Vaid Empire: Mother of Tentacles
Chapter 20
32nd of Silla, 766 BVE.
Sanctuary of The Mother.
Aifa could feel him like a distant echo. Though still hours away, Vaecath called to her, letting his mistress feel his approach as unseen tentacles caressed her mind.
The distant presence of the great beast was a comfort she hadn’t realized she needed. Though she rested atop the black form of a mature seedling, permitting the creature to gently tease the sensitive lower lips between her parted thighs, its mind was as simple as its purpose required. Little more than an instinct to breed and serve its mistress drove its actions. It held nothing of the grand and consuming presence resting inside Vaecath, lacking the connection she had gradually formed with the eldest of her descendants.
Of course, the colorful trio were as aware and conscious as Vaecath, though she had kept her distance from Jynae-bal, Ayaalag, and Cycath since Darmi’s departure. The bruises they had left behind had faded, though not the memory of their vicious attack upon Invaelag. Still her expression hardened whenever she thought of how they had attempted to rip apart the newborn mass of transparent tentacles piece by piece, irritated at how uneasy she felt.
She watched them move about the colossal cave. Though countless black tentacles writhed and slithered all around as new seedlings arrived daily, the color of the trio stood out in contrast. Golden tentacles wrapped around Irima’s body until even her sisters were unable to make out who squirmed inside his constricting grasp. Kifi’s mindless moans echoed off the smooth dome high above as she surrendered to the thrusts of Ayaalag’s azure tentacles. Though Cycath was the youngest of the three, he had grown much in the months following his birth, as if nurtured by the fertile bodies of the breeding harem. Already his crimson tentacles were easily able to overpower Cirui, pinning the girl down as his slimy appendages wiggled into her cunny.
Aifa watched them, her children, playing with what she had provided. Her glorious trio, hating the uneasy distance between them.
The contrast between the trio and Vaecath was one she despised. How could a mother fear her children? She would not. In Darmi’s absence, she had tried to convince herself that the distance she kept from them had been a precaution. Now, the far away affection she sensed from the eldest beast revealed the lie for what it was, a weakness. Divided, how could they possibly march upon the world?
As Vaecath approached, so too did she reluctantly leave the massaging tentacles of the seedling to approach Jynae-bal. The golden beast loomed ahead. She reached out to touch him for the first time since he had attacked Invaelag. When his tentacles whirled around to meet her, she flinched. With a scowl of simmering annoyance at herself, she caressed the nearest golden tendril. “Come, child.”
There could be nothing between them when the swarm was unleashed against the world. No fear could taint their bond. Mistrust would lead to their destruction. When an uneasy sensation in the pit of her stomach urged her to back away, the comforting presence of Vaecath’s distant mind held her firmly at the beast’s side instead.
Jynae-bal had long since grown taller than Aifa. As he loomed over her, she held a golden tentacle in her grasp, closing her eyes to concentrate. The muffled and gurgling moans of Irima made her task no easier.
Long had Vaecath been in her head. His unseen tendrils had wiggled through every crevice of her mind, a familiar presence, knowing the shape of her thoughts. Jynae-bal had been colder, his thoughts sharper, though she knew him far better than the other two.
After all this time, still she was uncertain how her children could touch her thoughts, yet she concentrated all the same. Her urges summoned him. Her silent commands brought his mind forth. Once, she had believed she understood him, only to be taken off guard when he had attacked Invaelag. Never would she be taken off guard again.
Golden tentacles gently coiled around her legs as unseen tendrils wrapped around her mind. Concentrating, Aifa focused on the bond they shared, letting him deeper into her thoughts. She wanted to know him, to understand him. Vaecath’s affection radiated from miles away, a warmth, yet at her side was a calculating mind with urges as deadly as daggers. Its affection was a hunger, tentacles tightening around her legs.
Perhaps she had made a mistake. Perhaps she had been a fool that stepped into his trap.
Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth, driving her doubts away. She was The Red Vessel, The Mother of tentacles, The Mistress of the apocalypse. She would fear none of her children. She would spill the blood of her misgivings as cast their corpses aside.
Never would she lose control.
A silent command urged the beast to stop. The tentacles coiling up her legs halted.
Aifa opened her eyes with a smirk that concealed her relief, yet she was far from done. As Jynae-bal released her, she summoned the others without words. Whatever reluctance they felt was of no consequence, for both Ayaalag and Cycath abandoned the warm and alluring bodies of their victims to creep towards their mother.
Once more she concentrated, trying to deepen their bond as she urged blue and crimson tentacles into her grasp. Their urges, their desires, their instincts swirled around her. There’d be no stopping them if they turned against her. Aifa would be as helpless in their grasp as Irima, a squirming body wrapped and moaning in the hold of countless tentacles. Never could she let that occur.
She felt them. Their minds were as calculating and controlled as Jynae-bal, waiting, biding their time. Waiting for what?
“Seek Synaalag.”
The voice boomed in her head, as if from all three.
Still, they held back, controlling their urges beneath her command. She drew her children closer and they obeyed.
Nothing in the world mattered but her children. As every second of her control peeled away her misgivings, her unease, she relaxed into the hold of their tentacles as they loomed all around her body.
She wanted their connection, their bond, focusing to savor the knowledge of their shared blood as she permitted them to touch her. Hoisted into the air, resting on her back, she could nearly feel her own blood coursing through their tendrils, a part of her forever.
“Serve,” she muttered, a test. She would not be a mere seedbed to thrust into and discard. She was their mother, urging their colorful tentacles to begin gently caressing her body.
A golden tentacle slithered up her leg, brushing up and down her inner thigh. Aifa’s control kept him from her loins. An azure tendril licked carefully up her curves to savor the shape of her. A crimson appendage wrapped gently around her waist, holding her, wiggling its tip against her flat belly as if worshiping the womb that had created it.
“Good boys,” she allowed herself to chuckle, a harsh sound. Letting thoughts of Invaelag melt away in the comfort of her renewed control, she relaxed into their hold. Supported off the ground, she permitted more tentacles to serve, allowing them to massage and explore her crimson skin.
She fought to continue concentrating as she lounged in their grasp. Their minds were a network far beyond her understanding. She felt their calculating thoughts pressing against her own. Only in Onaalag’s hold had she felt such alien and bizarre machinations caressing her consciousness. The beings she cared for the most were unknowable to her, and for a moment she nearly felt like a Cavari. What a distasteful feeling.
An unspoken command permitted a golden tentacle to nudge against her sex. It began to trace her bioluminescent lower lips, letting gentle blue light shine faintly off its wet tip. The touch of him made her melt into their grasp as her loins ached for more, craving to feel him deep inside.
The slime wetted her labia, tingling, making her squirm delightfully. It brushed her sensitive bud, receiving a subtle push of her hips in return. Natural instincts simmered beneath his mass of writhing tentacles as he waited for her command. It’d be an easy thing to take her, to force his tendril as deep as he wished, yet she felt his mind. A calculated patience held him back. His slimy tip began to lick between her lower lips as she felt his designed restraint. The boiling urge to breed was overshadowed only by a single thought resting deep at the core of his being, holding back his actions.
“Seek Synaalag.”
Aifa wanted to understand. She concentrated upon his thoughts, trying to dig deeper, though their mental bond emanated from the minds of the creatures, not her own. To her agony, she was but an ordinary Cavari, a mere mortal in the grasp of sublime beings with abilities she still could not understand. She saw only what he desired her to see.
Every flick of the tentacle glided between her labia, making her utter a soft moan. Her loins ached at his touch. As other tentacles continued to caress and explore her body, Aifa took a golden tentacle into her grasp, holding on in preparation. She offered a nod. “Come, my child. Breed me.”
Her grasp became a tight squeeze as the tentacle pushed into her sex. Deeper and deeper, inch by inch, it slid into her tight embrace. The slime mixed with her own dripping wetness to easily permit him as deep as he desired, gliding to meet her limit. With a groan that held the truth of the desperation she had attempted to conceal, Aifa’s head rolled back to savor the tingling satisfaction of being entered.
“Yes…Jynae-bal…” Aifa moaned, savoring her son.
Azure and crimson tentacles writhed against her in reaction. She could feel their agonizing need. Licking at her crimson curves, she offered a motherly hand, letting a blue tendril slide into her grasp as the other gripped Jynae-bal. The world would receive only her malice, yet her children were granted a gentler touch than she would have once believed herself capable of. Firming her hold upon the tentacle, she began to glide her hand up and down, feeling the beast’s pleasure at the stimulation.
A crimson tentacle traced the round curve of her breast as if appreciating a carefully crafted work of art. Its tip ran over her glowing nipple, making her hips push upward in pleasure.
The golden tentacle slid in and out of her tight sex. She felt the beast’s satisfaction, just as she had felt his lust while hunting for their new home. Over a year ago Aifa had received a close touch of his mind, yet still he was a stranger. Focusing, she never ceased fighting to delve deeper, even as every thrust threatened her concentration. She would know him. She would let her children deeper into her mind until her unease was dashed against the stones of the cave.
At the very least, she knew his urges. Jynae-bal’s lusts had been at her fingertips when they had captured Kifi. Now she felt his instincts flaring all the same. With his tentacle buried deep inside his mother, she could feel just how intently he wanted to breed the vagina that had birthed him.
Moaning, she savored the slime tingling upon her red skin and inside her cunny. Every stimulated nerve sent delightful tingles throughout her body. The tentacles left a path of their lubricating juices everywhere they touched, and they seemed eager to leave no inch of her unexplored.
Ayaalag’s blue mass writhed as her hand stroked him, though Cycath was left neglected as his crimson tentacles flicked gently at her breasts. The youngest, though bold, he sought his own satisfaction as another red tendril began to slither up her leg.
Aifa chuckled in amusement as the tentacle brushed her sensitive bud, only to be taken off guard when the bold appendage dared to join its kin, forcing itself inside her. Squeezing the tentacles in her grasp in reaction as she endured the extra intrusion, she couldn’t help but offer a moan of bliss at the double penetration.
“Careful…” she commanded sternly, even as her body was enthralled by the subtle sensation of being stretched.
Despite her words, Ayaalag would not be left out. Even as she ran her hand up and down the length of one blue appendage, another slithered between her thighs.
“I said…ahh…careful…” Aifa concentrated, fighting against their lusts. Never could they forget that she was their mother, rather than a mere body to take out their urges upon. Despite her pleasure, she managed to offer a stern glare. Never had she been more aware of her lack of power over her children than when she rested within their grasp, yet she’d make them obey.
To her relief, the blue beast hesitated at her disapproval. Rather than forcing himself, he licked softly at her stretched lower lips before gently easing his tentacle inside.
The tentacles writhing inside her sex were somewhat thin, yet they stretched her all the same. Thrusting at three separate rhythms, they delved together, sliding in and out as she squirmed.
Aifa’s lips parted at the intensity of the pleasure rippling through her loins. Gold, Azure, and crimson claimed her together, tormenting their mother’s sex with absolute bliss. Each of them had slid from her vaginal canal. Now, they explored every inch inside the vagina that had granted them life.
Her greedy cunny accepted them eagerly as her eyes fluttered back. Slime drooled from her labia with every deep thrust. The trio of tentacles coiled and uncoiled together, twisting and squirming inside her until she was certain she’d lose her mind.
“Ooohhh…breed me…my good boys…” she commanded through her ecstasy. Her womb was empty and ready for their potent seed. “Breed…your mother!”
After the trio had abandoned their prey to gather together, the pregnant women were left littered throughout the cave. They heard the sounds of Aifa’s bliss. Close by, Kifi surrendered to the glorious sight of her mistress’s monstrous incest, consumed by her own lusts. Left without the attention of a tentacle, she pushed her fingers inside herself, beginning to frantically slide them in and out when her masturbation proved inadequate. Mercifully, it didn’t take long before a seedling snatched her to finish what Ayaalag had started.
Aifa’s fertile womb craved to fall pregnant again. Her body ached to conceive, to unleash further tentacles upon the world. Already the swarm of seedlings had gathered into a ferocious force. Perhaps they were ready to attack Aslyd and build their new homeland. Perhaps not. She was far from prepared to risk her kin, yet to remain idle in their sanctuary would only delay the inevitable.
Still she sensed Vaecath’s approach. Hours away, she longed to have her eldest at her side once more. The fact that his arrival would accompany Darmi’s return was something she attempted to ignore, for never would she confess the deep pit of worry that she had felt for the girl since her departure, even to herself. As she thought of Darmi walking into the cave, a thought that brought a warmth to her chest, she fought to focus upon her pleasure instead.
“Breed me!” she demanded. Concentrating, she felt their minds. Unseen tendrils coiled through her brain as real tentacles twisted inside her with every thrust. The tickle of the slime pouring from her lower lips made her hips tremble, and every movement pushed her closer towards her impending orgasm.
Squeezing the tentacles in her grasp, she savored the bond of their blood. She had given birth to them. The beasts were her children, as much a part of her as her own body. They spread her bloodline across the jungle, her descendants filling every fertile womb with spawn of her blood.
Every living creature held an instinct to reproduce. As Aifa felt the grand minds of the trio caressing her, and the simple minds of the seedlings echoing faintly through her head, a consuming satisfaction pulsated through her body and soothed every inch of her being. The world was her enemy, yet soon it’d belong to her descendants.
The tentacles stimulated every crevice and sensitive wall inside her vagina, leaving no secrets. Her body squirmed as she moaned, tightening, letting a tension build inside her loins with every thrust. Finally, as she felt the warmth of their combined seed begin to spew inside her, the tension snapped into a powerful climax that ripped through her, nearly making Aifa scream.
Writhing in absolute ecstasy, Aifa felt their seed spurt in thick ropes within her fertile vagina. It mattered little whose sperm would win her womb, for her body sought to get pregnant by any means necessary. Her hips bucked as seed oozed heavily from her loins, surrendering herself to her pleasure.
The tentacles in her hands began to spit all the same, squirting heavy jets of sperm to splash across her breasts and belly. It dripped over her wet skin, already drenched in slime.
Claimed inside and out, Aifa hung in their grasp when her orgasm finally faded, leaving her limp and leaking. Thighs twitching, she took heavy breaths as she fought to recover, utterly satisfied.
“Put…me…down…” she commanded. Obeying, they lowered her to rest atop a nearby sleeping mat.
With a hand upon her belly, coated in sperm, she closed her eyes to savor the mixture of seed deep inside her cunt. No doubt a battle raged within her, sperm fighting for the right to impregnate her.
Not caring who the victor would be, she reached out to lovingly caress the nearest tentacle. Slime oozed between her fingers, though with her eyes closed, she cared little what color it was.
With Vaecath and Darmi still miles away, she permitted herself to sleep.
***
In her dreams, she saw three tentacles curling inside the walls of a tight womb. Squeezing, pushing together, they merged into a single mass.
“Seek Synaalag.”
Outside the womb was the pale girl from her visions, the human, caressing her swollen belly lovingly. Her silver eyes glowed, a beacon in the darkness.
“Mistress?”
The voice shattered her dream. She felt as if she was falling, falling, lost until a hand shook her, ripping her awake. Blinking, momentarily disoriented, Aifa fought to calm herself as she realized she was staring at the face of Darmi.
Leaning over her, the girl was kneeling at her side. “Another nightmare?”
Aifa nodded, though relief escaped her typically stern expression. The sight of the girl warmed her, and as she glanced over at Vaecath towering beside them, she reached out to gently caress one of his black tentacles. “One that can harm me no longer.”
Darmi smiled, though it was a faint thing, dying quickly upon her lips.
Sitting up, she prepared to endure the girl’s affectionate embrace upon their reunion. When it didn’t come, Aifa couldn’t help but feel a tingle of disappointment. As the girl knelt beside her, quiet, Aifa frowned. “Did you find what you sought?”
It was Darmi’s turn to nod, and she moved to return the black spear to her mistress. “That, and more.”
“Then your tribe is…?” Aifa saw the smallest hint of dried Cavari blood upon the tip as she rested the weapon between them.
“Gone.” Darmi stared at the spear, though in truth she saw nothing. Her empty eyes glowed in the low light of the colossal cave.
The sight of her did little to quiet the growing unease within Aifa as her lips tightened. “No doubt you’re ready to put them aside, I assume.”
“My father is dead,” Darmi stated quietly, as if the words slipped out upon a soft breath.
“Ah.” Aifa’s chest tightened. Though the memory of her mother came forth for an instant, the girl had shown nothing but hatred towards her father. Uncertain and uneasy, she fought for a response. Hardly was she one to offer comforting words. “Was that not your wish?”
Darmi tried to hide a grimace, shrugging. “I thought I held many wishes. Now…” Though clearly growing nervous, the girl dared to meet Aifa’s gaze. “Mistress, have you ever wondered if we are in the wrong? Have you ever questioned if we hold the right to punish the world?”
A sneer of disgust fell across Aifa’s features in an instant. “Never.” As if hoping a single word could end the discussion, despising the mere thought the girl had presented, Darmi’s gaze lingered. “Though I see you have.” Her distaste melted into a sigh. “Why now?”
Finally, Darmi looked away. “Perhaps I was childish.”
The statement stung as Aifa’s lips tightened. What did that make her? “You experienced the cruel nature of our kind first-hand and rejected it, as you should have. Your tribe betrayed you, used you, and abandoned you.” Aifa moved closer, resisting an urge to rest a comforting hand upon the girl’s shoulder. “Whatever fate you witnessed befall your tribe out there falls far shorter than what they deserved.”
“I was hurt, mistress, and I lashed out.” Darmi folded her arms tightly across her chest, as if she could conceal her shame. “Yet we’ve hurt many that never showed us harm.”
Aifa scowled. “All we’ve encountered have been Cavaries. Their nature is no different from that of your tribe, or the people of Aslyd, or Audir.” She uttered the name with hate. “Really, Darmi, enough of this. Haven’t we discussed this countless times before?”
“Yet I was angry, and now I’m not,” Darmi replied, as if the simple statement could explain it all. “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
The sight of the distraught girl made Aifa’s heart quicken. “Don’t be a fool.”
It was time for Darmi to be brave once more. She met the challenging gaze of her mistress. “Better a fool than a child. Aifa…what have we done?” She gestured to the cave around them. “We destroyed a family here.”
“We sought refuge from this horrid world here,” Aifa countered harshly.
Still Kifi’s moans could be heard in the distance. “And to save our lives we destroyed theirs. Kifi’s mind lies in ruins. Her sisters are no better. And Wair…” Darmi grimaced at the thought of her own cruel deeds. “I won’t argue that he was a good man, though was it our place to punish him? To turn his daughters into broken breeding stock?”
“Damn his punishment!” Aifa nearly spat. “We came here to protect my children, nothing more. I am not here to enact divine judgment. The horrid nature of Cavaries have simply left me no choice but to push them aside to make room for my children. They deserve to suffer, yet if they would simply allow me to live…” She felt her throat tighten, leaving the statement unfinished as she shook her head. “They take, and they take, and they take, Darmi. You know this. Never will we be safe until they’re gone.”
“You can’t know that.” Darmi put determination into her gentle tone like the thrust of a spear. “Am I not a Cavari? Was I not a mere womb to be used and discarded when Nula-bal found me?”
Aifa eyed her coldly. “You proved yourself to be useful. Nothing more.” In truth, she felt her heart pounding.
Darmi paused. Though clearly hurt, she pressed on. “What of the women that continue to fall victim to the seedlings? They don’t even know we exist until they feel tentacles creeping between their legs at night. What if I was among them? What if you discarded me as quickly as you do the others?” She lowered her tone, as if the coming words would destroy her. “What if we never met?”
A dismissive wave was her defense. “It’s madness to consider what might have been. You’re here, now, with me. Damn the others. I have no need for them.” Still, she found the thought…troubling. “In all this time, in all my life, you alone have proven your worth. Darmi…don’t question me now. Don’t turn your back on me.”
The smallest hint of emotion escaped the words of her mistress, cracks in her fierce expression. Fighting to remain brave, Darmi nearly faltered. “You saved my life. You gave me a purpose when I had no place left in the world. Hide it, conceal it all you like, yet I know you. I’ve seen the real Aifa.” She dared to reach out, taking her hands in hers. “I know you’re afraid, and hurt, as I was.”
Aifa scowled. “Careful of your tongue.” Yet she didn’t pull away.
“Everything you’ve tried to hold onto has been ripped away. You think it’s easier to be alone, and maybe it is, though you’re not.” Darmi squeezed her hands. “Not anymore.”
Aifa’s heart was racing. She felt the warm softness of the girl’s hands. “What would you have me do?”
Her eyes seemed to light up with the smallest trickle of hope. “Release Wair and his daughters. Give them back the home we stole. We can’t undo what we’ve done to them, though neither do we have a right to keep them bound or…” She glanced at Wair lying slumped over in his cage.
“You’d see all our progress undone? What little we’ve gained, you’d rip away?”
“We’ll find another home. One we don’t have to steal. Summon all of the seedlings from the jungle. Stop them from hunting innocent people.” Darmi tightened her grip, almost pleading. “I’ve witnessed the destruction myself. Aifa…we’re destroying lives.”
If the girl’s words were a spear, Aifa’s hard expression was a shield to meet it. “To save our own.”
Darmi’s hope was a fragile thing, splintering with every moment. “We’re safe now. Even out there, no one could stand against the swarm we’ve created. Is that not the wall you’ve desired to build between the world and your children? Could we not preserve what we already possess and turn in the opposite direction of Aslyd?”
Glancing down at her scars, Aifa shook her head, shattering the girl’s hope. “They’d find a way. We thought we were safe from Audir, only to find his blade at our throats. To run is to delay the inevitable. If Aslyd is the greatest threat to my children, I shall rip it down and build a new homeland atop the rubble.” She felt Darmi’s grip loosen. “There can be no compromise. I’ll find Synaalag, be it safety, an ideal, a…a mere idea…I’ll find it.” She thought of the strange woman in her dreams, of tentacles stretching across the world. Only then would they be safe. “When Audir held a blade to my throat, I stood ready to die for my children. If you’re asking me to relinquish the only purpose I’ve ever possessed, you know my answer.”
A silence lingered between them, feeling as long as the years they had spent together. After all that time, Darmi uttered a pitiful sigh. “If that’s the path you choose, I cannot stay.” She looked down at their hands. “I won’t watch the world suffer. Don’t ask me to.”
“You little hypocrite…” Aifa muttered quickly, feeling as if her heart would burst apart as it pounded in her chest. “You were at my side every step of the way. You reveled in the coming apocalypse. Now…now you…run?”
“It was the dream of an angry child, and now I’m awake.” Darmi swallowed, feeling a dampness gathering in her eyes. “Come with me. Please.”
“No. No…no…” Aifa shook her head. “Stop this nonsense, foolish girl. We’re so close!”
“Close to a nightmare I cannot be a part of.” She remembered her father’s corpse, his final words drifting upon his last breath. “Forgive me…Aifa…”
She gritted her teeth in a fierce scowl, holding onto Darmi’s hands as if clinging to her last tether to the world. As anger gave way, feeling her heart racing, she lowered her voice until it was hardly above a whisper. “Don’t do this.”
“I must.” Darmi’s freedom tormented her further, for tears ran down the girl’s cheeks without restraint. “I’m so sorry…”
She would not beg. Aifa felt as if the life within her was being torn away as Darmi slowly pulled her hands free. She felt the last touch of the girl’s soft warmth slip from her fingertips.
“You’ve given me my life, though I can’t destroy another’s. Forgive me.” Darmi slowly rose to her feet.
Aifa merely stared at her empty hands, feeling as if her heart had been torn from her chest.
“I’ll wait for you. If you ever decide to abandon this madness, I’ll be there.” She leaned over, using the last of her bravery to kiss Aifa’s head. “This is only an end if you choose it to be.”
Like a lifeless husk, Aifa hardly felt her lips, never looking up. “Then at last…I discover the final cruelty of Cavari nature. Betrayal. The word is only a whisper of what this is.”
Darmi began to retreat, offering Vaecath a final affectionate touch. She felt his slime tingle between her fingers, wondering if she’d ever see him again. He had been her firstborn, the beginning of her suffering, and the cause of her pleasure and joy. There was no arguing against his nature, however, and she was forced to leave him behind.
As she reached the entrance to the tunnel, Darmi paused to glance back. “In a world without monsters, we could have built something spectacular.” Despite her tears, she found a smile upon her lips. If this was their last moment, she’d take no secrets with her. “I love you, Aifa.”
Blinking at the confession, Aifa felt the word stir her back to life, coaxing her anger. “Leave.” Her rage was a shield, flowing through her veins anew as she stood up. “Get out!”
Despite her hate, it did little to dampen Darmi’s smile. Wiping her tears, she turned to depart, disappearing down the steps into the tunnel.
“Leave me!” Aifa shouted, though she was already gone. “Curse you! CURSE YOU!”
Seizing the black spear from the ground, she squeezed it hard, wanting to break it, to shatter it into countless pieces. When the strange metal didn’t give, she struck the nearest rock rising from the cave floor.
“Curse you…” she said through gritted teeth, even as tears finally began to flow. “Curse you…Darmi…”
In the heart of all she had gained, Aifa had never felt so alone. Throwing the spear, she covered her eyes, feeling as if the world pressed down upon her as she collapsed to her knees.
“Darmi…”
33rd of Silla, 766 BVE.
Sanctuary of The Mother.
The sounds of metal against rock rang out with every strike. In the heart of her sanctuary, her lonely tomb, Aifa’s spear crashed against the tall stone she had made her enemy.
Having trained throughout the night, unable to find sleep, she moved with a ferocious fury. Every stab and thrust came savagely, chipping off pieces of stone as anger drove her hand. She wanted the stone to bleed, to suffer. She wanted to drive her spear through the world.
Still, she knew Vaecath could sense Darmi, out in the jungle, yet alive. No matter how many miles she ventured, the beast knew where she was.
Gritted teeth held back Aifa’s emotion. If she dared to let her tears resume, she’d drown. Only the sounds of pleasure echoing from the women throughout the cave battled to break through her thoughts as she remained focused upon her inanimate foe.
She sneered in annoyance at the sound of Kifi’s moans. Her hate built further as Irima cried out. With every wet sound of squirming tentacles pushing into tight bodies, her ire gathered.
Soon, she knew nothing but hate. She hated their pleasure. She hated their moans. She hated the sound of Cavari voices begging for more. She hated, and hated, and hated.
Ramming the blunt end of the spear against the stone, she finally broke from her thoughts to peer at the women littered about the cave. What were they but tools, objects to serve her aims? Why should she have to suffer the sound of their groans? Why should they know pleasure while she suffered in silence?
Scowling at the sight before her, Aifa’s focus fell upon Wair’s cage. Kneeling, the man watched through the bars of his cramped prison as his pregnant daughters were used as mere toys. Eying his erection, Aifa’s grip tightened upon her spear.
“Enjoying the display?” she asked with a sneer, strolling towards the cage. “Is this why Darmi always argued to spare your life? So you may ogle your own kin?”
Wair muttered something spiteful into his gag. When he saw the black weapon gleaming in the faint light, he ceased his words and shuffled back.
She regarded him with disgust. Long had he wasted their resources. Long had Darmi wasted her time defending his pitiful life. Hate poured through her, looming before his cage. “Never do you Cavaries cease to sink lower than before.”
Were these the innocent lives Darmi had abandoned her for? Moaning whores and vile old men? Was that the world she sought to preserve? “You take and you take. Even when you don’t mean to, your presence destroys all I care for.”
Everything was crumbling around her. Hatred lifted her weapon. Hate, hate, hate.
The tip of the spear was through his chest and out his back before she knew what she had done. As blue Cavari blood poured from his wounds, watching his body slump against the rear bars, she heard a horrid scream rip through the cave.
Turning, she saw Kifi scurrying to her feet, pulling a blue tentacle from her loins as she rushed towards them. As the sight of her quickly dying father snapped her momentarily from the depths of her shattered mind, she came to a stop before the cage, staring in disbelief. When she was able to break from her horror, a shriek of rage boomed through the cave as she turned against her mistress. A fist hurled towards the woman that had broken her, the woman that had stolen and enslaved her family, the woman that had destroyed all she had ever known.
Aifa hardly had enough time to yank the spear from Wair’s dead flesh, though Kifi’s latest pregnancy slowed her down. Unarmed, there was no hope for the ruined woman. Aifa drove her spear through Kifi’s swollen belly, piercing the womb that had served her children countless times.
With a gasp of agony, she collapsed to the hard ground, twitching before her father’s cage. When she fell limp, Aifa heard the screams fill the cave anew.
Tentacles held back the other women as they thrashed in horror. Hoisted from the ground, wrapped tightly, they cried out at the sight.
Aifa loomed above the corpses. As she stared down at Kifi, she remembered the promise she had made the first time they had met. “I’ll set you free, though in my own way.”
Guilt bled from her as heavily as the glowing blue liquid oozing from their dead flesh. If she had once been a Cavari, all that remained was her hate. The last bond connecting Aifa to her species had walked away at Darmi’s side. There’d be no mercy.
She sat down upon a curved stone near the cage. Rubbing her eyes, crushed beneath her hate, she blocked out their horrified screams.
***
The jungle was alive with the distant sounds of chirps and screeches. Darmi hurried to build her shelter, knowing that even the most pleasant sounds came from the mouths of monstrosities.
She took a handful of mud, packing the makeshift walls of gathered branches around her with wet clumps, just as Aifa had taught her. The memory coaxed a quiver to her lip. She had made Darmi into a survivor and survive she would.
With a sigh, she wiped the perspiration from her brow before continuing, still feeling the tears wetting her eyes. Long had she pondered what she’d say, and now that it was over, she longed to go back and say more. Perhaps there was a perfect string of words that would have convinced Aifa to come. Perhaps not. Either way, there was no going back now.
As she nearly completed the shelter, reaching outside to gather more branches, she froze at the sound of the nearby vegetation rustling. Within an instant her thoughts were shoved aside, feeling her blood run cold. Daring to turn her head carefully, she watched the vibrant leaves gradually part, preparing to flee the moment whatever predator had stumbled upon her leapt forth.
She couldn’t die now. That couldn’t be the last time she ever spoke to Aifa. Holding back a whimper, she fought to retain what remained of her bravery, finding herself trembling.
The leaves were pulled apart fully, and her heart nearly stopped. There, emerging from the vegetation, was a small mass of transparent tentacles.
With her breath momentarily caught in her throat, her eyes opened wide, lungs filling with relief. Though she had fallen unconscious during his birth, Aifa’s descriptions had left no doubt of what creature crept towards her. “Invaelag?”
Hardly could she believe what she saw. Fighting to calm herself, able to live another day, she rushed to sweep the strange creature into her arms. Lovingly writhing against his mother’s chest, the small beast squirmed excitedly.
Already she felt him within her mind, a feeling that was as natural as her own thoughts as he offered soothing whispers. She stared down at his transparent appendages in utter fascination. “I…I don’t understand. Why are you here? Why did they…” She remembered what Aifa had told her of the trio’s attack, seeing that his missing tentacles were already healing.
The sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze made her flinch, and she retreated back into the shelter. “You want to accompany me, then?” She felt his soothing whispers shift, as if offering a yes. Overjoyed, she quickly finished her work, sealing them both inside safely. “It’s been a…strange few days, though I suppose it hasn’t been all bad.”
As she eased onto her back, Invaelag clung to her, stretching his tentacles to wrap tightly around her waist, as if shielding her. She felt his whispers shift within her mind, a bizarre sensation that made her own thoughts sound quiet in her head. “I don’t…” Once more she felt his soothing affection, as if seeking to calm her.
Deciding that she was more thrilled to discover her lost child alive than she needed to understand at the moment, she held him close, delighting in his touch.
***
Staring at the corpses upon the ground, little had changed in the last hour or two. Aside from the black ooze that had briefly poured from the wound opening Kifi’s pregnant swell, they offered little of interest, yet still Aifa stared.
Only Vaecath’s concern had pulled her way from empty thoughts for a brief time. Though the beast had been able to sense Darmi’s movements across the land, the girl had entirely disappeared without warning, as if vanishing from the world in an instant. Aifa’s immediate concern that she had been consumed by some predator prowling the jungle had been mercifully soothed by the beast, assuring her that Darmi lived, even if he couldn’t feel where she was.
Having returned to staring blankly at the corpses, knowing Wair’s remaining daughters were struggling to break free of their tentacled bondage, though hardly hearing their muffled screams, Aifa was nearly in a daze when she felt it.
A tingle, an echo, an approach of something horrid. As Vaecath’s unseen tendrils wove through her mind, she was permitted to feel them. Mere miles away, a group was exploring. Seven Cavari men, she felt her hate pouring in to fill the emptiness.
No longer could she merely stare. Rising to her feet, she regarded the seedlings scurrying about the cave. It was a gamble, yet few tribes would march so boldly through the jungle in such numbers. Though she could not sense him among them, she knew who had sent them. “Audir.”
Hardly were they the first group of Aslyd scouts to venture so close, though they would be the last.
The bodies lingered at her feet. If her hate faltered now, guilt would be her undoing. She gritted her teeth, hatred driving her steps. “All of you, to me,” she commanded sternly, summoning the seedlings to her side more through thought than her words. “It’s about time for you to prove your worth.”
Though Vaecath writhed with worry at her side, she would not surrender. There would be no mercy. Marching towards the tunnel, hearing a swarm of tentacles following like a ravenous flood behind her, she held her spear tightly. Once more, the hunted would become the hunters.
Hate drove her every step as she left the sanctuary behind. It was time to assess their strength, to assess if they could stand against Aslyd. Vaecath’s colossal tentacles tore through the trees behind her, followed by the trio. As dozens of seedlings scattered to blend into the vegetation, she marched with a silent army at her back.
Teeth bared, rage urging her forth, she slowed only when they were within earshot. A mental command held back the swarm as she crept forth. Peering through the vegetation, she caught sight of their prey. Just as she had hoped, seven Cavari males stood with spears ready, while their leader held a slug. Scouts from Aslyd, they had never been closer to her home.
The leader waved the slug carefully before them, watching the colors change. As he slowly pointed it towards where she hid, Aifa watched his eyes grow wide as the slug glowed a bright red. The moment he opened his mouth to shout a command, she loosed one of her own.
In an instant, the vegetation erupted into a flood of tentacles.
Spears drove through thrashing black masses, only for the men holding them to be swept off their feet by countless tentacles. Wrapping around necks, arms, and legs, bones snapped with sickening cracks as doomed warriors roared.
Aifa gritted her teeth in rage as she rushed into battle, only for Vaecath’s colossal tentacle to leave her intended opponent as a bloody smear in the mud when it swept in from over her head. Stumbling, she watched the chaos erupt around her as dying men fought desperately.
The black blood of tentacles spilled upon the ground, showering the scouts, yet any seedlings they cut down were replaced in an instant.
In moments, two men were left standing. As Aifa threw out a hand to order the swarm to stop, she watched as the furthest of the pair was pulled apart by Jynae-bal’s wrath.
The slaughter halted, leaving a final survivor. Aifa gestured with her finger, and seedlings pulled him down to his knees.
In the wake of their swift victory, Aifa found that her hate had simmered to a low disgust as she stood before their fallen foe. Lowering herself to one knee, cupping the terrified man’s chin to meet his eyes, she offered a smirk that held no mercy. “You still breathe for a single purpose. I want you to return to the man that sent you. I want you to tell Audir that you found us. I want you to look into his eyes, to let him see your terror as you tell him that I’m coming.” Her hatred burned brighter, pressing closer. “Let him know that his city, his people, and everything he ever cared for is doomed. I want him ready. Tell him I’m going to spill his blood.”
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As you can likely tell from the ending, the next chapter is going to be quite…intense!