Higher and higher the dragon soared, a sliver of purest light stolen from the heart of the sun itself. Lace followed her with his mind as he grazed, watched through her eyes how the landscape shrank beneath their beating wings, felt the morning breeze cool the scales even as the golden rays of sun warmed the thin membranes. The world stretched out beneath them in ever directions, wide-swept meadows bathed in yellow light from the rim of the dark forests to the towering mountains in the north, so far away that they seemed little more than tiny wisps of cloud by the horizon. Together they evened out the climb and stretched the wings wide, settling in a wide circle upon the rising winds and allowed them to lazily coast the air-stream with minimal effort.

Like this they remained, for a minute, for a heartbeat, for an eternity, until a movement on the ground caught their interest. Excellent eyesight allowed them to focus in on the ant-like being that meandered over the grassy plain, a black creature that seemed oddly familiar even from this altitude. A shrill call erupted from the maw of the dragon in alarm and greeting...

... and Lace raised his head from the lush grasses, eyes wary despite the calm posture as he watched the triage approach. Short silver tassels not yet fully outgrown since the encounter with the Earth Monster a season before swayed in the mild breeze, an ear revolved back, then forth in hesitation; then he nodded shortly while the amber eyes scrutinized the lighting marked mare.

"Delinne" he stated as a greeting, far more reserved than he had been the first time they crossed paths. Much water had flowed through the rivers since then. Too much, perhaps, for their budding friendship to ever be the same as it had. "Quite a while indeed; you seem well." The steady gaze trailed off to the colt by her side, brow raised slightly; he hadn't thought of the unicorn as the motherly type. Nor had he believed she would heed his recommendation and seek out a bond of companionship. That too was different now, judging by the big black kitten that sat by her fore hooves.

"How is life in the Basin?" The question was somewhat pointed, a slight tilt of the head expressing the question he didn't actually vocie. Why are you here, talking to me? Aren't we enemies?

Above them Fajira let out another call, she too questioning the presence of the mare they once had called friend. Did that bond still exist? Could it, after facing each other in a battle over land, honor and cause?

Dim vales- and shadowy floods-
And cloudy-looking woods,
Whose forms we can't discover
For the tears that drip all over!
Huge moons there wax and wane-
Again- again- again-