A mythological tale
A story about a selfless wish and an ancient pact
Egypt · Forgotten Era
Long before stone giants reached into the desert air, something else was already here - formed not from bone or breath, but from what people imagined when they closed their eyes at night.
These shapes came from fear, hope, longing - all stirred together by restless human thought. Their life did not depend on hearts beating or lungs pulling air; instead, they lived because stories kept speaking them forward. So even when forgotten, they lingered - quiet beneath the noise of time - as long as someone somewhere still dreamed.
A shape moved among them, one who handed out deals when people had nowhere else to turn. Seen by humans, it appeared like a holy being - bright wings, golden glow, flawless grace pouring off it. Yet none of that held truth.
Behind the shimmering crown sat eyes twisted like maze walls, pulsing with quiet malice.
Something lurked inside the deal. Protection came at a price, control slipped through fingers like smoke, while dark forces stayed away - only because something worse held them back. Hidden strings tied each favor, knotted tight beneath promises that sounded fair. Bigger desires meant deeper cuts, slow drains no one noticed until too late. When breath finally stopped, what remained got claimed without appeal. No gifts here. Just debts repaid in full.
A hush fell. Among broken stone figures, worn thin by time, a child crouched on chilled grains of beach. Not after temple voices, nor holy chants - just someone who’d hear what silence holds.
The sky thickened, sharp with the scent of sparks and scorched air when the creature took shape. Out stretched its vast, dreadful wings, eyes fixed on the shaking kid below.
A twisted promise formed in its throat, waiting for familiar rot - money hunger, revenge cravings, control lust - the usual human mess.
"Flesh-and-blood dreamer, name what you want. Offer your mark upon the pact, then I fulfill it."
Up above, the kid froze, pupils blown wide under that strange glow pouring off the thing. Fear had him tight - still, he pushed forward, needing what only this moment could give.
"I don't want gold. I wish... I wish for you to eat the nightmares of my village. I want the terrors in the dark to vanish so my people can finally sleep. Take my dreams instead."
A stillness came over the creature. All those secret eyes, scattered and unseen, closed at once - then opened again.
Here stood a child placing before it boundless streams of dream-stuff, the core substance that fed its ageless life, yet asked for nothing back, not even a fragment. Not one craving showed itself, no hunger to exploit, no inner want to bend.
Such strangeness - a plea so far outside expected patterns - struck the old terror like a gust from nowhere.
A rumble broke loose - centuries had passed since such a noise stirred the air. The creature laughed, deep and rolling like distant storms cracking open.
Never before, across endless ages, had it felt anything close to what now curled inside. Eyes locked on the youth, simple-minded yet burning with something untouched by decay. Purity like his was never meant to exist among crooked hearts.
Curious, the demon grew fond of the child. With a flicker, it signed the agreement - and strangely spared the buried traps within the fine lines.
Clinging to the boy’s shade, it turned into something ancient and watchful. Night after night, it drove back what lurked beyond the dunes, swallowing dreams too dark to name, honoring every word without fail.
He received exactly what he’d wanted, unaware of the horror now tethered close. Meanwhile, the ageless creature felt something like wonder at a human who did not beg for gold or power, only silence beneath the stars.
✦
The End