Page 18 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

"Focus, Fiona," Aislinn murmured at the same time I caught her stealing curious glances at the disk.

"I am focused," I protested. "I'm focusing onpotentially useful magical theory. If we could create something similar, it could help us."

"That would come in handy, but face it. You're focusing on shiny magic things instead of dead bodies," Violet pointed out with a wrinkled nose. "And I can't blame you."

We reached the medical examiner's office. Dr. Harrison was exactly what you'd picture when you thought of a medical examiner. He was in his late fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and reading glasses perched on his nose. He had the kind of expression that said he'd seen it all. Or thought he had, anyway.

His office was cluttered with medical texts and odes to his greatness on his walls. He sure had a lot of degrees and certificates. I grimaced when I caught sight of a half-empty cup of coffee that sat forgotten on a stack of files. I wondered how long it had sat there. It looked like at least three types of mold were growing inside it.

Gadross stepped forward. The copper disk was now dancing across his knuckles like a coin trick. The motion should have looked absurd coming from someone of his stature. Somehow, he made it seem elegant. Like everything else about him, it was probably the result of centuries of practice and an ungodly amount of patience that I definitely didn't possess.

"Dr. Harrison," he said smoothly, "thank you for making time for us. Are you ready to show us the unusual aspects of these cases?"

The doctor's eyes fixed on the spinning disk. I watched in fascination as Gadross's relic worked its magic. The artifact's influence was different from my persuasion spells. Where my magic was like pushing against a wall, this was more like finding a door and simply turning the handle. My magic stirred in response. I had to concentrate to keep it from reaching out to investigate the relic's workings. The lastthing we needed was my power deciding to play ‘poke the ancient artifact’ while we were trying to maintain a cover story.

"Yes, of course," Harrison replied as he stood woodenly and led us into the cold storage room.

The sharp smell of disinfectant couldn't quite mask the underlying scent of death. He pulled open three drawers. Each slab contained a sheet-covered form. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead and cast harsh shadows across the metal surfaces. It made everything look slightly surreal.

My attention kept dividing between the horrific evidence before us and the way Gadross manipulated the relic with practiced ease. Each time the doctor's focus seemed to waver, a simple twist of the disk brought him back to the task at hand. I found myself analyzing the subtle variations in the artifact's energy. I was astonished by how it adapted. It wove its suggestions into the natural flow of thought which would take too much of my focus to pull off.

"These marks here," Harrison said after he pulled back the first sheet, "are unlike anything I've seen in twenty years at hospital." He gestured to what looked like claw marks to mundane eyes but looked like mangled shade runes to us. They formed precise patterns across the victim's torso, each line was precisely placed. Not to mention how the magic residue around them made my skin crawl. "They’re far too regular to be animal attacks, yet too irregular to be man-made weapons."

The body belonged to a young man, probably in his early thirties. He had an athletic build. He wasn’t the kind of person you'd expect to find on a morgue slab. The runes carved into his flesh told a story of careful preparation and meticulous execution. This wasn't a crime of passion or opportunity. It was methodical, planned, and precise.

"And the tissue damage?" Gadross prompted.The disk caught the light as he adjusted its spin. A new pattern emerged on its surface.

"That's the truly peculiar bit," Harrison continued. His professional curiosity temporarily overwhelmed even the relic's subtle influence. "The tissue shows signs of being frozen from the inside out. Yet there are also burn marks, as if the victims were simultaneously freezing and burning. Rather goes against every principle of forensic science I know."

I exchanged glances with Violet and Aislinn. It was shade magic. It corrupted energy and consumed both heat and life force. The magical residue around the wounds glowed like bruises to our enhanced sight. It told a story of power torn forcibly from unwilling vessels.

"The crystallization patterns in the tissue are unlike anything in the literature," Harrison continued, as he pulled out several slides. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, I could see the telltale shimmer of crystallized magic. It was pure power that had been forcibly extracted and preserved. The process would have been excruciating. "And then there’s the cellular damage. It's as if something was systematically breaking down the very structure of the tissue."

"We’ve had about three similar cases over the last year," Harrison explained. The relic regained control. "Each post-mortem showed comparable anomalies. One of the bodies vanished from the mortuary before we could complete our PM reports." He pursed his lips, adjusting his glasses. "It was the most peculiar thing, actually. They all presented with similar markings. Rather like ritual brands. Could have sworn they moved a couple of times, though I expect that was just working too many nights on call."

Gadross's expression tightened almost imperceptibly. I knew that look. I thought it was significant as well. His fingers stilled momentarily on the copper disk. A secondlater, I felt a subtle shift in its energy pattern. "The missing body," he said carefully. "When exactly did it disappear?"

Harrison's brow furrowed as the relic's influence encouraged him to answer. "It must have been about six months ago. It just vanished between shifts. The security cameras showed nothing but static for about three minutes. When the feed cleared, the body was gone." He shook his head.

That tracked with what we'd seen at the accident scene. The first body had disappeared without a trace. It had left nothing but residual magic and unanswered questions. Were they the bodies on the altar at the cellars?

The doctor moved to the final body, pulling back the sheet with practiced efficiency. "This one's particularly interesting. This is the woman found under the car today. Her DNA showed some unusual markers. They are similar to the case from six months ago. Only hers are more complex."

"How so?" I asked, though I had a feeling I knew what he was about to say. The magical signature around this body was different. There were intricate layers to her magic. It made me think someone had taken two different types of power and woven them together into something new.

"Well, it's as if her cells were caught between two different states of being. The proteins are unlike anything I've ever seen. And there are compounds that, quite frankly, shouldn't exist according to any biology textbook I've ever read." He pulled out another slide and held it up to the light. "See these structures here? They're not quite organic. It's as if the cellular matrix was trying to exist in two states simultaneously."

It hit me then. The woman was a hybrid. Like how I was both witch and Fae. The magical signature around her wounds was more complex than the others. It spoke of power that had been carefully extracted andcontained. There was something that made my magical senses itch like a mosquito bite you can't quite reach.

I leaned closer and studied the patterns carved into her skin. The runes were similar to those on the other victims. Hers were more refined and precise. Had they perfected their technique?

"These markings," Gadross whispered so no one else could hear. "They follow the major energy meridians perfectly. Someone knew exactly what they were doing." He traced a pattern in the air above the body. "See how they flow? Each sequence builds on the last, creating a kind of resonance."

"Like they're trying to harmonize different types of power," Aislinn whispered. "The runes are modifying the energy somehow."

Violet's jaw tightened. "That's why they're targeting hybrids. We're natural bridges between different types of magic. Our power already knows how to exist in multiple states."

I felt sick. Being a hybrid myself, the implications hit a little too close to home. Someone was specifically hunting people like me. They were using our unique magical nature against us. And they were doing it right in an area that wasn't exactly known for its supernatural population. Hambledon wasn’t as popular for magical people as Cottlehill Wilds.

---