Arven watched closely with a crease in his brow, then straightened up with a “hmm” when the artefact seemed to adjust in a way they hadn’t expected. Operine was tremendously disappointed, and Arven understood why, but he shook his head. ”Indeed” — Rome wasn’t built in a day.

”If it were that easy, the elder I spoke to would’ve been able to fix it. I’d be happy to leave this with you for now, Mr Operine, but…” he glanced from the mossy item and up into his associate’s bright young eyes. ”We mustn’t let this get into the wrong hands.”