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"Withdrawal?"

"Vayne pulls me out the moment anything changes."

Professor Vayne says, "Agreed."

Rhyven doesn't. I look at him. "I decide whether I enter."

His jaw shifts. "I know."

"Do you?"

Silence. Then— "Yes." There. Not happy. Not calm. But respecting it. Good.

My father looks toward the specialists. "Prepare the isolation barrier."

Movement begins immediately. The glass dome is adjusted. A narrow access opening is created around one edge of the staff where the dried blood remains clear of the residue. Professor Vayne checks the runes twice. Then again. Rhyven watches everything. Every seal. Every instrument. Every person. He looks like he would personally fight the concept of risk if it had a throat.

Nyra stands beside me. "You don't have to."

I look at her. "I know." That's why I can. She understands. Steps back.

Professor Vayne positions himself directly opposite me. "Five seconds."

"Yes."

"If anything feels wrong?"

"I stop."

"No heroics."

"I know."

"Say it."

I sigh. "No heroics."

"Good."

Rhyven mutters from behind him, "Debatable."

I look toward him. "Would you like to leave?"

"No."

"Then be quiet."

"No."

Professor Vayne closes his eyes briefly. Apparently we are both a burden.

The room stills. I step toward the staff. Aelindra's blood is dried along the wood beneath the grip. Tiny.

Almost nothing. Enough. I extend two fingers. Stop. Breathe. This is different from evaluation blood. Different from training. This belongs to someone missing. Someone I knew. Someone whose last memory may be trapped exactly where she vanished.

I touch the blood. Blood Echo opens. Wardlight. Silver. Rain. Cold. Aelindra's hand around the staff. Steady. Familiar. Her partner beside her. His breathing. The sound of wind moving through wet grass. Everything ordinary. Painfully ordinary. I feel her attention shift toward the secondary marker.

One line dims. Not flickers. Dims. She notices immediately. Of course. Aelindra steps forward. One pace. Two. The staff warm beneath her palm. Her partner says something behind her. I can't make out the words. She reaches toward the marker— Then the world changes. Silence. Not quiet. Silence. The difference is absolute. Wind still moves the grass. I can see it. But there is no sound. Aelindra turns. Her partner's mouth is moving. Nothing reaches her. The wardlight loses color. Not brightness. Color. Silver becomes pale. Then almost white. Her manifestation— Gone. No. Not gone. Far. Like reaching for something through miles of water. Aelindra's fear rises. Sharp. Controlled. She knows something is wrong. She lifts the staff. Nothing. No answer. There is no figure. No creature. No shadow. Nothing standing before her. That's what makes it terrifying. The space ahead looks normal. Except...wrong. The air seems thinner. Paler. As though someone erased a layer of the world. Aelindra backs up. One step. Her hand tightens around the staff. And then—Pull. Not on her body. On something deeper. Magic. Presence. Life. The sensation is impossible. Like being emptied without being touched. Aelindra gasps. No sound. Her knees almost give. She tries to turn. Tries to reach for her partner. The staff slips. Then—nothing. I am thrown backward. My hand leaves the blood.