Cheerfully: "Probably why the Valar initially made the world the wrong shape."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, it started out as kind of a really squished cylinder, and was like that for a few Ages, because they didn't know what shapes worlds are supposed to be or thought 'looks flat' was aesthetic? And then in the Second Age the guy who made the Valar got annoyed or something and turned the world into a sphere.

Ellisaria's exasperated sigh is as big as she is.

"Our gods aren't very competent. Not sure about original god guy, he might be competent with weird priorities."

"An absent creator does not qualify."

She nods. "He's certainly not done anything anyone's noticed in an Age."

"I suppose I'll practice my singing voice, then."

Cheeky grin. "I'm sure it's lovely."

"I may ask you to repeat that opinion in an hour."

She laughs. "Awww, your voice isn't as pretty as your face, then?"

"I have been called many things, but seldom 'pretty'."

"Gorgeous. Handsome. Terrifying. Pretty! I like your scales. Your fire is amazing. Humans look weird but your human face is also very pleasingly symmetrical."

"Thank you. You are very sleek and delightfully clever."

Delighted, languid stretch. "I am."

Singing practice.

Ellisaria's voice is, shall we say, less than mellifluous.

Brisingr valiantly does not comment directly. She does, however, have some suggestions, though it's hampered a bit by being a natural singer and never having met a dragon who didn't at least have perfect pitch. Still: musical traditions designed for and by dragons are a thing!

That's something, anyway.

Brisingr continues practicing with Ellisaria's magic, too. She doesn't seem to have a ton of mana, but what she does have regenerates quickly.

At least someone's making some good progress.

Brisingr's suggested basic songs seem to be mostly 'story songs,' which create illusions of the tale they're telling. Enchanting people is supposed to also be very easy, but it's hard enough to do to other dragons that it might take a really unusual level of power to see an effect against Brisingr. Concrete effects are harder than indirect or suggestive ones.

Brisingr does have an idea of Ellisaria trying to counter Brisingr's Song as a practice that probably doesn't require prodigious harmony - usually it requires some level of being good at inventing new songs on the fly, but a weak illusion can just be drowned out and shattered, and... Aesthetically, Ellisaria has presence. She should be able to demand things behave the way she wants, especially within her own realm.

That sounds more in line with her existing talents.

Then Brisingr can weave a rather obvious illusion around her, a story-Song of a great battle, for Ellisaria to try to break.

She sets out to combat it, leaning on the truth she can feel through the earth that there is no such battle taking place.

Brisingr holds it rigid at first - making it rather easy to shatter, even without using the Song - and once Ellisaria gets the basics, starts weaving it, flexible, moving around Ellisaria's probes, tricking more of the senses, making it harder to fight without rather loudly asserting a different truth.

A great black shadow eclipses the sun. A titanic battle rages across the skies, dragons large enough they surely exist only in myth battling elven sky-ships, the sun a chariot of fire sending lances at the mightiest of dragons.

It's someone's memory, or it was, once. That gives it a power, an echo.