The Raven Guild gates were half closed when we arrived.
Kael did not slow his pace.
He walked forward like someone returning home, not seeking permission. The guards at the entrance straightened the moment they recognized him.
"You again," one of them muttered, though there was no hostility in his voice.
"Open it," Kael replied calmly. "We don't have time."
Before the guard could argue, a familiar voice cut through the tension.
"Let them in."
Varric stepped forward from inside the courtyard.
His armor was already fastened, sword strapped across his back. He looked exactly as he had during the mission beyond the outer wall weeks ago—steady, composed, and watchful.
His eyes moved from Kael to me.
"You bring storms with you," Varric said quietly.
Kael did not smile.
"Storms were already coming," he replied.
The gates opened.
We stepped into the guild courtyard, and I immediately sensed the shift in atmosphere.
This was not the relaxed Ravenspire I had grown used to.
Weapons were being distributed.
Messengers ran between buildings.
The air carried urgency.
Varric walked beside us.
"Morcant has begun placing watchers along Black Dock," he said. "We confirmed it at dawn."
Kael's expression hardened.
"How many?"
"Enough to signal an operation."
We entered the main hall.
Darius Crowe stood over a wide map table, his fingers resting on carved markers that represented city districts. He did not look surprised to see us.
"You came back sooner than expected," Darius said.
Kael stepped forward.
"Morcant is moving tonight."
Darius's eyes flicked briefly to me.
He did not question why I was there.
He already knew I was not just another guild guest.
"The watchers are bait," Kael continued. "He wants us to react."
Darius nodded slowly.
"Yes," he said. "And if we react blindly, we expose our defenses."
Kael crossed his arms.
"And if we do nothing, Black Dock burns."
Silence settled between them.
Not hostility.
Calculation.
Varric leaned forward, pointing at the map.
"We send a small unit," he suggested. "Observe first. Engage only if necessary."
Darius considered.
Then he looked at me.
"You feel it too, don't you?" he asked.
The question was quiet.
Careful.
I did not pretend ignorance.
"There is blood activity beneath the surface," I said evenly. "Not ritual scale. Not yet. But growing."
Kael glanced at me briefly.
Not surprised.
Just acknowledging.
Darius exhaled slowly.
"Then we move carefully."
He pointed to three positions along the map.
"Varric, take the east flank. Kael, west. No banners. No guild colors."
His gaze settled on me again.
"And you stay in the shadows."
I held his stare.
"That is where I have been," I replied.
There was no challenge in my voice.
Just truth.
Moments later we moved.
The streets of Ravenspire were alive despite the tension.
Vendors still shouted.
Lanterns glowed warmly outside taverns.
The scent of roasted meat and spiced wine drifted through the air.
To any outsider, it looked like a city untouched by politics.
But beneath the surface, something was shifting.
Kael walked beside me, quieter than usual.
"You don't like this," he said.
"It feels deliberate," I replied.
He nodded once.
"Morcant is not reckless," Kael said. "If he's moving, he's certain of something."
"Or someone," I added.
Kael glanced at me, but did not press further.
We reached the edge of Black Dock.
The district looked normal.
Too normal.
Ships swayed gently in the water.
Dock workers moved crates.
Laughter spilled from a nearby tavern.
Then I felt it.
A pulse.
Faint.
Buried beneath the stone streets.
My steps slowed.
Kael noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
"There," I said quietly, looking toward a warehouse near the pier.
He followed my gaze.
Before either of us could move, a figure stepped from the shadows.
Elder Morcant.
He stood beneath a lantern's glow, hands clasped behind his back as if he had been expecting us.
"My," he said pleasantly. "Ravenspire sends children now?"
Kael stepped slightly in front of me.
His voice was level.
"You're far from the capital."
Morcant smiled.
"And you are far from your jurisdiction."
The air thickened.
Several cloaked figures appeared behind Morcant.
Blood Council operatives.
Not soldiers.
Specialists.
"This district falls under guild protection," Kael said calmly.
Morcant tilted his head.
"Protection implies ownership," he replied. "Does the Raven Guild now claim authority over imperial waters?"
Before Kael could respond, I felt the pulse again.
Stronger.
From beneath the warehouse.
Morcant was stalling.
Buying time.
I leaned closer to Kael and murmured quietly, "There is something below."
He did not look at me.
But I felt his posture shift.
"I thought so," he replied under his breath.
Morcant's eyes flicked toward us briefly.
Sharp.
Observant.
"You should leave," Morcant said mildly. "This matter does not concern street guardians."
Kael's voice hardened.
"Everything in this city concerns us."
The lantern light flickered suddenly.
A low vibration ran through the dock.
Then—
A crimson sigil flared beneath the warehouse foundation.
The wooden structure cracked.
Screams erupted from inside.
Kael moved instantly.
"Varric!" he shouted.
Guild members surged forward from concealed positions.
Morcant stepped back calmly, not surprised.
The ground split open.
A blood construct began to rise from beneath the warehouse—unfinished, unstable, but massive.
Morcant had been preparing something beneath Ravenspire.
Kael drew his blade.
"Evacuate civilians!" he commanded.
I stepped forward despite Darius's warning.
I did not unleash my full power.
I could not.
But I extended my senses.
The construct pulsed with stolen blood.
Not ritual scale.
Experimental.
Morcant watched me.
Not Kael.
Me.
Recognition flickered in his eyes.
Not certainty.
Suspicion.
Interesting, his gaze seemed to say.
Very interesting.
The construct roared as guild fighters engaged it.
Kael fought with precision, not recklessness.
Varric directed civilians away from the collapsing pier.
And through it all, Morcant simply observed.
When the construct finally destabilized under coordinated strikes, it collapsed back into the fractured earth.
Smoke and steam filled the dock.
Morcant adjusted his gloves.
"Well," he said lightly. "That was unfortunate."
Kael stepped forward.
"You planned this."
Morcant smiled faintly.
"No," he said. "I tested it."
His eyes shifted to me again.
"And I confirmed something valuable."
Before Kael could close the distance, Morcant retreated into shadow.
His operatives vanished with him.
Silence returned slowly to Black Dock.
The warehouse lay in ruins.
The pier was damaged.
But the district still stood.
Kael exhaled.
"That was not random," he said.
"No," I replied.
He looked at me carefully.
"What did he confirm?"
I met his gaze.
"He felt me," I said quietly.
Kael's jaw tightened.
Then he nodded once.
"Then we prepare," he said.
Behind us, Ravenspire's lanterns still glowed warmly.
To the city, tonight would be remembered as an accident at the docks.
But I knew better.
Morcant was no longer searching blindly.
He had caught the scent.
And the hunt had officially begun.