But alas, the goliath should have known that this meeting was going too well to last. He thinks Vadir's natural dominance is quite innocuous, nothing to get worked up over - it's just how she is, an occupational hazard of being the queen of her species. She is unused to having her rule challenged (Vérzés tries, of course, but now she's so much bigger than him he struggles to hold his own against her), and her arrogance is as absolute as that of her bonded. He no longer pays any mind to her displays, frequent as they are. She might be cold, calculating and far less fiesty than her red brother and black soul-partner, but she has anger inside that glimmering golden body. Just because it is less brazen than that of Vérzés and Volterra does not mean it is not there.

The goliath is taken aback as Sikeax charges towards the golden dragon, exuding fury like he's never seen from her (and, indeed, did not think her capable of). Ordinarily, the sight of anybody moving to attack one of his dragons would be enough for him to crush them beneath his colossal hooves and force them into sputtering apologies, but this time he hangs back. Not just because he half-thinks Vadir deserves it (heavens, to get so possessive over a jellyfish!) but because he is so desperate to bond with this mare that he's quite willing to have Vadir 'take one for the team', so to speak. She'll understand once he explains.

Sikeax bellows at the queen, commanding her not to burn anybody ever. Volterra pins his ears - now that he doesn't agree with, Vadir's talent with fire is one of her many powerful attributes that he adores - but still remains silent, his curiosity overwhelming his natural urge to defend his dragon. He's deeply intrigued about how Vadir will react to this insubordination, and he actually wishes he had some popcorn for the show.

Unfortunately, Vadir's reaction is exactly what he'd suspected. She is more predictable than she likes to believe.

She roars her rage, fire blurting from her nostrils and immolating the nearest jellyfish. How dare this mare speak to her like that! She, the queen, addressed like a child by this pleb! Oh, her fury is a sight to behold as she rears high, extending her massive golden wings and bellowing like a woman possessed. She will rain death down upon this mare and her companion! She will rip, she will tear, she will devour and slaughter and dominate...Volterra takes a moment to admire her in all her feral glory; she is enormous, beautiful, savagery personified; all wildness and fire to mirror her usual steel and ice.

Yet his admiration is shortlived, because he can tell by Vadir's pulsing emotions that she is not going to let Sikeax get away with her words. She recoils her head like a snake, lunges forwards with fire blossoming in the depths of her throat, preparing to show this woman that she will burn whoever the fuck she wants to burn...

The stallion acts quickly, drawing his magic from deep within him and erupting a pillar of earth directly in front of his dragon. Her flame - which otherwise would have burnt Sikeax to a crisp - hits only solid rock, dissipating to either side. Vadir screams in disgust and throws herself upwards, trying to go over the pillar so she can pursue Sikeax and enact her revenge. But Volterra's magic erupts one, two, three more blocks of earth around his dragon, coiling the tops over to meet in the middle and trap Vadir inside a cage of rock. He leaves a small space, so she can breathe, and her fury shakes the ground itself as she slams against her prison to try and escape it. Sorry, Vadir, says Volterra to her. But you can't murder the mother of my child.

Vérzés breaks into howling peals of laughter at his golden sister's fate. To anybody who has never heard a dragon laugh before, it is quite an unnerving sound - like a low bark, hardly distinguishable as amusement. He looks to Hobgoblin, his scaled face alight with delight and quite clearly saying I've always wanted somebody to do that to her. Vadir's indignant yowls from inside her rocky prison only add to Vérzés' laughter, and he physically tumbles away from his jellyfish in order to cackle even louder.

Volterra's own eyes glimmer with hilarity as well, and a grin twists the corner of his jaws despite himself. Had most other people said what Sikeax had, he would have happily allowed Vadir to slay them for their insolence, but it is a sign of quite how determined he is to make amends that he's actually amused rather than furious. "Few people would have the balls to call a dragon a bitch to its face, especially a golden one. Even fewer would live to tell the tale." A deep, rumbling chuckle breaks free of his jaws and he casts a glance to Vadir's stone cage, which is rumbling and shaking with the force of her attempts to escape it. His strength is sapped by the effort of keeping his magic held up, but he is quite confident that he will be able to maintain it for long enough to let the gold calm down.

Still tittering to himself, the goliath pivots his ears to listen as Sikeax begins to speak once again. Are you not that old? "Three years," he says, honestly and unashamed. His youth might be off-putting to a woman who is evidently so much older, but he rather thinks he has accomplished quite a lot in his short life. To have already bonded to two dragons, have two different magical abilities not to mention a whole host of fighing experience at his tender age is quite an achievement, he thinks. And he has so much more to give, as well. He watches the movements of her ears as she begins to explain the Endless Night, gathering that it is not something she likes to talk about. Still, she humours him, talking of missing sunlight and dead grass, of darkness and nothingness. No sun, no moon, no stars, no food - it sounds like hell on earth. "That sounds awful." He twitches his ears and casts a glance back at the structures surrounding Vadir, before looking back to Sikeax. "How long did it last?"

She then begins to talk of herd life, and he listens despite himself. He is keen to know about what it's truly like to live with other horses regularly, but does not want to ask, for fear he will sound stupid and ignorant. So he devours the information greedily, ears rammed forwards and neck arched proudly to eat up every snippit of useful knowledge. She adds that she hopes he will be a leader to remember, and he nods. "I intend to be. I do not know when I will attempt to take a crown - at the moment, I fear nobody would respect me because of my age. I think it would be best to wait until I am old enough to not be referred to as a boy-king." This admission shows a rare level of maturity from the blackened leviathan. He might be greedy, ambitious and keen to begin his rule, but he also knows that the timing has to be perfect before he can seize his crown. It is not something that can be rushed, as much as he wants to do it right now.