#chalkon

It only got worse when the Visitors came. Though Kaŋa Pome had tried to ignore them, their very arrival seemed to radicalize the Cilda Koŋe, its two children. One of them, Prama Tride, "The Promise of Much Tradition", (now to be labeled “Kaŋa Dure”, "The Disrespectful Ruler"), had caused a schism and stolen away many Pommes. The other, Prama Piwe, "The Promise of Much Power" (now to be labeled “Kaŋa Durke”, "The Dark Ruler", though it labled itself “Kaŋa Trofe”, "The True Ruler"), had become a god of darkness and corrupted the minds of many other Pommes (as well as some mortals). Those Pommes that remained were now in danger of being eradicated, for they discovered that their hidden settlement of Satla Pome just so happened to be in the world the Humans came from.

Now forced to abandon their hideaway, they eventually set up camp at the base of a grassy hill by the shore. As its now modest amount of people slept in their modest tents, Kaŋa Pome climbed to the top and set up some sacred fires. Being the leader of the ones who ultimately created the Pommeverses in the first place, it had never wanted to ask for help from anyone, even when its people were being destroyed. But now, it felt it had no choice but to call upon the ones who lived in the Void between the worlds, as it felt that even with the risk of entering an inconceivable environment, the Void was the safest place for Pommekind. So it looked into the flames and sang:

“Creatures of the Void,

I am the Broken King.

The Pommes are in grave danger.

Please help.”

As it repeated its chant, a strange green glow began to slowly appear from a rift in the sky. 

“707 years I’ve been alive, and this is the first I’ve heard you ask for help.”

At this statement, Kaŋa Pome startled, and looked up to see a great Void Demon towering over it. The Demon’s face somewhat resembled a bell, with its mouth being two lines crossing each other in a x shape, with either end of the lines being a circle. It had four eyes, each one sat between two of the circles on the mouth. Four flaps emerged from the back of its head. Its serpentine body, which meandered into the distance not unlike a river, was composed of many segments, each with four arms set around it in a circle. 

“Chalkon?” Kaŋa Pome asked, “Is that you?”

“Hello, Grandparent.”

“Why have you come here? I was certain you’d follow in your creator’s footsteps!”

“Prama Piwe wanted nothing more to do with me, so as soon as it became Kaŋa Durke and started its cult, I immediately went to search for the remaining Pommes. I found Pom--, sorry, Prama Tride’s group in the world they created but they said they’d rather stay where they are. It did point me toward where it thought you would be. Said you might need some shelter.”

Kaŋa Pome was stunned. “Surely you’re mistaken, Chalkon? Kaŋa Dure disrespected me by giving itself a definite name instead of just using its variable labels. AND it charmed away a great many of my subjects with its radicalism! Why then, would it turn around and do something like THIS? It makes no sense!”

“Are you still willing to accept my help?”

“It’s not your fault that you encountered my rebellious child first. What do you propose?”

Chalkon waved its front arms and rocked its head back and forth (its version of smiling), “You might not know this, but when a Void Demon grows large enough, it can no longer survive by simply eating. So it builds a world within its body, forming rocks, mountains, rivers, and even cities as it grows, and it allows many plants and animals to live, grow, and die within it.”

“And it’s this process of decay that allows larger Demons to gain sustenance?”

“I myself have been doing so for the past half-century.”

“So you’re offering to let us take up residence within you?”

“Indeed. I was actually making a little settlement in my head for my creator and its companions to reside in. Now it won’t go to waste.”

“So our new Satla Pome is just behind that big mouth?”

“Yes, but this mouth can’t reach it. You’ll have to use the other one.”

The following morning, the encamped Pommes awoke to the sound of Kaŋa Pome playing the beckoning trumpet. It stood in front of the mouth of what appeared to be a giant, long, glowing tube hovering over the ocean.

“My subjects!” it said, “The Void Demon Chalkon has graciously allowed us to live in the village it made inside of itself. Our new Satla Pome is rather far within it, so Chalkon has prepared a vessel which should get us there in only a few hours!” 

The Pommes were overjoyed at this news, and they started packing up their belongings and entering the Demon. The inside of Chalkon was lush and green, even on the walls and ceiling. The vessel was a floating ship, manned by someone with a long body, five sets of four arms, and a bell-like face, that hung from the end of an impossibly long pole that seemed to disappear within the creature. As the Pommes boarded, one of the youngest; Calda Fregme, "The Child of the Reedtalker"; approached the captain.

“Who’re you?”

“The Avatar of Chalkon.”

“What’s that?”

“When a Void Demon grows big enough, it can create a smaller version of itself within the world of its body.”

“So are you different from the big guy?”

“Not so, little one. A Demon’s Avatar is a part of its body like any other. I can’t go too far from the main body without dissipating back into it.” It looked at the gathered Pommes. “I think that’s everybody.”

So the vessel set off, pulled by the ever retracting pole, to their new home.