Vaid Empire: Mother of Tentacles

Vaid Empire: Mother of Tentaclesis a prequel toVaid Empire: Conquest, though acts as a complete stand-alone. No prior knowledge regarding the previous series is required.

Long before the rise of The Vaid Empire, far on the other side of Ayphieal, a young woman finds a deeper purpose beyond her own survival when she is captured and offered to an ancient monstrosity.

Ancient entities conspire to achieve hidden schemes while tentacles spread across the land in this strange and mysterious prequel.

New chapters and artwork are released every month for free, with the completely optional possibility to receive early access on the official Vaid Empire Website. The Series focuses heavily on worldbuilding, story, and characters.

***

19th of Silla, 766 BVE.

Sanctuary of The Mother.

"Return to me. You've been quite useful," Aifa's words echoed softly off the colossal cave walls.

Standing before the tunnel entrance into their sanctuary, Darmi offered a reassuring smile. Behind her came the wet sounds of squirming tentacles waiting patiently for her command. "I will, mistress. Nothing shall stop my return."

Aifa eyed her coldly, though behind her eyes of solid glowing blue, she felt an urge to grab the girl and ensure she never departed. It'd be a simple thing to break her word. Would Darmi forgive her? The need in the girl's gaze granted her the answer. There was no stopping her. She'd march out into the jungle to seek vengeance upon her former tribe, the same jungle that had claimed all Aifa had ever known.

She wouldn't send her alone, of course. Behind, the gargantuan form of Vaecath's writhing mass prepared to escort the girl to her fate. A small army of two dozen seedlings awaited his mental commands. The oldest of their horde, the black creatures nearly stood taller than Aifa already, always growing, always breeding and spreading. Their black tentacles dripped with slime, under their larger elder's control.

"Are you certain of this? Do you still refuse my help?" Aifa asked, squeezing the black spear in her grasp.

Darmi nodded. "I must do this on my own." She glanced at the massive beast with a soft giggle. "Well, I suppose notentirelyon my own. Vaecath was the source of their betrayal. It's only right that his tentacles deliver my justice."

There was little more to say, yet still Aifa lingered, dragging out a long silence as she regarded the girl. Behind her facade of eagerness, she knew Darmi well enough to see the pain behind her faint smile. "If this will make you whole," she began, leaving the statement unfinished. With a gesture of her hand, Vaecath obediently came forward, squeezing his massive form through the narrow tunnel. The seedlings moved to follow.

The Cavari women waited until they were alone as the tentacled beasts ventured from the sanctuary. Even in their absence the sound of writhing appendages lingered, for dozens of seedlings remained. They could hear the distant sounds of tentacles enjoying the bodies of their breeding harem throughout the cave, and Aifa saw the trio of Jynae-bal, Ayaalag, and Cycath sharing Kifi nearby. Whatever madness had claimed them had all but vanished, though Darmi's horror at learning what had occurred to Invaelag after she lost consciousness had not.

"Are you...safe, mistress?" Darmi asked in a hushed tone.

Aifa waved her hand in a swift dismissive gesture. "I am their mother," she said, as if such a simple statement could mask her doubt. Still, so long as whatever aroused their wrath did not occur again, she hoped they'd remain docile. The fact she had tohopeirritated her to no end.

Darmi didn't dare to press the matter further. Yet when Aifa gently took her hand and led her into the tunnel, she followed in confusion. "Mistress?"

"Quiet." Aifa put a finger to the girl's lips. Alone in the tunnel, safe from the eyes of the others, she appeared more hesitant than ever before. Looking around to ensure nothing spied upon them in the darkness, she finally kissed Darmi's lips. It was over in a moment, hardly more than a second before Aifa pressed her forehead to the girl's, closing her eyes. Despite great effort, she could not keep the subtle anguish from her tone. "Of all the Cavaries I've ever encountered, you alone have been one I fear to lose." She forced the spear into Darmi's grasp. "Take it."

Darmi's heart quickened as they separated. She felt Aifa release her hand, hoping it'd return.

***

Step after step after step, ever dreading the end of their journey. Darmi knew what awaited her. More than the horrid jungle around her, more than the vile beasts in every direction, she feared her return.

The humid air clung to her skin as they crept through the dense vegetation. Hardly more than an hour had passed since departing from the sanctuary, yet already she was discovering that leading her small army was quite different from sneaking through the trees alone. Their number was at once a challenge and her safety.

Vaecath's size was proving to be far from inconspicuous. As they traveled, his colossal form snapped branches overhead and leveled plants beneath his great weight. His spatial awareness allowed them to avoid getting close to the largest monstrosities lurking in the trees, however, and whenever smaller predators crept closer to make Darmi a quick meal, one swift swipe of his tentacles shattered their bones.

In sharp contrast to their elder, the seedlings were hardly seen. Despite being surrounded by two dozen of the squirming creatures, she hardly saw more than one or two at a time, for they crept through the vegetation as if naturally adapted to their environment, blending into the shadows.

Every creeping step brought another mixture of fear and anger to flare through her. Resentment burned in her blood at the memory of her tribe's betrayal, all while her father stood by and permitted her torment. She wanted the world to burn. She wanted to bring forth the end of all things as her visions had promised long ago.

She wanted to weep.

Lost in thought, she hardly noticed the subtle twitch of her antenna. Only when whatever she sensed grew closer did her attention snap back to her surroundings. Cursing herself, for Aifa always instructed her to remain focused when surrounded by danger, she turned her head, trying to sense what approached. The stump of her missing antenna ached, making it difficult to assess the direction of whatever caught her attention, and she had to lift her tail close to her face, utilizing the antenna at its tip.

Something large was approaching fast. As panic began to quicken her heart, she felt the whispers in her mind shift, becoming soothing, promising that no danger would find her.

"Vaecath...are you certain?" she asked as she readied her spear, though it was already too late.

Branches snapped overhead. The weight of heavy feet stomped into the muddy ground. Peering up, she felt her blood freeze at the sight of the monstrosity that lumbered into sight. Standing on four legs, a colossal blue quadruped stepped forth. From its body rose a long, thick neck that reached high into the trees with dozens of spindly pairs of arms that ran up the entire length of its neck. With a head that was little more than a gaping mouth holding several rows of sharp teeth, three tiny eyes peered down at its prey.

She was deceived by its size, for its neck moved like a flexible serpent, its mouth swooping down to strike at her far faster than she could react. Eyes widening, death approaching, she fell back onto her rump as tentacles shot forth, snatching the creature and holding it back.

She wanted to scream, yet her instincts restrained her voice, for it would only attract other predators. Instead, she watched from the ground as Vaecath's gargantuan mass lunged forth to meet the monstrosity.

Tentacles wrapped around the flexible neck, squeezing, wrestling the beast to the muddy ground. Its thin arms clawed with sharp nails at its foe, tearing open tentacles and making Vaecath bleed a black liquid as dark as the void.

His wounds were nothing. A dozen tentacles were severed, yet hundreds remained. Squeezing, twisting, Vaecath wrestled the beast. The strength of his larger tentacles caused a sickening snap to ring out, then another, and another. Breaking the creature's long neck in several places, a dying shriek signaled Vaecath's victory, for the beast fell limp within his grasp.

Panting, fighting to calm herself, Darmi felt the calming whispers of Vaecath caressing her mind. When at last she could rise to her feet, she stood before the gargantuan corpse.

Never could she have hoped to slay such a horrid creature herself, nor outrun it. Once more she had tasted the fear she had felt every day she and Aifa had traveled through the jungle before finding their sanctuary. Now, as she watched Vaecath conceal his damaged tentacles behind healthy appendages, ready to fight, she felt safe out in the open.

The jungle would hunt them no longer. Yet as she thought of facing her father, her fear remained.

25th of Silla, 766 BVE.

Deep Jungle.

Familiarity coaxed her dread, for Darmi had reached the end of her journey.

Many days of travel had done little to dampen her thoughts. She had witnessed Vaecath battle against the jungle, tearing apart all who sought to consume her, yet her fears remained solely within the cave ahead. It called to her, as if the black beast at her side guided her towards the fate she had set out to face.

The cave of her birth, her childhood, and her torment was within reach. There, at the bottom of the cliffside ahead was the entrance, concealed behind a false wall of woven branches.

She peered carefully through the vegetation. The antenna decorating her head searched for any sign of the guards always hidden atop the trees, though she sensed...nothing. A searching glance at the beast confirmed her thoughts. She felt the whispers shift within her mind, assuring her that it was safe to proceed. Unnerved, she crept closer.

A chill ran down her back as she touched the stone wall of the cliffside. All of her earliest memories awaited inside. She cursed them, every happy moment, every year she had falsely felt safe. They had all been a lie.

The wall of branches proved to be in dire condition when she saw it up close. Several holes lay open, as if no one had bothered to replace it in weeks. Darmi swallowed as she prepared to look through. Heart racing, she peeked inside, seeing the central chamber of the cave. The memories that instantly came forth were shattered by the sight of a single man lying in the center, illuminated by the faint light of a low-burning fire that would soon die out if it was not tended to.

Waiting, eyes searching, she remained still for what seemed to be an eternity. Still she saw no one else.

Finally, she carefully moved aside the false wall and dared to creep inside. Readying the black spear, she moved with silent steps, ready to strike the moment the limp man moved. When she saw his face, however, she froze in place.

There, asleep at her feet, was her father.

Darmi's hands trembled. She had come to face him, yet now she found herself immovable. Her body refused to obey her commands. Her heart pounded in her chest as her breath caught in her throat.

The sound of Vaecath bursting through the false wall shattered the silence with the booming of snapping branches and rustling leaves. The sleeping man's single eye flashed open. He hurried to rise, only to pause at the sight of the spear's point looming above him.

"Father..." she managed to mutter.

He beheld the daughter he had forsaken with a blank expression, frozen as she was, until he collapsed back upon the ground and was seized by a fit of coughs.

She moved without thinking. Instincts drove Darmi to her knees at his side, discarding the spear to lift his head from the hard stone floor. Her thoughts caught up with her actions a second later, staring down in horror as she took in the sight of him.

Always had he been a skinny man, yet now he appeared like a gaunt corpse. His ribs were visible, as if he hadn't eaten in quite a while. His arm appeared as if it had been broken, healing at an odd angle that was just unnatural enough to notice. Alone, he loosed a defeated sigh in her arms.

"Darmi..." he muttered in a weak voice, yet still his tone was as cold and stern as she remembered. "My child returns in my dreams."

She managed to shake her head. "No. I'm real."

If he believed her, he did not say.

"What...happened here?" she asked when the question could not be restrained.

Her father's face twisted with a bitter grimace. "Aslyd. They took our women." He tried to spit, though his mouth was too dry. "A tribe with no women has no future. The other men left."

"Yet you stayed."

His eye met hers, and he grabbed her wrist, squeezing hard as if to feel if she was real. "To wait."

She yanked her hand away as the other continued to support his head. Behind, she heard the dripping of Vaecath's tentacles as he loomed behind her, touching the chamber's natural ceiling as he was flanked by the seedlings. "For what?"

He hardly seemed to notice the massive beast. "The jungle should have consumed you. If not, your..." he coughed once more, wheezing. "Your pursuers should have hunted you down. They came here. They sought your blood." He looked away, gritting his teeth. "Only fools have hope.Iam a fool. I could not leave where you might return."

Darmi felt her throat tighten. "You waited...forme?"

An exhausted nod was all he offered.

"But I...I came to kill you," she confessed quietly. Forcing a scowl, she tried to bring forth her rage. "You stood by and didnothing."

A deep sigh escaped him, as if the final strength of his body oozed from his lips. "Forgive me."

It was a simple statement, yet one that forced her to silence. In all her time with Aifa, bathing in her resentment, imagining this very moment, she hadn't expected...this. "No. No..." she muttered, shaking her head as she clung to her anger. "That's not enough. That won't save you!"

He eyed the discarded spear. "Then kill me."

Biting her lip, driven by anger, she had every intention to do just that. Picking up the spear in one hand, holding his head with the other, she trembled with rage as she raised the black weapon. It hovered there, ready to come down and drive through his flesh.

She watched his eye close with an exhausted acceptance. Looking upon his face, the anger drained from her maddened gaze as her squeezing grip loosen upon the spear.

His eye crept opened as she lowered her weapon.

Horrified as she felt the anger slip through her fingers, Darmi hardly believed her actions as she let the spear fall to the floor at her side. A deep emptiness remained where her rage had been, and she sighed at the sight of the already dying man before her.

The only sound came from the squirming of tentacles throughout the chamber. For a long while she simply stared at her empty hand.

In the silence, he reached up weakly to cup her cheek, as if seeking to assure himself that she was indeed real. "I failed you. Do it."

She was little more than an empty husk, yet when she heard his voice, a flicker of emotion seeped into the void where her anger had been. She eyed his missing antenna, feeling the subtle ache of her own stump.

"My duty was to our tribe." He coughed once more. "It should have been to you."

She winced as she felt the first hints of dampness gathering in her gaze. The warmth of his hand stopped her from pulling away.

He glanced over for the first time at the tentacled beasts filling the chamber. They waited patiently for Vaecath's command. "It's too late. You've found your way on your own."

Following his gaze, she watched the countless tentacles squirm. "Don't they...disgust you? Aren't they abominations?"

A deep sorrow tainted his stern features, and he looked away as if the question no longer mattered.

Biting her lip, Darmi felt as if her world was collapsing. She had come for vengeance, yet her tribe was already destroyed. She had come to face her father, yet he was nothing more than a dying man. She felt tears trickle down her cheeks, wetting his fingers. "I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm here."

He left her cheek to reach over, grasping the spear. Though she flinched, he merely rested it upon his chest. "Kill me."

"No," the word burst from her lips without thinking, and she scowled at herself. Hadn't that been her desire for so long? Or had it never been?

"There's nothing left." He gritted his teeth. "All I built is gone." His scowl deepened. "I thought you were too. Kill me. Have your vengeance and let me rest."

She bit back a whimper. "I can't forgive you."

Her words pierced him deeper than the spear would, and he grimaced as he used the last of his strength to force the weapon into her grasp. "Do it. Be done with this and move on."

Holding the spear above his chest, she felt her hands tremble. When she couldn't bring herself to stab him, he put his hands over hers and drove the blade himself, sinking it deep with an agonized groan.

Her lips parted in horror as she watched his glowing blue blood ooze heavily from the wound, yet she continued to hold the spear even when his hands fell away.

"I waited..." he muttered weakly. "I waited...and waited..." He reached up, caressing her cheek a final time. "I...am pleased you live...my...my child..." A whisper came forth with his last exhale as his life slipped away. "Forgive...me..."

Darmi watched his body fall limp. She stared at his lifeless corpse without moving. No anger came forth. Her tears trickled to a stop. Once more she was empty as she remained on her knees, blinking occasionally, never looking away.

The light from the nearby fire gradually faded, leaving her in darkness as the flames grew weaker until they were extinguished. The embers cooled, yet still she knelt, staring at the glowing blood.

After what seemed to be an eternity she dared to stand on unsteady legs. Still the sounds of the tentacles lingered, yet she hardly knew they were there. Instead, she peered at the branching tunnels of the cave. Here, she had been born. Here, she had been raised. Here, she had been betrayed. Now nothing remained but echoes.

She thought she'd feel relief after her vengeance. Instead, she felt...nothing. Only an emptiness remained, and she pulled the spear free as if floating through a dream.

"Forgive me," the words echoed in her memory. The smallest hint of an emotion twitched inside her, and she reached down to gently close her father's eye.

Taking a final look at the man that had raised her, lying dead and alone in her former home, she left everything she had once known behind, departing from the cave forever.

26th of Silla, 766 BVE.

Deep Jungle.

Darmi hardly paid attention to where she was walking. If there was danger, it was snuffed out by the swarming of the seedlings or ripped apart by Vaecath's might. The memory of what had occurred in the cave played over and over in her mind as she stumbled along in an empty daze.

"Forgive me."

Only when the tentacled beasts came to an abrupt stop did she finally break from her thoughts. She nearly ran into the massive mass of Vaecath's slimy form before halting in her tracks. "A...predator?" she asked when the beasts simply waited.