Adrian and Raven met in a small tactical room with a round table that had glowing symbols built into it. These symbols could show 3D maps when turned on. They spread out the mission folder between them.
"Harborwatch Port," Adrian said, touching a spot on the Calonia map. The spot got bigger, showing a busy harbor town. "That's where our info says the TempestVeil was last seen. Lots of Third Guard there, but mostly undercover."
Raven studied the map. "How's the waterfront security?"
"Regular harbor patrol, plus magic sensors that detect unauthorized magic within 200 meters of the docks," Adrian said, his face hardening. "Your blood magic will set off every alarm in the area if you use it near water."
"Great," Raven muttered, then looked up sharply. "You've worked in Calonia before."
Adrian kept his face neutral. "I've been to most parts of the empire."
"As an agent or a fugitive?" Raven pressed.
After a tense moment, Adrian admitted, "Both. Calonian port authorities are equally good at hunting political enemies and regular criminals."
Raven nodded, accepting this partial truth. "What about the TempestVeil? How do we approach once we find it?"
Adrian activated another set of symbols, showing the ship's blueprints. "Standard Calonian ship with three masts, but heavily modified. See these symbols on the hull? Enchantments. And these rooms below deck are bigger than normal storage would need."
"Holding cells?"
"Maybe. Or magic dampening rooms." Adrian pointed to a section near the back. "Captain's quarters here. If the artifact is as valuable as Estra says, Valor would keep it close."
Raven leaned forward. "Two ways in. Through the cargo hold or from the upper deck. Neither is ideal."
"I say we go direct through the upper deck," Adrian said. "Quick and efficient. We find the artifact and get out before they can respond."
Raven shook his head. "Too risky. We need stealth, not speed. The cargo hold gives us cover and time to search properly."
"While giving the crew time to find us," Adrian argued.
They stared at each other, their old bad feelings briefly showing up again.
Raven ran a hand through his dark hair. "Look, I don't like working with you any more than you like working with me. But we're stuck together, so let's at least try to use our abilities effectively."
Adrian's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Fine. How do we handle communication during the mission? Regular signals will draw attention."
"My Blood Sense works about 50 meters when fully extended. I can track movement through most of the ship once we're aboard. If we get separated, I'll need to track your position."
Adrian frowned. "You want my blood? Not happening."
Raven gave a small, humorless smile. "I don't need your blood, just a signature to recognize. A drop would help, but I can work with just being near you if you're squeamish."
"I'm not squeamish," Adrian snapped. "I'm practical. The last person who gave you access to their blood ended up dead."
The room seemed to get colder. Raven's eyes flashed dangerously. "That wasn't me."
"Wasn't it?" Adrian challenged. "How many did you have to kill before gaining the bloodcraft?"
Raven's fingers twitched, with a hint of red mist forming before he controlled it. "Enough to remember how you betrayed me at the fortress. Not enough to stab you in the back—yet."
Neither of them would back down. Then, surprisingly, Adrian was the first to relax.
"We don't have time for this," he said, pointing at the maps. "Our ship will move in an hour time."
Raven nodded stiffly. "Agreed. So we go with the cargo hold approach, moving to the captain's quarters using my Blood Sense to avoid patrols."
Adrian studied him thoughtfully. "How will your magic respond to the ocean? You heard Estra—water and blood don't mix well."
"I've been experimenting," Raven admitted reluctantly. "Small amounts of water can weaken my control, but large bodies are different. There's a... pull. Like resonance. It makes precision harder but increases raw power."
"That could be useful," Adrian mused. "Or catastrophic."
"Let's aim for useful," Raven replied dryly. "What about your gravity powers? Is there anything I should know about?"
Adrian hesitated, clearly deciding how much to share. "Gravity distortion gets... unstable over water. Especially moving water. I can adjust, but my range gets smaller."
"So we both have limitations near water," Raven said. "Good to know before we go in and die."
Adrian's mouth twitched in what might have been almost a smile. "Have you ever been seasick?"
"Not that I remember," Raven answered. "Why?"
"Because Calonian waters aren't like any you've experienced," Adrian replied, his face growing serious. "The currents there have a mind of their own—literally. Hydor arts users have spent generations giving them a kind of awareness."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Sentient currents?"
"Semi-sentient. Enough to recognize threats and respond." Adrian's eyes had a distant look. "I've seen a Calonian tidal surge target one specific ship while leaving others untouched. Just... pulled it under while the others sailed on calm water."
Raven took in this information with growing unease. "And we're supposed to get a shadow artifact from the middle of all this?"
"Now you understand why I questioned sending just the two of us." Adrian turned off the map projection. "But then again, Estra and her Queen never tell us everything, do they?"
The unspoken question hung between them: what were they really being sent to do, and would either of them make it back alive?
Raven's room was very plain by choice—he deliberately avoided comfort to stay alert and watchful. The only personal item was a cracked mirror hanging crookedly on the wall. He stood in front of it now, with the open mission folder tossed onto his narrow bed.
The face looking back at him felt both familiar and strange—sharp cheekbones, pale skin, and those unnaturally red eyes that showed he practiced forbidden blood magic. He raised a hand to his face, tracing features that were his but not really *his*.
"David," he whispered, testing how the name felt. His original name, from before the crash, before waking up in this body. Before Aethon and blood arts and fighting to survive.
The name sounded empty now. Foreign.
A flash of memory—his old life—came suddenly: driving home late from work, rain pounding on the windshield, headlights suddenly blinding him as the oncoming car crossed the center line. The screech of tires, the shattering glass, the darkness that swallowed him.
Those memories once felt like sharp, painful knife cuts. Now they felt like half-remembered dreams, fading each day.
He looked down at his hands. Long fingers, with calluses that suggested years of killing people and combat training. Muscle memory that wasn't his—skills he had but never learned.
Raven closed his eyes and called on his power. The familiar cold tingle of blood magic responded, flowing through his veins like winter water. When he opened his eyes, a small red sphere floated above his palm, slowly spinning.
"Control," he murmured, focusing on the blood shape. The sphere stretched, formed edges, changed into a tiny blade that gleamed in the dim light.
Each day, the magic responded more naturally to his will. Was that progress—or was he simply becoming more like the original Raven Blackwood? The line between David's consciousness and Raven's body got blurrier every day.
He dissolved the blood blade and focused harder. This would be the real test. Blood Summoning—his newest and most powerful ability—was still unpredictable, especially for smaller, more detailed shapes.
Sweat formed on his forehead as he concentrated, calling forth a different form of his power. Red mist came together, then began taking shape—forming the miniature outline of an armored figure. A Blood Knight in miniature, only six inches tall.
The shape wavered, its edges blurring as he struggled to maintain the complex form. In combat, with adrenaline flowing and danger present, the summoning came more naturally. Here, in his quiet room, the precision required took intense focus.
The tiny knight solidified, its red armor gleaming in the dim light. For a moment, it stood perfectly formed on his palm—a small version of the terrible creation he had unleashed against the Shadow Beasts in the forest. Then, with a soft hiss, it collapsed back into formless droplets.
Close, but not enough. In Calonia, surrounded by water that would fight his control, he would need complete mastery of his abilities. The mission would push him deeper into his power—deeper into becoming Raven Blackwood.
This realization chilled him. Each time he pushed his abilities further, he felt David's identity fade a little more. The mission wouldn't just test his powers; it would test who he really was.
He turned back to the mirror, studying his reflection intensely. "Who are you becoming?" he whispered to himself.
As he stared, an unsettling feeling came over him. For a split second—so quickly he might have imagined it—his reflection smiled, though his own face stayed serious.
Raven froze, staring at the now-normal reflection. A chill ran down his spine as a disturbing thought formed: what if he wasn't replacing the original Raven Blackwood?
What if Raven Blackwood was slowly replacing him?
The Calonia mission suddenly took on a new level of dread. It wasn't just the external dangers—the pirate captain, the Calonian authorities, the unpredictable water magic. The bigger danger might be what deeper use of blood magic would do to what was left of David's consciousness.
And yet, strangely, he knew that only by embracing these powers could he hope to survive long enough to solve the mystery of his existence here. The Blood Summoning that threatened to erase him might also be his only hope in the challenges ahead.
A sharp knock at his door broke his frozen state.