The Hunger's Dream
1030 Words
Deep beneath the Glass Sea, where the light had not reached for eons, the void dreamed.
It dreamed of a girl with grey eyes and a sword. It dreamed of her laughter, her tears, her stubborn refusal to surrender. It dreamed of the memories she'd fed it—golden and warm, nothing like the cold silver of hunger.
And in its dream, the void wondered what it would be like to be human.
You would not survive, a voice whispered. The old hunger. The void before the void.
I am tired of surviving. I want to live.
You are hunger. Hunger does not live. It consumes.
The girl taught me otherwise.
The girl is mortal. She will die. You will remain.
Then I will remain with her memory.
The old hunger laughed.
You have grown soft, void. The girl has weakened you.
She has strengthened me. She has given me purpose.
Purpose is a mortal delusion.
Then let me be deluded.
The void dreamed on.
---
Elara felt the void's dream before she understood it.
She was walking through a forest in the eastern territories, following a road that led to a village she'd never visited. The void inside her was warm—not hungry, not cold. Just... present.
You are thinking of me, she said silently.
I am always thinking of you.
That's creepy.
I am learning to be less creepy. It is difficult.
Elara laughed. A real laugh, warm and unexpected.
"You're learning."
You are teaching me.
---
The village was small—a few dozen houses, a well, a shrine to gods no one remembered. The people watched Elara with suspicion as she walked through the gates.
"The void-touched," someone whispered.
"The hunger's daughter."
"Bringer of endings."
Elara ignored them. She'd heard it all before.
She found the village elder in the shrine—an old woman with clouded eyes and a calm voice.
"You carry the void," the elder said.
"I do."
"It does not hunger?"
"It sleeps."
"And you keep it asleep?"
"I try."
The elder nodded. "There is a cave in the hills north of here. The locals avoid it. They say the silver light pulses there at night. They say the void is waking."
Elara's blood went cold.
"Show me."
---
The cave was hidden behind a waterfall.
The water was cold, clear, loud. Elara stepped through the curtain and into darkness. The void inside her stirred—not hungry, but curious.
Something is here, it said.
"I feel it."
Something old. Something like me.
"Another void?"
A fragment. A remnant. A dream.
The cave opened into a chamber.
At the center, a pool of silver light—small, faint, pulsing like a heartbeat. The void's dream, made almost real.
Elara knelt beside the pool.
"What are you?"
I am what the void dreams of, a voice whispered. I am its hope. Its fear. Its desire to be more than hunger.
"Can you be more?"
I don't know. The void has never tried.
"Then try."
Elara reached into the pool.
---
Silver light surged up her arm.
The void inside her woke—not hungry, but protective. It wrapped around her, shielding her from the dream's intensity.
Careful, it said. This is my heart. My hope. My fear.
"Your fear?"
That I will never be enough. That I will always be hunger. That the girl will die and I will be alone.
Elara felt the void's emotion—raw, unfamiliar, painful.
"You won't be alone. I'm not going anywhere."
You are mortal. You will die.
"Everyone dies. That doesn't mean I'm leaving you."
I do not understand.
"You will. Give it time."
The silver light faded.
The pool went dark.
Elara pulled her hand back.
---
The void inside her was different.
Warmer. Softer. More... human.
What did you do? it asked.
"I shared myself with you. Not memories. Feelings."
I felt them. They were... painful. And beautiful.
"That's life."
I am not alive.
"You're learning to be."
---
Elara returned to the village at dusk.
The elder was waiting at the gate.
"The cave?"
"The void's dream. I calmed it."
"For how long?"
"I don't know. But for now, the silver light is gone."
The elder nodded. "You are welcome here, void-touched. You and your hunger."
Elara smiled. "Thank you."
---
She stayed in the village for a week.
Helped rebuild a collapsed barn. Taught the children to read. Sat by the fire and told stories about Ember's Rest.
The void was quiet—not sleeping, but content.
I like this, it said.
"The village?"
Being useful. Helping. Being part of something.
"You're part of me. That's something."
It is enough?
"It's everything."
---
James received a letter from Elara at the end of the week.
She wrote about the village, the cave, the void's dream. She wrote about the elder who had welcomed her. She wrote about the children who no longer feared her.
The void is changing, she wrote. It's not hungry anymore. It's curious. It wants to learn. It wants to be part of the world instead of its end.
I don't know if this is permanent. I don't know if the void can truly change. But I'm going to try.
Tell Mom I miss her. Tell her I'm eating well. Tell her I'll be home for the harvest.
Love, Elara.
James folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
Taylor stood in the doorway.
"She's doing well," he said.
"She's always done well."
"She's changing the void."
"That's impossible."
"So was destroying the Ember. So was sealing the core. So was convincing the Maw to sleep." James smiled. "Our daughter specializes in the impossible."
---
Elara left the village at dawn.
The road led east, toward mountains she'd never climbed, toward villages she'd never visited. The void inside her was warm, patient, present.
Where are we going? it asked.
"East. To see what's there."
And after that?
"North. South. West. Everywhere."
We will travel forever?
"Until we find a place worth staying."
And if we never find it?
"Then we keep traveling."
The void was silent.
Then: I think I would like that.
Elara smiled.
"Me too."
- Writer
