the day she was to die, her fellow lair members left her in peace in a lonely room. the morning, when they came to bury her body, she was still alive. her deathly pale complexion had been mottled with darkness, and no hints of the sweet coatl she used to be were left.

since then, ael hasn't spoken a word. she - it, the others mutter - is hostile to most, yet never turning violent. only once has someone tried to chase this ghost of a coatl away from the clan's grounds. it was him who ran away the following week, wild eyed, words of madness tumbling out of his mouth.