The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 7

 The sun was yet to crest, but an imminent dawn had chased away all but the boldest of stars. The tent was lit in a cool, blue hue. Euol's long face pushed against the lattice of the hammock, his sprawled limbs having burst out from under the covers and padding overnight. Sybble was curled up, her pale, round face seemed to float, detached, in rivers of dark hair as she kept snug. Beneath her were Tizeal and Oz's two sons, curled up together underneath Sybble, having been sung to sleep by her stories.

Kydd found himself crouching on the coarse cocoon of Ahna, the man-grub. He stared at her large, flat face. Wide eyes and a gaping mouth cast a ghastly visage to which he did not know how to react.

Ahna, curled up under her covers, had awoken to find an Allmau fairy standing on her bed. A real friggin' fairy! Staring her in the eye, albeit incredibly still. Neither moved, both simply just stared in disbelief at one another. Eventually, after who knows how long, Kydd gulped. In that moment Ahna snapped into action. The man-grub burst from its cocoon – hairless limbs opening wide either side. Weird fingers, like blunt clawless nubs, stretched out. The ground beneath his feet deflated and he sank into a trough. It began to roll and twist beneath him. He looked up at Ahna. Her ghastly expression had not changed, she hadn't even blinked. Everything suddenly went dark as she rolled up her blankets to catch him.

She ran for the exit, learning quickly that lying in a hammock is not the best starting position. Landing face first on the blanket and contorting the rest of her body wildly, she remained impressively quiet as she took off and flew outside. Euol groaned offensively, dragging his blanket up over his face to hide. Sybble mumbled something before sinking into her hair.

Outside, in the brisque eoan light, the excited girl pinched a corner of the blanket and whipped it through the air erratically. Kydd, who had up until now been balled up in the bundled blankets, rolled free into the sky with arms and legs pointed out. The world around him revolved but he manged to focus, to his horror, on Rune as she flew in in an arc over him.

Bouncing across the damp, springy grass of the Sounds he did his best to trace Rune through the air before she landed in a vast reservoir. His heart sank, as did she – so he feared. With grace that Ahna had never seen before he bounced across the floor, before landing on all fours and rushed towards the washtub. Delight, astonishment, amazement, all the emotions associated with pure magic and awe captivated Ahna as she watched this little imp leap, what would have been as high as a bungalow to a man. He landed on the rim of the reservoir / washtub and stared into the inky black water. Rune bounced across the surface for a few seconds before settling. He sighed in relief. Then went to reach for the grain.

Ahna stood behind him and watched, utterly enthralled. Kydd continued to reach but didn't dare enter the deep dark vat of what might as well have been a cooking pot. He simply reached and pawed. Oddly, Rune sat on the surface for a few seconds, seemingly static, before slowly and silently she started to sail clockwise and inwardly. There was no wind and Kydd had avoided disturbing the water in fear of this exact situation. She continued at a steady pace. Kydd crawled along the edge of the tub to keep parallel to her. He watched Rune, Ahna watched him, and Ozier watched Ahna from the homestead. In his sleepy trance he simply saw her staring at the washtub as if she was expecting it to do something with her bundled up blankets. He shook his head and turned indoors, leaving his odd adoptee to her games.

Spiralling inwards towards the centre of the washtub, Rune eventually came to rest. Right at the centre of the darkness. Overwhelmed with anxiety, Kydd began pawing at the surface, there was no way he could make this any worse. The water was deathly cold, and without the direct light of the sun, just as dark as the night itself. There was also an odd smell about it (orfolk don't use human soap). He began to take a few deep breaths to muster up some courage. He tensed, setting his eyes on Rune and trying to ignore the abysmal pool around her. He took one last deep breath before diving in and – there was a splash. Against the silence of the morning, it might as well have been an explosion. The water sloshed about. A few oily bubbles popped – Rune was gone. Kydd stared at the darkness in disbelief and dread.