Rian's legs still trembled long after the Sea Raven burst free of the Razor Reefs. The ocean stretched open and vast again, glittering beneath a blazing sun, as if the sea itself wanted to pretend that nothing had happened. As if cannon blasts, collapsing coral pillars, Imperial warships, and life-changing secrets weren't trailing behind them like shadows.
But they were.
And no one aboard the Sea Raven could pretend otherwise.
The crew moved in a tense sort of silence—tying down ropes, checking for cracks in the hull, wiping seawater off the deck with stiff movements. Even Bosun Kreeg's footsteps sounded heavier, like each one was pinning something dark beneath it.
Rian stood near the main mast, trying to stop his hands from shaking. He'd faced storms before. He'd faced hostile crews, sharks, a lightning strike that once blew the mizzenmast clean off.
But this?This was different.
Empire ships didn't hunt random pirates. They hunted traitors, thieves of state secrets, criminals worth nations of gold. Rian knew, deep down, that Captain Mara had never told them the whole truth about herself.
And now, apparently, she'd never told him the truth about him, either.
"You look like you swallowed a squid," Grinner the cook said, appearing beside him with a tray of mugs. "Drink?"
Rian took the mug and downed half of it. Warm spiced cider. Comforting, in theory.
Grinner wiped his hands on his filthy apron. "Captain'll call the crew for a meetin' soon. Bet your boots on it."
Rian nodded absently.
He wanted to talk to Mara.He wanted answers.But she'd vanished the moment they escaped the reefs, disappearing into her cabin with Kreeg at her heels.
The door had slammed shut.
No one—not even Rian—had dared knock.
A hand clapped his shoulder. "Boy," a familiar rough voice said, "with me."
It was Kreeg, scowling in his usual way. Rian followed him across the deck toward the captain's cabin. His stomach fluttered with a mix of fear and anticipation.
Kreeg opened the door without knocking.
Captain Mara stood over her desk, a tattered sailcloth spread across it, weighted down by two daggers and a brass compass. Rian's breath caught.
The map.
It didn't look like a normal map. The parchment was deep blue, lines glowing faintly like veins of starlight. Tiny shifting symbols crawled across its surface, rearranging themselves like they were alive.
Mara looked up at him.
Her expression was unreadable.
"Rian," she said, "close the door."
He obeyed.
The click of the latch sounded like the start of a new life—and the end of another.
"Sit," she said.
Rian sat.
Mara rested her hands on the table. The map pulsed under her fingers.
"You deserve the truth," she said quietly. "And the truth begins with this."
Rian swallowed. "What… what is that map?"
Mara exhaled. "The reason the Empire crossed half the world to find us."
She stepped aside so he could see it fully.
The glowing lines formed something like an archipelago—dozens of islands scattered across a swirling sea. But the shapes weren't fixed. Every few seconds, an island moved, rotated, or disappeared entirely.
"It changes," Rian whispered.
"It shifts," Mara corrected. "It's alive. It's old. It's magic."
He had heard stories of enchanted things—swords that could choose their wielders, storms summoned by sorcerers—but he'd never seen anything magical up close.
"Why does the Empire want it?" Rian asked.
"For the same reason people want anything powerful," Mara said. "Control."
Rian stared. "But what does it have to do with me?"
Mara looked at Kreeg. The giant man folded his arms. "Tell him," he grunted.
Mara drew in a slow breath.
"Rian," she said softly, "you were not born on the Sea Raven."
His chest tightened. "I know. I mean—I don't remember anything from before, but—"
"You weren't born anywhere ordinary," Mara continued. "You were found."
"Found?" His voice cracked. "Found where?"
Mara touched the map.
A small glowing mark pulsed near the northern edge—an island shaped like a crooked fang.
"Here," she said. "The Isle of Tideroot."
Rian had never even heard of it.
Mara's gaze softened. "Twelve years ago, we sailed past it. The sea was calm. Too calm—like it was holding its breath. And then we saw it. A bright blue light drifting on the water."
Rian felt dizzy.
"You were a baby," Mara said. "Floating in a small wooden cradle. Wrapped in… this."
She reached beneath the desk and pulled out a cloth bundle.
Rian's throat tightened when he saw it: a faded navy-blue blanket embroidered with silver stitching. A symbol he had never noticed before shimmered faintly on its corner—three curved lines forming a shape like a cresting wave.
He touched it with trembling fingers. It felt warm. Familiar. As if something deep inside him remembered it.
"You've had this since I found you," Mara said gently. "But the symbol… I didn't understand it until three years ago."
"What happened three years ago?"
Mara pointed at the map. "It began moving again."
Rian's head spun. "Again?"
"The map is ancient," she said. "Passed between pirate captains, kings, sorcerers, and thieves. But for years it was dormant. Silent. A beautiful trinket with no power." Her eyes locked on him. "Then you turned nine. And the map woke up."
Rian felt like the floor dropped beneath him.
"Mara," he whispered, "what are you saying?"
"I'm saying the map answers to you."
Rian stared at the shifting parchment, his pulse thundering.
"It reacts to your presence," she continued. "It glows brighter when you're near. It changes shape when you touch it. It even… sings."
"Sings?"
"You've heard the humming," she said. "At night."
Rian froze.
The humming.
He thought it had just been the ship's timbers or the sea wind. A soft, low vibration that sometimes lulled him to sleep.
But it had come from this?
His voice came out small. "Why me?"
Kreeg spoke for the first time in minutes. "Because you ain't just some boy."
Mara nodded. "You come from something. Someone."
Rian felt his heart hammering painfully against his ribs. "Who?"
Mara hesitated.
"Rian… I don't know exactly. But I have suspicions."
He held his breath.
"There were stories," Mara said slowly, "of a hidden archipelago. A place the Empire never claimed. Ruled by a powerful line—guardians of ancient knowledge. A kingdom lost to time. A people who vanished."
She touched the shimmering crest on the blanket.
"The Tideborn."
The word made Rian's skin prickle.
"Their children were said to have a connection to the sea itself. To storms. To old magic."
Rian shook his head. "I'm not magical."
Mara's gaze drifted down to his hands. "A few nights ago, during the storm… when the mast almost snapped… do you remember what happened?"
Rian tried to recall. He'd been terrified, clinging to the rope as lightning struck nearby—
Mara continued, "The wind changed direction. Instantly. As if something listened to you."
Rian swallowed hard. "That was just luck."
"Rian," she said softly, "the storm itself bent. Around you."
He went cold all over.
Kreeg stepped forward. "Boy. You don't gotta believe it yet. But the Empire believes it. They want the map—and they want you."
"Me?" Rian's voice cracked. "Why?"
"Because the map leads to something greater than treasure," Mara said. "Something hidden. Something the Empire fears." She paused. "Or wants to control."
The room seemed to shrink around him.
Mara leaned forward. "Rian, the moment that hunter ship saw you on deck, they changed strategy. Their cannons aimed high—toward the rigging. Toward you."
Rian's breath hitched. He remembered the blast. How close it had come. How Kreeg had grabbed him at the last second.
"They weren't trying to sink us," Mara said. "They were trying to capture you alive."
The words hit like a punch.
Rian looked between them, his voice trembling. "What am I supposed to do?"
Mara placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're supposed to survive," she said. "And learn the truth of who you are."
Rian stared down at the map. Its glowing patterns shifted faster now, the islands rearranging like an impatient puzzle.
As if it was waiting for him.
As if it knew him.
As if it recognized him.
Mara rose and stepped back. "Touch it."
Rian hesitated. "What if something happens?"
"It will," she said. "That's the point."
Rian reached out slowly, his fingers trembling. The map's surface rippled like water. He touched it—
And light exploded across the cabin.
The map glowed bright as a star, lines rearranging at incredible speed. Runes spiraled outward. Shapes twisted. The island of Tideroot pulsed like a beating heart.
Rian gasped and staggered back, but the map's light followed him—like it was tethered to his heartbeat.
Then:
A new island appeared.
One that hadn't been there before.
Huge. Central. Marked with the same crest that was stitched on Rian's blanket.
The crest of the Tideborn.
Mara exhaled shakily. "So it's true."
Kreeg muttered, "Sea's bones…"
Rian stared, breathless. "What… what island is that?"
Mara answered quietly:
"Your home."