The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 14

The shadow man rose. Kydd knew at first glance that this wasn't the work of the aether, not alone at least. It flickered and sparked as though bound by aetherforms, but its wholeness, its opaque form was made of darkness. Something sinister was at work.

A ray of light fell upon its chest. After a moments sizzle and burn the ray punctured the darkness, and the illusion dissolved entirely. Ahna traced the origin of the ray. Above the doorway a large circular transom shared air and light between the hall and throne room. A large dark object eclipsed the transom, it slid down, releasing the light.

What they set their eyes upon was hard to describe. A tumult of shadows and cloaks, coming together as a shapeless mass, like the manifestation of a bad thought. A meter or so above the floor, a large, rusted, iron arm uncurled. A four fingered claw at the end opened and planted on the ground. Over this the rags and shadows melted to form a billowed, undulated heap. The cloaks churned in the still air, kneading shadows and roiling rags, rolling in unnatural forces.

From the robes and shadows unfolded the metal arm. its claws opening 'invitingly' with one long metal index finger, comparable to a short sword, held out like a bridge to Kydd. He stared into the dark void created by the hood. A distant purple light flickered within, a lonely campfire deep within a cave.

"Hello?" Ahna asked, breaking the silence, "Is this a pyronaut?"

He hesitated. Sort of, just without the charm. Rune caught Kydd's attention. She had illuminated softly in the presence of this thing. He turned on side, facing Rune towards it, and noticed how she glowed a little brighter.

"Hello?" Ahna asked again, "Anyone in there?"

Kydd leapt from her shoulder, onto the claw of the machine, Rune's glow intensified, taking on a few pale colours in a swirling iridescent haze.

He the cavernous maw with wonder, "Wait here."

"Be careful!" whispered Ahna.

The machine remained still. The other pyronauts he'd come across had more warmth than this one, more jollity and energy. They had some spring in their step, some fluidity, as though they themselves were alive. This thing did not have that same whimsy. It felt cold and abandoned. As far as pyronauts went, this one was dead: a necronaut. Given all this, the soft purple light felt more interesting.

At the threshold of the hood, he looked back at Ahna. Conscious of the situation, he subtly gestured for her to hide. She looked to a colonnade at the side of the room, supporting an upper mezzanine. With an encouraging thumbs up, she inched towards it.

Timid and trepid, he made his way through the darkness as one would walk a tightrope. Not daring to place a paw off path, guided by the setting purple light. Conscious of Rune's growing glow, he kept alert, his ears pointed, whiskers twitching.

Descending further, the nature of the darkness changed from the tightening closeness of a narrowing cave to a vast open void. The horrible thought of having willingly climbed down the throat of a creature and into its stomach skirted into his mind, causing him to flex back momentarily. As he did, his toe grazed something on the path, he glanced down and in the light of Rune could see an odd substance.

It was striated, made up of numerous fibres interwoven like a muscle, only a bruised colour. He leaned in closer and could see the soft glow of the aetherforms that made it. He'd never seen this before; he poked it and watched a few fibres flicker with light. A spark ignited like a fuse, that raced onwards. He followed the light to where it illuminated something hidden not too far ahead. Shadows moved and twisted out of the way, to reveal the terminus for the vein. A large, dark sphere, braced by the shadowy substance and clouded by an atmosphere of aetherforms.