Dark Dream

6. The Devourer of Souls

Charley felt its slow passage through the city, as it devoured the souls of the living, the sleeping and the anxious.

Supporting himself on the crumbling Roman wall, he fought to steady himself against the growing vertigo and the sensation of losing the ground beneath his feet. This was a dream, he knew, in reality he could not stand. Reality had put him into a wheelchair and only his dreams could give him his legs back.

Its outline was vague but recognisable. Muted lights shone through from its inner mass as it engulfed smaller buildings and passed through office blocks. Sometimes he lost sight of it in the darkness but then it would re-appear, more focused and growing in size. Its form was huge and bloated, like an earthworm cut in two. Spinning on a cycle of ever diminishing returns, his mind tried to resist the abyss that beckoned. The ancient wall he stood upon held him firm, just as they had for many hundreds of years.

Lightning spidered across the distant horizon, a huge storm front was approaching. The air felt charged, heavy and filled with expectancy.

"Goes against everything you know and understand, doesn't it?"

A tall figure appeared silently and from nowhere, his face as pale as the waxing moon. He paid Charley little notice, as he looked unblinking at the emerging terror before them. Straight white hair went as far as his shoulder blades. The clothes reminded Charley of his time as a bouncer in the fetish scene. This was the real deal though, not some distraction to take the wearer out of the greyness of the modern world. The figures eyes were unlike any he had ever seen and looked fixed and unyielding.

"What is it?" Charley found his voice, even though he'd not thought it lost. Why be afraid, he thought, dreams often threw up new directions to bait and tempt the dreamer.

The stranger was silent as if trying to find the right words to describe what they both saw. Finally, he said, "It is known to the ancient Egyptians as Ammut, The Devourer of Souls. It has many names but its only purpose is to consume. By doing so, it grows stronger as we grow weaker. The doors are opening onto your world, the scales have tipped in its favor and it wants nothing more than the freedom to roam among you."

The words made his stomach lurch, as if he was waking from a dream, but before he could think too deeply on the meaning of the words, the fixed and solid landscape began to change. The street-lights were gone and camp-fires blinked warmly in their place. Where buildings once stood, there existed smaller constructions with conical roofs made of wood and straw. The Devourer of Souls remained in this world, seeming bigger than ever before.

"It weaves itself through space and time, experiencing life on many levels. Through us, it lives. Without us, it dies. It's the very thing we fear the most, the calamity of days and all our efforts, our weaknesses and spent aspirations."

"Does it ever stop?"

"Never; it follows the tide of dawn and is never sated. As the world grows in number, so does its size."

"But its size remains the same."

"When it was here last, it was smaller. Through the latent memories of your people, it returns, sampling the stored energy of your ancestors. Each time frame holds its own draw. Nothing is overlooked. It samples your world like fine wine. The souls of your people lend character to its memories of this world."

Waves of shadowy figures surround the encampment making their way into its heart. Screams broke the near silence. Dogs barked and people shouted. He heard the sound of weapons clashing. The Devourer of Souls fed on their dwindling numbers.

"Why does it come back to these times?" His heart felt chilled by the scene but he also felt detached from it. This was a time long gone; involving events and people that he knew little about.