It was early morning by the time they reached the Falls. Lace hadn't been in any particular hurry to get away from the Heavenly Fields but the sudden upswing of horses that crowded the high altitudes made both him and his dragon uneasy, so after the run-in with the Sun God they slipped away quietly and descended the steep path. Maybe they should have let Tandavi and Natraj know that they had left - Lace was reluctant to worry the girl more than he already had, and he was still keen to have a proper conversation with her about things - but between the crowd and his own restless nature it was straining to stay in one place. Besides... he'd seen something from the elevated meadow that piqued his curiosity, and he was eager to get closer to find out more.

Last time he had passed by here, there had been mountains towering up to the southwest. Tall, solid and very immobile mountains, that ought to have been there still. Yet for some reason the snow-capped peaks were nowhere to be found, and Lace couldn't understand what had happened to them. As he padded cautiously around the area he couldn't keep his eyes from straying towards the place where the mountains had been, the area now swept in a thick mist that gleamed pearly white in the crisp morning light. It looked as though a giant had reached down and scooped the very rock away, leaving either flat ground with nothing at all growing there, or a pit of some kind - the mist made it hard to tell, and he was reluctant to get too close in case it was the latter.

For the life of him the gold-backed stallion couldn't find a path to follow, and the view from above that his dragon shared through their bond showed only a vast sea of fog that never parted long enough to reveal the ground beneath. As the sun rose it would probably burn away, answering the steadily rising number of questions in his mind... But for now he could only shake his head, perplexed.

"Mountains don't just uproot themselves and disappeared" he said to Fajira as she came back and settled on his rump, as always balancing skillfully with wings stretched wide as he kept skirting the misty area. "I wonder what happened here..."

If he didn't know better he could have sworn that she took shape from the very mist itself. The way she appeared, as quietly and stealthily as a shadow reminded him of a black mare he knew, a dragon with a heart of gold whose mere memory still made him ache with longing. As always the stallion jumped slightly as he found himself with company, and as he had done so often in the past - a past that seemed much more distant than it really ought to be - he clipped the hears in the vague irritation and exasperation of a soldier who really should have known that someone was approaching.

"Curiosity", he replied and paused in his step, amber gaze regarding the pale-faced mare with mingled wariness and curiosity. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place her... If they had met before he couldn't quite remember the circumstances. "As I recall there used to be some mountains here... I find it curious that they uprooted themselves and left." A smile ghosted across his cob-webbed features, the dragon stretching out lazily along the gold-dusted spine and yawned. "Perhaps you know more about the matter?"

Perhaps he should feel more nervous about being where he was. It didn't take a genius to notice the unmistakable traces of hooves and the heady scent of horse that lingered in the air, marking the border of a territory. He had only ever set foot in the old Foothills once in the past, but the region must still be inhabited - the appearance of this mare was evidence as good as any of that. Technically that meant that he was intruding, but the notion didn't overly affect the old stallion. He knew better than to try and cross a border when he had no business with the herd, and as long as he kept his nose away from touchy subjects he should be fine.

If not... well, he was used to running by now.

Her words surprised him. Not because it was the Earth God who had caused the change - that made sense in a way, for who else would have the strength to level a mountain? - but rather that he had done it. For all that the gods of Helovia were more active in their appearances compared to other deities he'd heard rumors of, they still didn't often touch the very structures of the land. Last time must have been when they abandoned their shrines, if he wasn't entirely mistaken, and that had been only a minor change to small structures, never mind that they had been important structures. It made Lace wonder what the plague had been, exactly, for Father Earth to react so forcefully just to restore balance. Had he been forced to because the root of the evil had come from here? Or was it just an action in passing, an afterthought since the rest of the world slowly cleansed itself?

A faint shudder passed through the steed as these thoughts and questions coursed through his mind, and it was with some effort he pushed them aside. He could drive himself crazy trying to understand the actions of the gods, this wasn't the first time he found himself brooding over matters that frankly didn't concern him.
"Indeed, I've lived in Helovia for several years now" he mumbled absently, the look in his eyes distant even as he returned them to the bay lady. "Never spent much time in the Foothills though... What do you call this place now?"

But then his attention was brought back fully by her question and a slight nip of pale claws against his shoulders. He threw Fajira a slightly annoyed glance before answering, voice hesitating ever so slightly before offering his old title.
"Pardon my rudeness, of course you may" he said. "My name is Lace... Silverthorn. I had the honor of leading the Qian at World's Edge for a time, before the plague. My company is Fajira, the White. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady...?" He bowed his head before letting the voice trail off in a query, curious golden eyes peering up through a pale fringe to gaze expectantly at his host.