The moment they stepped out into the open courtyard, Reeca cast a trail tracking spell. June leaned over. "It's a spell used to make the trail dimension visible to the naked eye."

Xanthy's jaw dropped as thousands of colors flashed to life before her. Wisps of bright energy bled off everything, from the flowers to the walls and the soil underneath the cobblestones, swirling, colliding, speeding towards who knew where.

Some trails stretched for miles beyond what Xanthy's eyes could follow while some were short-lived, disappearing in a blink. Others changed color, glowing in all bright shades that even Xanthy couldn't name. Her own trail bled off her like dye from cloth, exploding into a spark of colors and stretched from where she and her friends came from.

If people see like this all the time, it would truly be a wonderful world.

Reeca's fingers were awash with blue light. Xanthy squinted. It must be the varichria's weaving energy. She watched Reeca flick her fingers, sifting through millions of trails in their area, making some float away from them.

"It's too hard to find a distinct living trail like this, let alone a hiding brownie," Reeca hissed.She turned to scan their faces. " We need another beacon. Who met her?"

June jabbed his thumb in Xanthy's direction. Reeca waded through the trails curling in and out of her. Reeca slapped Xanthy's forehead.

"Ow!" Xanthy blinked, recoiling. She massaged her forehead, frowning. "What was that for?"

Reeca held the hand that slapped Xanthy higher. The blue light pulsed brighter. Other trails screeched away from Reeca, as if her magic was poison. Minutes passed until all that was left was a straight, silver trail snaking through the maze.

Reeca's grin was wide. "As much as I have been dreaming of slapping you in the face, learning to wait is the best decision ever. Talk about hitting two humans with one spell."

"You ape," Xanthy hissed as they moved forward to follow the trail along the turns and twists of the maze.

"Hey!" Nyxis said after a while. "That is not how the saying goes!"

"It does that way to me," Reeca snapped in her halting Ylanenla. "Now, shut up. I am trying to focus."

Nyxis muttered something incorrigible. The trail came to a stop as well as the road. A dead end. Xanthy whirled to Reeca. "What now?"

Reeca scanned the surroundings with her eyes squinted. "She's here."

"Xanthiene?" a voice said behind them.

June yelped, scrambling back when Airene materialized beside him. Nyxis laughed his lungs off for the next two minutes. Airene raised an eyebrow at Xanthy to which she gave her aunt a dismissive shrug.

When both boys had finally calmed down, Airene cleared her throat.

"I assume you've seen the state of Depandes," Airene craned her neck as if she was trying to see what's beyond the wall of manicured hedges. "Where's Cyrdel and Ravalee?"

"They're meeting us here," Xanthy pointed to her feet along with her reply. Airene nodded.

"Excuse me," Reeca stepped forward and got between Xanthy and Airene. "Aren't you going to tell us what's happening here?"

Airene sighed before crossing her arms. "Their shadows have been taken."

"Shadows...?" Xanthy breathed, her throat drying up.

"Are you familiar with the parts of the soul?" Airene faced Xanthy.

"Come on, we've been over this a thousand times," Xanthy rolled her eyes.

"Then you know how crucial it is to have a shadow as part of a soul," Airene narrowed her eyes. "It's the essence of our past, the guidance we seek in our person, and the assurance of existence we have in our memories. Shadows compose our feelings, our thoughts, our memories, and our person. Take these away? We will have nothing left."

"But you still have the other four," Xanthy reasoned.

"Xanthy, you don't get it," June massaged his temples as he closed the distance between them and came to her side. "A person without his personality is hardly a person at all. Along with our memories, the shadow carries our intuition and our ability to think. Without it, we'll fall behind animals in intelligence."

Xanthy swallowed. "Even the legacy can't do anything to counter it?" she turned to Airene and pointed to herself. "What about me? I don't have a shadow. Yet I'm alive."

Airene glanced at Xanthy's feet. A thick, fat shadow imitated her form based from the sun blazing above them. "On the contrary," her aunt raised her eyes back to meet Xanthy's. "You're a different case. It seems the Virtakios created a shadow for itself."

"You're saying the Virtakios made me?" Xanthy's forehead furrowed.

"In a way," Airene shrugged. "The Virtakios do what it can to survive in a mortal body."

"Does that mean I can create shadows for the brownies?" Xanthy touched her chin, striding away from the close group. It wasn't a far possibility.

Airene shook her head, following Xanthy to where she paced. "I wouldn't recommend it," her aunt held three fingers into Xanthy's face. "First, you don't even know how your power works. Two, you have no strength to do it for hundreds of brownies. And three, it's forbidden magic."

Xanthy blinked. "There are forbidden magic?"

"Yes," Airene levelled her gaze with Xanthy's. "Don't bother finding out what those are. I don't want you to die trying. As for your suggestion, I won't allow it. It's too dangerous."

"Then what are we going to do?" Xanthy waved her arms in a vague direction. "Many have already died."

"As was the predicament," Airene sighed, folding her hands together. "As the soul suffers the shadow's loss, it slowly withers until the form disintegrates. Then, trail dissipates, the legacy burns up, and the synnavaim flies back to its origin."

"Where do synnavaimis come from anyway?" Xanthy glanced up at the sky.

"That's not the point," Airene took a shaky breath before continuing. Xanthy dropped her gaze towards her aunt. "What I'm saying is that it's only a matter of days before all the affected brownies arrive at that fate. It depends on the soul's strength, but the average is about four days."

Xanthy's gut swirled. Judging from the grim looks on her friends' faces, it's serious. Xanthy faced her aunt. "What do we do?"

Airene twisted a lock of hair in her finger, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Go to Carleon. Get the High Priestess's help. Only she could fix this," her aunt's orange curls bounced against her back as she reached out to grasp Xanthy by the shoulders. Her aunt's face was a mixture of pleading and determination. "Save their shadows. If you fail, they will have nothing left."

"Miss Vivenca! Airene!" Cyrdel's voice rang from the hedges. His amber hair peeked from the corner a while later. He and Ravalee jogged up to their gathered group.

"It took a while to get the Russets to line up," Cyrdel wiped the sweat off his brow. "Airene, do you know who could have done this?"

Airene raised an eyebrow to Xanthy and her friends. "Not an inkling," she jerked her thumb at Xanthy and her friends' direction. "But they might."

Xanthy cleared her throat. "What June said earlier rang a bell," she turned to Cyrdel. "He tried to stop the spell from getting his shadow—"

"You can get a shadow? Like a...fruit?" Cyrdel huffed.

"Yes," Xanthy shrugged at the sudden fruit analogy. Whatever. "June tried stopping the spell. Not only is his hand damaged from it but he said he felt that the spell was somehow stronger, by a thousand times."

She emphasized the last words. Cyrdel got the message with the widening of his eyes. "Gods, they used the maximizer."

Xanthy nodded. "Who do you think has it now?"

"The thief," Reeca hissed.

"Yes," Xanthy said. The bitter taste in her mouth strengthened as bile climbed up her throat. "According to Reeca, the thief carried a dagger made of dwarven metal. The only time we get to see those weapons is in Cardina, during the battle. That means the thief may be directly working for them. I hate to say it but I think we know who is already behind this."

"Cardovia," June breathed, stepping back.

Cyrdel gave a nervous laugh. "Excuse me," he rasped. "What are you talking about?"

"We'll explain on the way," Reeca pushed past Xanthy and Airene. "Let's go to Drodham."

"Whoa, whoa!" Cyrdel spread his arms in an attempt to stop Reeca. "Who's going and where?"

Xanthy laid a hand on the prince's shoulder. "Airene said we are to get to Carleon's High Priestess in four days if we are to save the brownies."

Cyrdel's mouth flopped open then closed. He shook his head with a heavy sigh. "When should we leave?" he laid his hand atop Xanthy's still propped on his shoulder.

Xanthy withdrew her hand from that hold and extended her arm in the empty air. She felt the pull of something familiar in her fingertips. Seconds later, the bow and a quiver of arrows zipped to her hand. Ravalee gaped at Xanthy as she buckled the quiver by her waist.

She couldn't even believe that she was getting the urge to help the same people that told her she was a disgrace to the race. No matter. As the Virtakios, she has to save what she could.

Xanthy met her friends' gazes and nodded. "We go now."