Illynx found the look of suspicion that crossed the babe’s face at the sight of the fox endearing; she herself had been uneasy with the presence of the numerous, smaller breeds that her kin and mutated cousins chose to keep as company. It hadn’t been until her tangle with the healer Smoke and that damn blue dragon of hers that Illynx had seen the true usefulness of such creatures – to the land bound, such as herself, the flight baring bounded were of utmost use, though she knew from experience that the kitsune, in ways, broadened and deepened the level to which Lena could heal.

Perhaps it was all about love. Illynx didn’t really understand such notions, and so she held fast to a belief that the fox accompanied Lena because it gave her more physical prowess to be bonded to Imogen than just her own body did on it’s own.

She had expected the flow of questions from the child’s mouth, her smile pleasant as it lounged about her lips, and she listened to each in turn as well as the answer supplied by the bay healer, still attempting to piece together what held her in such a pleasant air on this day. Having found no answer to her own questions, however, she turned to provide the girl with whatever she would need to know in order to be safe outside of their borders.


"In Helovia? Hundreds. In all of Loorien, the land on which Helovia sits, perhaps thousands. The Basin holds nearly forty, at the moment, though the numbers fluctuate most constantly and are hard to follow," she glanced out over the fields coming to life in the rise of the sun, the myriad figures to be seen rising to begin their morning ventures. A year ago, when she had returned home, there were a handful more than there were now – but none were less strong than the others, and while politics hadn’t held up as she had wished them, she felt that they were still a powerful enough force to ward away most thieves and crooks bent on taking away their mountain palace.


"Directly to the south, not far from the Threshold, lies Windtossed Foothills, led by Apollo the Merciful," she was hesitant to mention that contract that had been put in place by Psyche and Mauja between the near by herd and the Basin, unsure if it still stood in the wake of both former ruler’s departure, "their ranks are of mixed breeds, and they tend to be usually friendly towards us." She paused and looked to the girl’s face for a moment, pondering now how to break down the dangers that lie in the other herd lands to be found.

She began with the Throat.


"Further south, Dragon’s Throat waits; it is a desert ruled by pegasi. We have no kinship between us. I recommend you stay clear of that sand box," her smile was cheeky and pleasant, but the gleam in the back of her eyes was dark and carnivorous, a warning as to the swift death that such a young unicorn would likely find so far south. She had saved the most horrible of herds for last, however, placing her story teller’s mask back onto her face and adding the little bit of extra flair to her words that had brought a smile to the child’s lips back in the Threshold.

"Lastly, to the west of the Foothills and overlooking the northern sea, is a place known as World’s Edge," she lowered her head, words becoming more and more sinister with each passing breath, "ruled by the Dragon Queen Mirage and inhabited by the Qian, a blended breed force that seeks knowledge and sovereign unity over all kingdoms. It was once our home, before it was taken from us by the Qian, before Lord Time led the late Lady Psyche and Lord Mauja to the Aurora Basin. There is nothing but distrust and anger between our two herds. To venture into their misty wood would surely forfeit your life -" her pause at this point was dramatic, her ears sliding back cryptically as her mouth became a grim line of nearly humorous somberness, though she cast Lena a humorous wink when she felt the gesture could be hidden from Jorogumo's gaze, "as dragon’s fodder! Why, the recently stole several children from our herd. Thankfully Deimos was able to return them to us before Mirage and the others could roast them over their fires."

She would aptly leave out why it was that the foals had been stolen away from the herd.

The little girl didn't need to know that part of the story, after all. It would make them seem all the more the antihero, which was not the goal of today's lesson. Today's ultimate projections were that of gaining the babe's allegiance to the Basin and the hidden coven beneath it's glass surface - and one of those requirements was a deep set loathing of the Qian and their blasphemous ways of peace.