It was strange, the sensation of a voice that was not her own, nor Akaith's, speaking in her mind. Where are they? it rolled across the lands, as loud and clear as if someone had spoken it directly into her ears. The golden dragon chirped from her perch atop the black mare's withers, peering around with her bonded with a sense of confusion. Beside them, walked the dragonsisters, the silver and golden daughters of DragonHeart and DragonSon, bewildered and unfamiliar with such a thing. Dark muzzle bent to grace the fringed forelocks of the young belles with a sigh of a kiss, a whisper of affection to settle their nerves, before the little shadow mare led the wraiths through the woods. Akaith had gone aerial since the strange mental brush, scoping out the vicinity with both her mind and her other, natural senses. It seemed there was a dragon nearby, though it did not make itself specifically known.

This peaked Mirage's curiosity more, and with a quickened step, a smooth trot she weaved her way to the borders, façade heavily guarded with impassive emotion, her daughters following close by, not scared so much as curious to know what aroused their mother's interest. The dark mare paused in the thicket, turned her tiara to give each of them a warm, loving glance with her honey-caramel gaze, which they understood as a signal to stay still, stay hidden, and most importantly, stay silent and observe, learn, absorb all the knowledge that they could. While they were still too young to string more than two words together, their ability to perceive that which occurs around them was astounding to say the least.

It was with this shortened distance that the mare then heard her name spoken upon a true tongue, and, trusting her daughters' abilities to be obedient, at least for a few moments, she turned upon her heel and pulled herself from the shadows of her home to greet the pale one. She is bonded. Akaith mentioned, but it confused Mirage. To what? Mirage quizzed back as she drank the appearance of what looked like a unicorn before her. I smell silver. It took Mirage a moment to comprehend - but then she remembered, when Akaith was young and a gathering was held in Isilme where all those bonded to dragons attended - a horned halfling, a unicorn with equine blood. Ophelia was a hybrid, her blood contained enough traits to allow her to forge the draconic bond. A second passed as she made this observation, as she came to this realisation. Her tiara bowed to the young mare, whom she remembered, vaguely, from a Threshold encounter.

"Hail, Chieftess of the Foothills." Mirage's voice was deep and melodic, as she raised her eyes back to the level of this pale, crimson-tipped damsel. "Information is a valuable commodity," the little shadow mare continued, her voice unwavering in its strength and magnitude as it curled around the words with her accent. "Why is the Edge honoured to be privy to this information? And at what price?" Her questions were unassuming, spoken in polite, quiet tones. She did not mean offence, but rather, she was genuinely curious as to why this new leader would deem her worthy of receiving such knowledge. The mare was no fool, mostly everything came at a price, and she would discover the cost before she settled upon the purchase. With a flutter of golden scales, the little queenly companion settled upon her withers, peering into the mismatched eyes of Ophelia, silent and sharp.