p style="text-align: center;"Sunbeam P.O.V./p
p style="text-align: left;"Sunbeam stared out across the freezing sea from her balcony. Any other dragon might have found it a beautiful sight, the moonlight glancing off the deep blue water, but the Rainwing had learned to hate it. She came here because it gave her the illusion of safety, of being alone, away from him. She laughed. She would never escape him./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"emAurora requests your presence/em/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She shuttered as the voice rang through her head. With one final glance at the water, she spun around and tapped the pillar behind her with one claw. Sunbeam appeared at the ground level of the palace. As she started her dreaded walk to him, she though of all the other times she had walked this path. The first time she had roared in rage and tried to spit acid. She didn't do that anymore. That had been seven years ago, eleven dragonets ago. Eleven beautiful dragonets. Eleven dead dragonets, their necks broken within the first day of their life's./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She had arrived. As she reached the doors, they give opened automatically, having verified that she was supposed to be here. She was immediately shoved out of the way by another dragon coming through./p
p style="text-align: left;""I am your queen!" the Icewing roared over her shoulder, "You have no right to disobey me!/p
p style="text-align: left;""I've already stated my opinion, " Aurora calmly said from within, "Now leave." With a snarl, the Queen of the Icewings left, her claws ringing on the floor. Sunbeam slowly walked in. She knew what he was going to say. Either they hadn't had animus magic, or didn't have a full coat of Rainwing scales. He would state that they had been imperfect, then she would leave. She was ready for that./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"What she wasn't ready for was the sight of her son sitting at the base of Aurora's throne. She let out a gasp of surprise. "It seems that you have finally produced a dragonet that meets my expectations," Aurora stated. "Now that he shall survive, Number Twelve needs a name." /p
p style="text-align: left;""Lichen," Sunbeam gasped out, "Name my son Lichen." Aurora nodded. "Very well, Lichen he shall be."/p
p style="text-align: left;"As Sunbeam watched her only living son roll around on the icy floor, thoughts shot through her head. She knew that she couldn't let her son stay with his father. He would be corrupted by him, never know anything except animus power. She had to get him to safety, far away from his father. She had tried to escape before, and both times she had been caught and tortured by Aurora. She would risk it soon, though. Her son must never use his animus powers. And, after all, she no longer had any reason to be here. She would likely be dead within a month./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She smiled. She finally had something to smile for./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"Sunbeam stared out across the freezing sea from her balcony. Any other dragon might have found it a beautiful sight, the moonlight glancing off the deep blue water, but the Rainwing had learned to hate it. She came here because it gave her the illusion of safety, of being alone, away from him. She laughed. She would never escape him./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"emAurora requests your presence/em/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She shuttered as the voice rang through her head. With one final glance at the water, she spun around and tapped the pillar behind her with one claw. Sunbeam appeared at the ground level of the palace. As she started her dreaded walk to him, she though of all the other times she had walked this path. The first time she had roared in rage and tried to spit acid. She didn't do that anymore. That had been seven years ago, eleven dragonets ago. Eleven beautiful dragonets. Eleven dead dragonets, their necks broken within the first day of their life's./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She had arrived. As she reached the doors, they give opened automatically, having verified that she was supposed to be here. She was immediately shoved out of the way by another dragon coming through./p
p style="text-align: left;""I am your queen!" the Icewing roared over her shoulder, "You have no right to disobey me!/p
p style="text-align: left;""I've already stated my opinion, " Aurora calmly said from within, "Now leave." With a snarl, the Queen of the Icewings left, her claws ringing on the floor. Sunbeam slowly walked in. She knew what he was going to say. Either they hadn't had animus magic, or didn't have a full coat of Rainwing scales. He would state that they had been imperfect, then she would leave. She was ready for that./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"What she wasn't ready for was the sight of her son sitting at the base of Aurora's throne. She let out a gasp of surprise. "It seems that you have finally produced a dragonet that meets my expectations," Aurora stated. "Now that he shall survive, Number Twelve needs a name." /p
p style="text-align: left;""Lichen," Sunbeam gasped out, "Name my son Lichen." Aurora nodded. "Very well, Lichen he shall be."/p
p style="text-align: left;"As Sunbeam watched her only living son roll around on the icy floor, thoughts shot through her head. She knew that she couldn't let her son stay with his father. He would be corrupted by him, never know anything except animus power. She had to get him to safety, far away from his father. She had tried to escape before, and both times she had been caught and tortured by Aurora. She would risk it soon, though. Her son must never use his animus powers. And, after all, she no longer had any reason to be here. She would likely be dead within a month./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"She smiled. She finally had something to smile for./p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;" /p