Page 19 of Tempest Rising

A momentary flash of recognition crossed her face, followed by a subtle curling of her lips—not quite a smile. More like a silent reminder of my place… beneath hers. Aurelia had never made it a secret that she wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a merehumanserving as the librarian of The Dragonne Library. To her, it was an insult to centuries of tradition. Her sharp comments and icy disdain over the past weeks had made that painfully clear, though she'd always been careful to veil her hostility in formality.

Valen hummed a low, mocking sound beside me. “Seems like you’ve got a fan, little human.”

I ignored him, keeping my gaze locked on Aurelia as she made her way to the podium. "It is an honor to be here," she began,the steely edge in her tone leaving little room for contradiction. "Today’s lecture will focus on the critical role that magical artifacts have played in bridging the world of mortals and the supernatural, especially since The Unveiling."

Her gaze swept the room, cold and assessing. "Dragon Riders have always been the stewards of such powerful tools. But with great responsibility comes great judgment. Unfortunately, not all possess the discernment such duty requires."

She flicked her eyes in my direction with a barely concealed sneer before turning her full attention to the class.

"As many of you are aware, during The Unveiling, select magical items were loaned to the human world to foster diplomacy. These weren’t toys to be mishandled, nor were they relics to be treated as museum pieces. Each object held the potential to reshape reality, often quite subtly, and it was imperative that only trusted humans—ones with direct Supe sponsorship—were allowed to handle these items."

I felt a shift in the room—the other students were leaning forward, intrigued by her words. Aurelia’s fingers glided through the air, a soft pulse of magic rippling outward. Suddenly, an image flickered into view—a hovering projection of an ancient, delicately crafted artifact spinning slowly in mid-air for the class to see.

"The Archivist's Lens, for instance," Aurelia continued, "allowed trusted humans to translate ancient supernatural texts, facilitating a broader understanding of our histories without compromising arcane knowledge. And then, we had more… humanitarian efforts."

A picture of a delicate pendant—a flower in full bloom—flickered in front of us.

"The Everbloom Pendant," she said, turning to face the image. "An artifact designed to heal the land. Its magic passively restores life to blighted areas, allowing humans to utilize its power temporarily for ecological recovery projects. While The Everbloom may seem benign, make no mistake," she emphasized, tapping a fisted hand on the podium, "its potential for misuse is severe. Imagine terraforming entire regions by force, or harnessing its regenerative properties in conjunction with dark magic. We were prudent enough to only lend it under strict supervision."

A hand shot up from the middle rows. "Curator Draevorn, what specific measures were taken to ensure the artifacts loaned during The Unveiling weren't misused?"

"A valid question. Each artifact was imbued with a tracking enchantment and a failsafe. The tracking enchantment allows us to monitor the artifact's location, while the failsafe can be activated remotely to either neutralize or retrieve the artifact if necessary."

Aurelia continued her lecture without missing a beat. “What some of you may not understand is that Dragon Riders have always been more than just warriors. We are the stewards of balance, both between the human and supernatural worlds. We’ve safeguarded some of the most powerful artifacts ever known to protect that equilibrium.” She paused, her gaze cold and assessing as it swept over the room. “This is your inheritance, your duty… however,”—her voice sharpened—“with human applicants now entering our ranks, some question whether this sacred responsibility is being… diluted.”

Her eyes settled on mine, piercing and unrelenting. The weight of her words wasn’t lost on me—she was challenging my very right to be there, to be seen as one of them.

I inhaled deeply, trying to steady myself, but my hands clenched into fists under the desk.

A mocking voice drifted from behind, snapping me back into the moment. "Maybe the Harbingersdidhave a point," Selena Castellan said smugly, her voice loud enough for anyone within earshot to hear—and especially directed at me. "I mean, not everyone’s cut out to handle real power. Maybe keeping it exclusive wasn’t such a bad idea after all."

A few snickers followed her words, and I could feel the curious, judging eyes of my fellow students burning into the back of my neck. I bit my lip, refusing to give Selena the satisfaction of seeing me falter under her thinly veiled insult. But the name she’d invoked—Harbingers—hung heavy in the classroom, unfamiliar yet ominous.

Aurelia’s eyes flicked toward Selena briefly, her lips curling into a tight, humorless smile as she turned back to the class. “Ah, the Harbingers. They saw themselves as champions of a...purerworld order—a world where power was tightly controlled by a select few. Exclusive, as some of you might say. They believed the ancient hierarchies were the rightful rulers of our kind, defending tradition against what they viewed as threats: change, evolution, and most especially, inclusion.”

A hand shot up near the front. “But curator Draevorn, weren’t the Harbingers destroyed during the Ancient War? Our texts say their influence practically disappeared afterward.”

Aurelia’s smile curved tightly, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly, as though the question amused her.

“Ah, yes, the Ancient War.” She drummed her manicured fingers lightly against the podium. “It’s comforting to believe that conflicts can have such tidy conclusions, isn’t it? That the fallof their leadership marked the end of their movement entirely.” She paused, allowing her cold gaze to settle on the student who had spoken. “But history—real history—is seldom as definitive as the texts we study suggest. The Harbingers themselves may have been militarily defeated centuries ago, but their ideology... their legacy never truly vanished.”

Instructor Dante cut in smoothly, his voice wrapping around the room like cold silk as he steepled his long fingers. "Fascinating history lesson, Curator Draevorn." He made a show of casually adjusting his cufflinks, as if the weight of the Harbingers' name wasn’t currently casting a shadow over the room. "But we’re here to discuss artifacts, not conspiracy theories. The Harbingers, as intriguing as they were, ceased to matter long ago. Their 'legacy,' if it exists at all, is little more than a ghost story now—a cautionary tale for fledgling Riders."

The tension loosened imperceptibly, students shifting slightly in their seats. His dark gaze flicked around the room, daring anyone to challenge his dismissal of what Aurelia had hinted at. After a moment’s silence, he continued, leaning back and folding his arms. “Let’s steer this conversation back to the real reason we're all here: the artifacts that shape the future, not the relics of the past.”

Aurelia’s expression barely flickered, but I could sense the slight displeasure behind her calm exterior. Her lips tightened for a fraction of a second before she inclined her head gracefully. "As you wish," she said with a false sweetness that belied the ice behind her words. “While we may underestimate certain threats to our modern world, the study of artifacts remains paramount to our ongoing balance."

As she resumed, launching into a detailed explanation of various classified objects under the Library’s protection, my mind began to drift.

The Harbingers.

A group so ideologically opposed to the world we lived in now that their very name invoked shivers.Exclusive,Aurelia had hissed.Purer.It sounded like exactly the kind of people who would despise what the Unveiling represented—the mingling of humans and Supes, the shift toward integration, equality. Old-world zealots didn’t just disappear. They burrowed underground, waiting for the right moment to resurface.

I knew enough about history to understand that movements like theirs rarely died. Even if their leadership had been wiped out during some long-forgotten war, the ideology—the twisted belief in purity and control—they never went away completely. They just became more careful. More secretive.

I shivered beneath the weight of that thought. If they still existed today… What if their resurgence was already happening, just beneath the surface of our world?

Aurelia’s voice had become little more than a hum in the background, her words blurring as my thoughts spiraled. The Harbingers—if they were still out there, hiding in the shadows—might have been biding their time, gathering strength. And if they still believed in keeping power confined to the select few, then the Unveiling would’ve been the perfect spark for their resurgence. A direct threat to everything they stood for.

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