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"Not warded?"

"No."

"Mara?"

"Kitchen tools."

Nothing. Nyra sits straighter. "Aelindra's staff preserved it."

Professor Neris nods slowly. "Possibly."

I understand. "The residue didn't stay because Aelindra was different."

"No." Nyra says. "It stayed because the staff was already carrying magic."

Professor Vayne folds his arms. "Think of it as contamination."

Cassian makes a face. "Lovely."

"Whatever interacted with Aelindra may have left a trace on the nearest active magical structure."

Nyra writes quickly. "Which means the other sites could've had the same phenomenon."

"But nothing preserved it." I finish. Exactly.

Rhyven finally speaks. "So we're still blind."

"Less blind." Nyra says.

His eyes move toward her. "Explain."

"We know what kind of surface might retain evidence." She gestures toward the map. "Active wards. Manifestation tools. Enchanted weapons. Dragon equipment." Her expression changes.

"If another person disappears..." Nobody likes that sentence. She continues anyway. "We secure every active magical object in the immediate area before anyone touches anything."

Professor Neris nods. "Already added to protocol."

Nyra looks faintly pleased. Only faintly.

Professor Vayne moves toward another map. "There's something else." He marks the five locations. The Place. Village bakery. Eastern patrol route. Academy kitchen. Western ward. Scattered. No geographic pattern. Nothing useful. Except—

"All five sites experienced minor magical fluctuation within the previous hour." Silence.

Nyra looks up sharply. "What?"

"Not enough to trigger alarms." Neris answers.

"Most were originally dismissed as ordinary variation."

"All five?"

"Yes."

My skin prickles.

"What kind?" Caelen asks.

"Reduction." Of course.