Magda's lab smelled of herbs, old books, and the sharp tang of magical reagents. The snake's remains lay spread across a steel examination table, its black-veined scales gleaming dully under the bright lights. Christian stood with his arms crossed, watching as the werecoyote pathologist Max Reed bent over the specimen, his latex-gloved hands moving with precise, practiced motions.
"Fascinating," Max murmured, his coyote's natural enthusiasm for puzzle-solving evident in his voice. "The corruption appears to have altered the creature's entire biological structure. Look at these tissue samples." He gestured to several slides laid out nearby, each containing thin sections of the snake's flesh.
Agnes leaned closer, her silver-streaked hair falling forward as she examined the slides. "The mag
