Emotions were infective, Mirage had learned. The mare felt the resounding delight that rumbled in the steed’s great chest, relishing in his presence, wanting more of his even warmer form, despite the heat. The change within him was subtle, but the mare was also very perceptive, and noted that when she stood in close proximity with him, a pocket of heated air seemed to buffet her. Akaith had similar attributes, though her smaller size obviously meant the effects were smaller also. But having her form curled up on the small of Mirage’s back during winter always gave the mare that extra bit of warmth – she smiled quietly to herself as she imagined spending the next winter curled up beside the great mahogany brute – she quite suddenly she longed to feel more than his heated simply body standing beside her – but she swiftly returned to the present moment with a wistful sigh, ignoring her body’s own cries for particular affections and carnal desires; the time would come.

Dutifully she watched the stallion as he did what he was instructed to do, and smiled at the flame which resulted, silently proud for the stallion. Though it was as strong as one of Akaith’s average flames, it certainly was still a flame, and that was something to be proud of. “Well done.” Warmly her vocals intoned, whickering her encouragement. Akaith too had been watching closely, leaning her scaled head in closer to feel the heat of his fire as he had spewed it forth. She was unreadable, her many faceted eyes whirling slowly through the spectrum of colours as she thought and considered how to instruct him further. He’ll need to make his breathing organ stronger. Mirage knew Akaith meant diaphragm, the great lining of muscle that aided in expanding one’s lung capacity. He will need more than simple breathing exercises. He needs to fly higher, to teach his lungs to hold more fire-gas. Here Mirage thought Akaith meant oxygen, the substance vital not only for life of the biological body but also a flame.

“Now when you next concentrate on your fire belly, think about its heat. And encourage it to be hotter, think about the liquid fire rolling about Helovia’s Heart, fire that is within you now. Engage the muscles of your abdomen, let them stretch and shape your fire belly to encourage the heat within it to grow once again. Fire turns blue when it is at its hottest.” The mare assumed he probably already knew this, but it was by Akaith’s prompting that she spoke in her kind, patient instructor’s manner. The golden queen upon her back arched herself to give a demonstration of the hotter flame her bonded spoke of, the older dragon very well practised in maintaining it for several minutes, and a cooler, yellower flame for many hours if she wanted to. For the sake of the demonstration though, she spouted her flames, which dispersed outwards from Mirage’s side, though the mare could feel the heat even with cool waves lapping at her barrel – she didn’t mind though, having been a vessel for Akaith’s pyrotechnic displays on occasions previous to this one.

The flame that resulted was ringed with blue, some edges flaring yellows and oranges still, but she maintained it for over thirty seconds, cutting it off with a definitive snap of her jaw, as if to reiterate that she was stopping the flame by her own choice, not because she had run out of fire. “The fire within you will certainly feel diminished after this effort, but in time the recovery will be swifter. Try again.” Encouragement glittered behind her golden eyes, love and adoration for the steed evident, though her frame almost suggested she was a wizened old dragon, teaching a youngster his first steps towards being able to claim himself a true dragon. The mare wondered at this thought for a moment, memories of the Goddess of the night and her own dragon commenting on her dragon qualities, the iridescent marking upon her neck shimmering conspicuously under the sun. But then she put that track of thoughts away to reconsider them another time, her attention wholly upon the one who held the key to her heart.