Renewed purpose fuelled the steps of the charcoal mare this day, her elegant frame walking with an ease and grace which simply seemed inherent to her enigmatic character. The Thistle Meadow was a comfortable realm, to be sure, but this mare yearned for a herdland to call her own, a herdland where her nearest and dearest friends and followers could reside in comfort. The Qian were a group where she had emerged as the leader, not simply elected herself, it simply made sense to finally give their gathering a name. The loyal ties that bound them were stronger than most ties that were found between those bonded by blood relationships, though Mirage would admit her bond with her siblings was closer than anything she had ever experienced before – aside from Vikram, and Akaith was a different sort of bond.

A smile tilted the sculptured lips of the maiden as her thoughts crept towards the looming figure of her mate, the steed who was part dragon, the beast who had captured her heart forevermore. Akaith hummed happily up her withers, sharing in the warm thoughts just as they dropped into Mirage’s own mind. Their bond was something different again, an intertwining of souls, they were hardly able to be described as two separate individuals now but more like an extension of each other. The landscape changed as neat, dark hooves traipsed the loam, and the scent of the Threshold filled the tear-drop shaped nostrils that were situated on the edges of her muzzle. Silken strands of mane swayed with her motion, though the humidity was thick, they threatened to stick to her warm nape instead. The overbearing heat pounded down upon them, even in dusk, the Sun’s rage was evident.

“Many pleasant places exist within these lands.”

Accented tones informed the gathered, a trio of greys, though each had a slightly different shading and stature. One smelled strongly of the Foothills, a mare whom she had not met before, but gave a deep nod in recognition anyway. Akaith chirped lightly from her stance upon Mirage’s withers, recognising the mare Solstice’s face from the herd meeting, but neglecting to know her name – these details weren’t often important to a dragon – and Mirage hoped the mare would recognise her as an ally of the herd. The other two were clearly related, siblings, for their appearances were similar, but evidently that was where the similarities ended. The stallion was clearly the dominant one, and seemed eager to move on, while the youthful belle was sitting back, awaiting action to happen before her.

Mirage did not wear her cloak today, though it would have been fun to. Instead, she wore a façade of indifference, appearing as if she was almost bored by the happenings, like it mattered little to her whether these others were present or not. “What is it you fear?” Picking apart the speech the little black mare had heard on her approach, she aimed straight for the issue, curious as to the response she might get. Eyes of liquid gold then moved to the young mare, before flicking to Solstice. The shadow of a smile may have curved her lips for a mere instant, before the blank mask was worn once again. “How discourteous of me, my name is Mirage, and this is Akaith.” The dragon sighed, lounging about on her bonded’s back, a thin trail of smoke exiting her nostrils. She would allow the gathered to assume what they would of her now – the devious little mare was back, playing her games.