As the relief settled through me, I whispered into the echoing tile, “…What the Fates just happened?”
I’d watched Koa die and met his tortoise late at night.
Sighing, I got up, washed my hands, and tiptoed back to bed.
rune
. . .
The scentof aged parchment and ink drifted through the air as we filed into the year-one classroom for History of Kalista, taught by Professor Caelan Hunting—our First-Year House professor.
She stood at the head of the classroom in front of her desk with vibrant purple hair twisted back into a sharp knot secured by feathered pins. Her emerald green eyes swept across the class as we all took our seats.
“Welcome to the History of Kalista,” she stated. “Let’s discuss our wars so we can learn how to avoid them in the future.”
I felt out of sorts. I’d tried every venom, poison, and toxin I had in my stash this morning just to try and ground myself, butnoneof them hit right. My mind kept circling back to Drecken Grimsworn and his mention of potions. I wanted desperately to try one, I mean, I hadn’t ever needed a healing potion before or any potion at all. My basilisk powers made sure I was well taken care of without the need for them.
I hadn’t realized how odd that was until now.
Professor Hunting sat on her desk with polite grace. “History is not passive. History is a pattern. If we fail to recognize it, wewill die repeating it. It’s a curse of time.” With a flick of her fingers, glowing maps of battlefields and lists of broken alliances illuminated on the large screen behind her.
“This is not a passive lecture, Squad One. History of Kalista is a tactical deep-dive into the conflicts, power shifts, and supernatural politics that shaped the current era of peace in Kalista. This class is designed specifically for supernatural agents so you can learn to recognize the roots of modern tensions, understand species and power dynamics, and detect early signs of unrest by understanding how history echoes in the present. If you wonder why it matters, it’s because agents need to be more than just combat-ready. You need to understand how wars began and why alliances broke so you can help the council prevent future disasters.”
Everyone had their attention focused on her words, typing notes on their tablets as she spoke, and I forced myself to stay focused to do the same.
“Let’s discuss Kalista’s First War. The Division of Supernaturals. This war lasted a decade and led to a lot of shifter species going extinct. The trigger for the first war was simple: competing supernatural factions and humans over territory. The outcome was that Kalista was divided into rigid, clear territories. A hierarchy list was established, ranking species based on perceived threat and usefulness. The impact of the war was deep. The hierarchy list sowed deep resentment among supernaturals. Fae ranked fifth, despite the true strengths of their powers that we were unaware of at the time. Species like banshees, phantoms, gargoyles, imps, and humans were forced into lower tiers and looked down upon. It was not a proud moment in our history, and the lesson for you is to beware of false order. Hierarchiesneverbring peace,” she said pointedly. “Any disagreements?”
Nobody spoke or raised their hands. Mainly because it was common fucking sense that separating beings based on something like species was bullshit.
“Good.” She smiled. “I’ve had to kick a few students out of the program for disagreeing in the past. We don’t need agents who are elitist. Now, let’s talk about the Second War. Does anyone know what that entails?”
“It was a bloodbath ignited by the dragons of Blezen, who launched a genocidal campaign,” Dimitri answered, his jaw clenching.
“It was launched not by all dragons or drakes but by the Dragon Cult,” I corrected him. “Rowan, for example, was on our side. The Supernatural Council’s side. There were quite a few drakes and dragons on our side.”
“Yes, but the majority of their species sided with the Dragon Cult,” Dimitri defended himself.
“True, but generalizations are never good.” I tapped my fingers against my desk.
He hesitated before nodding. “You’re right.”
Hunting grinned, full of teeth. “Good. Discuss more if you’d like. I like this squad. Most of you seem to have the intelligence an agent needs. Keep it up, and your entire squad might survive the first year. Now, what factions were involved in the second war?”
“The war’s announcement fractured supernatural unity,” Koa explained. “Humans, supernaturals, and the Dragon Cult.”
“Correct,” Professor Hunting praised him. “The war only lasted a year, but the effects of it were profound, shaping even modern times. The trigger was a violent faction of dragons. As you know, they were called the Dragon Cult, and they controlled all of Blezen at the time. They said they wanted to eliminate all of the humans, but that was just a guise. They wanted to be worshipped as the best species by all of the supernaturals. Ifany disagreed, they were to be eliminated as well. Don’t forget that there was a moment when their leader tried turning other supernaturals into dragons, a feat completely impossible. That delusion was brought on by a dark magic infested wolf shifter.”
She snapped her finger, and the screen showed a red alert:
DRAGONS IN BLEZEN DECLARE WAR ON HUMAN TERRITORY; HUMANS DECLARE WAR ON THE SUPERNATURAL RACES.
“This was the broadcast on Kalista’s News Sector across the world when war was announced. As you can see, this brought mass panic. The Supernatural Council was front and center in gaining alliances against both the Dragon Cult and the humans,” she explained. “Supernaturals of all species joined with either the dragons or the Supernatural Council and united forces against humans. Some drakes, some humans, witches and warlocks, vampires, werewolves, shifters…aside from arctic wolf shifters, which were wiped out…demons, basilisks, phoenixes, and fae chose the Supernatural Council. Some drakes, dragons, sirens, and necromancers were on the Dragon Cult’s side. Humans and their human specimens, tech-enhanced human beings that have also been wiped out, fought with captive and brainwashed werewolves.”
“Why did the sirens and necromancers side with the Dragon Cult?” Hawk asked.
She sighed, fixing a feather pin in her hair. “Because they were greedy, and the cult offered them unattainable power. Now, the outcome of the war that was only fifty-one years ago was that the supernatural hierarchy got abolished. A human and supernatural alliance fell into place. The Supernatural Council had been deemed the winning party. The dragons in Blezen had an official and better change in leadership. Roak, the leader of the dragon cult, was killed, putting an end to his Dragon God ideals. The humans with nefarious intentions had been forcedto surrender, while the humans with the faction desiring equal footing had entered the fold. It had been one of the Supernatural Council’s demands to the humans after the war that they would adopt newer, more inclusive ideals from this faction and employ them within the human syndicate so Kalista would truly be at peace. Sirens lost half of their population but are currently trying to repopulate. Necromancers were almost completely wiped out. Werewolves managed to keep most of their members alive, but the ones who had been captive were mostly put down due to unforeseen circumstances.”
She sighed but continued, “The reason you need to know about this war in more detail is because of how recent it was. Something to remember is that alliances forged in crisis often leave unresolved wounds. Trust must be rebuilt intentionally, and that’s what we are currently doing. The fae have remained neutral ever since the war they helped us win, but they remain very critical players in Kalista. Something a lot of us like to forget is that they control the weather, altering storms, seasons, and droughts as they see fit.Neverbargain with the fae. Their deals are riddles, and their prices are not worth paying. While once ranked number five, it is known that the fae allowed this underestimation. Their glamours mask unfathomable power. Some scholars argue that the fae remember the world before the supernaturals and humans of Kalista came to be. They are dangerous, and they can do more than we know. Agents should treat all fae with extreme caution, regardless of their apparent friendliness.”
