The Basin was broad and open before them, the Lady weary from the long travel that she had purposefully made harder than it should have been. It was not that she was afraid that the shadow creature described by Deodat would have already made it this far north; she was afraid that more of them would be born, not so far away from their home. Of course, she kept these secrets to herself for the time being, mentioning only that Helovia was often a dangerous place during the dark, the mountains especially, and that she’d rather they not spend too much time resting.

They of course stopped for water when necessary; she was no slave driver, at least not of her own kind.

Her steps are long and graceful despite her tired muscles, head held proudly upon a gracefully arched neck as she pulls off to the side of the hoof worn path to allow Tangere to see the vale in all it’s splendor. The sun has risen during their travels and stands at late morning, a beacon that gleams across the still tall and gradually dying grasses, their golden color symbolic of the season that grasps at the land.

It is her favorite time of the year, truly, for the world matches her in hue. The burning yellow of the leaves and grasses against the earthy browns, centered in the midst of pale white peaks, lifted all of the pressing fear of devils from her heart. Perhaps it helps, also, that she stands beneath the 20 handed bronze shell of a unicorn, the beginning of a new era for her people and a key piece of their safety strategy against whatever death came their way, if at all.

The shadow of its body is long and casts itself across her bodice, her rump angled on a pointed hoof of relaxation as she smiles at the grey mare she has brought up the hidden path. "Welcome home," she says cheerfully, her golden gaze sweeping across the Basin in search of patrols come to greet them, "we should have company here shortly." It would seem they’d missed the pass patrols, but she knew that they would not avoid the guards for long while within the borders.

While they waited, she began pointing out some of the features of the herd land. "Ahead of us is the lake, and the large cave along its eastern rim is the Haruspex Cave, where we keep our mirror from which to call the Lord of Spark when his council is needed," her horn angles itself further in towards the rear of the valley, the plumes of steam that could be seen faintly rising into the horizon, "and those pillars of steam rise from the Hot Springs. You can chose to sleep in forest along the perimeters or select an uninhabited cave…" Her pause is filled with a thoughtful glance back to the woman, the Lady having decided to divulge some of the dark nuances of this particular era of the kingdom. "Though, if it holds gold, iron, copper, or coal, expect us to be mining in it within the next few months," she playfully angles her eyes upward at the statue towering behind her, its proud muzzle as large around as the more slender parts of her neck, "for this handsome fellow, and his companion. To guard this very path we stand on."

@[Tangere]

Serene, her smile as she watches the newest addition to their horned coven admire the vale, a similar response elicited in the grey woman as could be seen on all those who had come before her. Illynx supposed the other lands were beautiful as well; she’d only ever seen the Edge and the Basin in any real depth, having steered clear of the other two locations for most of her life due to their distasteful inhabitants. It wasn’t that World’s Edge wasn’t lovely, either, what with the great mists that swallowed its forests from the sea or the tall, ancient trees that provided cover within, but there was something about the mountains that held her heart. Perhaps it was the stately prowess of the mountains themselves, great snow capped fists that jutted into the sky like the hungry mouths of infantile birds, or the snow itself, drifting lazy and cloud-like across the lush emerald of their fields.

It could just be that this was a place that had been given to them by a God. A hand selected vocation for her and her kin to root themselves after being so unceremoniously hurled from their prior lands. Tangere was too new to the area to know such things, knowledge that, perhaps, Illynx would share with her on a later date, should their scant relationship of wanderer and home-giver evolve into something more lasting.

She held no real aspirations for such things, and never did. The only two she’d ever really bonded with beyond simply offering them lodgings were Jorogumo and Ruka, one of which was a child. Her ability to find others in fond regard was definitely lacking, and it wasn’t for a lack of character in the others that she had discovered that had left them without her affections; it was simply the hardened nature of her heart, and stone façade that she had worn for all of her life, and letting go of oneself simply because she had been given a crown was not something on her agenda.

She knows she is pouring information out of her mouth and in the direction of Tangere at an alarming rate – but she does not see any point in holding back. The beginning of any path is always confusing; one does not know where it will lead or for how long they must wander it, and she figures that the mare will be better off with too much information than not enough. If she is smart (Illynx surely hopes she is, but hope cannot fill ones belly or provide them shelter), what she has just been told will give her a rather smooth start into the life and times of the Aurora Basin, and that is all that Illynx can be concerned with.

It is up to her now not to freeze to death and to find her own place to sleep, preferably as far away from Illynx’s own emerald curtained cave. She rather liked the privacy of her location – and didn’t like the idea of such close neighbors during her scant minutes to catch sleep.

As the new arrival asks her of the titan’s name, she draws a void and realizes, perhaps too late, that this is the first set of words she can recall the woman speaking since they’d left the equine filly behind in the forest of beginnings. Glancing up at the beast that stands so much taller than she does, her smile is playful and light on her face as she replies to her best ability. "Ulrik, the crafter who has built him, did not give him a name," she states, highly amused by the notion of naming an inanimate object of protection and finding that it must come to pass that they are titled, "though I will offer this idea to him. Perhaps next we speak, the bronze beast shall have a name other than, “Safety.”" Her giggle is soft and light hearted as she pulls out from under his shadow to stand more fully alongside Tangere, an ear cocked to her second question as she gracefully dances over.

The subtle giggle turns into a full hearted laugh; not one directed at the woman, of course, as she herself may have had the same conclusion if she hadn’t already known what the metals were for, but one that fills the air around her with pleasant vibrations and a delight in the fact that she knew more than this one did. Of course, she stifles it quickly and within a polite time, her voice reaching out once again to the ears of the waiting damsel. "He does not eat the metal," she says softly, stepping forward to knock her golden horn on his empty shell with several loud bong dooongs, "but he does have empty guts. Ulrik will be crafting the ore into internal components, to make the thing move of its own will. Motion and sound sensitive, any who do not belong in the Basin will quickly learn of their mistake – when one of these hooves is smashing their skull open."

Her smile is devious, a cryptic thing that one could best imagine on an insane child while they wring the head of their dolls. The thought of equine bodies being splattered into the earth beneath the bronze weight of their sentinels made her downright giddy with excitement, and it read in every inch of her tensed muscles and the breathless, airy laughter that gurgles from her mouth at the thought. That the expedience of their build pertained to dangers outside the hornless is lost to her in her moment of twisted fantasy, but a chill wind sweeping in from the mountains reminds her that not all is right.

Perhaps it is an after effect of the lightless seasons she had arrived home to Helovia to find, but she does not know; it would do well to send Huyana into her cave to inquire of the Lord of the Spark what can be done to protect themselves from it. It is likely, she thinks grimly now that her humor has faded, that the shadow blooming so far south and in the mountains ringing them do not hold corporeal bodies and cannot be harmed by their statues.

What will they do then? She wonders.

"The land is unsettled, right now," she warns her new member, looking to her softly with a faint tinge of darkness framing her eyes now that she has directed the conversation to less light hearted subjects, "as Helovia often is. There have been reports of darkness brewing in the wilds, outside our home. Big bronze and his brother, once he is built, will serve to protect us from this, as well. Until then…" She pauses, looking out of the entrance to their valley with a subtle worry that traces itself into the lines of her eyes. Slowly, her gaze returns to Tangere, hopefully with the seriousness of her request marking it in full. "Do not wander alone, anywhere, and reserve enough energy at all times to expediently return you here."

[ OOC: Sorry for the wait as well! I was seeing if anyone else would arrive to the thread before I threw in more Illynx talking incessantly. x333 ]