Raven was staring in the mirror when someone knocked on his door.
"Let's go," Adrian called out, sounding impatient as usual.
Raven closed his eyes to center himself. When he looked at the mirror again, it was just his own tired face staring back. But for how long would it stay that way?
When Raven opened the door, Adrian was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked Raven up and down with narrowed eyes.
"You look awful," he said, but didn't ask questions. "We need to get to Port Furge by noon."
"I'm ready." Raven grabbed his small pack with just the basics and a change of clothes. The Third Guard would provide everything else they needed. "Any news about the target?"
"Nothing new. The Tempest Veil was spotted three days ago heading toward Calonian waters." Adrian pushed himself off the wall. "Lucien wants us to catch them before they reach port."
They walked silently through the stone hallways of headquarters. Guards nodded respectfully to Adrian but gave Raven uncertain looks. Everyone knew who he was—the Blood Seeker, the monster who shouldn't exist, yet here he was.
At the main gate, a man in normal clothes waited by a covered cart. Raven spotted his hidden weapons and the Third Guard symbol on his collar.
"All set," the man said to Adrian, avoiding looking directly at Raven.
Adrian nodded and motioned for Raven to get in the cart. As the door closed behind them, blocking out the morning light, Raven felt uneasy. Not about the mission, but something more basic.
"We're heading west," Adrian explained as they started moving. "Port Furge is where Nefaria meets Calonia. Black sand beaches where lava meets the sea."
Raven nodded, barely listening. With each mile they traveled west, he felt something strange—a pulling sensation in his blood. He'd never been this close to the ocean since waking up in this body.
"You can feel it already, can't you?" Adrian asked quietly.
Raven looked up sharply. "Feel what?"
"The water. It makes blood magic harder to control but stronger too." Adrian watched him carefully. "That's why we've kept you inland until now."
Raven noticed his fingers trembling slightly. "You could have warned me."
"Would you have believed me without feeling it yourself?" Adrian shrugged. "Besides, you need to learn to deal with it quickly. Where we're going, you'll be surrounded by water."
The cart hit a bump, and Raven felt the blood in his veins jump, like it forgot how gravity works for a second. He closed his eyes, focusing on controlling this weird new feeling.
"My gravity powers get unpredictable over water too," Adrian offered, surprising Raven with the personal info. "Something about moving water messes with the fields I create. We'll both be at a disadvantage."
Raven studied Adrian. "Then why send us?"
Adrian smiled. "Because even at half-power, you're still the only Blood Seeker in the empire. And whatever's on that pirate ship is connected to your... abilities."
They rode in silence, passing through villages and farms. The landscape changed—soil turning to volcanic ash, plants becoming scarce. All the while, Raven felt the ocean calling to his blood like a distant drumbeat.
When they reached the final hill before Port Furge, the vast ocean spread out before them, and Raven's blood sang so intensely that a small drop leaked from his nose before he could stop it.
"Welcome to the coast," Adrian said, watching his reaction. "Try not to bleed on everything. Makes people nervous."
Port Furge spread out below them like a black jewel against the deep blue sea. Unlike inland cities built from stone and wood, the buildings here were black—made from volcanic rock that sparkled slightly in the noon sun.
Steam rose where molten rivers from Mount Ascar met the waves, creating a constant haze over the harbor.
Raven got out of the cart and stumbled immediately. The feeling that had been building during their trip hit him full force—his blood sense, normally limited to detecting living things nearby, suddenly expanded outward dizzyingly.
He could feel the heartbeats of hundreds of people moving through the port, their life force pulsing like stars in his mind.
"Easy," Adrian said quietly, holding his elbow with surprising gentleness. "Your senses will adjust. Breathe slowly."
Raven nodded, forcing himself to breathe steadily as the overwhelming flood of sensations gradually organized in his mind. The strangest part was how he could sense the ocean itself—not alive in the normal way, but somehow connecting with his blood magic like it had its own sleeping consciousness.
"Amazing," he whispered, flexing his fingers. A thin thread of blood came from his fingertip, floating with unusual fluidity. Instead of the precise control he'd mastered, the droplet pulsed and rippled in rhythm with the distant waves.
Adrian slapped his hand down. "Not here," he hissed. "The port is full of imperial inspectors. Blood magic is banned everywhere, but coastal authorities are extra strict."
Raven absorbed the blood back into his skin, noticing how eagerly it responded—almost too eagerly, like it was drawn to the sea. "You could have told me about this side effect."
"And miss that look on your face?" Adrian smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Come on. Our contact is waiting."
They walked through crowded streets sloping toward the harbor. Sailors with weathered faces mixed with fancy merchants, while workers hauled cargo between warehouses.
Raven noticed the blue-uniformed Calonian naval officers walking in pairs, watching everything.
"The Calonians are patrolling more than usual," Adrian said quietly, steering them away from a checkpoint. "Third Guard reports mentioned increased activity, but this is more than we expected."
"Looking for something specific?" Raven asked.
"Or someone." Adrian's tone made it clear who that someone might be.
They reached a small tavern near the docks with a sign showing a kraken wrapped around a ship. Inside, the air was thick with smoke and the smell of fermented fish sauce.
Adrian scanned the room, then nodded toward a corner table where someone sat alone.
Captain Mira Kells wasn't what Raven expected. Instead of an old sailor, he found a woman around her late thirties with an intense presence.
Her dark hair was bleached white at the ends from salt and sun, with small metal bits and bone pieces woven in that clinked when she moved. Most striking was her left eye—milky white with a cloudy pupil, very different from her sharp blue right eye.
"Adrian," she said without warmth as they approached. "Always bringing trouble with you."
"Good to see you too, Mira." Adrian sat across from her, motioning for Raven to join them.
Her good eye fixed on Raven intensely, while the cloudy one seemed to look through him. "So it's true," she said quietly. "You *are* a Blood Seeker."
Raven tensed, his fingers curling instinctively. Few people could recognize what he was on sight, and fewer would say it out loud in public.
"Captain Kells," Adrian said sharply. "We're on Third Guard business. It's important—"
"Adrian, always causing problems, aren't you?" she cut him off, leaning back. "Let me guess. You need a ride to Calonia, and you need someone who won't ask questions when weird stuff starts happening on their ship." Her cloudy eye seemed to pulse faintly as she spoke.
"It's the Third Guard," Adrian said, like that explained everything.
Something in her expression changed. "Let's talk privately," she said, standing suddenly. "Your friend can wait here."
As they walked toward a back door, Raven subtly extended his senses. His blood magic, stronger near the ocean, let him track their heartbeats and—surprisingly—faintly hear their words through the vibrations in the air.