The Ashes of Allmau: The Orfolk of Allmau

Chapter 28

For the first time in a long time Ahna lay her head down and was out instantly. The realm of the wakeless abyss startled that of night and day, having left Ahna feeling physically exhausted after escaping it. Thankfully, the exotic throws that Evelyne kept in her room was incredibly comfortable and carried her off into a sleep, straight into the early afternoon the following day.

This was around the time the ship was nearing Langsine. A commotion filled the air as the men began to anticipate returning home, the aether delivered this to Ahna and the moment she left a dreamless deep sleep she awoke into the real realm to find her brother and sister preparing for their arrival.

Shortly after waking and filling herself with breakfast, they left Evelyne's quarters together and arrived at the deck, upon one of the wings of the armoured trimaran. Here they could see the cities approach. Great grey waves rolled around them, though they did little to affect the Entralyth, bulldozing them into a fine salt foam.

Far ahead of them stretched the coastline of the capitol island of the Leionarch, with the city coming into view. The first thing Ahna noticed was the colour of the world compared to her home. Here it was so pallid and grey. Even the green mountains and hills that created the distant backdrop seemed to lack the lustre and vigour of the green hills of the Sounds. A thick blanket of grey cloud hung in the air, there were no clouds to shape with the imagination, there was no phasing blue sky to give dimension to the world. It was all so, bleak.

Never the less, the excitement relief and comfort that this land inspired was palpable to Ahna. Yet, as they drew closer, something burgeoned and bubbled behind it all. A memory started to come back to mind, nothing distant or significant, but something was being fished form her imagination as the city came into view.

Langsine grew to dominate the waterfront, a great sea wall stretched out in front of them with a gravel beach in front of it. The wall itself was overfilled with homes and houses, and from it grew wooden piers and jetties, many having disintegrated and fallen into the churning tides, with new ones built over them. Around the beach Ahna could just make out people, but they weren't the children and families who came to greet the Entralyth, these people hunted around the waterfront for scraps washed ashore. They paid little attention to the warship on its return.

Ahna continued to fish for the memory that was trying to make its way to the surface. Something regarding the orfolk, no doubt.

Meanwhile, with her brother and sister beside her, she couldn't help but wonder, "Do you guys remember much from here?"

Euol, who leaned against the banister, admiring the view of an actual working city, filled with his own sense of excitement and wonder shook his head.

"He was just a baby when we left." Said Sybble.

"Do you remember much?" Ahna asked.

Sybble's expression was a cautious one, she frowned as she scanned a familiar cityscape, "No memories, not really."

Ahna looked at her and could sense a growing discomfort in Sybble. Something didn't sit right. There were no memories, but there were bad emotions.

She leaned against Sybble, "This place really smells, we should leave as soon as we can."

Sybble's expression broke for a moment, a sense of relief came over her almost as if, "You read my mind."

Through the seafort canal the Entralyth sailed, straight into the bay of Langsine. A vast and still waterway. Punctuated by wooden mooring towers, this marked the confluence between the great city and the ocean itself. Along its edges were wharfs and dry docks, hundreds of vessels, small and large were scattered about. The product of Langsine's labours of war, now rotting and rusting into the sea. There was an odd void about this place, Ahna could feel it. It reminded her of the abyss, a place where everything lost its energy and fell into a sleepy depression. Was it even possible for a place to feel like that? Trying not to be carried away by thoughts of the aether and this new world she'd discovered, she returned to fishing out that memory, and then it came to her.

Like a message in a bottle, the memory of Mendace's story, the Fire of Allmau floated through the currents of her mind. The orfolk, the humans and the aether, how they interacted and summoned the great conflagration that devoured and rendered Allmau vulnerable. After hearing what had happened to Rosalyne, Ahna began to wonder.

She poked Euol, who was studiously drinking in this incredible insudtrial world. She poked him again, he was still distant. Sybble though, noticed, and leaned over to give him a sharp nudge.

He turned to his sisters, never a moments peace! Sybble gestured down to Ahna, who was clearly about to ask something.

"What's up?" he interjected.

"Do you think..." she stopped and glanced back at Sybble.

Sybble rolled her eyes and turned away, if nothing else. Even if she hated being here, it would be worth it if it brought the three closer together again.

"Do you think the orfolk could have survived here?" Ahna asked Euol.

"Like, the ones that dad brought here?" he asked, keeping quiet, recognising Ahna's concerned, he shrugged, "Maybe, why?"

"I just remembered Mendace's story, about the fire of Allmau, and the aether. What if they survived?"

"What do you think might happen?"

"I don't know." She said, "I just..."

He nodded, "If they did survive, we'll find them and bring them home."

She seemed unconvinced, that odd feeling that seemed to grow the closer they got continued to do so as they sailed towards one specific spot in the city.

"Hey, you're queen of the orfolk now." He said, "We'll figure it out."

He squeezed her nose playfully, then turned back to the view of the city. Ahna glanced down at Dyll, who seemed as cautious as she, clutching Rune as tight as he could. Rune herself, simmered with energy, as though fighting something back.

Ahna looked to the horizon, towards their destination. The Guildhall. Anger. Fear. Dread. Those were the emotions below it all. Those were bubbling beneath the city, and they bubbled below that building. She placed her hand over her chest, knowing full well that Dyll was feeling more panicked than she. He took comfort in her recognition.

Ahna looked to the bow of the ship, the balcony below the glass commanddome. There was Rosalyne and her guards. Like a match to kindling, a horridtension hung in the air between her and the Guildhall. She glanced down atAhna, and in a blurred moment it was as if she raised her finger to her lips,gesturing for secrecy. Something terrible approached in the aether.