Parallel Vol. 4 [LEGACY EDITION]

Chapter 14.2: Fall of the Daeben

Cathek looked down at the red carpet with the drider sigil. He took a deep breath, then stepped on the carpet and made his way to the throne at the end. The atmosphere instantly warped as soon as he walked past the threshold. The air was heavy with an innate suppression forced upon all within the halls by an unknown entity.

Cathek was fortunate in that the suppressive atmosphere had no hold on him. He was far too strong for anything on this material plane to suppress him. He had the luxury of freely examining the throne room, a deep melancholy in his eyes as he looked at the crumbled pillars and cracked walls.

Traces of the beauty that once was could be seen in the beautiful marble floors, with finishing so exquisite, with the right amount of light, they could reflect the entire room perfectly. Unfortunately, pale green light from will-o-wisps lanterns were the only source of light in the throne room.

Cathek's gaze narrowed as he looked up. A mural of a colossal spider occupied the entirety of the ceiling, eight will-o-wisp lights ominously watching over the proceedings within the room. Cathek shook his head and turned his attention to the throne itself.

The daeben were a matriarchic community, a fact duly affirmed by the young woman who laid on a sinister throne fashioned from the husk of a dead drider. The dark throne evoked ghastly images of it would look like if a person 'laid' within the abdomen of a drider. To the daeben however, it was a talisman that promised their rulers, and in turn, their kingdom would always be in the embrace of their patron goddess, Arachne.

Arachne, unlike Gerber, Mera and the others was not a progeny of Ferulic and Aethir, hence she was not a real goddess by the strictest definition. Instead, she was one of the demons created by Ferulic during his 'little jealous tantrum.' Arachne was created to embody the treachery, cunning and wickedness of humes, her horrifying lower body meant to be a play on the humes' penchant to follow anything beautiful. In this case, following her beautiful upper body would land humes within her lower body's mandibles.

"It never ceases to amaze me how you always appreciate this art despite being older than this entire building."

A soft sultry voice drew Cathek's gaze down to the beautiful daeben who laid on the throne, clad in a sensuous, revealing cloth black cloth armor. The young queen's ashy black skin had a subtle glow, dull yet inviting beneath the green will-o-wisps. Long locks of snow-white hair, indicative of pure-blooded daebens rested on her exposed midriff, the queen's penchant for individuality subtly revealed in ruby red highlights made to match her steamy gaze. Dark red lips curled up in a smirk as she regarded the powerful kafu.