Meanwhile
It could be difficult to successfully get out of a hammock at the best of times, and being jerked viciously into consciousness by an unearthly screeching fell very far outside that category. John sat bolt upright, grasping for glasses and wand in the darkness. He promptly overbalanced and landed in the humus with one foot still wedged in the hammock. Disconcerted, he was dimly aware of something whizzing past, then light blossomed and Eileen appeared, shoving the summoned items into his hands and helping him up.
"…taken a crack on the head, come on."
John scrambled upright and squelched after his wife, who started at a run towards the sound. Automatic responses added glasses to face, and slotted wand into place in his hand, so by the time he caught up he was awake enough to be worried. That was the sample case's tamper alarm.
Eileen stopped suddenly, just as the noise became near-deafening, and her wand flared, illuminating a small clear area opened by the crumbling carcass of a fallen tree. Hwan was leant back against the mossy wood, clutching a bloody sleeve to the side of his head. Beside him, the sample case gleamed, open and spilling small vials onto the leaf litter.
Distractedly, John flicked his wrist, de-activating the alarm ward as Eileen crouched down next to their guide and began to examine his head.
"What happened?" she asked, but in the tone she used when she already knew the answer. John's heart sank, even before Hwan opened his mouth. He'd been so sure…
"Esteban. Seen me with the box yesterday night, waits for me tonight. I move - "he nodded, and winced, towards a blackened area at head height on a nearby tree " - only hit me a bit."
"A bit did enough," Eileen muttered as she finished closing the wound. She stood back, then looked at where John had moved over to the sample case and started examining the damage. He already knew what he'd find. The knowledge was heavy, like a cold brick in his stomach. So much for thinking the best of people.
He stopped, and frowned in the gloom as he gently placed the vials back in order. There were two missing…?
Hwan gave a small laugh.
"He should have asked me, hey?"
John blinked, and just reacted fast enough to catch the glittering shape that was thrown to him. He squinted, wiped some mud off his glasses, and blinked again. Wrong label, but the contents -
"Hwan, you are a genius, and we do not pay you enough!" John beamed, grabbing the younger wizard's hand and shaking it hard.
"We need to get out of here," Eileen said firmly. "We don't know how long it'll take our former friend to work out what happened, and we should be elsewhere by then. Can we move at night?"
Hwan frowned.
"Not safely."
"Compared to staying put? Night-sight charm, silencing, and lumos?"
"Not safely," the guide repeated, but glanced up at the tree scar as he did so, "but can try."
"I'll pack up." Eileen nodded "…John? How's the case?"
"Could be better," he conceded, tracing the cracks in the polished wood sadly. "The clasps are broken, it's cracked and some of the wards are shaky. Still intact, though. We'd know if it had really been broken."
Eileen's hand dropped onto his shoulder, then crept up and ruffled his hair.
"We'll fix it, don't worry."
John nodded as he carefully lowered the lid again. It was never pleasant to be the one the heirloom got damaged with, but it could have been worse. He tucked the case under an arm, and squelched after the others.
Task one - find his boots.