Eventually they reach the caverns, and the warrior's massive skull swings to drink in his surroundings. Cynder leaves her perch on his back and soars away to explore, disappearing into the shadows until they are linked by nothing but their mental bond. Still the leviathan follows the mare, until the thunder of a waterfall reaches his ears; with a screech his dragon returns to him, crashing onto his muscular rump and holding on with claws hooked into his flesh. Water is the one thing that the jade war-dragon is afraid of - she knows that entering it would extinquish her flame-tail, and her life with it. Her bonded soothes her with soft mental caresses, reminding her that she is death, and mustn't fear something as petty as a wall of water. She calms, one clawed paw reaching out to play with his mane in a manner that comforts both of them, whilst her beady yellow eyes dart cunningly between the mare and her mongrel.

The she-devil speaks, finally giving him a name to put to that queerly-marked face of hers. Confutatis. She talks of the family like of work, and the ghost of a smirk lifts a corner of the warmaster's muzzle. "You and I both," he murmurs, thinking of his father and the Oasis that he had ruled - his dominion, his empire. She speaks of failed takeovers, but the notion of loss does not lesson the stud's fledgling respect for her. Even he - warmaster, son of molten ambition and bathed in the glory of a hundred fallen foes - has tasted defeat, albeit just once and only through the underhanded tactics of a magic-wielding unicorn. It is naught to be ashamed of, as long as one learns from it, and enacts their revenge. "They will fall," he says simply, broaching no arguments. Cynder hums her agreement, flame-tail lashing and igniting the air around them. "We share the same goal, Confutatis. To rule, to dominate - we can be of use to each other, as long as that goal remains the same." He puts it simply, succintly - no eternal promises, no pledge of loyalty, simply two warriors who seek to climb their way up the Helovian ladder with fire and blood. "First, tell me of the herds here, and their leaders. I know little of Helovian politics." Yet.