Chapter 5 The Serum

The hidden realm of the Dabba Union was cloaked in the golden glow of the receding evening sun, a mystic world.

A world concealed from the probing gaze of humanity.

Seventeen long years had passed since the day of the rebellion, after the death of Siji Khan, the Dabba Union had seen a new order emerge.

The orchestrator of the rebellion, Siji Khan's brother, Mali. Now held the throne as Khan, with Odenus Naga, the architect of the rebellion, standing as the formidable second in command.

The past seventeen years had not been one of peace for the Dabba Union, as Odenus Naga had turned a once peaceful world into a military base. All male Werebreeds were recruited into his army. He didn't care whether the male was underage or overage.

He was building an army, an army large enough to battle the human race and come out victorious, but he was not yet satisfied.

His scientists had been working on a serum, a biosynthesized serum, one that could turn any Werebreed into a beast, giving it a strength that one full moon couldn't give, the strength the serum gave a Werebreed was triple of what it had on a full moon.

The downside was, it made them devoid of emotions, turning them into bloodthirsty zombies. But none of that mattered to Odenus, all he wanted was to build a formidable army, one that no force in the universe would have a chance against.

He would have preferred to make the serum for his legion of assassins, but the serum had several defects, including faster aging. A Were-breed aged two times slower than a human, which meant that taking the serum would balance the Were-breeds aging, while if a normal human took the serum it would speed the aging process, killing the human in a week.

The biggest stumbling block for this project was that the serum needed a certain rare material for it to function properly, Aleadium, and because of that his scientists had only been able to make a few bottles of the serum.

Odenus mind was full of thoughts. As he headed towards the courtroom, he had spent too much time on this project for him to cancel it, he didn't care what it cost him, he had to create as many of that serum as possible.

Mali Khan had just returned from one of his many trips. Every now and then he usually went on long trips to gather more Werebreed tribes that had been seperated during the Cold War. On hearing of his arrival, Odenus had quickly set up a court meeting.

**

The large luxuriously decorated courtroom stretched on and on, large golden pillars were built into each side of the courtroom, each of the pillar had a golden plated stone, with the inscriptions of the names of each Werebreeds that fought in the Cold War.

A large table was placed at the middle of the courtroom.

Mali Khan sat at the head of the vast and beautiful table, he was dressed in long royal intricate robes adorned with ancient symbols,

His eyes were sharp and piercing, as he stared at the other faces before him.

Opposite him, across the table, Odenus Naga took his seat, exuding a commanding aura, he was a towering figure with a mane of reddish hair cascading down his broad shoulders. His face was filled with lines from the numerous battles he had fought, his gaze rested on Mali Khan.

The silence in the chamber was heavy, it felt like the room had been split into two worlds and the two men sat like gods in each of the world.

The walls of the chamber were adorned with ancient tapestries depicting the fabled history of the Were-breeds, seeming to whisper tales of glory and shadows of the past.

The table itself, was an ancient artifact map, on it the whole hidden world of the Dabba Union was carved from the heart of the Dabba Union's hidden mountains, to the rivers of the city.

The atmosphere was thick with the heavy scent of incense, mingling with the undercurrents of tension that electrified the air.

"How was life in the outlands?," Odenus finally asked, breaking the heavy silence in the room.

His mouth curved into an ugly smile as he continued, "I heard you brought a lot of Were-breeds this time around."

Mali Khan nodded.

"Splendi-

"Where is the serum?" Mali Khan cut him off, obviously disinterested in the other things the man had to say.

"You said it was complete, I want to see it." Mali Khan continued, his voice boomed across the room, his voice was deep and unhinged, it held an unmistakable sense of authority.

Both men locked eyes, and the room became silent again, the silence was deafening to every other person in the room.

Both eyes held unspeakable horrors, as their gaze lingered.

"I am a man of class," Odenus finally said, breaking the silence but not the eye contact he had with Mali.

"I believe in certain formalities," he continued.

"I have brought my son to join us today." Odenus continued, as he pointed towards the young man sitting beside him.

"He is going to be joining us from now on," Odenus continued, as he proceeded to give the young man a little pat.

Every eye in the room focused on the young man Odenus had introduced as his son.

Damon Naga, a tall and shadowy figure with piercing blue eyes that seemed to hold a glint of unspoken rebellion, unlike his father, Damon had semi-long silky black hair, packed into a bun, with little strands falling across his face, resting on his bushy eyebrows.

Beside him, Odenus's trusted assassins stood like centurions each with a story etched into their battle-worn features, scars that bore a testament to their loyalty to the legion of Red assassins and more importantly, to the Naga Legacy.

"I can see you brought your own son too." Odenus continued, as he pointed at the young man sitting on the left-hand side of Mali Khan, a young man, about the same age as Damon.

Veto Khan, a young Were-breed whose features mirrored that of his father. Veto's eyes were a carbon copy of his father's, both dark with unspeakable evil, with Veto's own having the edge, long dark hair cascaded over his huge shoulders, unlike all his other features, his face was calm, and his aura exuded a certain level of confidence.

Accompanying Veto was Mali's most trusted Were-breeds, beside Veto stood Satira, a Were-snake with sleek, ebony skin and eyes that gleamed like molten gold, and Kaldar, a hulking Were-gorilla whose skin looked as hard as metal and his fur seemed to ripple with an otherworldly sheen.

At the far end of the room, another Werebreed stood. He was a splitting image of Satira, Sagiro. Satira's twin brother, also a Weresnake and one of Mali Khan's most trusted men. It was even said that both men had been friends since infanthood.

One last Werebreed stood, he was the only one who sat close enough to Mali Khan, his eyes were his most prominent feature, they were sharp and dark, his blond hair was shoulder-length, he was dressed in a luxurious looking garment.

He was Mali Khan's spy and watchman, Inaro, Mali Khan's Wereeagle.

Odenus pointed his hand towards the door, sending a signal to the soldier who stood guard there. On seeing the gesture, the soldier immediately picked up the metal box that had been sitting idly by the door.

He dropped the metallic box on the table, and silently went back to his post.

Odenus pushed his chair back, clearing his throat as he stood.

"Many years ago," he began.

"I had a dream, a dream to create the perfect soldier, an unstoppable force," he said, smiling as he continued.

"In order to achieve this dream, I soared the earth, searching for the best scientists the human race had to offer." He stopped for a moment, dragging the metallic box closer to him.

"Thanks to the advanced Dabban technology, we began the invention." He continued,

"I and my scientists worked day and night, under the rain and sun, winter and summer, year after year, failure after failure." He continued, a silly smile playing at his bottom lip.

"And finally, It was successful! My dream was now a reality! I had produced a serum! An alchemical elixir essential for birthing Bio-synthesized Were-breeds!" He paused for a moment, his eyes wandering, as if searching for something.

"Do you know what a serum like this can do to a Were-breed?!" He asked, his voice getting louder.

"This serum can turn any normal Were-breed into a fighting machine, into an unstoppable force, into a beast from the pits of hell... into a god!," He bellowed.

"This is the solution to--

He was interrupted as the chamber doors were pushed open, creaking loudly as they opened.

A soldier slowly peeked into the room, judging from his uniform, he wasn't a Were-breed soldier but rather a red-assassin soldier.

"My lord, we have a problem." The soldier said gravely.