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"Comforting."

The room at the bottom is small. Circular. Stone. One table sits in the center beneath a glass containment dome. Aelindra's staff lies inside. My stomach tightens. Even from several feet away, the residue looks wrong. It hasn't changed overnight. Still almost colorless. Still clinging around the grip in a thin sheen. Except now I understand why looking at it makes me uncomfortable. The light around it is dimmer. Not visibly enough to cast shadow. Just... less. As though the lantern above the table refuses to shine properly. Professor Vayne stands beside the containment circle. My father beside him. Two Council specialists occupy the far wall. The Headmaster watches silently. No one greets us. Good morning, apparently. Professor Neris steps beside the table. "We've completed preliminary analysis."

Nyra is already reaching for her notebook.

"What is it?" Caelen asks.

"No known manifestation residue." One of the specialists answers. "Not vampire. Not fae. Not siren. Not wolf. Not medusa. Not Rider. Not human magical instrumentation."

Rhyven folds his arms. "Ward residue?"

"No."

"Dark magic?"

The specialist hesitates. "That category is too broad to be useful." Good. At least someone said it.

Professor Vayne gestures toward a narrow instrument beside the dome. A crystal rod glows faintly at one end. "Watch." He moves it toward the glass. Ten inches away the glow weakens. Eight. Dimmer. Six. Almost half. He withdraws. The light returns. No one speaks. Nyra's quill stops.

"It suppresses magic." Cassian says.

Professor Vayne shakes his head. "Not exactly."

"What, then?"

"We don't know." I hate that phrase. Everyone does now.

Neris looks toward the residue. "It isn't producing measurable interference."

Nyra goes very still. Then quietly says: "It's taking."

The room falls silent.

Professor Neris turns toward her. "What?"

Nyra looks at the instrument. "It isn't pushing against the magic." She points. "The crystal isn't destabilizing. It's losing output." The specialist studies her. Nyra continues. "Whatever that residue is..." Her voice lowers. "It's taking something." No one immediately corrects her. That is worse than being wrong. My mind begins moving. Briar's Hollow. The forests. The wards. The old reports. Crops producing less despite healthy roots. Manifestations cutting out. Wardkeepers describing hesitation. A strange emptiness where something should be. Absence.

My stomach sinks. "This is what the reports described."

Professor Neris looks toward me. "Possibly."

"Magic wasn't failing." I say. "It was being..."

I can't finish. Nyra can. "Removed."

My father steps closer to the table. "Temporarily."

Professor Neris nods. "Historically, yes."

"Here?"

"No way to know."

Rhyven's attention remains on the staff. "What happens if the residue is given more magic?"

One specialist answers. "We haven't tested that."

"Why not?"