Hungry

HUNGER

“Okay, okay,” Ron said. “I get it already. We’re almost there.” Just one more portal to go. They could make it with Ron’s sanity intact. He hoped.

HUNGER HUNGER HUNGER

“You can last through one more jump, Oscar. I believe in you.” Only one more pang of HUNGER, this one with a tinge of pout, and Oscar stopped emoting. Blissful peace.

Ron went back to work aligning the runestones. It was hard enough remembering all this without Oscar poking at his hindbrain like that. Now was it blue or red that went into the circle notch here? Blue, right! The portal clicked and swirled open and the two of them jumped through.

The vast difference between the old world and the new hit Ron like a wall. Where they’d left an unpopulated pastoral dreamland, here was all noise and smells and people. So many people. As they stepped out from behind the illusion masking the portal, masses of them stretched out as far as Ron could see. Buildings towered overhead, covered in windows and brilliant lights. The smell… well, it’s the kind you expected when you stuck that many people in one place.

HUNGER?

“Alright, Oscar, go ahead. You can hunt now,” Ron said with an exhausted gesture. “Just be home by dawn.” With a swirl of air and dust, the nightmare demon swept invisibly through the crowd, looking for its first snack.