Vaid Empire: Conquest
is a massive fantasy series that aims to mix
erotica
with the quality of a published novel. New chapters and artwork are released every month absolutely free, with the completely optional possibility to receive early access. The Series focuses heavily on worldbuilding, story, and characters.
The world of Ayphieal is shattered and chaotic, with kingdoms and tribes of six distinctive races vying for territory amongst themselves. It is only when a young human warrior finally pushes back against the chaos that the world begins to shift towards order.
***
12th of Onis, 5 BVE.
Lower Human Basin, Near Nitri.
"It came this way." Dominax whispered, keeping his voice low as he examined the deep marks in the reddish dirt. The forest breeze ran gently through his black hair and short beard.
"Good, let's finish this." Cendra replied, following closely behind her adopted son as they inched forward, crouching.
Briza hushed them, listening closely to their surroundings. "It's close."
Confirming her words, Dominax pulled apart the vibrant green foliage blocking their path, revealing an opening in the trees. In the center sat their target, an Avidion. With a serpentine body that stretched over twelve feet long, it had a long beak with several rows of sharp teeth. Rather than scales, it was covered in brightly colored feathers, consisting of blues, greens, and yellows. Near the head, it had two long arms that dragged its body along. Dominax readied his sword and took a step forward, his white cloak dragging in the mud behind him. Only a crude chest plate protected his body, with a dark tunic underneath that reached his knees. A belt known as a Turinis was strapped around his waist, consisting of several hanging strips of leather that served to add a small amount of protection to his lower half. With such a small amount of armor, he'd have to remain noiseless.
Briza loaded an arrow into her bow, freezing when she heard the snap of a twig beneath her boot. The sound caused the Avidion to whip its head around in time to see Dominax carefully approaching it.
The Avidion met Dominax's silver eyes for a split second before attacking, using its legs to launch itself at him. The beak closed upon his left forearm, it's many teeth piercing his skin as it dragged him to the ground. The pain felt like dozens of tiny swords digging into his flesh, ripping a cry of agony from his lips. He swung his sword, frantically striking at the creature in an attempt to free his arm while it thrashed its head, pulling him along the ground.
His brunette companions rushed to help him after throwing down their bows and unsheathing their swords, unwilling to risk hitting Dominax with a stray arrow. Cendra reached the beast first, driving her weapon deep into its serpentine body. In response, the Avidion unclenched its beak and released Dominax, leaving him on his back in the mud while clenching his wounds.
The Avidion let out a high-pitched shriek, swinging its long body away from Cendra and wrenching her sword from her hands before she could pull it out. It then followed up the move by swinging back and crashing into both girls, knocking the wind out of them while sending them to the ground.
Still on his back, Dominax watched as the creature moved towards his companions, readying to strike. He raised his blood covered hand, concentrating. A bolt of electricity erupted from his fingertips, slamming into the side of the creature's head.
The impact sent the feathered beast stumbling over and falling heavily onto its side, letting out a sickening shriek once more. The sound sent chills through all three of them.
Dominax hurried to his feet, gripping his sword in both hands. He groaned in pain, feeling his blood drip into the mud. The Avidion rose back up onto its strong legs and turned to face him, half of the colorful feathers on its head now scorched black. His face hardened as he prepared himself, turning the blade to point outwards towards the creature.
It attacked, launching itself with rage at Dominax. He held his sword tight and firm, allowing the Avidion to crash into him. The blade's position put it directly in the path of the beast's beaked mouth, causing it to practically stab itself as the blade pierced all the way through and exited behind its head.
The force of the attack lifted Dominax off his feet once more, slamming him onto the ground. The Avidion landed on top of him, lifeless and limp.
Cendra instinctively let out a scream at seeing her adopted son get smashed under the serpentine creature, rushing to his side with Briza. They both put their hands on the beast, using their combined strength to roll it off him. They crouched down, looking for signs of life.
Dominax broke into a fit of coughs, groaning as he slowly sat up. "I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Letting out a relieved breath Cendra wrapped him in a tight hug, her large breasts pressing against him. She had raised him from birth when his mother was executed by drowning, and she wasn't going to let him be killed.
"Mother, he's hurt." Briza said, holding out a roll of cloth that acted as bandages. With her long dark brown hair pulled back in several loose braids, the twenty-one-year-old appeared like a young version of Cendra. Though she had slightly smaller breasts, both women had desirable toned bodies that were only an inch shorter than Dominax's well-built six-foot-tall frame. Briza's strong, yet womanly form was concealed with a top made of dark cloth that held her firm breasts together, exposing her alluring abs and flat stomach. A simple loincloth hung from both the front and back of her waist, leaving her powerful shapely legs on display. The leather strips of her Turinis lightly slapped against her gorgeous thighs whenever she walked, caressing her flawlessly smooth skin.
Taking the bandage, Cendra began to wrap it around Dominax's bleeding forearm. He gritted his teeth though didn't flinch, as he had experienced far worse injuries during his twenty-two years of life.
"You fought well, Dominax." Cendra commented, finishing applying the cloth. She then turned to her daughter with a stern expression. "Though I thought I trained
you
better, Briza. This all would have been avoided if you had simply been aware of your surroundings and watched your footing."
Her daughter prepared to defend herself, though seemed to change her mind at the last second. What could have possibly been the start of a lengthy argument was reduced to a simple nod of acknowledgment. "Apologies mother, I'll do better next time."
Taken off guard at the younger woman's non-combative response, Cendra paused for a moment before smiling kindly. "I know you will, my child. Let us get back to camp while the sun remains above the horizon."
After helping Dominax to his feet, the three of them began to harvest the meat from the Avidion, which they wrapped in a bundle of leaves from a Mitir plant to preserve it for several weeks without spoiling.
***
Nightfall had already arrived by the time they reached their camp. They quickly added the wrapped meat to their provisions, prepared for the other members of their settlement known as Nitri.
"This'll be the last night before we return." Cendra announced as they prepared the firewood. They had gathered enough food, which was the purpose of their excursion. Every few months the elders sent out large numbers of groups to hunt and provide for the other settlement members, making up any deficits that they weren't able to provide through trade.
"I agree. It's foolish for the elders to thin our number of capable fighters with these hunting expeditions." Dominax replied, feeling his revulsion increase slightly. Though Cendra had always refused to explain why his mother was drowned, he deeply despised the elders for giving the command.
"Perhaps, but it's not our place to decide that." Briza replied absent-mindedly as she finished preparing the firewood. She then stepped back and put her hands on her attractive hips. "Well, do your thing."
Sighing, Dominax crouched down and reached out his hand. A small flame ignited in his palm, and he held it close to the firewood until the flame took to the flammable material, growing into a healthy campfire. He straightened back up, looking into the flames as they illuminated their surroundings.
He had possessed these strange abilities for as long as he could remember, being able to create fire, lightning, and even heal faster than normal humans. Unfortunately, however, Cendra absolutely refused to allow him to use them around anyone besides Briza and herself. Though she remained tight-lipped as to her reasons for secrecy, it didn't take much for Dominax to observe them for himself. Their fellow inhabitants of The Lower Human Basin were widely known to be extraordinarily superstitious. Just as many would immediately determine his powers to be a sign from some miscellaneous deity or two, he knew just as well that others would do everything they could to snuff out his heretical existence. Thus, while he had always been frustrated at her secrecy, he dutifully followed her rules. The only strange qualities about him that were impossible to conceal were his silver eyes, which seemed to glow whenever he used his powers.
While the fire warmed their athletic bodies, Dominax pulled his cloak tightly around himself and let his gaze wander to the horizon, settling on the massive white metal structure hovering in the sky. Known as The Chimira to his people, it had been there his entire life, miles long and far too high to ever even dream of reaching. No one could remember when it arrived, as stories of its existence went back countless generations. Some claim that its presence stretched all the way back to the creation of the world itself, though none could say for certain. The only thing his people knew for sure was that it had remained in the same position for as long as anyone alive could remember, as constant and unchanging as the mountains around them.
