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moonlitstoriess · 8 months ago

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The Hidden Legacy- A Ruhn Danaan x Rhysands sister series

Chapter 3: Unseen Threads

Summary: Rhysand’s sister, Seraphis, long thought dead, was taken by the Asteri/Valgs, her memories erased and turned into a ruthless killer loyal to their cause. After Bryce kills the Asteri, Seraphis seeks vengeance on her and everyone else involved. As she hunts them down, Rhysand and the Inner Circle discover the shocking truth: she’s alive, and now their enemy.

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Kynesis: The instinctual drive to pursue or chase something; a primal urge to follow.

The auxiliary headquarters had never felt heavier.

Ruhn sat in the large leather chair at his desk, staring at the holo-screen in front of him. Reports, data, and communications blinked in and out, but nothing held his attention for long. A strange sense of unease had been creeping in all day, something gnawing at the back of his mind.

He leaned back, rubbing the bridge of his nose as his thoughts wandered. Things had been too calm lately, too quiet. After everything that had happened with their circle, peace felt more like a temporary pause than a lasting reality.

The sharp buzz of his commlink interrupted his thoughts, and Ruhn glanced down at it. A message flashed on the screen from Flynn, short and urgent: “Get to the briefing room. Now.”

Ruhn’s gut twisted. Something was wrong. He stood up from his chair and quickly crossed the office, weaving through the busy corridors of the auxiliary headquarters. The sharp scent of cleaning supplies mixed with the distinct hum of tech filled the air as he moved with purpose. His steps quickened, the adrenaline already starting to kick in.

When he pushed open the doors to the briefing room, he found Flynn, Declan, and the rest of the auxiliary team already gathered. Flynn’s face was tight with worry, his usual easygoing demeanor replaced by a serious expression.

“What’s going on?” Ruhn asked, feeling the tension in the room as soon as he stepped in.

Flynn glanced up, his jaw set. “We’ve got a situation. Fires—multiple, across the city. They started around the same time, and they’re spreading fast. The 33rd is stretched thin dealing with them, and we’re being called in to assist.”

Ruhn’s heart skipped a beat. Fires? That wasn’t unusual in a city this size, but… multiple? “Do we know the source?”

Declan shook his head, fingers already flying across the holo-screen to pull up maps and reports. “Not yet, but something about this doesn’t sit right. It’s too coordinated, too… sudden.”

Ruhn frowned, a familiar heaviness settling in his chest. Coordinated chaos. His mind flashed to Bryce—she’d want to get involved, no question about it. But his thoughts quickly returned to the task at hand.

“Okay, let’s move,” Ruhn ordered, pulling himself into the role of leader. “Where’s the worst hit?”

Declan brought up a map of the city, areas marked in red where the fires had erupted. “East sector, near the industrial zone. The flames are spreading toward the residential areas, and people are starting to evacuate.”

“Shit,” Ruhn muttered under his breath. “Get the gear. We’re heading there first.”

Flynn clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve got your back.”

The drive to the site felt longer than it should have. Silence filled the vehicle, a tension building in the air. Flynn sat in the front seat, his eyes hard as he stared out the window, while Declan tapped away on his tech, scanning the updates coming in.

Ruhn’s mind raced. Fires didn’t just start on their own—not like this. His gut told him this wasn’t some accident, but deliberate. Calculated. And that thought chilled him to the bone.

When they arrived, the scene that unfolded before them was pure chaos.

Thick clouds of black smoke rose from the burning buildings, ash drifting through the air like snowflakes. People were scattered in the streets, some running, others shouting, trying to help. The acrid smell of burning wood and metal filled his lungs as they stepped out of the vehicle, the heat from the flames palpable even from a distance.

“This is bad,” Flynn muttered, his usual bravado gone.

“Yeah,” Ruhn replied, eyes scanning the horizon. The flames licked higher, threatening to devour everything in their path. There was no way this was an accident.

Grabbing his commlink, Ruhn relayed orders to the team. “Declan, check in with the 33rd. We need to know where the fire started. Flynn, help with crowd control, get these people out of here. I’ll head toward the fire and see what I can do.”

The team sprang into action. Declan immediately began communicating with the Legion while Flynn and a few others started directing civilians to safety.

As Ruhn moved toward the heart of the blaze, a knot formed in his stomach. He had no idea who or what was behind this, but he could sense that it was only the beginning.

He jogged through the thick smoke, his eyes scanning the surroundings as the heat intensified. The closer he got to the source of the fire, the clearer it became that this was no random accident.

He caught sight of the firefighters battling the flames. Their powerful hoses blasted streams of water at the burning structures, but the fire seemed almost alive, resisting every attempt to extinguish it. The heat was suffocating, and the acrid stench of burning debris clawed at his throat.

Ruhn’s commlink buzzed in his ear. “Ruhn,” Declan’s voice crackled through. “I’ve got something. The fires—they’re too spread out to be natural. This was deliberate. Coordinated. They started in different locations at the same time.”

Ruhn cursed under his breath. “Any idea who’s behind it?”

“Nothing solid yet. But I’ve got people running intel.”

As Declan spoke, Ruhn’s attention shifted to something strange. His sharp eyes caught sight of the blackened ground in a nearby alleyway. The pattern of the scorch marks—it didn’t make sense. It wasn’t random.

His gut churned. There was something about the way the flames moved, the unnatural shapes they left behind. Magic? He squinted closer at the scorch marks. They almost looked like symbols, curling and twisting in ways that set his instincts on edge.

Before he could inspect further, a loud crack erupted from a nearby building. The wooden beams supporting the structure had given way, sending burning debris crashing to the ground.

“Ruhn! Get back!” Flynn’s voice shouted from somewhere behind him, but it was too late. The flames surged forward, and the ground trembled as the building collapsed in on itself.

Ruhn’s shadows reacted on instinct, swirling up from deep inside him, wrapping him in a cocoon of protection as burning embers rained down. For a moment, all he could see was fire, the world around him consumed by chaos.

And then… silence.

The collapse was over, the building reduced to smoldering ruins.

Ruhn pushed his shadows back down, scanning the scene. The alleyway was now blocked off by a pile of debris, but something told him he had seen something important—something he needed to understand.

He tapped his commlink again. “Flynn, Declan. Pull back to my location. We need to regroup.”

“On it,” Flynn responded, his voice tight.

As Ruhn stepped away from the scene, his thoughts spiraled. The fire, the symbols, the coordinated attack—it was all connected, but he couldn’t put his finger on how. Not yet.

Back at the auxiliary headquarters, hours had passed, but the weight of the fires hung over the entire team. The blazes were under control, but the damage had already been done. As Ruhn and his team gathered around the central table, Declan projected a map of the city, highlighting the areas most affected.

“So far, no one’s claimed responsibility for the attacks,” Flynn said, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. “But with how perfectly this was executed, it’s no small-time player.”

Ruhn nodded, his mind replaying the strange symbols he’d seen earlier. Something nagged at him, something familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“What about Bryce?” Declan asked. “She’s going to want to know what’s going on.”

“She knows,” Ruhn said, a grim smile tugging at his lips. “But we’ve got this for now. I don’t want her involved unless it gets worse.”

Declan shot him a knowing look but said nothing. Bryce never stayed out of anything for long, especially if there was danger involved.

Flynn glanced at the map again, his brow furrowed. “You think this is just the beginning?”

Ruhn didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t need to. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation—everyone in the room could feel it.

Finally, Ruhn spoke, his voice low. “Yeah. I think something bigger is coming.”

The meeting stretched late into the night as the auxiliary poured over every detail of the fires, trying to connect the dots. Maps covered the walls, and reports streamed in from all over the city. Each new piece of information only added to the growing unease in the room.

Ruhn’s mind was preoccupied, trying to make sense of the situation. The fires were too widespread, too organized to be random. The tension in the air was thick, but no one had any solid answers yet.

Flynn stood at the head of the room, pointing to a map pinned to the wall. “These aren’t random spots. Whoever did this, they knew the city. They hit places that would draw the most attention.”

“But why fires?” Declan asked, sitting across from Ruhn, flipping through the reports. “There are quicker ways to cause chaos.”

Ruhn tapped his fingers on the table, staring at the map. “It’s not just about the chaos. It feels like… a distraction. But from what?”

As if on cue, the door to the meeting room swung open, and one of their lieutenants rushed in, breathless and grim. “New intel just came in,” he said, catching everyone’s attention. “We’ve got witnesses from one of the fire sites.”

Ruhn’s attention sharpened. “Go on.”

The lieutenant stepped further into the room, his voice tense. “They said they saw someone. Couldn't identify who it is. Cloaked, moving through the crowd before the fires started.”

Ruhn exchanged a look with Flynn and Declan. A cloaked woman, in the middle of the chaos? His instincts flared with suspicion. “A cloaked figure?” he asked, his voice calm but laced with curiosity. “Did they get any details?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “Not much. Whoever it is, they kept to the shadows, and no one got a clear look at his or her face. But they were seen near more than one of the fire sites.”

Flynn rubbed his jaw. “So, either they are setting them or this individual knows something.”

“Either way,” Declan added, “they are involved.”

Ruhn felt a ripple of unease at the thought. There was no telling who this figure was or what their role in all this could be. But their presence at multiple fire sites wasn’t a coincidence.

“Find more witnesses,” Ruhn said, standing up. “We need to know more about them. Anything. I want to know where he or she went after the fires started, too.”

The lieutenant nodded and rushed out, leaving the group in a heavy silence.

Flynn let out a slow breath. “A cloaked figure and random fires? This sounds like the start of a bad story.”

Ruhn didn’t respond. His mind was turning over the details, trying to piece it all together. Who was this person? And what was he or she trying to accomplish?

For now, the answers eluded him, but something told him this wasn’t the last they’d hear of him or her.

The clock on the wall was ticking past 2 a.m., but Ruhn and his team were still going strong. The auxiliary office was quieter now, most of the lower-level members having gone home or taken over watch shifts, but the core group remained.

Ruhn stood in front of a large tactical map on the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he stared at the red markers indicating each fire site. His mind churned with frustration—the fires had been extinguished hours ago, but the mystery remained unsolved.

Flynn, sitting across the table from him, pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is getting us nowhere. We’ve got a handful of burnt buildings, a few witness statements that don’t tell us much, and the appearance of some figure who slipped away before anyone could ID them.”

Declan was at his usual spot, typing away furiously at his computer, running search after search. “I’m pulling what I can from street cams and security footage, but we still don’t have a clear image of them. There’s too much interference and not enough data to go on.”

Ruhn sighed heavily, his eyes still glued to the map. There was no denying the fires had been deliberate—too well-timed, too precise. And that mysterious figure from earlier still lingered in the back of his mind. But who was this person? And why did he or she set them? The feeling that something darker was in motion gnawed at him.

Flynn leaned back in his chair. “We’ve been at this for hours, man. We’re not gonna make sense of this tonight.”

Ruhn clenched his jaw, knowing Flynn was right. The tension in his body had reached a breaking point. “Alright,” he muttered, pushing away from the map. “We’ll regroup in the morning. But keep the patrols tight. If this is the beginning of something bigger, I want eyes everywhere.”

Flynn nodded, and Declan gave a tired wave as he continued working. But Ruhn couldn’t shake the feeling that this was far from over.

The city was unnaturally quiet as Ruhn stepped out of the auxiliary building. The early hours before dawn always had an eerie stillness to them, but tonight it felt more oppressive, like the calm before a storm. The fires had been dealt with, yet something about them gnawed at the edges of his thoughts.

Ruhn zipped up his jacket against the cold breeze, his breath visible in the cool air as he began the short walk back to his apartment. The empty streets of the city felt like a stark contrast to the chaotic mess they had dealt with earlier, but there was no comfort in the silence.

He replayed the night’s events in his mind, searching for some clue he might’ve missed, something that would explain the sudden, calculated attacks. The mysterious figure Flynn mentioned was the biggest anomaly. No one had managed to get a good look at them, and they had slipped away so cleanly it was like they hadn’t been there at all.

Whoever they were, they weren't just a passerby.

As he neared his apartment, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, seeing a message from Bryce.

Bryce: Heard about the fires. You good?

Ruhn frowned, glancing up at the quiet city around him. Bryce would no doubt dig into this just as he was, but for now, he didn’t want her getting mixed up in things before he had more information.

Ruhn: Yeah, handling it. Will update you in the morning.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and headed inside, mind still churning. Something about the unidentified individual, the fires, the precision of it all—it was all too well-planned. Too clean. He needed to figure out who was behind it, and fast.

But for now, he’d try to sleep, knowing the morning would bring more questions than answers.

The next day came far too quickly. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a faint glow on the apartment walls. Ruhn groaned as he sat up, still feeling the weight of the previous night’s work heavy on his shoulders.

He rolled out of bed, quickly getting dressed and heading out. They needed to reconvene and figure out their next move.

The city was already buzzing with activity by the time Ruhn and his team stepped outside the auxiliary headquarters in search of more signs. The fires had left a mark on the city’s landscape, and Ruhn felt the weight of the responsibility to ensure everything was under control.

He and his team—Flynn, Declan, Alex and Damon—were scouring the streets, questioning pedestrians and assessing the damage. The reports of destruction were dire, and Ruhn’s focus was to gather every bit of information that could help them piece together the events of the night before.

As they moved down a street, Ruhn noticed a small café on the corner. The place seemed to be a hub of conversation, and he figured it might be a good spot to gather more intel. He directed his team to keep an eye on the street while he approached the café, hoping to pick up any additional details from the patrons.

Just as he was about to enter the café, a woman burst through the door, moving with an urgency that caught his attention. Her hurried pace and the way she tried to avoid eye contact made something in Ruhn’s gut twist with unease.

He briefly locked eyes with her, but her face was partially obscured by the hood of her shirt. The moment was too fleeting for him to make out any distinct features before she turned sharply and hurried away.

Instinctively, Ruhn’s gaze followed her. He signaled to his team to follow. There was something about her behavior that didn’t sit right with him.

The woman moved quickly, weaving through the streets with purpose. Ruhn and his team kept a discreet distance, their steps synchronized with hers. As she darted into an alleyway, Ruhn urged his team to stay close.

In the narrow confines of the alley, Ruhn saw her stumbling and dropping something on the ground. He caught sight of a small, intricate pendant before she could recover it. Without thinking, he reached out and gripped her arm, intending to stop her.

As his fingers closed around her arm, a strange sensation coursed through him—a fleeting pulse of energy that sent a shiver up his spine. It was brief, almost like an electric current, but enough to make him pause. The woman’s startled reaction confirmed that the feeling wasn’t one-sided.

“Stop!” Ruhn commanded, his voice sharp with authority and urgency. The intensity of the moment heightened his awareness, making his heart pound.

But before he could fully grasp her, she wrenched free, slipping away into the shadows. Ruhn watched as she disappeared around a corner, his grip still tingling with the sensation of her touch.

He quickly picked up the pendant she had dropped, examining its elaborate design. It seemed out of place, adding another layer of mystery to the situation.

Ruhn turned to his team, determination etched on his face. “Keep searching. We need to find out who she is and why she was running.”

As his team resumed their search, Ruhn’s thoughts raced. The strange sensation from the woman’s touch lingered in his mind, along with the pendant’s peculiar design. He knew there was a deeper connection to the chaos that needed to be uncovered. The city might be recovering, but for Ruhn, the mystery was just beginning.

He looked back down at the pendant in his hands. Intricate patterns were etched into it's surface--familiar, yet completely alien. As his thumb traced the designs, something flickered in his memory, like the whisper of an old story he couldn't quite remember.

"What the hell is this?" he muttered to himself, turning the pendant over in his hand.

Flynn and Declan caught up to him then, their faces marked with confusion.

"Did you lose her?" Flynn asked, glancing down the alley where she had disappeared.

"She slipped away," Ruhn replied, his voice edged with frustration. "But not before she dropped this." He held up the pendant, watching as his friends' expressions shifted from curiosity to concern.

"That's not local," Declan said immediately, his sharp eyes studying the pendant. "I've seen a lot of old artifacts in the archives--this doesn't match anything we've come across."

Flynn frowned, his gaze flicking between the pendant and Ruhn "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we need answers," Ruhn replied, pocketing the pendant. "Whatever that thing is...it's connected to her. And I don't think she's just some random personpassing through the city."

Bryce's voice crackled through their comms. "What's going on? You guys are off the grid."

Ruhn pressed the device to his ear, his mind still buzzing. "We might've stumbled onto something bigger than we thought."

"Bigger how?" Bryce sounded intrigued, though there was a hint of weariness in her tone--likely from dealing with the fallout of the night's attack.

"I'll explain later. We're heading back."

Three hours later, back at the apartment, the entire group gathered in the lounge--Bryce, Hunt, Ithan, Baxian and Ruhn. The atmosphere was tense, everyone still on edge from the attack the previous night.

Ruhn set the pendant down on the coffee table, the strange silver gleaming under the lights.

"This is what she dropped," Ruhn began, his voice steady but his mind still racing. "I don't know who she is, but I'm sure as hell that she's not from around here.And this pendant, it's tied to something. Something big."

Bryce leaned in, her fingers brushing over the intricate design. "This looks old. Like really old." Her brow furrowed "I've never seen anything like this, and I've come across a lot of ancient shit."

Hunt crossed his arms, his wings twitching slightly. "Do you think she's involved with the attack? Coordinating something behind the scenes?"

"I don't know," Ruhn admitted. "But whatever she's up to, she is not someone we should underestimate."

Baxian leaned against his chair. "I will let Isaiah know of this new discovery."

Bryce exchanged a glance with her mate before looking back at Ruhn. "We need to find out what this symbol means. I'll reach out to some people, see if they know anything."

Ruhn rubbed his temples as the group fell into a thoughtful silence, the pendant lying on the coffee table between them, gleaming in the low light of the apartment. Bryce paced back and forth, deep in thought, while Ithan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes occasionally flicking towards the mysterious object.

“None of this makes any sense,” Bryce finally muttered. “If this pendant is as old as it looks, why was it dropped during last night’s attack? And why now?”

“Maybe it was an accident,” Ithan suggested. “Whoever was running from you, Ruhn, wasn’t planning on being chased.”

Ruhn shook his head. “No. This wasn’t just some random person. There was something… familiar about her, but I can’t put my finger on it.” He hadn’t shared everything he felt during that brief contact—how a strange pulse of energy surged through him when he grabbed her arm. It had been… unsettling.

As the room fell into another tense silence, there was a knock on the door. Everyone froze, their gazes darting towards it.

“Expecting someone?” Ithan asked, already pushing off the wall.

Bryce frowned. “No.”

Ruhn rose, his hand instinctively going to the knife at his side as he approached the door. He glanced back at the group, Bryce nodding once to signal her readiness, her fingers twitching with power just beneath the surface.

Ruhn opened the door, revealing Flynn standing there, looking slightly out of breath. He wasn’t alone. Beside him was Declan, their expressions serious.

“Sorry to barge in,” Flynn started, walking into the apartment without being invited. “But we’ve got news, and it’s not good.”

Bryce crossed her arms. “What is it?”

Flynn exchanged a look with Declan before he spoke again. “One of our sources just reached out. They’ve been tracking unusual magical activity, and… well, we think we’ve found another connection to the attacks. Something about a powerful ward being broken last night.”

“A ward?” Ruhn asked, brow furrowing.

Flynn nodded. “Yeah, and it gets worse. They couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, but they’re sure it’s tied to that pendant.”

Ruhn’s gaze flicked back to the pendant on the table. The room seemed to grow colder, the air heavier with the weight of this new revelation.

“We need to get moving,” Flynn added. “Our source said this ward was ancient—something that hasn’t been touched in centuries.”

“Then whoever dropped this pendant wasn’t just fleeing the scene,” Declan said, his eyes scanning the group. “They were trying to hide something, maybe even protect themselves from being found.”

Bryce’s expression hardened. “Do we have any leads on where this ward was located?”

Flynn hesitated. “Not yet, but our source is working on it. We figured we’d regroup here and go from there.”

Ruhn’s mind was racing. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that the woman he had chased was tied to all of this. And now this pendant wasn’t just some lost trinket; it was a piece of something much larger.

He looked over at Bryce. “We need to move quickly. If this ward was protecting something dangerous, we can’t let it get out of control.”

“Agreed,” Bryce said, glancing at the others. “We split up. Flynn, you and Declan go follow up with your source. Ithan, stay here and keep an eye on things. Hunt and Baxian, you go to the 33rd. See if they have any updates. Ruhn and I will check out the location where you found that woman.”

Ruhn nodded, but a chill crept up his spine. The feeling that something bigger was at play, something none of them were ready for, wouldn’t leave him. And as he grabbed his jacket and prepared to head back out into the streets, his mind wandered to the pendant once more.

What had been unleashed?

The streets outside were eerily quiet as they moved toward the alley, where the pendant had been found. Bryce’s eyes swept the surroundings, alert to any sign of danger. But Ruhn’s mind was elsewhere—on the woman who had dropped the pendant. She wasn’t just another enemy; she was something far more dangerous.

The air seemed to grow heavier as they approached the alley, the energy around them shifting. It was subtle at first—a slight flicker of movement, a ripple in the world around them, as if reality itself was bending under unseen pressure.

“This is where she was,” Ruhn murmured, his voice low as he stopped in front of the darkened alley. His grip tightened on the pendant in his pocket, a deep sense of unease settling over him.

Bryce looked at him, her brow furrowed. “Whatever we’re dealing with, it’s not just some random magic. This is something bigger.”

Ruhn nodded, but before he could respond, the very air around them seemed to still. The night grew unnaturally quiet, the world itself frozen in place. Bryce stopped mid-step, her expression frozen in time—her body unmoving, her breathing halted.

Everything stopped.

Ruhn felt a strange pressure weigh down on him, an invisible force binding him in place. His muscles refused to respond, his body stuck in a frozen position. It was as if time itself had ceased to exist, the world around him locked in a moment.

And then he saw her.

Out of the shimmering stillness, That woman stepped into view. Her cloak was gone, revealing her completely. She moved with an unhurried grace, her movements smooth and fluid, as if she alone controlled the flow of time.

Ruhn’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes met hers—an unnatural shade of violet, like molten amethyst glowing in the dim light of the alley. Her face was a vision of ethereal beauty, but not the kind that drew you in with warmth. No, her beauty was dangerous, sharp, like a blade designed to cut, to wound. Her high cheekbones, flawless skin, and the intense, almost otherworldly look in her eyes sent a shiver through him. And her ears...so she was a female, not a woman.

He’d seen plenty of powerful beings, creatures with ancient magic that thrummed in their veins, but there was something about her—something that went beyond mere beauty. She was unnatural, ethereal, and that only added to the power she exuded.

His heart thundered in his chest as he found himself unable to look away. Every detail seemed to sharpen, every second stretched as his mind struggled to process what was happening. He was stuck, time frozen, and yet in this moment, all that mattered was her.

And then she moved closer.

The female walked through the frozen world as if she owned it, her steps soft but deliberate. She didn’t rush, didn’t panic. She moved with the confidence of someone who knew she was untouchable. Ruhn’s gaze followed her, his mind a whirlwind of questions. Who is she? Why does she feel… different?

With each step, her beauty grew more haunting, her presence more overwhelming. And he noticed the smallest details—her long, dark hair framing her face, the way her eyes seemed to catch every bit of light, glinting with some hidden knowledge, some secret she carried that the world didn’t know.

When she finally reached him, her fingers lightly brushed his hand. The pendant, the one she had dropped, was still in his grasp. Her touch was cold, sending a sharp jolt up his arm, and his entire body felt like it had been set ablaze by that brief connection. It was as if her touch pulled something out of him, something primal, something deep.

She leaned in slightly, her gaze briefly flicking down to the pendant before locking back onto his. In the frozen stillness, their eyes locked again, and for a moment—just a moment—Ruhn swore he saw a flicker of something in her gaze. Recognition? Curiosity? He couldn’t tell.

But then she spoke, her voice a whisper, low and melodic, yet edged with danger. “This belongs to me.”

His breath hitched. There was something intimate in that moment, something that crawled under his skin and stayed there, gnawing at him. She took the pendant from his hand slowly, her fingers lingering just a fraction too long against his.

And then, with a single blink, she was gone.

Time resumed its flow, the world around him suddenly jolting back to life. Bryce gasped beside him, blinking rapidly as if shaking off a dream.

“Ruhn?” Bryce’s voice sounded distant, her eyes wide as she scanned the street.

But Ruhn couldn’t respond. His heart pounded in his chest, and his gaze was still locked on the spot where she had disappeared, the strange sensation of her touch still lingering on his skin.

“Who the hell was that?” Bryce muttered, scanning the area in confusion, her brow furrowed.

Ruhn didn’t answer immediately. His mind was still reeling, trying to process what had just happened. His pulse was still racing from the intensity of that moment, from the look in her eyes that had been so piercing, so knowing.

“Whoever she is… she’s not done with us,” Ruhn finally said, his voice low.

Bryce shot him a confused look, clearly not understanding the full weight of what had just occurred. But Ruhn felt it—deep in his bones. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

The pendant had been a symbol, a connection. But it wasn’t just about the object anymore. It was about her. Whoever she was, whatever power she wielded… it was only the beginning.

And something told Ruhn that the next time they met, it wouldn’t be so brief—or so one-sided. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @annamariereads16 @tooexhaustedsstuff @a-frog-with-a-laptop @cassie-at-college-blog @itsinherited @anuttellaa

#fantasy #fanfics #acotar #maasverse #prince ruhn #ruhn crescent city #ruhn danaan #bryce quinlan #hunt athalar #rhysand acotar #rhysand

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mariacallous · 5 months ago

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Every year has its own mix of digital security debacles, from the absurd to the sinister, but 2024 was particularly marked by hacking sprees in which cybercriminals and state-backed espionage groups repeatedly exploited the same weakness or type of target to fuel their frenzy. For attackers, the approach is ruthlessly efficient, but for compromised institutions—and the individuals they serve—the malicious rampages had very real consequences for people's privacy, safety, and security.

As political turmoil and social unrest intensify around the world, 2025 will be a complicated—and potentially explosive—year in cyberspace. But first, here's WIRED's look back on this year's worst breaches, leaks, state-sponsored hacking campaigns, ransomware attacks, and digital extortion cases. Stay alert, and stay safe out there.

China's Salt Typhoon Telecom Breaches

Espionage operations are a fact of life, and relentless Chinese campaigns have been a constant in cyberspace for years now. But the China-linked espionage group Salt Typhoon carried out a particularly noteworthy operation this year, infiltrating a slew of US telecoms including Verizon and AT&T (plus others around the world) for months. And US officials told reporters earlier this month that many victim companies are still actively attempting to remove the hackers from their networks.

The attackers surveilled a small group of people—less than 150 by current count—but they include individuals who were already subject to US wiretap orders as well as state department officials and members of both the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns. Additionally, texts and calls from other people who interacted with the Salt Typhoon targets were inherently also caught up in the espionage scheme.

Snowflake Customer Breaches

Throughout the summer, attackers were on a tear, breaching prominent companies and organizations that were all customers of the cloud data storage company Snowflake. The spree barely qualifies as hacking, since cybercriminals were simply using stolen passwords to log in to Snowflake accounts that didn't have two-factor authentication turned on. The end result, though, was an extraordinary amount of data stolen from victims including Ticketmaster, Santander Bank, and Neiman Marcus. Another prominent victim, the telecom giant AT&T, said in July that “nearly all” records relating to its customers' calls and texts from a seven-month stretch in 2022 were stolen in a Snowflake-related intrusion. The security firm Mandiant, which is owned by Google, said in June that the rampage impacted roughly 165 victims.

In July, Snowflake added a feature so account administrators could make two-factor authentication mandatory for all of their users. In November, suspect Alexander “Connor” Moucka was arrested by Canadian law enforcement for allegedly leading the hacking spree. He was indicted by the US Department of Justice for the Snowflake tear and faces extradition to the US. John Erin Binns, who was arrested in Turkey for an indictment related to a 2021 breach of the telecom T-Mobile, was also indicted on charges related to the Snowflake customer breaches.

Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack

At the end of February, the medical billing and insurance processing company Change Healthcare was hit with a ransomware attack that caused disruptions at hospitals, doctor's offices, pharmacies, and other health care facilities around the US. The attack is one of the all-time largest breaches of medical data, impacting more than 100 million people. The company, which is owned by UnitedHealth, is a dominant medical billing processor in the US. It said days after the attack started that it believed ALPHV/BlackCat, a notorious Russian-speaking ransomware gang, was behind the assault.

Personal data stolen in the attack included patient phone numbers, addresses, banking and other financial information, and health records including diagnoses, prescriptions, and treatment details. The company paid a $22 million ransom to ALPHV/BlackCat at the beginning of March in an attempt to contain the situation. The payment seemingly emboldened attackers to hit health care targets at an even greater rate than usual. With ongoing, rolling notifications to more than 100 million victims—with more still being discovered—lawsuits and other blowback has been mounting. This month, for example, the state of Nebraska sued Change Healthcare, alleging that “failures to implement basic security protections” made the attack much worse than it should have been.

Russia's Midnight Blizzard Hit Microsoft

Microsoft said in January that it had been breached by Russia's “Midnight Blizzard” hackers in an incident that compromised company executives' email accounts. The group is tied to the Kremlin's SVR foreign intelligence agency and is specifically linked to SVR's APT 29, also known as Cozy Bear. After an initial intrusion in November 2023, the attackers targeted and compromised historic Microsoft system test accounts that then allowed them to access what the company said were “a very small percentage of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of our senior leadership team and employees in our cybersecurity, legal, and other functions.” From there, the group exfiltrated “some emails and attached documents.” Microsoft said that the attackers seemed to be looking for information about what the company knew about them—in other words, Midnight Blizzard doing reconnaissance on Microsoft's research into the group. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) also said in January that it had suffered a corporate email breach attributed to Midnight Blizzard.

National Public Data

The background check company National Public Data suffered a breach in December 2023, and data from the incident started showing up for sale on cybercriminal forums in April 2024. Different configurations of the data cropped up again and again over the summer, culminating in public confirmation of the breach by the company in August. The stolen data included names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and dates of birth. Since National Public Data didn't confirm the breach until August, speculation about the situation grew for months and included theories that the data included tens or even hundreds of millions of Social Security numbers. Though the breach was significant, the true number of impacted individuals seems to be, mercifully, much lower. The company reported in a filing to officials in Maine that the breach affected 1.3 million people. In October, National Public Data's parent company, Jerico Pictures, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the Southern District of Florida, citing state and federal investigations into the breach as well as a number of lawsuits that the company is facing over the incident.

Honorable Mention: North Korean Cryptocurrency Theft

A lot of people steal a lot of cryptocurrency every year, including North Korean cybercriminals who have a mandate to help fund the hermit kingdom. A report from the cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis released this month, though, underscores just how aggressive Pyongyang-backed hackers have become. The researchers found that in 2023, hackers affiliated with North Korea stole more than $660 million across 20 attacks. This year, they stole roughly $1.34 billion across 47 incidents. The 2024 figures represent 20 percent of total incidents Chainalysis tracked for the year and a whopping 61 percent of the total funds stolen by all actors.

The sheer domination is impressive, but the researchers emphasize the seriousness of the crimes. “US and international officials have assessed that Pyongyang uses the crypto it steals to finance its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programs, endangering international security,” Chainalysis wrote.

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feminist-space · 10 months ago

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"Just weeks before the implosion of AllHere, an education technology company that had been showered with cash from venture capitalists and featured in glowing profiles by the business press, America’s second-largest school district was warned about problems with AllHere’s product.

As the eight-year-old startup rolled out Los Angeles Unified School District’s flashy new AI-driven chatbot — an animated sun named “Ed” that AllHere was hired to build for $6 million — a former company executive was sending emails to the district and others that Ed’s workings violated bedrock student data privacy principles.

Those emails were sent shortly before The 74 first reported last week that AllHere, with $12 million in investor capital, was in serious straits. A June 14 statement on the company’s website revealed a majority of its employees had been furloughed due to its “current financial position.” Company founder and CEO Joanna Smith-Griffin, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles district said, was no longer on the job.

Smith-Griffin and L.A. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho went on the road together this spring to unveil Ed at a series of high-profile ed tech conferences, with the schools chief dubbing it the nation’s first “personal assistant” for students and leaning hard into LAUSD’s place in the K-12 AI vanguard. He called Ed’s ability to know students “unprecedented in American public education” at the ASU+GSV conference in April.

Through an algorithm that analyzes troves of student information from multiple sources, the chatbot was designed to offer tailored responses to questions like “what grade does my child have in math?” The tool relies on vast amounts of students’ data, including their academic performance and special education accommodations, to function.

Meanwhile, Chris Whiteley, a former senior director of software engineering at AllHere who was laid off in April, had become a whistleblower. He told district officials, its independent inspector general’s office and state education officials that the tool processed student records in ways that likely ran afoul of L.A. Unified’s own data privacy rules and put sensitive information at risk of getting hacked. None of the agencies ever responded, Whiteley told The 74.

...

In order to provide individualized prompts on details like student attendance and demographics, the tool connects to several data sources, according to the contract, including Welligent, an online tool used to track students’ special education services. The document notes that Ed also interfaces with the Whole Child Integrated Data stored on Snowflake, a cloud storage company. Launched in 2019, the Whole Child platform serves as a central repository for LAUSD student data designed to streamline data analysis to help educators monitor students’ progress and personalize instruction.

Whiteley told officials the app included students’ personally identifiable information in all chatbot prompts, even in those where the data weren’t relevant. Prompts containing students’ personal information were also shared with other third-party companies unnecessarily, Whiteley alleges, and were processed on offshore servers. Seven out of eight Ed chatbot requests, he said, are sent to places like Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Australia and Canada.

Taken together, he argued the company’s practices ran afoul of data minimization principles, a standard cybersecurity practice that maintains that apps should collect and process the least amount of personal information necessary to accomplish a specific task. Playing fast and loose with the data, he said, unnecessarily exposed students’ information to potential cyberattacks and data breaches and, in cases where the data were processed overseas, could subject it to foreign governments’ data access and surveillance rules.

Chatbot source code that Whiteley shared with The 74 outlines how prompts are processed on foreign servers by a Microsoft AI service that integrates with ChatGPT. The LAUSD chatbot is directed to serve as a “friendly, concise customer support agent” that replies “using simple language a third grader could understand.” When querying the simple prompt “Hello,” the chatbot provided the student’s grades, progress toward graduation and other personal information.

AllHere’s critical flaw, Whiteley said, is that senior executives “didn’t understand how to protect data.”

...

Earlier in the month, a second threat actor known as Satanic Cloud claimed it had access to tens of thousands of L.A. students’ sensitive information and had posted it for sale on Breach Forums for $1,000. In 2022, the district was victim to a massive ransomware attack that exposed reams of sensitive data, including thousands of students’ psychological evaluations, to the dark web.

With AllHere’s fate uncertain, Whiteley blasted the company’s leadership and protocols.

“Personally identifiable information should be considered acid in a company and you should only touch it if you have to because acid is dangerous,” he told The 74. “The errors that were made were so egregious around PII, you should not be in education if you don’t think PII is acid.”

Read the full article here:

https://www.the74million.org/article/whistleblower-l-a-schools-chatbot-misused-student-data-as-tech-co-crumbled/

#data breach #lausd #la school system #tech bro ai being reckless with personal data as usual #anti ai

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 4 months ago

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A Chill Over Chicagoland

Between January 19 and 24, 2025, a brutal cold snap hit Chicago. This satellite image captured a glimpse of the wintry aftermath.

The first half of the cold spell saw the chilliest weather, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). On January 21, the air temperature in Chicago reached as low as minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius). At the time, little to no snow covered the ground in Chicago, which NWS noted is uncommon amid sub-zero temperatures.

Snowflakes returned toward the end of the cold spell. Between the mornings of January 22 and 23, several waves of snowfall produced the blanket of white across the Chicago area visible in this image, acquired on January 24, 2025, with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8.

Another expanse of white is visible atop Lake Michigan. This is lake ice, which grows on the Great Lakes each winter, though its extent and timing can be highly variable. Ice coverage on the Great Lakes typically reaches its annual peak in late February or early March.

On January 24, winds were blowing offshore and pushing ice away from the coastline, according to Jia Wang, an ice climatologist at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). Areas of thin (dark) ice closer to shore transition into patchy areas of bright white ice away from shore. Wang thinks these whiter areas might be due to ice that has piled up and formed a very rough surface.

The area of Lake Michigan covered with ice in late January 2025 hovered around the historical average (1973-2024) for the time of year, according to data from GLERL. When the image was acquired, ice covered about 20 percent of the lake.

Meanwhile, several hundred miles to the east, ice on Lake Erie spiked well above average in late January, according to GLERL, with ice spanning around 80 percent of the lake. The ice was thick enough to temporarily immobilize a Canadian cargo freighter, according to news reports.

Scientists are currently investigating ways to use altimetry data from NASA’s ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2) to determine the thickness of ice on the Great Lakes. According to Eric Anderson, a researcher at the Colorado School of Mines, such measurements could improve ice and weather forecasting as well as help us understand changes in Earth’s surface freshwater.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

#science #space #news #nasa #chicago #earth observatory

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shivamtalkd · 1 year ago

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Navigating the Future with Cloud-Based Data Warehousing: Empowering Enterprises with Atgeir Solution

The digital transformation era demands a paradigm shift in data handling, and Atgeir Solution stands as a beacon, offering cloud-based data warehouse solutions for enterprises ready to embrace the future. In today's data-driven world, the significance of a well-structured, accessible, and robust data warehouse cannot be overstated. Introduction: Atgeir Solution recognizes the pivotal role of data warehouses in the digital ecosystem. As enterprises navigate the ever-expanding data landscape, the need for modernized data operations becomes imperative. Traditional data warehouses often encounter challenges such as slow analytics, exorbitant costs, poor data pipelines, and skill gaps within teams. Addressing these challenges is pivotal for streamlined business operations and informed decision-making. The Importance of Cloud Data Warehousing: Transitioning from conventional to cloud-based data warehousing isn't merely a trend; it's a necessity. Atgeir Solution acknowledges this shift and capitalizes on its expertise in both traditional and modern data warehousing. Cloud data warehousing brings multifaceted advantages - enhanced disaster recovery, unifying data from diverse sources, improved performance, scalability, and accessibility. How Atgeir Solution Empowers Enterprises: Atgeir Solution's forte lies in leveraging its experience and expertise to modernize data warehousing. The company excels in seamlessly migrating traditional warehouses to the cloud, thus bridging the gap between legacy systems and future-ready solutions. Through a comprehensive suite of services, Atgeir Solution resolves challenges faced by enterprises, ensuring data unification, performance enhancement, cost-effectiveness, and robust disaster recovery. Benefits of Cloud-Based Data Warehousing: The blog delves into the myriad benefits that cloud-based data warehousing offers, emphasizing its role in disaster recovery, scalability, data unification, improved performance, and accessibility across geographical boundaries. Atgeir Solution's proficiency in implementing and optimizing cloud data warehouses further enhances these advantages, empowering enterprises to thrive in an increasingly data-centric landscape. Conclusion: As enterprises strive for data excellence, Atgeir Solution emerges as a trusted partner in this transformative journey. The blog culminates by reinforcing the critical role of cloud-based data warehousing in shaping the future of businesses, highlighting how Atgeir Solution's expertise propels enterprises towards data-driven success.

#cloud based data warehouse #snowflake data warehousing #cloud data warehouse solutions

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uegub · 4 months ago

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Why Tableau is Essential in Data Science: Transforming Raw Data into Insights

Data science is all about turning raw data into valuable insights. But numbers and statistics alone don’t tell the full story—they need to be visualized to make sense. That’s where Tableau comes in.

Tableau is a powerful tool that helps data scientists, analysts, and businesses see and understand data better. It simplifies complex datasets, making them interactive and easy to interpret. But with so many tools available, why is Tableau a must-have for data science? Let’s explore.

1. The Importance of Data Visualization in Data Science

Imagine you’re working with millions of data points from customer purchases, social media interactions, or financial transactions. Analyzing raw numbers manually would be overwhelming.

That’s why visualization is crucial in data science:

Identifies trends and patterns – Instead of sifting through spreadsheets, you can quickly spot trends in a visual format.

Makes complex data understandable – Graphs, heatmaps, and dashboards simplify the interpretation of large datasets.

Enhances decision-making – Stakeholders can easily grasp insights and make data-driven decisions faster.

Saves time and effort – Instead of writing lengthy reports, an interactive dashboard tells the story in seconds.

Without tools like Tableau, data science would be limited to experts who can code and run statistical models. With Tableau, insights become accessible to everyone—from data scientists to business executives.

2. Why Tableau Stands Out in Data Science

A. User-Friendly and Requires No Coding

One of the biggest advantages of Tableau is its drag-and-drop interface. Unlike Python or R, which require programming skills, Tableau allows users to create visualizations without writing a single line of code.

Even if you’re a beginner, you can:

✅ Upload data from multiple sources

✅ Create interactive dashboards in minutes

✅ Share insights with teams easily

This no-code approach makes Tableau ideal for both technical and non-technical professionals in data science.

B. Handles Large Datasets Efficiently

Data scientists often work with massive datasets—whether it’s financial transactions, customer behavior, or healthcare records. Traditional tools like Excel struggle with large volumes of data.

Tableau, on the other hand:

Can process millions of rows without slowing down

Optimizes performance using advanced data engine technology

Supports real-time data streaming for up-to-date analysis

This makes it a go-to tool for businesses that need fast, data-driven insights.

C. Connects with Multiple Data Sources

A major challenge in data science is bringing together data from different platforms. Tableau seamlessly integrates with a variety of sources, including:

Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server

Cloud platforms: AWS, Google BigQuery, Snowflake

Spreadsheets and APIs: Excel, Google Sheets, web-based data sources

This flexibility allows data scientists to combine datasets from multiple sources without needing complex SQL queries or scripts.

D. Real-Time Data Analysis

Industries like finance, healthcare, and e-commerce rely on real-time data to make quick decisions. Tableau’s live data connection allows users to:

Track stock market trends as they happen

Monitor website traffic and customer interactions in real time

Detect fraudulent transactions instantly

Instead of waiting for reports to be generated manually, Tableau delivers insights as events unfold.

E. Advanced Analytics Without Complexity

While Tableau is known for its visualizations, it also supports advanced analytics. You can:

Forecast trends based on historical data

Perform clustering and segmentation to identify patterns

Integrate with Python and R for machine learning and predictive modeling

This means data scientists can combine deep analytics with intuitive visualization, making Tableau a versatile tool.

3. How Tableau Helps Data Scientists in Real Life

Tableau has been adopted by the majority of industries to make data science more impactful and accessible. This is applied in the following real-life scenarios:

A. Analytics for Health Care

Tableau is deployed by hospitals and research institutions for the following purposes:

Monitor patient recovery rates and predict outbreaks of diseases

Analyze hospital occupancy and resource allocation

Identify trends in patient demographics and treatment results

B. Finance and Banking

Banks and investment firms rely on Tableau for the following purposes:

✅ Detect fraud by analyzing transaction patterns

✅ Track stock market fluctuations and make informed investment decisions

✅ Assess credit risk and loan performance

C. Marketing and Customer Insights

Companies use Tableau to:

✅ Track customer buying behavior and personalize recommendations

✅ Analyze social media engagement and campaign effectiveness

✅ Optimize ad spend by identifying high-performing channels

D. Retail and Supply Chain Management

Retailers leverage Tableau to:

✅ Forecast product demand and adjust inventory levels

✅ Identify regional sales trends and adjust marketing strategies

✅ Optimize supply chain logistics and reduce delivery delays

These applications show why Tableau is a must-have for data-driven decision-making.

4. Tableau vs. Other Data Visualization Tools

There are many visualization tools available, but Tableau consistently ranks as one of the best. Here’s why:

Tableau vs. Excel – Excel struggles with big data and lacks interactivity; Tableau handles large datasets effortlessly.

Tableau vs. Power BI – Power BI is great for Microsoft users, but Tableau offers more flexibility across different data sources.

Tableau vs. Python (Matplotlib, Seaborn) – Python libraries require coding skills, while Tableau simplifies visualization for all users.

This makes Tableau the go-to tool for both beginners and experienced professionals in data science.

5. Conclusion

Tableau has become an essential tool in data science because it simplifies data visualization, handles large datasets, and integrates seamlessly with various data sources. It enables professionals to analyze, interpret, and present data interactively, making insights accessible to everyone—from data scientists to business leaders.

If you’re looking to build a strong foundation in data science, learning Tableau is a smart career move. Many data science courses now include Tableau as a key skill, as companies increasingly demand professionals who can transform raw data into meaningful insights.

In a world where data is the driving force behind decision-making, Tableau ensures that the insights you uncover are not just accurate—but also clear, impactful, and easy to act upon.

#data science course #top data science course online #top data science institute online #artificial intelligence course #deepseek #tableau

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