Wolf pack

A Dark Market

Valia remembered the buzzing of excitement she found when she escaped into the fantasy world. After feeling degraded and lost from her childhood with the humans, there was an opportunity to create power. All it took was patience, planning and two parties. This buzz was the buzz of Upbreeding: combining species together to create more powerful species. It was a fresh, new market in a way, with innovations created just as quickly as new species.
It always amazed her that the simple mixing of genetics could turn two species into a new one. It was beautiful in it's own way: working together to build up a better future.
Whenever it seemed all would get bored of the buzz, new and exciting tactics exploded; downbreeding, chemical alterations, chimeras, hybrids, Brute and Venom, and most interesting: venom splicing.
Valia told herself, that soon as she was able, she too would embark in this great crusade. She was too young to take part, but she memorized everything she could about it. She learned all the terms, the "ups and downs," the planning, the risks.
Setting up for own mini lab, she started to experiment. Catching what she could with her hands, she mixed bits and pieces of parts together, combining with venom. She formed her own chemicals, watching with amazement at what potions she could create. She even sat down and made a list of goals: of creatures she wanted to create. Valia determined how to do this, what she needed to look for in partners, how to increase her chances and what to do next.
Determined to be a major force the business, Valia wandered about and found workers. Finding the entrance to goblin caves under a twisted tree, Valia quickly made a deal with them. Allow her to build in their caverns, and she would offer them hire in a business they never could find part in previously. Goblins and Demons were far too undesirable to be involved in the buzz, so eagerly accepted.
Before she was even old enough, Valia had alliances, a fortress and workers. She had plans, quotas, lists and more; labs, machines and cages. Thanks to the slow aging of vampires, she would stay in her prime for far longer than many other species could. The only thing left was time. Excited, Valia spent her days learning anxiously until the day she was old enough to finally make her dreams true.
She remembered the moment the day came, the moment she had developed enough to Splice. She could not yet upbreed, but she would take what she could get with Splicing. Immediately her plans took action, and just as she had wanted, she was booming in the business.
The caverns expanded, and before she knew it, not only was she taking part in creation, others came to her for counseling. She helped others plan and her caverns became a gathering place for all who needed somewhere to carry out their plans.
Even the Goblins benefited, starting their own upbreeding programs among themselves, bringing their new and exotic young to Valia for each success. Other dark creatures came in for hire: demons, ogres and other monsters. Her business spread even further, divisions starting to branch out to work in new areas. Caverns underground connected new centers.
She remembered standing and looking over her whole workshop with pride. She was now the most successful in the business.
And her success? New species everywhere. Because of her efforts, unique creatures were born daily. She promised all, that if they came to her she could take any creature, no matter how discouraged, and make them part of something grand. Not only new species, but potions of every kind. She learned efficient ways to venom splice and taught others by the same methods. While upbreeding took time, splicing had unique effects with faster results. This meant that she could take the genetics from one creature and put it directly into another. While this did not always have perfect results, the successes were worth it.
Through splicing, creatures like Griffins and Pegasus could be founded: parts of bird DNA could be spliced, and with the splitting power of venom, those strands could be inserted into an entirely different species. The cells would react and shift, taking on them new DNA and then growing a wing where none existed before.
Valia recognized this incredible value, and even more so in the creation of Shapeshifters. Instead of replacing one part with another, it was possible to use venom splicing to fill the cells with two sets of DNA, not just one. This allowed the genetics of one species to be dominant, the other recessive. This could be toggled and, as the dominant genetics took over one creature could have multiple forms.
It was no wonder that Valia became so swept up in the possibilities. She could draw any creature, use her imagination, then she could make it real.
Just as the exciting day of her ability to Splice came, so did the day she could finally Upbreed. She greeted the day with excitement, and the day greeted her with disappointment.
What she never expected, was when it all came crashing down.
Just as rapidly as the buzz had started, the Era of Upbreeding faced a dramatic halt.
Unexplainably, when differing species crossed, it was impossible to create offspring. Just as fast as these results died, cross-species passions disappeared. Wolves and lions no longer found each other pleasant, the demand for counselling all but dissolved.
Her business was no longer popular. Within a month, her caverns went from swarming visitors to none at all.
She found herself alone with her workers, even promised partners backed out. She remembered sitting there, looking at her plans. Looking at all she wanted to do but now could not.
What had happened?
It was then she was reminded of a history lesson she had received by some wise dragons a time ago. They told her of the times before the world they all knew. They were the Eras of the Ancient Species: Dragons and Wizards godlike in power. They remained as the only two species before time even existed. Then, overwhelmed by Pride, they started a Great and Terrible war. The Ancient Species had fallen, and as punishment for their Pride, their spirits and bodies were made unconscious, shattered and cast down. As they were far too powerful to be entirely destroyed, these fragments of themselves mingled together to create new life: forming the beginning species of the First Era.
Everything should have stopped then, but because the souls of the Prideful Ancients were still alive, they began to awake. This awakening was the primary drive for upbreeding. Just as their souls and bodies were shattered, the internal drive inside the new creatures was to combine these back together. The more powerful the new species got, the closer to the Ancients and the more their souls awakened. Even to the creation of humans and Ice dragons, both missing only a few traits to return to their original.
Just as these steps were to be completed, dramatic changes occured. The humans, once freely mingling with the magical world were now entirely distanced from it. Their minds no longer comprehended magic and Laws were put in place preventing the human species from fully embracing this world. This became known as the Magical Divide. Ice dragons faced their own isolation, driven far away to dwell in the icy wildernesses.
Quickly after these divisions, Upbreeding itself was halted. Intermixing only led to infertility and sorrow. The effort was void, the desire disappeared.
What stopped then? Again Valia remembered those wise dragons. It was said that two of the Ancients still remained; Sagen, an Ancient Wizard, and Ammitt, an Ancient Dragon. These remaining Ancients were those who had delivered the punishment for their brethren, and in seeing the frenzy of Upbreeding, they were who put an end to it.
The ability to Upbreed ended because the Ancient species were returning.
This was a hard realization for Valia. It meant all she worked for was now out of her power. They were gods that made it impossible.
She remembered still in her beginning age yelling up at the sky, shaking her fist at the name of Ammitt. She wished she could curse him as he had cursed her.
Willpower is a dangerous thing. Young Valia refused to let her work go to waste. If she did not have volunteers, she would force them. She demanded her workers started Raids. They would capture all they could and continue her experiments. She would do all she could with what she could.
Without any hesitation Valia spread the news again of opportunity. If she could not upbreed different species, she would upbreed within the same species. She would continue to splice. Valia dug deeper into her research, pulling together chemicals, potions and all mixtures she could. It was painful, hard work, but she was finding results.
She would make upbreeding possible again.

All was out on the table now. Before what were secrets were now out in the open. While not everything was pretty, one thing was clear: they all had a common enemy.
Though it had been strong before, now it was stronger than ever. Valia had her claws sticking in all their lives. Anu and Nimera as part of her scientific programs, Nate and Fay having worked for her, Lokan and Anya having been upbred by her, Melody as a Victim; even Cleo and Jynx found their lives riddled with trials as her actions stung their lives.
While all their paths had been very different, all came together around Valia. She, the vampire who had driven herself insane in her efforts to bring back a dead age. She, who not only experimented on others but experimented on herself.
It would not have been so bad if it only stayed with Valia, but no, it was spreading. It spread to civilization.
It spread to the Haleras.
Valia wanted to bring back Upbreeding.
She was succeeding.