Wraith

Name Reason: She is the Haunting. She is the Wraith

Lore:
Appeared one day in the depths of the Lair. Speaks only in gravely whispers. She was something like an Imperial Hatchling... probably... She appeared right after Dignis' curse, claiming to know how to remove what Shimmering Light had identified as the Wraith's Touch.

As soon as she became an adult, she took the curse plaguing Dignis onto herself, withering to nothing but bone and cloth. However it came to be, her consciousness clings to those objects, lurking about the clan's den...

Background:

Slick bolted upright, wings spreading up and out. He faced the hallway between the Active Lair and the Hibernal Den. No light source seeped in, but his Primal Eyes of Shadow locked onto a being hovering in the middle. The Gift of his Eyes allowed him to see all the darkened things, save this strange silhouette.

Adrenaline pumping, he reached for a rope that went up through the celing, pulling on it several times. A bell sounded, a distance away.

"What are you?" he hoarsely whistled out, something like wind screaming through crags.

The being shifted, suddenly seeming smaller, grounded.

The voice answered, almost inaudible, almost words, "A hatchling, of course."

Slick dared not look away from the creature, slowly understanding the shape of it more and more...

"How did you get in here? This den is guarded, secret, and meant for those who Rest."

"I came by the Path," the words were still not quite words, but they were more so than they had been when the being had first responded.

"Then you should leave by it."

"I am here," a small, gravely whisper answered, "to be an echo of my foremother. I cannot leave after the pact."

"Pact?"

With that, light shone into the hall behind the creature, and Slick flinched, closing his eyes against the intrusion.

"Slick?!" the voice up the hall called.

The coatl opened his eyes again to see an Imperial young staring at him where the being had been, lit now by magic light from the entry beyond.

"I...it's a hatchling!" he answered.

As the hatchling's head turned to look at the source of the intrusion, the impression of a skull appeared at its head.

"Wha--" Slick started to whisper.

"How did a hatchling get in here?" exclaimed another dragon.

Looking up, he saw Barry and another dragon, a species he didn't recognize with a mane.

"Who is... How long have we slept?"

"Oh so long, brother," the gnarled Snapper answered through the side of his mouth. "Here, help us bring the hatchling up, and we'll fill you in. Tiant will decide what to do from there."

---
Tiant didn't look up from her reading as the door opened.

"Did you find out what the alarm was about?" she asked, writing a note on a separate piece of parchment.

"Yes, although no one seems to know how she got there," answered Barry.

Her golden mask covered her expression as she looked up at the Snapper's face.

"She?"

Moving out of the way, Barry revealed the small Imperial.

"Oh dear," Tiant's shoulder's dropped a little. After a few seconds of the two holding eye contact, she continued, "I have far too much on my plate with Dignis in the condition he's in. Please bring her to Prima, and have her take care of this young one, please."

"All righty," Barry nodded, then turned as if to escort the hatchling out. "Come on, now."

The Imperial simply kept staring, unblinkingly at the matriarch.

After several seconds, Barry frowned, then looked at Tiant.

Shaking her head, she then moved out from behind the desk to in front of the hatchling.

"I suppose I've been too brusque," she relented. "I'm the Matriarch of the Dignis Clan, Tiant. What's you're name? Do you even have one yet?"

"I am here to become your Wraith," the whisper answered from the hatchling. "Pacts in dreams of magic are still Pacts, Lost Mirror."

Tiant stiffened, then took a step back.

"Ignis' Brood," she breathed out.

"Tiant, what did you do?" asked Barry asked, eyes widening under the furrowed brow, face devoid of his grin.

"We mustn't dwell too long on what cannot be changed," the small creature interjected. "Take me to the Abandoned Guardian, and I will start the Ritual of Transference. It is long, and we cannot be disturbed as I take in his curse."

"You're just a hatchling!" Tiant declared. "I won't allow a child to undertake that task, even if you are a descendant of Ignis!"

Tilting her head to the side, the hatchling finally blinked.

"If this is your wish, the Pact allows for this. You will still have to keep your side of the bargain."

"Yes," Tiant's voice was low, "of course."