Naagin (rise of the serpent)

It was a dark room. A very dark room that would have seemed to send chills into anyone that ventured into the room.

It was more like a dark space. A dark space that emitted raw dark energy. The darkness in this room could be likened to that of the pit of Hell.

A tall man of about 3 meters tall or less, stood at the middle of this dark room. He wore a black garment that would easily give the impression that he was a sorcerer. A dark sorcerer.

He was holding a smoking pipe and from time to time, he would take in smoke from the smoking pipe and inhale with satisfaction. Somehow, he had a cold aura that surrounded him and it even made him scarier.

The dark room cannot technically be called a room. That was because,it neither had a window not a curtain that was supposed to hang loosely by the room corners. The dark room only had one little door that served as an entrance into the room.

The little door was at a corner of the room. One would only be able to see the door only through closer inspections.

As the man puffed out smoke from the smoking pipe, he would usually grin in a strange pleasure.

It wasn't long when the little door was opened and another man strode into the room.

The other man was two meters tall or more. He was wearing a black jeans trouser and a white T-shirt. His outfit suited his muscled posture, but unfortunately, his face couldn't be seen because of how dark the room was.

The other man closed the door and walked up to the man at the middle of the room. The other man bowed slightly and the man at the middle of the room, answered with a nod.

"It's been a while since I've seen you in your sorcerer outfit" the man who had walked in earlier spoke with a chuckle.

The man with the black garment on and with a smoking pipe, turned and faced the other man. A smirk was clearly written on his face.

"Now isn't the time for silly jokes, Lance. You should be focusing on why I had called for you" the man with the smoking pipe queried with slight annoyance.

Lance only chuckled a bit before becoming serious.

"Yeah, you are right. I should be focusing on why you had sent for me" Lance said stepping a little closer to the man on garment. "Anyways why did you send for me?"

The man on dark garment sighed. He puffed out smoke after inhaling some of it.

Lance only stared at him waiting for a response but he knew Huck wouldn't waste his time.

"How is the business and our associates?"

The man on black garment who happens to be Huck asked with a smirk.

"Everything is running well and there's a good incoming of soul essences".

Huck nodded while smiling satisfactorily.

"But somehow I feel like, the more soul essences are delivered, the masses of Casablanca are reducing essentially...."

Lance complained with a blank expression on his face. He knew what would be coming for him if he continued with what he wanted to say.

Huck casted him a menacing glare while growling angrily, but he was able to subdue his short temper.

Lance continued while staring at the empty floor.

"I feel like the more we sell our drug product, the more the masses of Casablanca are complaining about the frequent deaths. The emperor of Casablanca have decided to investigate the increasing death of people especially since he had turned a blind eye to it for years. I think we should reduce the effect of our operations and stop selling our drugs for a while" Lance explained clearly making his point.

"We are not stopping our operations. Get that into your fucking skull" Huck roared making Lance to shiver.

Lance had never seen Huck this angry. Despite the mistakes he usually makes, Huck would never shout at him like that, not to talk of roaring like a lion.

"I'm not saying we should stop our operations, but at least,we should reduce the impact of our operations so that the emperor of Casablanca won't hunt is down" Lance said with some kind of a pleading tone.

Huck took a deep breath, digesting all that Lance had said. Taking his eyes off Lance, he brought the smoking pipe to his mouth and inhaled. After smoking a little bit, he threw his eyes back on Lance.

"So how in the world I'm I going to get powerful if you stop the incoming of soul essences?" Huck complained with greed attached to his voice.

Huck eyed Lance as if in order to devour him. Huck was a very greedy type and he hated staying powerless for a minute. Even if he had obtained thousands of soul essences therefore boosting his power level to that of an immortal, he still wanted to gain more and more power. More and more energy that can equal that of a very powerful immortal.

Huck may be mortal, but with the power he has obtained, he could even be stronger than a powerful immortal. But the fact still remains that he is a mortal, even if he's more stronger than a powerful immortal.

If his source of power and energy is gone,how would he get stronger? Normally, he gets about fifty times stronger day by day through the incoming of soul essences.

He didn't want to feel weak for even a minute. So how would he get strong if there is no more soul essences?

Coupled with the fact that he's very greedy. He could do anything just to lay his hands on power and influence. Even to the point of killing his best friend, Lance without thinking twice.

Huck was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Lance staring at him impatiently.

Suddenly, Lance's face brightened significantly and he grinned.

Huck immediately noticed Lance's grin and he couldn't help but wonder what could have made Lance grin.

"Why are you laughing?" Huck asked coldly.

"Nothing.... Just that an idea crossed my mind".

Lance didn't seem to notice the coldness in Huck's voice.

Huck smiled, expecting Lance to use his head.

"Say it" Huck demanded.

"Hope you haven't forgotten your main objective?"

"Which is?"

"To get the Jewel and the chosen one for you to become an immortal". Lance said answering Huck's question.

Huck frowned but it was only for a minute.

"You do know that I can't get the chosen one and the Jewel which of course is being held by old lady Papirus. I can't get what I want when they are safely hidden in the Umuguor forest" Huck said while inhaling smoke and puffing it out.

"Then you need to lure them out" Lance suggested.

"How?"

"I'm hmm....."

Lance trailed off, putting his hand on his chin in a thinking mood.

"We could use Naagin's supposed grandmother to lure them out".

"But Naagin's grandmother is dead" Huck pointed out.

"We could always use a lie". Lance winked at Huck in a playful way.

"But what about old lady Papirus,how do we lure her out of the Umuguor forest since she's the one with the Jewel". Huck , again pointed out reasonably.

Lance didn't quite answer but only placed his hand on his chin in a thinking mood. Racking his head on ways to lure old lady Papirus out of the forest.

After some minutes of thinking and trying to figure out,a wicked smile graced Lance's lips.

Huck grinned in anticipation.

"I've got a plan but with this plan of mine,we could at least kill two birds with one stone". Lance grinned openly.

But Huck was cunning enough to sense Lance's plan. Huck also smiled at a cunning realization.

"I think I know what you are thinking". Huck gestured smiling broadly.

Lance's eyes widened in a slight surprise.

"Tell me, what do you think I'm thinking?"

"You are thinking of using the old hag's son in luring the old hag out" Huck said with a cunning smirk.

Lance surprise increased and he smiled even more.

"The old witch thinks she had lost her son in the war. She never knew that we had captured him alongside with the other captives of Umuguor" Lance stressed plainly.

Lance's words made Huck to smile even more.

"That old lady Papirus really gave me a hard time during the war. Trying all get possible best to protect her son. Too bad, the young man had to fall into our hands and maybe this could be the main reason he had fortunately fall into our hands". Huck reasoned.

"Looks like the universe is on our side, for preparing a solution when we had a problem" Lance also reasoned.

"Besides, that was so thoughtful and figurative of you. For that I'm going to give you a reward".

Lance couldn't hold his joy, hearing about being rewarded by Huck.

To admit, he wasn't that strong or powerful, but he still had powers. After the war between Umuguor and Agbejor were he was defeated by old lady Papirus, he took time to work on his strength. Now he could proudly say that he had the strength and power equivalent to an average immortal.

Hearing about a reward from Huck only made him happy that he would finally be having additional strength.

Super cool!!!

Huck raised his right hand up and immediately condensed energy from the his inner soul. His raised right hand blazed out purple fire. The purple fire engulfed his palm.

Huck tightened his right palm into a fist, channeling the purple fire to his arm. The purple fire burnt the covering of the garment on his arm, making the burnt part of the garment to fade into purple ashes.

Without wasting time, he threw his fist filled with purple fire at Lance. The purple fire in less than a second left Huck's tightened fist and headed for Lance's chest.

Lance didn't try to dodge at all but allowed the purple fire to hit his chest. He absorbed the energy from the purple fire and the purple fire merrily sank into his chest.

Lance gave a fulfilled smile and in order to showcase his skills,a pair of purple wings magically appeared from his back. The pair of purple wings, once emerged from his back, immediately got engulfed in purple flames. The smile on his face widened satisfactorily as he felt an improvement in his strength and power.

"How does it feel?" Huck asked with a smirk.

Part of Lance's clothes were torn and burnt as a result of the 'purple fire wings'.

"It feels good".

Huck only nodded in cheer amazement.

"How about I take a flight in the air with my newly improved wings?" Lance asked, flapping his huge 'purple fire wings'.

Huck, again nodded and Lance flashed a smile in gratitude.

Lance didn't waste time in taking off in the air flapping his huge'purple fire wings'. Huck took a few steps back as a result of Lance's flying.

A purple portal appeared in the air which was caused by Lance. Lance flew into the purple portal and the portal closed immediately.

Huck smiled once Lance was gone. He liked the plan which Lance had formed. Despite the fact that he would have to put in hold the sales of his drug product, with his new plan, he could finally get the Jewel into his hands.

His main focus was now on old lady Papirus's son. He was going to use both her son and Naagin's grandmother (a lie) in luring both Naagin and old lady Papirus out of the Umuguor forest.

########

In a room that had only two windows and a door as an entrance,sat a man on the floor who is in his late forties. He was understandably handsome and sexy with hot six packs.

Though, he was the only one in the room and surprisingly,he was in chains. He had injuries and wounds on his body but they seemed to have healed a little. Scars filled his sexy and hot body.

A few feet from him was a plate which was used in serving him food and a bottle water was by his side. He could actually reach the plate if he wanted to but he seemed tired.

Outside the room were Agbejor warriors guarding him. He seemed to be a captive but he wasn't allowed to work as a slave alongside with the other captives. Not to lie,it had been long since he actually saw things beyond the walls of his room. Like in more than a decade.

This was old lady Papirus's son. He wasn't able to escape being captured alongside with the other people of Umuguor community.

Frank, the old lady's son,sat on the cold floor helpless and stranded. He wanted to see his mother and wanted to get out of here. He sat down quiet, precisely lost in his thoughts.

It wasn't long when a dark shadow appeared right in front of him. At first he gasped out in total surprise but calmed down recognizing the dark shadow.

It seems Hijirar had been visiting him ever since his captivity.