Chapter 97 - 96: Bitter Pill

"Sh-she's dead," Jodie muttered as she stumbled out of Valiah Hundra's coven room. Her legs carried her forward as her mind reeled in a fog of grief and confusion. Her fingers trailed along the wall, nails catching on the grooves of ancient sigils carved into the stone. The cold seeped through her sleeves, but she barely felt it as she wandered the stone corridors of the fortress aimlessly. Viola's lifeless eyes haunted her, burnt into her memory from the cruel reflection of Valiah Hundra's scrying mirror. She shook her head, a sharp, jerky motion, as if she could dislodge the image of the crow attack. Her lips parted, a faint whimper escaping, though she quickly pressed them shut, her jaw tight.