The First Servant
821 Words
The creature came from the river at midnight.
It had no shape—just emptiness shaped like a person. Silver light bled from its edges where the Deepening's power tried to hold it together. Its eyes were hollow. Its mouth was a wound.
The watcher on the wall saw it first.
He sounded the alarm. Bells rang through Ember's Rest.
Elara reached the gate before the creature did.
"What is it?"
A servant of the Deepening, the void said. Emptiness given form.
"Can we kill it?"
We can try.
---
The creature stopped at the edge of the torchlight.
I come for the child, it said. Its voice was not a voice—just pressure in the skull. Give her to the Deepening, and the rest of you may live.
"She's not yours to take."
Everything is the Deepening's to take. It was here before the world. It will be here after.
"The void was here too. The void changed."
The void is weak. The Deepening is strong.
"Strength isn't everything."
---
Taylor drew her sword.
James stood beside her. Tommy flanked them.
Elara raised her hand. Golden light poured from her palm.
The creature recoiled.
That light is an abomination.
"It's hope. You wouldn't understand."
Hope is a lie.
"Then let me lie to you."
---
The creature lunged.
Elara met it with golden light. The light pushed against the creature's emptiness—not burning, but filling. Where the light touched, the creature's form solidified.
What are you doing?
"Giving you something to be."
I do not want to be.
"Too late."
---
The creature screamed.
Not in pain—in fear. It had never felt fear before. The Deepening had not prepared it for fear.
Stop.
"Surrender."
I cannot.
"Then dissolve."
Elara pushed harder.
The creature's form collapsed—not into pieces, but into nothing. The emptiness scattered. The silver light faded.
The servant was gone.
---
Taylor lowered her sword.
"Is it dead?"
"I don't know. The void says it's... dispersed."
"Can it come back?"
"Maybe. In a different shape. A different form."
"Then we need to be ready."
Elara looked at the river.
"We need to end the Deepening. Before it sends more."
---
Kaela stood in the doorway of the farmhouse.
She was seven years old. Her grey eyes were wide.
"Mom?"
Elara knelt beside her.
"It's okay. The creature is gone."
"It wanted me."
"The Deepening wants a lot of things. That doesn't mean it gets them."
Kaela hugged her.
"I was scared."
"So was I. But we fought anyway."
"That's what you always say."
"Because it's always true."
---
The void spoke to Elara that night.
The Deepening will send more servants. Stronger ones. The next may not be so easy to disperse.
"Then we prepare."
How?
"Kaela needs to learn to use the golden light. To defend herself."
She is seven years old.
"The Deepening doesn't care about age."
You would train a child for war.
"I would train her to survive."
---
James found Elara in the training yard at dawn.
Kaela stood across from her, a wooden sword in her small hands.
"She's too young."
"She's old enough to be targeted. She's old enough to fight back."
James watched his granddaughter swing the sword.
"You're going to train her the way Taylor trained you?"
"Harder. The Deepening is worse than anything we faced."
"Then let me help."
Elara handed him a wooden sword.
"Teach her to block. I'll teach her to strike."
---
Taylor watched from the porch.
"You're pushing her too hard."
"She'll thank me later."
"Or she'll resent you."
"Either way, she'll be alive."
Taylor walked to her granddaughter.
"Kaela."
"Yes, Grandma?"
"Your mother is hard on you because she loves you. Remember that."
Kaela nodded.
"I know."
"Good. Now hit her harder."
---
Kaela trained for a month.
Sword drills. Shield work. The golden light—learning to call it, shape it, aim it. The void guided her, patient and warm.
You are a fast learner, it said.
"You're a good teacher."
Your mother taught me how to teach.
"She taught me how to fight."
Same thing.
"No. Teaching is patience. Fighting is action."
What is the difference?
"One is a gift. The other is a choice."
---
The second servant came at dawn.
It was larger than the first—more solid, more focused. Its hollow eyes fixed on Kaela.
The child.
"You can't have her."
The Deepening is patient. It will wait.
"The Deepening won't have to wait. It'll just lose."
Elara raised her hand.
Golden light poured from her palm.
The creature lunged.
---
The battle was short.
Kaela stood behind her mother, her wooden sword raised. The golden light flowed from Elara, pushing the creature back.
You cannot win.
"Watch me."
The light surged. The creature screamed.
Then it was gone.
Kaela lowered her sword.
"Did I help?"
"You stood your ground. That's enough."
- Writer
