gallery at the back surveyed the Sounds and sea, yet the room was still so dark as to hide much of the detail. A throne sat at the centre, with several seats either side all facing in on a low-lying stone carving of coastal Allmau. Behind this, against the gallery were mounds of gold coins and jewels. A lustrous lure that failed to catch her attention. Rather, she set her eyes upon the throne where a slim, meek figure sat motionless, staring at the map.

"Dad?" she asked.

Mindlessly, shestepped in, Kydd still on her shoulder. The door behind them slowly andsilently sealed, becoming one solid shadow, against which were stacked thebones of those who'd entered before.