“Did.. did it work?” I swiftly looked around before my gaze returned to Nimble. My aunt was still next to me, while my dad remained suspended in the air above us, that much I could tell from a quick glance.

“You need to tell us,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“I…” I stopped when Nimble started to purr and rub his head against my foreleg. “I guess so.”

“Ours!” Roary proclaimed.

“Part of our merriment,” Calmly agreed.

As strange as it might sound, it felt good to hear the two of them again. Despite them being rather irritating, knowing that every azure-kirin had something like them acting as advisors, according to what I’d learned from Nimble’s mind, made their presence far more welcome.

A soft, angry hiss from Snowdrift quickly pulled me back out of my thoughts. Under my Aunts spell or not, seeing and hearing her mate purring at me was surely angering her. I mean, if Mom purred at some random stallion…

“I appreciate the gesture, but you can stop now.” I patted Nimbles head.

“As Mylady wishes.” He leaned back and just let his tail swing left and right happily.

“Did you just…” I placed a claw on my temples.

“Yes, Mylady.”

I moved my claw to cover my face. Wonderful, that makes three voices in my head now…

“If you can hear him in your mind, I think it worked,” my aunt commented.

“How did you…?”

“You started talking to yourself all of the sudden.”

“Oh, right.” I began to rub my temples with both claws. “If everyone I claim ends up in my head, it’s going to get crowded real quick.”

“You will get used to it. And it will come in clawly when you want to give orders to your subjects.”

“Always thinking like an azure,” I intentionally kept my tone neutral. “Anyway…” I took another deep breath and stood up, allowing Nimble to roll onto his belly. “You better go and calm down your mate,” I ordered.

“As you wish.”

“And talk to me like any other creature would when you’re next to me!”

“Yes, Mylady.” He nodded and trotted over to Snowdrift, who welcomed him with an accusing growl, but grabbed him anyway and began licking over his injuries. I was sure he would get a more serious growl later for cuddling with me, but certain things came first. Speaking of, a moment later, Dad landed next to me and I got the same careful examination Nimble had just received. I wasn’t injured, well, no more injured than what I’d already been due to the fight I’d had with my brother this morning. However, Dad wasn’t about to be stopped by simple facts.

“I’m fine, Dad.”

“I know,” he replied while nuzzling my wing. When I opened it, his nose moved over my side, carefully sniffing.

Used to his overly protective behavior, I smiled and changed the subject. “Did you see, I claimed my first azure-kirin!”

“No, I was watching that white dragoness,” Dad replied, “but I see the result. Well done, Fiery.”

“The first of many to come,” Schimmernde Morgenröte predicted.

I made a sour face about Dad not seeing me claim Nimble, but it didn’t last for long. After all, this meeting had turned out better than expected. Sure, Nimble had gotten a few scratches, but overall, no one was seriously harmed, the egg was safe, and I ended out on top. Yes, it was a good day!

When I realized that, I started to purr, and soon, needed something to rub myself against out of excitement. Luckily for Dad, he was standing right next to me, and so fell victim to my cuddle attack. Not that he was about to complain.

“Die Zeit vergeht,” my aunt mentioned after a while. “There are still things to do.”

I knew she was right, time waited for no one*, still, a little cuddling never hurts. A trait I’d inherited from Dad.

“Alright,” I finally agreed, “let me send Nimble and his family home, then we can return to our caravans.”

“This may be a good time to try out your own ability to speak into his mind,” Schimmernde Morgenröte suggested. “If you’d prefer I not subdue his mate again?”

“You can talk in someone's mind now?” Dad sounded quite excited.

“Well, so far I can only hear him, I’m not sure if I can talk to him the same way.”

“Then try it!” He nudged me encouragingly with his nose.

“Okay, I… “ I stood still for a moment, “have absolutely no clue how to do it.”

“Mhh, I can’t help you with that. Even azure dragons are not able to mindtalk as far as I know.”

“Just ask, Nimble? Nimble was it, right?” Dad wondered. “He should know if he’s already talked to you that way.”

“Good idea.” I turned towards Nimble and his mate. “Nimble!”

“Yes, Mylady?” He shouted back while Snowdrift grabbed him tighter and hissed.

“No,” I laid a claw on both my aunt's and dad’s wings. “It’s alright, I understand her feelings.”

My aunt's gaze fell on me, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. “You are going too easy on other creatures, Niece.”

“Maybe, still, can you let me handle this? Please?”

She snorted and took a seat, getting into what I assume was a noble azure pose, showing her superiority.

“Thank you,” I bowed, before addressing Nimble again. “How do you do this… mindtalking thing?”

Nimble pressed a hoof to his mate's snout and returned her growl. It took a moment while they whispered to each other before he answered.

“I just reach out for you through our bond, and say what I want to say!”

“That's what you do, not how you do it!”

“May I talk to you in your mind for this matter, Mylady? Maybe I can show it more accurately than I can describe it!”

“Go ahead!”

“Well, the first step for me is to focus on my azure aura, it is quite close to how you talk with your inner voices.”

“Focusing on my aura, got it!”

“Second step is to reach out through it, but not with the aura itself, but with the message you want to transmit.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“No, you need to try again,” Calmly said. “You’re talking to us now.”

“Yes, you are focusing on us,” Roary agreed. “Look elsewhere, further away from us.”

For a moment I was confused as to why my inner voices had piped up, but then I realized I hadn’t been talking aloud, instead asking in my head. Without success of course. This whole mindtalking thing was already getting out of claw! “What do you mean by that?” I repeated my question aloud.

“For me it is quite… one moment Mylady.” He stopped and turned his attention back to his mate, who had started to growl unhappy, knowing he and I had a mental connection. Another series of growls, cuddles, and other little gestures were exchanged before he continued. “My apologies. My mate is still adjusting to the fact that you claimed me. We talked about this whole procedure a while back, but facing the reality and its consequences is quite hard for a dragoness.”

“I understand! Don’t worry about it, continue with your explanation though!”

“What I was trying to say is, that for me, you shine like a little sun, or moon if you prefer, in the horizon of my aura. I just have to focus on you and think of what I want to tell you, I don’t even need to form the words completely, just the concrete idea seems to be enough.”

Easier said than done. I tried to find him in my aura, but all I got were vague shades of my merriment. Despite how hard I tried, I wasn’t even able to figure out which of them was him, not to mention how to send a message through.

“You will learn it eventually, Mylady,” Nimble comforted me after a while when he didn’t get a message from me. “We shouldn’t forget you are only eighteen.”

“We can’t all be old stallions!” I turned back to my family. “It seems it is not meant to be yet.”

“That is unfortunate, you will have to learn it eventually,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“Yes,” Dad agreed, “you will manage soon enough.”

“I hope so. Anyway, time to keep my word now. Nimble! You and your mate can go home now and care for your egg!”

Surprisingly, they didn’t just agree and leave, but started to discuss something, throwing a gaze at the horizon now and then.

“If we may, given the sinking sun, it is unlikely we will make it back home today. It may be safer for the egg if we just wait for yo… the rest of the merriment and set up a camp nearby?”

I threw a look at the sun myself. It was indeed well into the evening, but that hardly seemed to be a problem, there were still a clawful of hours left of usable sunlight.

“I am not so fond of the idea of setting up a camp already!” I yelled.

“Setting up a camp?” Dad piped up. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” He looked around the small valley we were in. “It will take some time until your merriment is used to setting it up. Some extra time on the first few nights may be of use.”

“It would be better for the egg though, Mylady. The more eyes watching over it at night the better.” Nimble said at the same time.

“But it will take us longer to get to Shakirin-La then!” I objected.

“That may be true, but it is still the better option,” Dad decided. “You will gather a larger merriment along the way, so it would behoove you to make sure your current one has the basics figured out before that. Also, we are still within flying distance of home, so if we find out we forgot something, we should be able to fetch it before nightfall if we set up the camp now.”

“A few hours could also make the difference in who claims what kirins along the way!” I pointed out. “If I arrive just five minutes before my rivals, it would totally change the situation if we met some unclaimed kirins!”

“A valid point,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “Time is of the essence on this journey.”

With a loud ‘hmm’ Dad considered my point. “It would ultimately cost us more time if we can’t efficiently set up camp. Your Kirins would be tired, slower, and less prepared for a possible fight. No, we will settle down here for the night, on top of one of these hills over there,” he said, pointing towards a collection of knolls slightly south of where we were currently standing.

“But, Dad!”

“No.”

I jumped in front of him and growled. “I decide what we do! I lead these kirins!”

Yes, I hadn’t learned anything from the short fight I’d had with him before. And so it ended just as you would expect it to, in a split second, I was once again being pinned to the ground by my dad. Though, instead of my merriment, this time, only Nimble took issue with this.

With a roar, he jumped out of Snowdrift's embrace and rushed over. “Let her go!” Snowdrift was quick on her claws too, but one look from Schimmernde Morgenröte convinced her to return to laying down.

I, however, was pleased that he would come to my aid like a good loyal subject. That thought only lasted for a moment though, as Dad was quick to hiss at him warningly. What Dad had said about leading my subjects came back to my mind and soured the good feeling Nimble’s aid had given me. If he got hurt, it would assuredly weigh on me.

I snorted and growled. “Okay, we’ll set up the camp now. You can let me go.”

Dad took his time, spending another moment looking at Nimble on his way over. Then, he lifted his claws from me.

“Nimble stop!” I rose again and shook the dirt out of my fur. “I decided that this place will be our campside tonight. No need to fight with my dad.”

Calmed by my words, he slowed down and stopped next to me. It was clear though that he wanted to hiss or growl at Dad to show he would not tolerate him threatening me this way.

“No!” I stomped a claw. “No challenging my Dad!”

Nimble lowered his head, but growled unhappily. “As Mylady wishes.”

“It’s better that way.” I gave Dad a challenging look while still addressing Nimble. “Mom is better suited to argue with him anyway. I am sure she can tell him that I can lead my merriment myself!”

“Fluffy will share my opinion,” he retorted with confidence.

***

Unfortunately, he was right. Mom was on his side, telling me to listen to Dad. The fact Dad had been right was causing me to tear out my mane! It was my job to lead these kirins, but Dad kept taking control! Eventually, I had to find a way to prevent him from doing that!

However, at the moment, there wasn’t much I could do about it. So I turned to another issue that needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later, my batfriend and his, more or less, justified jealousy. While my family was gathered by a nearby stream to fetch some water and take a bath, I’d taken the opportunity to push Illu into my family’s tent where we would have at least a little privacy before I began to explain things to him, hoping to calm him down.

“It’s not like it was my choice.” I restlessly trotted back and forth. “It’s a side effect of the Call to Shakirin-La that’s causing them to behave so strangely!”

“Strangely?” Illu’s voice was a mix of anger and reprehension. “Strangely! They're blatantly courting you! They’re shamelessly throwing themselves at you!”

“It is not like they’re doing it on purpose, this whole,” I threw my claws in the air, “deal with being an azure kirin is forcing them to act this way! Neither of us wants that.”

“Neither of you? So you are interested in them too!” Illu’s tone rose a few octaves.

“No! No I am not! It was just a poor choice of words!” I quickly rushed to him and grabbed his hoof. “I am not interested in them that way. I’m just leading them.”

“Yeah, like this new guy who you claimed today.” He snorted and freed his hoof. “He follows you like a house cat while purring at you! He purrs at you, Fiery!”

“That’s just a particularity of us kirins, something we inherited from dragons. We purr at our bel… creatures we like.” I laid a wing on his back and rubbed my head against his side, purring loudly. “And it’s totally different from my special purr for you!”

“Your lucky that I’m a batpony and can hear that subtle difference! Otherwise I wouldn’t believe you.”

I smiled.

He stepped aside and crossed his forelegs. “That doesn’t mean I like it!”

“It’s part of what makes us kirins. It’s part of our behaviour. You can see it with my dad, or my brother, they are dragons, and they love to purr at me and Mom.” I once more approached and tried to snuggle up to him. “And, that very trait was passed on to their half-breed offspring, us kirins.”

He raised his wings and pushed me back. Dammit! When Mom uses her fluffy, cuddly side, she’s always able to snuggle her way into making everything better!

“You could tell them to stop, to not purr at you like they’re doing.”

“They are our subjects! They have to purr at us!” Roary threw in.

I flinched my ears back, trying to keep my focus on Illu. “That's like telling you to not fly anymore or Dad to not spit fire. It’s part of what we are.”

“It wasn’t until today that everykirin felt the urge to start courting you!”

“It wasn’t until today that we became their leader, and therefore, became the best possible mate” Calmly added.

I shook my head. “Those are two different things! Purring and flirting are… purring is a universal thing. Yes, it can mean I like you, like in order to be seductive, but it can also just be a friendly gesture. Flirting is way above simply purring.”

“Then forbid them from flirting with you!” Illu threw his hooves into the air in frustration. “I’m your batfriend! They know we are together, why do they even bother!”

Actually, that was a fair point. “I can do that.” I took a moment to think about it. “I’m not sure if they will listen though.”

“You said you lead them, and from what I understood, they have to follow your orders, right?” He didn’t wait for a reply, instead continuing on in a huff. “They do whatever you tell them to do, so tell them to stop courting you.”

“Okay, I’ll tell them. But again…” I raised one talon, “I’m not sure if it will work, or if all of them will listen. There are limits to my…” I struggled to find the right word for a moment. “To my… authority. I am pretty sure normal kirins should stop flirting with me, but when it comes to azure kirins, if I claim more of them, it may not work that well.”

Illu grumbled. “Fine…“

I growled back. No, not in an aggressive manner, instead, I tried another one of the tricks I learned from Mom. “My overly jealous batfriend,” I whispered approvingly.

“I am not jealous,” he snorted and looked to the side. “It’s just not right of them to behave like that!”

“Hmm-hm,” I nodded and returned to purring and fluffing up. “Though-” I grabbed his chin and turned his face to me “- insisting on your right to call yourself my batfriend with all your… not jealousy, makes you look rather… attractive.”

With delight, I saw his ears raise up, and their fluff swing temptingly left and right.

“I am your batfriend after all,” he said, and finally, his hoof found its way into my claw.

“Of course you are.” I fluttered my eyelids. “The best batfriend in the world.” I slowly moved forward, carefully giving him my special batfriend purring. “Why don’t we…”

A loud roar outside the tent interrupted my attempt at seduction quite effectively.

“What was that?” Illu wondered as he rushed to the tent entrance. With an unhappy growl, I followed him. When Illu pushed the canvas of the tent aside, he revealed the mangled picture of the camp in utter devastation and chaos, awash in the crimson light of dusk! All over the central campside, niriks were fighting with each other!

“What in Tartarus…” I stormed past Illu and outside. Were we under attack? My senses hadn’t warned me of any incoming kirins! And shouldn’t Dad or Schimmernde Morgenröte have joined the fight if that had been the case?

You can understand my surprise when it was my own kirins that had turned nirik and were fighting with each other. Only my kirins!

Just as I realized that, Summer Moon rolled past me, clinging onto Ocean Sky as they both growled at each other while trying to bite the other’s neck. Before I could interfere, my attention was drawn to Wind Root, who repeated his roar from a few seconds ago and crashed right into Solid Breeze, causing both of them to fall into the fire pit, which exploded in a cloud of sparks.

“We need to get them out of the fire!” Illu tried to rush past me, but I grabbed him by the tail and pulled him back.

“They’re fireproof! You’re not, and they may hurt you!”

“Ohh, right.” He stopped and watched the chaos around us. “Shouldn’t you do something about this? If they continue this, there’s a good chance they might destroy the whole camp!”

Instead of answering, I roared over the whole campside. “Stop!”

Everywhere, Niriks stopped fighting with each other and looked at me. However, this didn’t stop them from hissing and growling at each other. “Silence! What in Tartarus has gotten into you!”

A few of them looked away, while others simply laid down under my gaze. I took this moment to focus on my surroundings and look around. My gaze landed on one of the few kirins that hadn’t gone nirik, Autumn Blaze.

“Wind Root! Autumn Blaze! Come here!” Both of them were quick to follow my order, though Wind Root needed a moment as he, unsuccessful, tried to calm down enough to turn back into a kirin.

“Care to tell me what ‘s going on here? Why is everykirin fighting?” I demanded to know, my voice barely distinguishable from a hiss.

“Not everykirin is happy with where their tent or wagon ended up, Fiery,” Autumn started. “That's why they were fighting, to determine who gets the best spots.”

“Yeah,” Wind Root nodded. “It makes sense for Autumn to have the best spot next to your tent because she is the mayor, but for the rest of us, it’s not so clear as to where in the hierarchy we are. So, well, we’re fighting over it.”

I stared at him for a whole five seconds, speechless.

“This all is about how close to my tent you guys can settle down!” I practically roared, not even noticing that my eyebrows had caught fire. “Are all of you bucking braindead?” My gaze wandered over the devastation around us. Burned tentpoles, scorched and shredded canvas, an abundance of splattered and upturned mud and dirt, as well as a hoard of kirins covered in scratches or bite marks. “You decimated our camp in order to simply sleep a few steps closer to me?”

Wind Root laid down and looked towards the ground, and slowly, the fire on his back vanished as he began to squirm. Not out of shame, but because I was displeased with him. “It is important to us,” he told the ground. “We haven’t really had a need to figure out what the hierarchy was till now. So, now that something so important’s arised… it would be comforting to know where everyone stands.”

I faceclawed and took a deep breath before releasing the air as a growl through gritted teeth. “This can’t be true!”

“Maybe this is a good opportunity to show off your leadership skills, Mylady.” Nimble, who I hadn’t noticed before then, rose from his spot next to a carriage. “Determining the hierarchy of your merriment should be your responsibility as leader.”

Now that I was aware he was nearby, I noticed the sparkling taste of an azure kirin that was lingering in the air.

“And why didn’t you do anything to put a stop to this whole turmoil before it devolved as far as it did? You’re an azure kirin, you could have prevented this!”

“You didn’t give me any responsibilities regarding how I was to interact with the kirins under your control, Mylady. The only one in your merriment who holds any power from what I can tell is yourself. In addition, I saw no need to interfere, as my mate has already chosen a good spot for our egg. We’re positioned far enough away from your tent that no kirin felt the urge to fight us for it.”

“It should be self-evident that I want you to prevent our campside from being destroyed!”

“I will remember that if this situation arises again in the future, Mylady.”

I felt a slight warmth crawl up the back of my neck upon hearing his response, and a second later, Illu patting my neck scales as he tried his best to stop the flames from spreading and turning me into a nirik. Also, Wind Root was beginning to whimper as he did his best to flatten himself like a pizza by pressing himself even further into the ground. Autumn Blaze meanwhile had taken a few steps back.

“Arg! I don’t want to see any kirin fighting in our camp again! And you…” I turned to Autumn Blaze, “are responsible for that!”

She rubbed over her foreleg. “Uhm, I don’t really have the ability to do so without being part of your merriment, Fiery. Maybe Nimble would be a better choice.”

“Nimble will be leaving in the morning, I can’t give him that duty!” I growled in frustration. There simply weren’t any kirins with enough authority that I would feel comfortable putting them in charge of the situation when I was occupied elsewhere or distracted!

“I would be willing to do it,” Wind Root offered. His head was still laying flat on the ground like his tail, but he looked up to me with his eyes. “If you put me in charge, I can prevent future turmoil in the camp.”

This statement was met with a fair amount of my merriment shouting ‘No!’ along with several other shouts of protest. A few even stepped forward and proclaimed that they would be better suited. And soon, hisses and growls were exchanged between those vying for the position.

“Enough!” I roared.

“Maybe it would be wise to let them fight this out, just, outside the camp,” Nimble suggested. “Figuring out the hierarchy should prevent more problems like this from popping up in the future.”

I was going to object, when a murmur of approval went through the crowd. It seemed my kirins liked that idea.

“Yes, a good idea! let them fight it out!” Roary agreed.

“We could simply decide on the hierarchy ourselves and avoid any fighting,” Calmly countered. “It would allow us to put our favorites in charge as well.”

“Our favorites may not be the strongest,” Roary retorted.

“Shut up!” I massaged my temples, but felt that my mane was already starting to ignite again.

Fortunately, Nimble understood what was going on and stepped forward to rub his head submissively and supportively against my chest while purring calmly. Well, it would have been a good idea, if Illu hadn’t been standing next to me. He took issue with Nimble doing this of course.

“Stop snuggling with my marefriend!” he yelled while rushing forward and ramming Nimble in the side.

Nimble growled in return… and that was the moment I turned completely nirik. I rushed forward and struck him down.

No kirin was allowed to growl at my batfriend!

I spit a lance of fire into the air, pressed Nimble’s head into the ground with a claw, and roared loudly. “Don’t you dare to growl at my batfriend!”

“But Illu started it,” Calmly threw in.

“Shut up!” I roared again. “Shut up!”

Nimble released a whimper of submission, but spoke up. “Allow me to help you with your inner voices, Mylady. It should ease your anger.”

I hissed.

“Inner voices?” Illu wondered, giving me an unsure look.

“Another crazy new azure ability I learned I have today!” I growled. “It seems like every azure kirin has two advisors in their head, one dragon and one pony, to guide them!”

“That is definitely something we should talk about, later, when you’ve calmed down again.” Illu judged. After taking a moment to breath, he moved to my side and carefully began to stroke my side with his hoof, avoiding my flames as he did so.

I hesitated, but growled at Nimble once more.

Illu booped my nose. “Fiery…”

I scrunched up my snout in irritation in response, but my flames were already dimming down. Evil batfriend tricks I tell you!

“What did we talk about?” Illu asked. “Slowly breathing in and out, ten times.”

I grumbled, but removed my claw from Nimble. “Fine…”

Illu was always worried when I turned nirik, so we had a deal. If I turn nirik in his presence, I have to take a step back and take a breath. If I’m still angry enough afterwards to stay nirik, he helps me with whatever problem I have. If not, well, then it wasn’t that bad in the first place.

“We can’t calm down yet! We have a merriment to rule!” Roary threw in.

Ignoring him, I slowly breathed in and out.

Nimble took the opportunity to rise, and after a short look at Illu, decided to speak. “Maybe you can—”

“You stay out of this!” Illu rebuked. “And don’t you dare snuggle with my marefriend again!”

“Maybe you can find a non-violent solution that satisfies Myladies urge to keep this civilized,” Nimble said unimpressed. “Something, without fighting, but still suited to determine the hierarchy below her and me.”

I could see Illu’s wings spring open slightly while pulling back his upper lip a tiny bit, not showing his fangs directly yet, but still marking his territory.

“Illu is the problem here,” Calmly judged. “We have to remove him from the situation. This is a kirin problem. He doesn't understand.”

“He is our mate, he has to understand!” Roary demanded.

“But he doesn’t yet. Better we handle this without him until he does.”

“Our mate is more important than our merriment, they have to adjust to him, not vice versa!”

“They…” Calmly stopped abruptly when a new sparkling taste tickled my tongue.

“Nimble?” I asked sharply.

“Yes, Mylady, I feel it too.” He turned around. “Everykirin, watch out! Another azure-kirin is on their way here!”

“It’s not only them, I feel their merriment too.” I rolled my tongue around in my mouth. “Some… I would say thirty, maybe fourty.”

“Twenty-eight, Mylady. And they are approaching quite quickly.”

“Your magical kirin abilities again?” Illu wondered.

I just nodded. “Autumn, you go and warn my family! Wind Root, you and Raising Ebb organize a defensive line! Form a circle with the carriages around the central fire!”

“I have to protect my egg, Mylady.”

“Go!” Without hesitation, Nimble turned around and galloped towards his own carriage. “Illu.” His head whipped in my direction. “I want you to stay with my family when they come back.”

I could clearly see that he didn’t approve of this order, but he knew he was no match for a burning nirik or a kirin able to use magic, so he reluctantly nodded.

Suddenly, Summer Moon appeared next to me. “Here,” she said, offering me a tentpole she had plucked from somewhere. “Should be useful.” She turned around. “Sister!”

“I am here,” Winter Sun yelled and rushed over to us.

“We protect Fiery.” She tossed a second pole to her sister and used her magic to pluck yet another one from the ruins of what had once been a tent for herself before turning to me again. “We will not leave your side, you can count on us. Whoever tries to go after you has to deal with us first!”

I snorted approvingly and patted her head. “Let’s hope that this won’t be necessary. With a little luck, I can solve this peacefully again.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Winter Sun prophesied gloomily.

“We will see.” My gaze wandered over my merriment and their efforts to fortify our position quickly. They were doing their best, but when Dad and my aunt landed a few minutes later, followed by the rest of my family who quickly vanished into one of the carriages away from the possible front, a sense of relief washed over me.

“Can you determine what kind of kirins are approaching?” Dad got straight to the point while I pushed Illu in the direction of the carriage.

“No, but Nimble said they are twenty-eight in total.”

“Then we have the upper claw already,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said.

“Only if they are only kirins, I can’t sense dragons or griffons or what else.”

My aunt just snorted. “I can handle any dragon, and my brother should be able to deal with some griffons. There is no need to worry.”

“Still, they could fall into our flank without Fiery noticing them.” Dad inspected the little circle of carriages. “We need to keep our eyes open for that possibility. If there isn’t another dragon, I want you to go to your nephews and help Fluffy protect them.”

“If you wish,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “Though, I may be more useful out here.”

“Maybe, still, you will go and protect your nephews.”

“And Illu,” I added.

She rolled with her eyes. “I can watch over your little batfriend too, niece.”

“Thank you.”

Dad snorted, satisfied. “With that taken care of, we should use the remaining time to…”

“I can see them,” Chilli Crust yelled suddenly and pointed westward. “Over there, between the hills!”

And indeed, several kirins were galloping towards us, a few of them even flying. Whoever this was had pegasus kirins in their merriment.

“If only I had my spyglass,” I mumbled, but it was laying safe and sound in our carriage.

“The female, light blue, pegasus-kirin is the one with azure heritage,” Schimmernde Morgenröte informed me after taking a good long look. Her eyes must be a lot better at distances than mine, not to mention adjusted to the dim light.

“Light blue?” I repeated, throwing another glimpse in the direction of the approaching Kirins. Could that be? Could it…

“It seems to be your friend, Blizzard Silence, who is leading them,” my aunt confirmed.

“Blizzard…” A mix of relief and fear felt upon my heart. Blizzard surely wouldn’t attack my merriment. She knows Mom and Dad, as well as Autumn. And she knew the rest of my merriment, except for Nimble, at least cursory. Still, there was the dream of me killing her…

“Shouldn’t you be happy about this?” Winter Sun wondered. “You look like you just bit into a lemon. Aren’t you happy that we likely don’t have to fight?”

“Claiming your friend should indeed be easier,” Schimmernde Morgenröte agreed. “And less dangerous to your loyal subjects. What is wrong?”

“I… I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this.” I replied.

A moment later, Dad rubbed his head against mine.

“It’s just, that in my dreams, I… I killed her.” I looked at my Dad. “I know, it was just what this god wanted me to see, still, it… it doesn’t feel...”

“I don’t think Blizzard will force you to use violence,” Dad said. “You two should be able to talk about this reasonably.”

“Are you sure about that? This Call has had some really strange side effects so far.”

Dad licked over my cheek. “I assume so.”

“I hope you are right.”

“If not, I will fight her for you instead.”

“Dad!”

“It may not be good for you if you have to fight your friends,” he said. “You are part pony too. I will protect you from that if I have to.”

“Could be bad for my pony side too if I see my dad fighting one of my friends.”

“Hmm,” he snorted. “It lay in your claws if that is going to happen.”

“Thanks Dad, that is soo reassuring…”

“You're welcome,” he said while rubbing his head against mine once more.

Author's Note

Authors note
*Tempus fugit actually means ‘time flies’, or ‘time is passing by’, but Fiery didn’t translate the old draconic 100% accurate ;)