The druid and the gryphon watched silently while the mute half-elf and the dire wolf performed their brief repertoire of tricks. Rilana's soft smile was encouraging. Alya seemed to be a small and rather unassuming person, but there was something in the..yes, Motherly way she lead Echo that the moon fey found adorable. Khona, on the other hand, gazed over the top of his black beak with a certain amount of disdain. Raptors and felines were both known for their arrogance and pride. Perhaps the only creature more likely to shuffle their wings in a scoff as he watched Echo bound around would have been a dragon. Luckily for everyone there weren't any of those around.

[color=00aeef]"That was great!"[/color] the moon fey congratulated when Alya signalled the end of the demonstration. [color=00aeef]"He listens to you well. It wont be hard to get him to respond differently to different sounds, if you wished. Now, here's what I would try next...."[/color]

She leaned forward to pay Echo's ears gently as she talked, and as the afternoon slipped by she carefully detailed a training regimen for a young direwolf who was expected to hunt. She had advice for Alya for instilling a consistent recall, ensuring that Echo would return to her side even in the direst (pun intended) circumstances. Rilana told her how to make training dummies and how to train with them, how to get the pup to bring game back to her rather than eating it himself, and how to build an atmosphere of learning with Echo so that Alya could go on to training him beyond basic hunting if she wished. 

[color=00aeef]"Don't ever stop training. Even if he has the commands down well, it's important for a creature as smart as a wolf to have a job to do, and it will continually reinforce your position as his Mother. When he is mature it will be easier for him to forget. Also, it would be wise to get him some kind of collar that can be seen from a distance if you're going to be taking him hunting. You don't want another hunter putting an arrow in him thinking he is just a wild wolf."[/color]

At some point Rilana had paused to rummage in her bag and find a waterskin and some of the fresh rations she had picked up in Ebonfort.