Chapter 2 Career on the line

The stage lights dimmed as Serena Rael stepped onto the stage, holding a velvet-covered case in her arms like it held the answers to every question ever asked.

She cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "This artifact was found in a collapsed temple on the edge of the Aksum ruins, in the remote area of Suldan, preserved underground until my team and I dug it up.

Based on the symbols on the base, it belonged to a forgotten sect of mystics....possibly early shifters," she said confidently.

She opened the case with a practiced flair. Inside sat a tall, cracked vase....faintly glowing under the spotlight, etched with symbols and faded patterns.

Gasps fluttered through the crowd. Phones came up.

"This isn't just any relic. Legend says the Vase of Aeyros reacts to emotional energy...especially longing. It hums, it glows... sometimes, it even levitates."

Whispers spread. Serena's heart pounded, but her smile didn't waver.

She placed the vase on a glass pedestal. "Observe."

She closed her eyes. Slowed her breathing. Thought of her mother's voice. Of her first expedition. Of the sting of being hurt.

She opened her eyes dramatically, whispering the chant she'd practiced a hundred times.

Silence.

The vase sat there. Silent. Motionless. Dead.

A beat passed. Then two.

Someone coughed.

Then someone chuckled.

Then came the laughter.

A wave of it. Cold. Sharp. Merciless.

"I thought it was supposed to hum," a voice shouted.

"She probably bought it off eBay!"

Serena's throat burned, but she didn't move. Couldn't.

A man from the review panel leaned forward, sighing. "Ms. Rael, is this a performance or a serious submission for consideration?"

She forced her lips to move. "It's real. I...I swear, they tested it. It-"

"Thank you," he interrupted. "That'll be all."

More laughter. Phones still recording.

Serena shifted, her elbow knocked the pedestal. The vase wobbled... tipped... then crashed to the floor with a dramatic crack.

"Well, it levitated, alright"

"Archaeologist of the Year, ladies and gentlemen!"

Then laughter came again, harder this time.

Panicking, she bent down to pick up the fragments....and then she saw it.

Stamped in small block letters inside the rim of a shard:

MADE IN SUBAN POTTERY STUDIO

>"A pottery studio , I ve been scammed by a fucking pottery studio"

Her breath caught. Her fingers froze.

She'd been duped. She had been made a fool.... In front of everyone.

She fumed internally, swallowing the scream building in her throat.

With trembling hands, she gathered the pieces .

Her feet moved on their own, carrying her offstage before the shame could drown her completely.

"Wasn't she supposed to be brilliant?"

"Poor thing. Even the vase gave up on her."

*********

Serena stormed down the corridor, heels echoing like gunshots on the marble floor. She shoved the door to the team room open and marched in like a war goddess.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the collar of the nearest man...Darren, the intern who'd handled the vase and slapped him across the face. Hard.

He staggered back, wide-eyed. "What the hell, Rena?!"

"You dare make a fool of me?!" Her voice cracked with fury.

"I did no such thing!" he snapped, holding his cheek. "We were all there when it was dug up. It worked, Serena! You saw it too!"

"Then explain this," she hissed, holding up the shard with trembling fingers. "It says MADE IN SUBAN PORTTERY STUDIO. It's a goddamn fake!"

Darren stared at it, stunned.

Serena turned away, chest heaving. "Look at me... my career is in ruins. The last time I made a major find, they turned it into a bloody poster! Now I'm a joke. A meme. A caricature passed around group chats for laughs."

"Okay, okay, you need to cool off. Just...just breathe. Keep calm, Serena-"

"Get the fuck out of my face," she growled. "I need to fix this shit before everything I've worked for burns to ash."

She didn't wait for a reply.

With the broken shard still clenched in her fist, Serena pushed past him and out of the room.

There was only one place left that brought her peace.

And maybe...just maybe , she'd find a way out of this mess.

*******

(Library)

Serena stepped into the largest library in the city. The guards at the entrance barely blinked...everyone knew her face by now. She was practically a fixture here, always buried in some forgotten corner looking for something new.

Night had long crept in, but the library's warm lighting gave her just enough clarity to continue her search. She found her usual spot, settled into a creaky wooden chair, and began flipping through books like she had a hundred times before.

Nothing.

Just the same tired theories, rewritten in fancier language.

Annoyed, she pushed the book aside and stood up. Her heels echoed softly on the marble as she walked deeper into the rows of shelves. She drifted past familiar aisles, further and further into the older sections.

Her steps slowed.

Something felt different.

She glanced around. These shelves... she didn't recognize them. The wood was darker and older, dust coated everything.

> Was this part of the library always here? she wondered.

She reached up and slid out a thick, rolled parchment wedged between two books. The scroll was brittle, its seal broken long ago. She blew off the dust and coughed softly into her sleeve, not wanting the librarian to hear.

She carefully unrolled it on a nearby desk.

"The Hidden Realm."

Her eyes narrowed as she read further.

> In every forest lies secrets... but if you look harder and search long enough, you might find a kingdom of rare jewels, mysterious artifacts, and humans who turn into wolves. Selvayra...

Her heart skipped.

"She turned the parchment, hoping for more. But that was it."

Then she read it again, "Selvayra"

Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. This... this was it. Not some hoax or broken artifact. This sounded real. Wild. Magical. Everything she needed. If she could trace even a single clue, anything connected to this place, she could salvage her reputation.

No. She could own it.

Her name would be printed on banners. Her face on the museum walls again....this time ten times bigger.

She pressed the parchment against her chest, eyes closed, heart racing.

Then quickly, carefully, she rolled it up and slipped it into her bag.

She walked briskly toward the exit.

"Are you leaving?" the librarian called gently.

"Uh... yes," Serena replied.

"Did you find anything?"

She turned, masking the storm swirling inside her. "No. I didn't."

The woman nodded, returning to her work.

Serena pushed open the doors and stepped into the cool night air.

Her decision was made.

She wouldn't tell anyone. Not this time . If they found out, they'd sabotage her again.

No. This time, she would go alone.

This one was hers.

She was going to find Selvayra.

And she would make the world remember her name.