Silvian and I stood at the edge of the forest, a full moon hanging above us. I shivered slightly at the crisp November air. I had been underground so long I had totally forgotten how cold actual weather can get. The forest glowered before us and I couldn’t help but feel extremely uneasy about entering, especially since we were headed for the goblin market. I tugged nervously on the pair of black gloves I now wore. I had acquired them after realizing the tip of my finger was fading away. I figured it was better to just keep it hidden until I could find a way to fix it.

I glanced to Silvian now. “Are you sure this is a good idea man? I mean...this is only for a school project.”

“We’ll be fine,” Silvian said, tossing me a bundle. “We’ll get the eye and then get out fast, it’ll be simple.”

“These kinds of things are never simple,” I muttered under my breath, unfolding the item Silvian had given me.

“It’s a disguise cloak,” Silvian said, pulling his own up over his shoulders. “I crafted them myself specifically for tonight.” He pulled the hood up over his head and suddenly his appearance began to shift, his skin turning an olive green and his teeth suddenly beginning to resemble fangs. “It’s just an illusion,” he said. “As long as your hood is down you’ll look like that to everyone who sees you.”

I had to admit, the idea of disguise cloaks seemed pretty cool. It must have taken Silvian forever to make them, sometimes I forgot how powerful the elvish boy was in the Alchemic arts. I tugged the hood down over my head now. I didn’t feel any different but I assumed my appearance must have shifted just like Silvian.

Silvian’s gaze was latched on the woods, silently analyzing which would be the best entryway to reach the goblin market.

“Ches, I think we should enter from this side if we want to-” that’s when he glanced to me and suddenly laughed. It wasn’t a scoff, or a snicker, it was a genuine laugh, something I realized with a start I had never seen him do before. “Oh my God,” he said, still laughing. “You look absolutely ridiculous.”

I furrowed my brow. “What!? What do you mean?!”

“You...you look like a goddamn gremlin!”

“Wait?!?! Did the disguise not work? Will the goblins be able to tell I’m not one of them?”

“No,” Silvian said. “It worked almost too well. You just look...well...really silly.”

I don’t think I had ever heard someone genuinely use the word silly before. Well, at least the bastard was having a good time.

Silvian tossed me a bottle now. “Here, spray this on yourself.”

I gave the bottle a little sniff and almost gagged. “Eww, what the hell? This shit smells awful!”

“That’s the point,” Silvian said. “We need to mask our scents. Now hurry up and spray it so we can get moving.”

I grimaced. “Do I have too?”

Silvian arched a dark brow. “Do you want to goblins to eat you?”

“Ugh! Fine I’ll do it! God this fucking sucks.” Cringing the whole while I reluctantly sprayed myself with the bottle before tossing it to Silvian as quickly as possible who did the same thing.

Silvian reached into his bag and pulled out a lantern, lighting it with a quick flick of his wand. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go infiltrate some goblins.”

-----

Silvian and I made our way through the forest, Silvian’s lantern providing the only source of light. I trailed closely behind him trying to ignore how uneasy this place made me feel. I tried to think of something else, anything to take my mind off the creepy noises and darkness of the forest. What was Owen Thorn doing right now? I tried to think back. It was officially two weeks since the Halloween attack which meant...AHA I remembered! I knew exactly where Owen Thorn was right now.

Tonight was when he would overhear Drokav and find out the professor was working for the Dark One and planned to steal the Heart Stone from the school. Owen would then begin to devise a plan to steal the Heart Stone first so there would be no way for the Dark One to get his hands on it. I smiled to myself, it was still amazing to think that the events of my favorite novel were taking place around me all in real time.

Silvian suddenly stopped in his tracks, pointing up ahead. “Look,” he whispered. “There it is.” I squinted at what he was looking at. In the distance I could see bright lights and hear the sound of voices, carts and the faintest stir of music. “Remember,” Silvian said, “make sure your hood doesn’t come off under any circumstance. And if you’re offered anything to eat make sure you don’t take it.”

I gave him a little nod and slowly we made out way towards the market. Finally Silvian and I pushed back some underbrush revealing a bustling street. My eyes grew wide. The market was bigger than I ever would have imagined. There were lines, and lines of booths set up with all kinds of items, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Silvian and I cautiously began to track forward as if worried that even the slightest wrong movement would give us away.

Silvian’s gaze flickered over the booths. “There!” He said, excitement briming in his voice. “Five booths down there’s a mermaid tail. We must be able to get an eye there.” He took a step forward, about to make his way over, when suddenly a goblin stepped out into the street blocking the path.

“HEY ASSHOLE GET OUT OF THE WAY! ” A goblin behind us screeched, marching in front of us.

“MAKE ME DICKWIPE!” The second goblin screeched back, equally loud.

“OH YEAH?”

“YEAH!”

“OH YEEEEEEAH???”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” And with that he leapt forward, punching the goblin squarely in the jaw. They continued to fight, a small crowd gathering around beginning to cheer, completely blocking the way to the mermaid booth.

Silvian let out a little huff. “How annoying.”

To not stand apart from the rest Silvian and I moved to join them. The goblins continued to struggle in the dirt, punching and squirming until finally the larger of the two got the other in a headlock.

“Winner!” One of the watching goblin’s called out.

The larger goblin let the smaller one go now and shook his hand. “Good fight mate, how about I buy you a drink?”

“God,” Silvian muttered. “What a spectacular waste of time. Come on let’s go. The spray we used will be wearing off soon. We need to do this quickly.”

Moving as fast as we could Silvian and I finally made out way over to the booth.

A large, fat goblin looked up as we approached. He gave us a toothy grin, fully displaying a mouthful of yellowed fangs. The booth smelled strongly of rotting fish and it took everything in my power to not gag at it.

“What can I do for ya lads?” The goblin asked.

Silvian casually rested an arm on the booth. “I’m looking for a mermaid eye. Do you think you can get me one?” When he spoke he switched his accent to a thick cockney like Sal’s and spoke in a much rougher tone. It was strange hearing him transform his voice like that.

“Oh, I’ve got an arrangement of mermaid eyes. Feel free to take yer pick.” The goblin reached under his booth and plopped a giant box filled with round, pale object in front of us. Silvian removed his goggles pushing the button to release the three extra lenses. He then proceeded to thoroughly inspect each eye before carefully picking up one with a purple tint.

“I’ll take this one,” he said.

The goblin nodded. “You’ve got a good eye lad,” he snickered at his own pun before continuing. “It’s extremely rare, plucked it off one of the last maroon backed siren off the southern shores.” His gaze wracked over him now. “You know, it would be a shame to trade such a rare piece for just money. How about you give me those lovely goggles you’ve got there and we call it a deal.”

I could feel Silvian tense beside me. “No,” he said coldly, “absolutely not.”

“Then fight me for it,” the goblin said, still grinning. “Winner takes all, let’s go.”

Before Silvian could even get another word out the goblin threw a punch at him. Silvian narrowly dodged the blow but in the process to both of our horror his hood flew off. The goblin froze, his beady eyes growing wide.

“Oh my God…” he said slowly, an even bigger grin spreading over his features. “An elf! THIS IS THE GODDAMN JACKPOT!” The moment he said elf the entire crowd around us grew dead silent, all eyes in the market locking on us. The goblin reached forward yanking my hood down now as well. He giggled in glee. “And a HUMAN! This really is my lucky day. We haven’t had human meat in so long! It’s the BEST!!!” Before I even had the chance to try and run I was grabbed roughly from behind and a black bag was suddenly shoved over my head.

In that moment there was only one word continuously running through my head.

Shit.