The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 16

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 solid, 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 turned to trace the origin of the ray. Above the doorway a large circular transom joining the hall and throne room was slowly revealed as something slid down from it. This entity followed the back wall, blocking the door and their escape.

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 from the cloaks. A four fingered claw at the end opened and planted on the ground, upon which it seemed to balance. Over this the rags and shadows melted to form one large heap that billowed and undulated. The cloaks churned in the still air, kneading shadows and roiling rags together. Otherwise, all was still.

The sheaths tumbled forwards and a deep hood opened to give the thing some faceless form. This ominous shade, its metallic limbs, great size, and macabre style, in Kydds eyes, could only be described as a necronaut: a dead pyronaut, a ghost ship.

From the robes and shadows, uncurled another rusted metal arm, it rigidly unfolded in front of the pair, its claw 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, like a campfire deep in a cave.

"Hello?" Ahna asked, breaking the silence, she glanced to Kydd, "Is this a pyronaut?"

He hesitated. Sort of, just without the charm.

"Are you a pyronaut?" she asked the machine, to no response.

Rune caught Kydd's attention. She had illuminated softly in the presence of this thing. There was an odd energy about it. He turned on side, facing Rune towards the necronaut, and noticed how she glowed 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 to them than this one, more jollity and energy about them. The machines alone, without the orfolk had some spring in their step as though possessed by the creatures they represented. This thing did not have that same whimsy. It felt, cold and abandoned, making that soft purple light all the more interesting.

At the threshold of the hood, he looked back at Ahna. Conscious of the situation, he subtly gestured Ahna towards the shadows to hide. She glanced to a colonnade running end to end of the room. With an encouraging thumbs up, she started inching towards it.

The darkness swallowed him up quickly. Timid and trepid, he walked a narrow path as one would walk a tightrope. Not daring to place a paw off the path as he followed the setting purple light, deeper into the darkness. Conscious of Rune becoming more and more intense with every step, 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 passed 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.