Darkness. A room. No, a cave. That's where she was. She couldn't see very far into the dark, but she guessed it wasn't a very large room. Her muffled breathing echoed through the damp cave, bouncing off the walls and back to her. Marble inhaled softly, the room smelt old and musty. It mustn't have seen the sun, ever. Or any light at all, in that case.

Marble tried to move, but couldn't. She was chained to a wall. Panic swelled in her stomach, she was trapped down here. Scorch, where's Scorch? He'll come, he'll come, she found herself thinking, reassuring herself.
Then she heard rustling. Feet dragging, claws tapping, tail slithering on the stone floor. The echoes sounded farther away, there must have been a tunnel that Marble couldn't see. Whatever it was, was coming closer. The slithering got louder and closer, and accompanying it was a familiar stench-that of rotten flesh.

Marble froze in fear, hoping he wouldn't see her in the dark. She squeezed her eyes shut. But the slithering grew closer still, and eventually she could hear the echoes within her own chamber, and the stench was terribly strong. The slithering stopped, right in front of Marble. She stayed deathly still, not even daring to breath for fear he would hear her.

Then rattling. Something was unchaining her. She felt the chains drop to the floor, every time the weight of the heavy chains slid off of her she was more and more confused. She dared open her eyes just a crack, to see what was happening. She still couldn't see anything. She opened her eyes fully, and still could not see what was pulling at her chains. The two glowing blue eyes flashed at her through the dark. The same old eyes who had stared into hers before she lost all her senses.

Nix.

She glared, but got nothing in return but a grunt. Then he turned his eyes back to unlocking her chains. Eventually, she was freed. "Follow me" a voice said. She couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, until Nix turned his eyes to her. He started walking away, and Marble stumbled to catch up in the quiet dark. As soon as she could tell that she was out of the small room, Marble blasted a jet of flame at Nix's back. He dodged, sending the fireball flying down the hall. It lit up the walls, showing a very narrow passage that went on for a long while. Marble tried to rush past Nix, who grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back with such a force that she felt as if her tail might be broken. Then he proceeded to drag her backwards down the hall, while she tried to right herself somehow.

I hope a rock crushes you, Marble thought towards the old rotten dragon. Nix snorted. Then the walls started moving inwards, Marble made rocky spikes appear in front of Nix, hoping one of them would get him. He growled, and yanked Marble on faster. It was no use trying to impale him, with so little experience in magic. So Marble gave up.
•••••
Hours. That's how long it took before they reached another larger chamber. Torches lined the walls, giving off much needed heat and light. It took time for Marbles eyes to adjust, but eventually she could see properly again.

The room was empty, all except for a table in the middle of the gigantic room. It was round, with a bowl in the middle.

Nix brought her to it, and sat down in front of her. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"You're different...special, even" he said.

"Not like I haven't heard that one before" Marble hissed. She remembered her parents, how they'd always said the same thing. And all her teachers, and even the council had said so once.

"But not in a way that you'd ever imagine".

"What do you mean?" Marble asked. She couldn't see how she was any different from anyone else. Except for her strange patchy skin.

Taking a deep breath, Nix began:

"Centuries ago, Grinnen was at war, they called it the War of the Dead. Now it's simply the forgotten war. You would have never heard of it. Anyways, there was one queen. Queen Lustrum, of the Timewings. She was the greatest queen the world ever knew, she ruled over her subjects with grace. But no one dared betray her, the consequences were death. She held onto her rule years, and years. A full century. That's how long she ruled before the war, and some started getting suspicious. She hadn't changed from the day she began her rule. She fought the war with cunning and skill. In the end, the Timewings were victorious. Queen Lustrum ended the war. Peace was restored.

"But her kingdom started to fall apart. Her subjects lost their loyalty, accused her of being a demon. She was the longest living dragon in the world. She was still young. What she had was more than just the usual TimeWing magic. She had immortality. She could not die. The kingdom overthrew her and kicked her off the throne. They started the council. And Lustrum was never seen again" with that, he finished.

"And what does that have to do with me?" Marble asked, even though she had a feeling she might know.

"Your skin. Hers was exactly the same. She had elemental magic more powerful than that of most other TimeWings. Her eyes were the same deep icy ones as yours. You can tell. She had a special aura that surrounded her at all times. Same with you," he paused dramatically.

"You are immortal."