Rather than stepping into the room and explaining what he had seen the night before Ted decided to keep this information to himself. He still remembered how when he had first met Maxine and Charles and what had happened during that time. Although he had been a little afraid of Maxine, he had been more annoyed of her after everything and because of this he didn't feel like helping her right now.

It was taking all of his willpower to prevent himself from bursting out with laughter over the change that she had gone through. He remembered that the night before she was around nine feet in height with muscles that most men would be jealous of. Now she was less than five feet tall and looked like she couldn't even lift a basket of carrots. Because of this he simply slipped back into the room that he shared with several other children and left it at that. He didn't really care too much about what happened to her right now, all that he was concerned with was getting some breakfast.

Inside the room Maxine was beginning to get frustrated. The soot like material that they had found was one thing but it still didn't point them in the right direction of who had taken the magic from her and where they had gone. Because of this she couldn't help but slam her fist against a wall.

Almost instantly the small woman felt something crack in her hand and a wave of pain overtook her. She looked at her hand and she could see that it was beginning to bleed, rather than screaming out she simply took a deep breath and endured the pain. But her injury was noticed by Charles who quickly went over to her. He was concerned for her health as he knew that she wasn't as powerful as she used to be.

"Ma'am are you alright?" asked Charles as he arrived at her. He could see that there was some pain in her face but he could also see that she was being stubborn again. She looked away from him for a moment.

"I'm fine," replied Maxine in a defiant voice. She didn't want to admit just how much pain that she was in. She did wince when Charles touched her hand and this was the only indication that he needed.

"No, you're not ma'am, I think you broke your hand." He then turned his head to Shepherd Riley who was standing close by. "Shepherd Riley, is there anyone here with medical training?"

"Of course, there are a few Shepherds that can treat her. I'll go and get one of them right away."

"I said I'm fine damn it!" shouted Maxine. Her frustration was beginning to get the better of her. She couldn't help but feel hopeless about the situation, this was one of the few times that she couldn't use her size and strength to power her way through.

Her comment was ignored however as Shepherd Riley quickly left the room. Maxine stood where she was and could do nothing but wait for the Shepherd's return with another of her colleagues. This Shepherd was an older woman, probably around her fifties and quite tall. She was nowhere near the height of Maxine was or any of the women in her immediate family. But she was still tall in her own right.

Almost immediately the Shepherd did begin to treat Maxine's broken hand. This included wiping away the blood and trying to set it right before bandaging it up. It would likely take weeks for the wound to properly heal and worse still for her was the fact that it was her sword hand. Even if she was able to acquire a sword that she was able wield in her current state she now couldn't use her stronger hand. This only added to the problems that she was facing and made a bad situation even worse.

It didn't take long for the Shepherd to treat Maxine who then stepped away so that she could carry out her other duties. This left the trio in the room again by themselves but this time there was a wave of hopelessness in the air. They had searched the entire room and besides the soot like substance they couldn't find anything else.

The sense of frustration that Maxine could feel was becoming almost too much for her to contain. Practically the smallest thing would now set her off on an angry tirade. Right now, it was taking all of her willpower to simply stay calm. She knew that Charles and Shepherd Riley were trying to help but the lack of results was really getting to her.

"Can't we find anything else?" asked Maxine as she stood near the door. She had her hand gently rubbing her bandaged hand. The pain was still there and she remained as calm as she could despite the circumstances.

"I-I'm afraid not ma'am," replied Charles. Even though she was so small, he still found Maxine to be somewhat intimidating. If he really wanted to, he could likely push her over with ease. "We've searched this room several times over and besides this soot that we found we've found nothing."

"Then keep looking, there has to be something!" Her voice had a demanding tone to it, just like the tone that she took when she was bigger and wanted to be intimidating or in control of the situation.

"That would be futile," replied Shepherd Riley. "As much as I would hope that there is something here, there simply isn't. Maybe we should start searching beyond for now, maybe we can find evidence elsewhere."

Maxine wanted to explode with anger but in the end decided that it wasn't the best course of action. She knew that simply shouting and throwing a tantrum would not make the evidence appear like magic. It would not be appreciated by the two people who were trying to help and it would likely make them think less of her. Because of this she simply stayed quiet and allowed her anger to stay inside until she discovered a way to vent it in a more positive and helpful manner.
"I do have an idea ma'am," said Charles. He wasn't sure about how this would be taken but he still wanted to try. "Why don't you go back home and see if your mother or sisters can make you bigger. They all have the magic inside of them too."

"No!" shouted Maxine. Her voice was loud and sharp and it somewhat took her squire by surprise. She needed a moment to stop and get a hold of her emotions. "I mean it wouldn't work." This time her voice was calmer after she had taken a few breaths. "They can only change the size of their own bodies, not anyone else's. Besides I'm not letting them see me like this." In her mind she imagined her oldest sister Carrie laughing at her and possibly even mocking her, even though their relationship had been repaired. Her mother would probably cry and hug her as she always worried about her while she was out on this so-called quest. "I would never live it down."

"A-Alright."

"Maybe we can ask around," said Shepherd Riley. "There's bound to be someone who saw something." This seemed like their best option right now and Maxine knew it, all she could do was quietly agree with her.

Over the course of the next few minutes the trio began to track down and speak with every Shepherd that they could find. Each of them stated that during the night they had been asleep and seen nothing. This was disheartening as it seemed that they were just going from one dead end to another.

Many of the orphans were still noticing Maxine and they still couldn't believe that she was the same woman from the day before. Back then she had been so impressive but now she looked like any run of the mill woman. The only thing that they would say was abnormal about her was the fact that she was shorter than the average woman. This was something that she didn't need reminding of.

When they walked down a particular corridor to find another of the Shepherds, they were spotted by Ted who looked over at Maxine. So far this was the closest that he had ever seen her since she had shrunk and almost instantly he burst out laughing. It was almost uncontrollable for him and his laughter was quickly picked up by the shrunken woman who turned to him with a frown on her face.

Charles became nervous for a moment as he watched she stepped towards him. If she had been big, he would have thought that she could seriously hurt him. Even though he was only a child. He doubted that she would have harmed him but, in this state, he didn't know exactly how she was going to react.

By the time that she reached him she could see that she was only a little taller than him. If she remained like this for another couple of years it was likely that she would have to look up at him which would almost seem absurd. Her anger was getting the better of her and even she didn't know what she was going to do. The situation wasn't getting any better thanks to the fact that Ted was still laughing.

"And what is so funny?" asked Maxine. Her voice was angry and there was an attempt of intimidation. Unfortunately, with its pitch and her lack of size it didn't work in the slightest, all it did was make him laugh even more.

"You," replied Ted as he continued to laugh. To him it was probably the funniest thing that he had ever seen. "You're so small now."

"I'm still bigger than you!" Her anger was getting the better of her again but she still didn't want to cause him any harm. Hurting a child was not something that a knight would do and even if she was in a difficult situation.

"Probably not for long, you're not so high and mighty anymore." He only had to remember to yesterday when she had been able to lift him up into the air without any real effort. Now she looked like she could do it, even if she used every muscle in her body.

"Listen here you little shit! You have no right to laugh at the misfortune of others, such actions lead down a dark path."

"Nah it won't, it just makes it funny. Guess that woman is going to be laughing as well." He continued to laugh for a moment but his words rang through Maxine's mind as she fully realised what he had said.

"What was that boy?" Her voice was still angry but also had some curiosity to it as well. "What woman?"

"What do you mean?" He tried to go back on his words but it seemed like the cat was out of the bag.

"I heard what you said. You mentioned a woman who would be laughing as well. Who is that woman?" Her anger was getting the better of her and Shepherd Riley stepped forward as she knew that she needed to do something to prevent things from escalating. Plus, she thought that it needed a more delicate touch.

"Ted, please do not be like this," said Shepherd Riley. Unlike Maxine before her, her voice was softer and much calmer. "If you know something about what happened to Maxine you have to tell us. The gods are watching over us all and they would greatly appreciate if you helped us. Just like she helped you."

"How did she help me?" replied Ted. This time it was him who had the anger in his voice. "She kidnapped me and brought me back to this hellhole. If anything, she destroyed my chances of freedom."

"She was concerned about your health and time being as a child of your age shouldn't be living by themselves. If she hadn't of found you and brought you back, what do you think would have happened to you?"

"I-I would have been fine." This time he did experience some doubt as he didn't believe all the words leaving his mouth.

"Would you really?" She then gave a sigh. "I don't know why you feel the need to leave the orphanage and try to live by yourself. You're too young for such a thing, I know that things haven't been easy for you but there are people here who genuinely want to help you. Maxine helped you not because she felt like she was being cruel, she did it because she genuinely cared about your health and wellbeing. Think about it, would your mother want to see you trying to survive in a harsh world all by yourself? No, she would have wanted you here, you're safe here and there are people who love you. Please, help us find who stole what was important to her."

Shepherd Riley's words seemed to resonate in Ted as he fell silent for several moments. Even though Maxine was desperate for answers she remained quiet as she looked at the orphaned boy. She could see some tears welling up in his eyes and mere moments later he began to cry. The Shepherd quickly began to hug him as she knew that he seemed to finally be getting the message.

The hugging and crying lasted for around a minute as he let his emotions get out. It was something that Maxine had not entirely expected but she could understand his point of view. Since she had come from a big family, she didn't fully understand what it was like to be truly alone. Because of that she couldn't really comment on how he felt, instead she simply remained quiet and waited, even though time was short.

Eventually the crying did stop and Shepherd Riley did kneel down somewhat so that she was more on level with him. She knew how important that she was down to his level rather than bending over. It was a way to make children feel safer and not like she was standing over him.

"Ok, Ted can you look at me?" asked Shepherd Riley. Her voice was comforting and Ted looked at her. There were still some tears in his eyes but he was able to do this at the very least. "Tell me, last night, what did you see?" This was something that both Maxine and Charles were curious in hearing.

"I-I was trying to find another way out. I knew that you would all be keeping an eye on me and blocked my other escape routes. I was trying to find somewhere new and that's when I spotted someone going into the room. They were in there for a few seconds but they left with something bright in their hands. But it wasn't a torch, it was something else."

"What was it and who did you see?" There was some concern in her voice as she spoke and it added to the seriousness of the situation.

"It glowed but it wasn't made of fire. Instead it was blue and like a ball, I had never seen it before."

"Did you recognise who took it?" This seemed to be the most important question of all. If he didn't know then it meant that all of this hope and planning would have been for nothing at all.

"I-I'm not sure, it was dark but the glowing thing in her hand shone in her face for a moment. It looked like Shepherd Crawley."

"Shepherd Crawley?" This brought on a great wave of confusion within her. It was enough to make her stand up and take a few steps back. The name meant something to her but it didn't mean anything to Maxine and Charles. It was enough for him to step towards her, even though she was still in a confused state.

"Who is Shepherd Crawley?" asked Charles. It was the first time that he was hearing the name and from what he could see it was a name of some significance to the woman who was helping them.

"There's no time to explain." It then seemed like the confusion had ebbed away and instead was replaced by a stern demeanour. "Ted, thank you for your help. Go and have some breakfast with everyone else, I'll speak to you later."

Ted barely said anything but did as he was told as he walked away from the trio. There seemed to be a wave of silence that overtook them for around a minute as they fully processed what had just happened. They definitely had a lead but now there were more questions than answers.

Out of all of them it was Shepherd Riley who was the most shocked. She had heard what Ted had said and still couldn't believe what she had heard. Deep down she wanted to believe that he was simply lying as he did have a tendency of doing that. But she knew that every word that he had spoken was the truth. Because of this she quickly looked over to Maxine and even had to look down a little. This was something that she hadn't been used to but was simply happening.

"How could she do something like this?" asked Shepherd Riley. For a moment it seemed like she was talking to herself. "Come on, I know where she is. Follow me and whatever you do, just let me do the talking. Hopefully if this all goes well; you'll have what was taken from you."

The sound of this did make Maxine happy but she could hear the sternness behind Shepherd Riley's voice and this did give her a small sense of fear. It was going to be an unnerving event that was going to take place as both she and Charles followed the religious woman. All Maxine knew was that they had a name to the person who had stolen her size and she was more determined than ever to get it back.

A few minutes later they arrived at a door that seemed like most other doors in the orphanage. It was of average size and made of wood, this made it blend in but it soon rattled as Shepherd Riley knocked it. There was some force behind her fists and just by hearing it, anyone close by would tell that she meant business.

She was not alone as Maxine and Charles were standing alongside her. The former didn't feel too happy about this situation as she felt powerless. She was used to being the one calling the shots and having her own destiny in her hands. This time it was different as she was depending on someone else to help achieve her goals. In her mind she never wanted to feel like this again.

Eventually the door opened and the pair saw another Shepherd answer it. Like Shepherd Riley she was wearing identical clothing and the only skin they could see was her hands and her face. Her eyes were blue and she was a fairly tall woman. It seemed like the knocking had caught her by surprise but when she saw who it was, she smiled as she thought that this was merely a friendly visit.

"Hello there Riley," said Shepherd Crawley. Her voice sounded pleasant and very comforting. "I wasn't expecting a visit from you, how are you?"

"Crawley, we need to talk," replied Shepherd Riley. Once again there was some determination in her voice. It was a tone that Maxine took when she particularly wanted to be taken seriously.

"About what?" There was a hint of nervousness in her voice. Something that was picked by Charles. It was like she had something to hide and now it was all just a matter of getting it out in the open.

"I've just spoken to one of the children and they told me that they saw you last night. You were performing an activity that goes against our vows and our religion." This seemed to only add to the other woman's nervousness but she tried to keep her head even though Charles did spot a small drop of sweat roll down her face.

"Whatever could you be talking about? I didn't do anything last night besides helping some of the children to bed and then going to bed myself. I really don't have anything to hide and such accusations are not becoming of you. Now I would like to ask you to leave, I have a lot of work that I need to do."

She was about to close the door when Maxine noticed something on the hand of the Shepherd. It wasn't much but she was just able to make out something that was black and not something that would normally be there. Without any hesitation she grabbed onto the Shepherd's wrist and was able to look at her with some haste.

From the looks of it, the black substance looked to be soot. It seemed to be similar to the one that they had found on the ground by the bed but there wasn't any real certainty to this. It was still enough to begin to ask questions as Maxine looked up at her with an angry expression on her face.

"Where did you get this from?" asked Maxine as she insinuated on the black mark. She didn't have to say exactly what she was talking about for the taller woman to understand what she was talking about.

"Take your hands off of me!" replied Shepherd Crawley with some determination in her voice.

"Answer the question," demanded Shepherd Riley. She could see that her colleague was trying to dodge the question and as long as she was there, she was determined to get them answers.

"It was you!" stated Maxine. Her voice seemed as angry and almost as threatening as before. She squeezed the wrist as hard as she could and although it wouldn't harm the Shepherd, it would send a message. "You took my size, you're the one who made me like this! Give me back what belongs to me!"

Shepherd Crawley stuttered for a moment as she tried to say something in her defence but she found herself unable to. She was completely tongue-tied and she simply wanted to try and get herself out of the situation. Unfortunately, this seemed to be something that she couldn't do as the short woman standing before her continued to hold onto her wrist. If it had been the previous day the wrist most likely would have been snapped. But now it seemed like the truth was about to come out.