Chapter 7 The sleepless city

The prism pulsed like a heartbeat in Nyra's hands.

Even in the waking world, it shimmered faintly under Ava's desk lamp, casting flickers of silver light across the bedroom walls. It had been two nights since Ava returned from the Hollow Veil, and yet the image of those ink-like shadows still haunted her whenever she closed her eyes.

Leo sat cross-legged on the floor, poring over ancient dream maps that Nyra had scanned into her tablet. They showed regions of the Dreamworld that were now inaccessible or unstable. Each section was marked in vibrant colors-except one.

A massive area on the western edge of the Dreamworld was blacked out.

No dream signals. No Dreamweaver activity. Just void.

Nyra pointed to it. "There. The prism's resonance aligns with this zone."

Ava narrowed her eyes. "It's like a dead spot in the Dreamworld."

Leo nodded. "They call it the Sleepless City."

Ava frowned. "I've never heard of it."

"Most haven't," Nyra replied. "It's a myth among Dreamweavers. A city that tried to manipulate dreams beyond the natural laws. They thought if they could harness dreaming, they could live forever-never sleep, never age. But something went wrong. Horribly wrong."

Ava stood and paced the room. "And now the Hollow spreads from there."

"We don't know for sure," Leo said cautiously.

"I do," Ava said. "I felt it. The prism-it's like a compass pointing directly to it. That's where the breach began."

---

That night, they prepared.

Traveling to the Sleepless City meant crossing through layers of unstable dreamspace. Ava fortified her Lucid Key, anchoring it with fragments of her own memories-her tenth birthday, her mother's laugh, a summer storm she once danced in.

Leo crafted defensive sigils into their gear: rings and bracelets made from moon-thread, dreamglass, and obsidian. He muttered as he worked, brow furrowed with concentration. "These won't stop the Hollow, but they might slow it down."

Nyra loaded her dreamsatchel with everything they'd need: illusion dust, echo-stones for communication, and a dreamflare in case they needed to signal the Council.

As they lay down in Ava's room, the three of them linked hands.

"Ready?" Ava asked.

Leo gave a dry chuckle. "Absolutely not."

"Let's go anyway," Nyra said, closing her eyes.

---

They entered the Dreamworld with a jolt.

At first, everything felt normal. Stars sparkled across an endless indigo sky, and the ground below shifted like silk. But as they moved west, the air changed. Dreams became thinner, distorted. The landscape twisted: mountains floated sideways, oceans turned into sand.

Then, they crossed the threshold.

It was like walking into an abandoned city after a catastrophe.

The Sleepless City loomed ahead-massive towers of glass and chrome, all dark, all silent. Not a single window lit. Not a single soul in sight.

Buildings leaned precariously, some half-melted, as though reality itself had warped. Cars hovered mid-air, stuck in looping dream-frames. Billboards blinked messages from a lost era: "Dream Smart. Live Forever." "Awaken Your Potential-Literally."

Ava's heart thudded. "It's... empty."

"No," Nyra whispered. "It's sleeping. But the dreams are trapped."

They moved cautiously, each step echoing through the hollow streets. The air was thick with static, like broken memories trying to scream. Ava reached out with her Lucid Key-it thrummed violently.

They were close.

---

In the city center, they found the Dream Engine.

A spiraling tower of crystal and circuitry rose from the heart of the city like a crown of broken ambition. It buzzed with dormant energy, and veins of shadow pulsed beneath its surface.

Ava stepped forward, the prism glowing in her hand.

Suddenly, a sound-soft, rhythmic-emerged from the base of the tower.

Breathing.

The three of them turned sharply.

A figure stepped out from the tower's base. At first glance, it looked human. Pale skin, short hair, a neutral gray uniform. But its eyes...

Black. Hollow. Endless.

"Who are you?" Ava asked, holding the prism protectively.

The figure tilted its head. "I was the Architect. I built the Engine. I shaped this city."

Its voice echoed like it came from deep inside the earth.

"You caused the breach?" Nyra stepped forward.

"I opened the dream beyond dreams," it replied. "And now, the Hollow sustains us."

Leo's face paled. "You're not human anymore."

"No," the Architect said calmly. "We are what comes next."

Ava's Lucid Key flared with light, reacting violently. The Architect hissed and retreated a step.

"You still think dreams belong to you," it snarled. "But this city proved otherwise. We mastered dreaming. We conquered sleep. We became gods-until she tried to stop us."

"Who?" Ava asked.

"The girl who dreamt too deeply," it said. "She resisted. She tore the veil. And from her pain... the Hollow was born."

Ava's blood ran cold.

Was it talking about her?

---

The ground trembled.

The tower began to shift-tendrils of shadow slithering down its sides, reaching for them.

"Run!" Leo shouted.

They bolted through the darkened streets, chased by a tide of inky blackness. The shadows warped buildings as they moved-melting glass, shattering illusions. Ava held the prism to her chest and focused.

A flare of silver light erupted from her.

The Hollow recoiled, just long enough for them to duck into an alleyway and slip through a crumbling doorway.

Inside, they found a strange chamber-walls covered in dream glyphs, ancient and pulsing faintly. A console sat in the center, still powered.

Nyra touched it. "This... this is a backup system. They were trying to escape."

Leo read the glyphs. "They failed. But they left this message."

He touched a sequence and a projection appeared: a young girl, no older than Ava. She was crying.

"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I just wanted them to stop. To sleep again. I didn't know it would... consume everything."

The projection glitched and faded.

Ava sank to her knees.

"It's me," she said softly. "Some part of me... I caused this."

Leo put a hand on her shoulder. "No. You inherited this. But you're also the key to fixing it."

---

Outside, the Hollow howled.

Inside, Ava stood slowly, her resolve returning.

"We're not leaving until we shut that Engine down."

Nyra nodded. "Let's end what they started."

They gathered their gear and turned toward the tower once more.

The final confrontation was near.