A note on spelling

Hi! I'll be using British spellings throughout (so 'colour', not 'color').

Rain dripped through the thick leaves of the trees, soaking into the heavy travelling cloaks of the two figures striding through the damp undergrowth. No flame or magical light illuminated their path – too risky if it should be spotted, and secrecy was worth more than any feeble material comfort – but they seemed to know where they were going. The one in front, smaller, hunched over into themselves as some protection against the inescapable chill, stepped surely over branches and between grasping stands of nettles. Deft hands moved branches aside, the only sign of their passing the patter of falling water that was quickly swallowed up by the rain. Brighteye took the opportunity provided by a fallen aspen to observe the wizard behind her. Thin and tall, even for a human, and his skin spoke of cave-sickness and some other strange affliction. His pale hands clutched tightly at a wand, despite his insistence on no magic. Fool. But his words had spoken true, for Brighteye could see in the gleam of moonlit puddles the tell-tale shine of true-wrought metal. Something goblin-touched had been here, and had spread its tendrils out into the world.

The wizard stumbled, his cloak snagging on a branch, and Brighteye rolled her eyes safe in the knowledge that the human would be unaware of her action. Blind in the dark, like all humans. But useful. There might be wizard enchantments on the diadem – if the wizard's sources spoke truthfully – and she hadn't her tools to allow ward breaking in any reasonable timeframe. The wizard may still prove useful, and Brighteye wasn't one to throw away a tool before it has run its full course.

"How much farther?" The wizard's voice was low, a quiet whisper that wove through the rain like a serpent slipping through tall grass. Brighteye tutted.

"Not far now." No patience, that was the problem with wizards. They always wanted everything now and had no appreciation for fine craftsmanship. "We'll be out before dawn, I think."

"We'd better be."

Or what? Brighteye wanted to sneer. Would the wizard leave, and risk losing the diadem? Brighteye suspected not – greed ran deep in wizard veins. But being free of the forest, or at least closer to its edges before sunlight touched the trees was advisable in any case. The nearby muggles would not take kindly to their presence, and the woods swarmed with a number of creatures whose nature made them more dangerous in the light.

Silver threads tangled in the branches of the trees and bushes, twisting into skeins as thick as Brighteye's finger as she began to trace their path through the trees. An owl, huddled in a sodden mass of feathers in a barely-there tree hollow, hooted dolefully at their passing, turning its head to watch the pair as they made their way further into the trees. Brighteye crooked a finger to kartch the silver strands. The true-wrought tendrils wavered and caught on her fingertips, vibrating with a song that could not be heard by mortal ears. Flashes of silver danced in Brighteye's vision, glimpses of curled wire, old crinkled pages and deep, sea-soaked sapphire – the nature of the creation they sought. A touch a flame and warmth, the clang of hammers and metal-song only a faint echo behind the item's true-wrought nature.

Watched by a family of soaked ravens, Brighteye pulled away the dried roots and leaves covering the sodden earth. The wizard paced impatiently behind him, their cloak slapping wetly against their legs.

There was definitely something hidden here, nestled in a thorny tangle of vines and sickly magics that made Brighteye's fingers ache. The rain had stopped nearly an hour ago, leaving behind the looming clouds and the heavy, damp smell of sodden loam. Water pooled in the freshly turned hole as her fingers scrabbled against the dirt, scraping it from around the small, plain box buried at the base of the dead oak tree.

"Is that it?"

Brighteye sat back on her heels, brushing the last of the mud from the lid of the box. A sharp-eyed bird etched in heavily patinaed metal glared up at her from the lid. A dull flare of silvery sparks erupted at the touch of her fingers, sending an unpleasant buzzing sensation up her arm until it settled in her teeth and jaw, rattling around her skull like a dizzy bumblebee. Some sort of ward, and an old one at that. A careful press of her last two fingers produced a slight give in the charm; it wouldn't take much to break the enchantment.

"Seems to be. Bit of a ward on it, but nothing too strenuous looks like."

"Good."

Brighteye nodded, straightening and brushing the mud from her robes. It only succeeded in smearing the muck, but the weight of the knife at her hip was a reassurance. "Indeed. We should leave at once, and deal with the ward at a later point. It's safe enough to carry."

The ravens huddled closer in their tree as the silvery moonlight was momentarily washed out as a flash of green light lit the clearing.

Author's Notes

Hi folks! As you may be able to tell, I'm taking liberties with goblins and looking to develop them a little bit more as a unique people in this series. They're not by any means the main focus - we'll get to Neville next chapter - but they will pop up here and there.

I figure goblin-wrought creations contain native goblin magic. The technique mentioned here, kartching, is where a goblin tugs on the threads of the goblin magic to get a sense of the creation that they underlie. Different goblins 'see' the magic differently and might therefore kartch differently. Brighteye chose their craftsman name for the fact that they see goblin craft magic as strands of light. It can look odd to wizards when goblins kartch, as there is no known wizard spell that allows non-goblins to see goblin magic. It works differently than human magic, in the same way that house elves have a different flavour of magic than humans that doesn't always react predictably with human magic.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away! And if you spot any typos (remember, I use British spellings like 'colour') or want to leave a review please do!