Xan wandered through the streets of Vaimea for he didn’t know how long. He alternated between calling Shadow’s name and whistling that same short, sharp whistle. But no matter how far he walked and how much he called, he still couldn’t find her.

Eventually, he stopped in a deserted alleyway between two shops on the Ribbon Road thoroughfare. He leaned a hand on the wall of the building next to him, then leaned back against it and sat down. He rubbed his eyes, fighting back tears of frustration. The only thing that echoed through his mind was: why? Why couldn’t he find Shadow? And after all they had been through together, why would she leave?

He dropped his hands to his lap and stared up at the sky. The stars were coming out in full force now, and the air was clear, so the only things that blocked his view were the buildings around him. In the back of his mind, he marveled at how closely the star-filled sky reminded him of the souls he saw whenever he used his Astral Sight.

He sat up abruptly as that thought registered. Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Spirit Sang. He grasped it tightly in his hand and concentrated. In an instant, his field of vision became full of hundreds and hundreds of tiny star-like souls.

He stood up, looking at the souls around him. Some were still, others moved about. A few soared above him in the sky. He felt something skitter across his boot, and he looked down to see a rat running down the alleyway. The tiny light that was its soul bounced and skittered along with it.

Xan felt a glimmer of hope. Souls could only move if their bodies moved, but Shadow was the only creature he knew of that could blink around to other places. Maybe if he could find one soul amongst the myriad of souls around him that disappeared and reappeared again, then he could find her!

Buoyed by this thought, he scanned his surroundings again…. There!

He took off running in the direction of the soul, keeping his eyes trained on it while he ran. He was so focused on following it that he didn’t pay attention to where he was going.

Crack! he collided with the side of another building. His head spun as he fought to keep his balance.

“Owwww!” he moaned, checking to see if his nose was broken. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

It took him another moment to realize that with the impact, his Astral Sight had faded. Xan cursed, then concentrated again. The shining souls quickly returned to his field of view. He peered in the direction he had been running, trying to relocate the soul he had been following. There! More carefully this time, he started following it again.

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The soul bobbed ahead of him, seeming to turn in circles a couple of times. Xan wove his way down streets and between buildings until he was almost on top of it – only to discover that the soul he had been following was an alley cat. It looked up in alarm at him, hackles raised, before it streaked off into the night.

Xan blinked. Then he turned around, searching again. There! That had to be Shadow!

He took off after the new soul, rounding the corner of a building to find himself back on the main thoroughfare. But the soul he was chasing belonged to a town guard who was coming up the street. Xan ducked back into the nearest alleyway before the guard could see him.

Three more times he chased after souls he thought were Shadow, and every time it turned out to be someone, or something, else. By this point he was breathing heavily. He leaned forward on his knees to try and catch his breath. He was starting to feel at his wit’s end, but he refused to give up, unwilling to acknowledge what the alternative meant.

He straightened up and looked around. One of these souls just had to be Shadow. He picked one out on the other side of the street that he thought he saw appear suddenly. Without thinking, he darted after it, only to run into someone who happened to be walking across the mouth of the alleyway right at that moment.

“Oof! Hey, watch where you’re going!” said the person, a young human man who looked tipsy.

Xan tried to ignore him and keep going, but his path was quickly blocked by an even bigger human man.

“Oi! Aren’t you even goin’ ta apologize?” the large man said.

Xan quickly threw an arm over his eyes to hide the lavender glow that he was sure was still there.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he said as he tried to edge his way around the large man.

“Now, now,” the large man said, laying a hand on Xan’s shoulder, “do it properly. Look him in the eye, and apologize.”

“Ooooh!” a third voice squealed. Xan glanced out from beneath his arm to see that the young man had a young human woman on his hip.

“What’s that shiny gem you’ve got there?” the woman asked. Horrified, Xan realized that he had covered his eyes with the same arm and hand that he was holding the Spirit Sang crystal with – in full view of these strangers. He quickly dropped his Astral Sight, then dropped his arm and pocketed the crystal.

“It’s nothing,” he said, trying to back off, but the large man held him firmly in place.

The woman’s eyes gleamed greedily. Rubbing her lips with her finger, she leaned over to her beau.

“I want it,” she said.

“No problem, babe,” the young man said, gesturing to the large man.

Xan grunted as the large man grabbed him by the front of his coat and lifted him up. He reflexively grabbed onto the large man’s beefy wrist, attempting to break free.

“Hand over the gem,” the large man said.

“I—I can’t,” Xan grunted as he struggled.

“You can’t? Fine then. Rufus, convince him,” the young man said, gesturing to the large man again.

The large man lifted Xan up higher, then pulled his other arm back, his large, meaty hand making a fist. Xan closed his eyes and braced himself.