I stepped back when I heard the whoosh. A breeze blew hair into my eyes and I knew it was close. I just wished I could see it.

The darkness here wasn’t unexpected. Harry had told me about it. My greenish orb of light hovering over my head only illuminated about three feet, no matter how much magic I poured into it. Eventually, I decided to save that energy for when I reached the chamber. Assuming I could navigate there one tiny step at a time.

The whooshing though, he hadn’t mentioned that. And I didn’t sense any magical creatures nearby, but something had moved past. The fact it wasn’t living, or at least not magical, wasn’t comforting. That left too many options open and gave me no idea how to protect myself. Curse you, Harry!

“Don’t worry about anything until you get to the chamber,” he’d said. “There won’t be anything you can’t handle. It’ll be a piece of cake for someone of your talents.”

“And when I get to the chamber?” I’d asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, can’t help you there. No one’s ever… well, even the books don’t say exactly what form the power takes.”

I’d nodded, somehow believing it would be as simple as going in and bringing out the object said to possess the power of a thousand suns.

I was wondering why I’d taken the job as another whoosh went by. Money? Fame? No, I had more than I wanted of both. It niggled at me as I waited, unmoving. Every five seconds, a whoosh passed. Regular. Mechanical?

I unwound a bit of rope and tossed out at the next pass. A thud and the rope dropped. Pulling it back, I found a clean cut. Seconds later, the sounds continued. Something big, slicing through the darkness, undetectable with my magic. I think it’s time to worry.