For once, the cool air of the Aurora Basin felt welcoming to my tender burns and aching muscles. It seemed that the pain of battle was not at it's worst immediately following the fight, but rather the few days that followed afterwards. Though my fight with the large fire-welding stallion was invigorating and rejuvinated my soul, that son of a bitch packed one hell of an unexpected punch. His blood had now dried and hardened to the tips of my horn, enhacing the deep red stains of battles prior, and I wore it like a badge of honor. The chilly winds dulled the throbbing aches of my muscles, and my burns were starting to hurt a little less with a thin protective scab forming over the raw tissue. They still looked like hell, but at least it felt like an improvement.

I was originally headed back to my cave, ready for a good long rest and some much needed relaxation. However, a pair of voices some distance away caught my attention. Auds pricked to try and determine the owners of the voices, but I was familiar with neither of the feminine tones. With a sigh, I mulled over the possibility of ignoring them and going to my cave after all, but I decided to follow my curiosity. There was no telling how long it would be before I would leave my cave once again once I settled down, so I might as well make an attempt at being social while I could. Hooves danced over themselves as I turned towards the voices, head bobbing slightly as I took my time walking to greet them.

When the two figures came into view, I recognized the new Lady - Ophelia I believed it was. Her name had not gone unnoticed to me, for it seemed all the herd had been a buzz when she was announced as the new Lady. I couldn't understand what could possibly be so special about her, from what I could recall she wasn't even in the herd when she was announced Lady. If she was, she certainly wasn't for very long. Dark chocolate eyes studied the ivory mare, resisting all urges to pin my auds back into my mane. Aside from the red accents and the spiraling horn, she had many resemblences to my lost phantom, Morphine. Frankly, I didn't appreciate the reminder. I would have to do my best to maintain my show of respect for her, but I did nothing to lower my crown to her. She may have been superior in my ranks, she may have been the idiotic precious choice of the Spark God, but she had done nothing to earn my respect as of yet. And until she did, I would keep my crown equal to hers. The same test had been put towards Illnyx, this snowy mare would be no different.

My gaze drifted lazily towards the mare beside her, an unfamiliar face with a rich chocolate coat topped with whipped cream hair and long dark horns. I noted the small skull hanging around her neck, curious about the kind of creature it was and how she had acquired such a trinket. 'Why hello there, little truffle.' The left corner of my lip twitched at the thought, a rather dark fantasy beginning to visualize in the back my mind as I approached them. Instead of giving away my sadistic thoughts, the twitch pulled back into a warm smile that could fool even the best behavorist into believing it was genuine. "Good afternoon, M'lady. I don't believe we've truly met yet, I am Panzram, a Phantom. " I introduced myself with a dip of my nose towards each with a friendly nod. Neither would ever suspect that I was imagining that the Lady wasn't even in existance, while I ravished the little truffle in ways that made her plead for mercy. No, to them I was merely a spy introducing himself to his Lady that happened to still be injured and bloodstained from his latest quarrel.