Following Lace from the Edge had been a decision that I had unknowingly made. I’m not even sure if the grulla knew it himself, as I had made sure that I was always a few steps behind. His body was taut from exhaustion and his face was creased with worry lines that aged him beyond his years. I was reluctant to admit to my stalking as he hadn’t come to me specifically for help, but I felt that something was awry… whatever notion it may be, I felt obliged to assist him should the need arise. He and his little white dragon had traveled quickly to the Basin, a secret drive pushing him over the ledge, though I had allusions s to what motives had driven him from his home in the Edge to dark, wondrous lands of the Outcasts. However, while both horse and dragon appeared be in relative sync with one another, there was an obvious disconnected strain that seemed to hinder their otherwise meaningful descent. It was none like the bond I’d witnessed between Mirage and Akaith, but then again, I had no idea how the bonds between differing companions worked. I was merely naïve to the whole of Helovia as of late.

However, Mirage seemed to strike a chord in me that seemed to make sense of Lace’s sudden departure from the Edge and I sullenly wondered if he had began a lonely quest to return her to the throne. Luckily enough, I had followed, like a second shadow, always curious like a small dog. Though, small was not usually a term used in reference to myself. I nearly towered above the small grulla and in light of such a determining factor, most animals in Helovia, aside from Leander whom I had met in the Threshold.

When Lace and Fajira had reached the Basin’s edge, I drew back in order to merely observe the disastrous events that were bound to take place soon after his bold approach. That’s not to say that I was cowardly awaiting conflict to turn tail and run, I just wanted to oversee all opportunities before intruding on a battle that Lace had intended to fight for himself. Though, through the trees and darkened crevices of the Basin, I felt as if I had been swallowed by nightmares of my own devices. It was like it had entranced me to imagine such fantastical horrors to an almost realistic degree that I almost had to close my eyes against the shadowy fairyland. Whatever darkness existed here was one that I was not soon to forget or in fact see again, unless business called upon my duties to retreat to such a magically horrific place.

Maintaining my distance, I sheltered myself in a patch of dying trees. The repugnant scent of savagery curled my lips and twisted my tongue as I looked on, a mere bystander until obligation drew me from the shadows. It wasn’t long before sardonic tunes graced the skies, dark and ominous as if hell had written a song just for them. I was weary, if not tired already from such a daunting discovery. Their scents intermingled into one musky discourse that prickled my skin. It was a sad feeling that crawled along my spine, my bones ringing with life as tension turned to ragged fear. Surely Lace had come with some kind of plan, other than throwing himself to the gauntlet for Mirage’s sake. My sides heaved with anxiety as I wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to find Lace, find us.

In the last remaining moments of relative peace, I drew in a staggering breath, one that racked my lungs with oxygen tainted with ghostly energy. My muscles were thick with apprehension and I was beginning to gain a sense of things that had never been so relevant before. The sound of my own heart beating alarmed me, thud, thud, thud. It seemed to beat against my chest, brave and true unlike everything that surrounded me. The awkward calls of angry crows disrupted the silence, as I had not yet heard them before. I wasn’t sure if our arrival had caused the ruckus or if I had simply ignored them until now. Even the light breeze of Birdsong caught my attention as it whispered through the tree limbs above, perhaps warning me of my certain fate, though I had all intentions of tossing that frozen sliver of fear to the wind. This was not about me anymore, it was about all that would become of the edge without Mirage and her unbiased guidance. Whether war or compromise came of this day’s invasion, nothing else mattered, at least not in my eyes.