Page 24 of Frostforge: Passage Two

"There was an incident in the forge today.Einar Frostborne was working on an advanced golem design.He dropped a steel component, and it broke.Clean break, from just a short fall."

Luna's eyebrows rose."Steel doesn't break that easily.Not academy-grade steel."

"Exactly.He immediately accused me of sabotage."Thalia's jaw tightened at the memory."Started a whole scene, got the other Northerners riled up.Instructor Wolfe had to intervene."

"Typical Northern response — blame the closest Southerner."Luna picked up the brass plate, turning it over in her small hands."But this isn't steel.Why are you showing me this?"

"After everyone went back to work, I noticed something wrong with my brass."Thalia reached out, running her finger along the edge of the plate."Do you feel it?"

Luna closed her eyes, her expression shifting to one of intense concentration.After a moment, her brow furrowed, and she shook her head.“Explain.”

"It feels...thin, somehow, " Thalia explained.“There's not enough zinc in this alloy.This isn't the standard brass we've been using.It's been altered — or replaced with an inferior substitute that looks the same, but won’t hold up as part of a magical construct."

Luna set the plate down carefully, her mind visibly racing behind her dark eyes."Was everyone experiencing this, or just you?"

"I'm not sure."Thalia frowned."Einar didn't realize his steel was compromised until it broke."

"But you noticed," Luna pointed out."Because of your sensitivity to magical currents."She said this matter-of-factly, not as a question.

Thalia nodded, a flush of warmth creeping up her neck at Luna's implicit recognition of her talent."It's like...when I worked with herbs in my mother's shop, I could feel which plants had the strongest properties, which combinations would work best together.It's the same with metals here.I can feel the way magic moves through them, where it catches or flows smoothly."

"A valuable skill," Luna murmured, then leaned forward intently."If other students are working with compromised materials without realizing it, this could be far more serious than simple theft.When they try to animate their golems..."

"Catastrophic failure," Thalia finished."At best, the enchantments won't take.At worst..."

She didn't need to complete the thought.They both knew what happened when improperly enchanted metals were subjected to magical activation — explosive releases of energy, unpredictable breakdowns, constructs that turned on their creators.The results of such impurities dotted the Golem Fields.

"But why?"Thalia asked, voice barely above a whisper."Who would benefit from sabotaging student projects?"

Luna's finger tapped rhythmically against the book cover."The same people who might benefit from stealing weapons, perhaps?Weaken Frostforge's output, acquire magical weapons through theft rather than legitimate channels..."

"The Isle Wardens?"Thalia suggested.

"That’s what I was thinking."Luna's eyes narrowed."Regardless, if all students are working with compromised materials — even ones who haven't noticed yet — the danger is immediate.You need to report this to the instructors."

Thalia's heart pounded at the thought.Coming forward with accusations about sabotaged materials would place her even more firmly in the spotlight — a position no Southern student wanted to occupy, especially now with tensions so high.

"If I report this, the Northern students might take it as confirmation of my guilt," she said."They'll think I'm trying to deflect suspicion."

"Would you rather wait until someone's golem explodes in their face?"Luna asked bluntly."Your credibility isn't worth someone's life."

The fire crackled loudly in the sudden silence that followed.Outside the window, snow had begun to fall again, fat flakes spiraling down from an iron-gray sky.

"You're right," Thalia conceded."But I need to be smart about how I approach this.Instructor Wolfe already saw Einar's broken component.If I bring this to her with evidence that it's not an isolated incident..."

"Bring samples," Luna suggested."Not just your brass, but ask other Southern students to check their materials too.The more evidence you gather, the harder it will be to dismiss."

Thalia nodded slowly, her mind already outlining a plan."I'll need to move quickly.If someone is systematically replacing academy materials with inferior substitutes, they might be planning something bigger."

Luna's normally playful expression had vanished entirely, replaced by the sharp focus Thalia had glimpsed only rarely."I'll continue tracking Senna, but I'll expand my surveillance to the material storerooms as well.If someone is tampering with supplies, they need access."

Luna rummaged in her bag, producing a weathered journal.She opened it to a page that showed a detailed schematic of Frostforge's eastern wing.Thalia realized with a start that Luna had re-sketched and modified the standard academy map, adding notations and markings that definitely weren't part of the original.

"You've been busy," Thalia observed.

Luna's lips curved into a small smile."People underestimate how much you can learn just by watching."She traced a finger along a corridor leading to the material storerooms."I'll focus here tonight.You gather your evidence and prepare to speak with Instructor Wolfe."

Thalia nodded, reaching for the brass plate.As her fingers touched the metal, she felt again that discordant magical signature — the wrongness that had alerted her in the first place.It was a subtle flaw, one that most would miss.But it could mean the difference between life and death when the time came to activate their creations.

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