It turned out that Eclipse was much faster than Crescent. She raced him all the way to the first kingdom, beating him by hours. He thought maybe if this whole "being queen" thing didn't work out for her, she'd make one hell of a delivery dragon.

By the time Crescent returned to the moon's surface, it had rotated to face the sun, and the surface was bathed in harsh white light. He fucked down underneath canopied roads and stuck to the shade. The sun-bathed surface was barren, as every MoonWing who loved life knew it was best to stay out of the direct light. It was more than a death sentence.

Crescent made his way to the palace as quickly as he could, to find that many MoonWings had gathered under awnings to lean in and listen to the clamor inside the throne room.

"What about the children, Mom!!" Came Eclipse's voice. Her words bellowed into the open air from the open balconies. Crescent peeked his head into the room, and found that Queen Centauri was laid out across her throne, tails flicking in mild annoyance

"I sent you to receive proper gifting training. What happened to that?"

"Who cares!"

"I do. It is our job as a species to gift. It is why we exist."

"We can't exist if our own kind are being burned in the streets!" Eclipse roared. Her fangs were bared, pearly as her mother's skin, with blood red gums. A MoonWing never bared her teeth. "You're an awful queen."

Centauri stepped gently off her throne and shook her wings out. "If I were such an awful queen then why have I ruled for so long?" She asked gently. "Our people have flourished. Hundreds of years of peace between the kingdoms. And you want to overthrow that?"

"Yes. The MoonWings will not be a good tribe until they are all safe, and do not have to live in fear of the light or the danger. They shouldn't be afraid of their homes."

"Then challenge me." Centauri said, stepping closer to her daughter. Crescent and the others watched form the hallway as the Queen backed Eclipse into a corner, suddenly growing to three times her size.

Eclipse growled and pushed into her mother's chest, staggering the queen off balance and forcing her back. Eclipse flared her own wings and looked down at her mother. "I will. I challenge you to a SunScar duel."

"Battle of wills, huh?" Centauri asked. She flicked her tails and made way for the door. "Very well. Today I either lose a kingdom... Or lose a daughter."

Every MoonWing scrambled out of the Queen's way as she stalked into the hallway, except Crescent. Centauri looked down at him and flicked him in the snout with one claw. "Some tutor you are. You've given her too much confidence." She chuckled lightly, comfortingly. Crescent figured the Queen wasn't really mad at him.

"Prepare the sunglass for a duel!!" Centauri bellowed, followed by the cries of her servants as they stumbled over each other, shouting "Yes, Your Majesty!!"

Crescent followed Eclipse as she stormed out of the throne room and ran to catch up with her mother, walking alongside her. They paced through the polished halls of the palace and outside under a thick black awning.

MoonWings covered in black, protected clothing were bustling with a large circle of dark glass, setting it up under the hottest part of the courtyard. It stood on three metal legs and caught the light of the sun to focus it's power in a less concentrated area. The SunScar dueling ritual was the most barbaric (as his mother would say) of the rituals that Queens used to challenge for the throne.

The others were simple things, most often a kingdoms-wide poll to elect a new queen. Sometimes there would be competitions in gifting or firebreathing or manipulating the tides of Pyyrhia. But a SunScar duel was personal, it was dangerous.

Centauri and Eclipse threw on black cloaks of their own and muscled their way through the gathering crowds, stopping under the large black glass. The gathered MoonWings on the sidelines were so tightly packed that tails and wingtips kept slipping into the sunlight and getting burned. By now the horns declaring a challenge for the throne had blared all across the kingdoms, and more dragons would come to watch the duel.

Centauri gingerly unclasped the ceremonial tail band from her tails, the ones that signified her marriage, and handed off the jewelry to a servant, while two more came and tied Centauri and Eclipse's tails together with a bright red chord.

"Your Majesty. Now would be the time to speak." He said, before flitting off.

Centauri cleared her throat and removed her crown. "MoonWings! First and Second and Third Kingdoms! Today, I, Centauri, your Queen, will be here defending my honor and my position as your ruler."

"And I!-" yelled Eclipse, "Am Eclipse, daughter of Centauri. I invoke this trial to challenge my mother for the throne! I will be a better queen than she ever was!!"

The crowds stayed silent, waiting with bated breath.

Centauri turned to her daughter, and kissed her on the top of the head. "May the sun seal our fates."

Eclipse nodded. "May the sun seal our fates."

Centauri and Eclipse both ripped off the black cloaks that protected them, and the SunScar ritual began. The dark glass dulled the immediate scorch of the sun's power, but the heat and light still damaged both royals gathered under the glass. The process now was much slower, much less painful, but it was only a matter of time before one dragon succumbed, and either forfeited, or died. The survivor may be scarred for life.

Centauri and Eclipse paced in circles under the dark glass, their tied tails joined in the middle.

"She turned a blind eye to your children!!" Eclipse shouted. "She cared not for how you burned!!"

The crowds began to rile. Some shouted obscenities at the Queen.

Centauri yanked her tails and pulled Eclipse off her feet. She sprawled across the ground. "This upstart plans to rule you! She cannot even stand up straight. She is much too young and weak!!"

"Young and weak!!" Came a few scattered voices in the throngs of MoonWings. Crescent was pressed against the fence by the crowds, barely covered by the blackout canopies. If someone were to be pushed through the slats, the sun would claim them instantly.

"She only cares for NightWings!! Dragons who aren't ours!!" Eclipse hollered, scrambling to her feet again. She smacked her mother with one wing.

"My daughter cannot even give a gift! She cannot complete her duties!! What Queen would she be to you?"

Eclipse ran for her mother and body slammed her across the arena. Centauri was thrown off her balance and stumbled backwards, taking Eclipse with her by their twined tails.

"You are a coward!" Eclipse yelled.

"You are a nobody!"

The crowds were restless now, yelling and screaming and hollering for their candidate of choice. Crescent was shoved hard and his nose was singed in the sunlight. It stung badly.

Centauri grabbed her daughter by the tails and swung her around, pushing her towards the edge of the arena and into the open sunlight. Eclipse screamed and bit Centauri on the talon, wiggling free before she dragged her mother to the ground. Centauri lost her footing and fell, her face landing outside the dark circle on the ground. The sun sizzled on her skin, her eyes burned out of their sockets.

"AAUAUUUUUGHH!!!!!!" Centauri screamed.

The crowds screamed. Everyone screamed. Centauri and Eclipse both were crisping up and turning darker and darker shades of grey inside the sunglass circle.

"You are rude and arrogant!!" Centauri screamed. She lashed her tails and turned in the direction that gave them resistance, where her daughter was tied to her. "You know nothing about being Queen!"

"Grandma can help! Much better than you!!" Eclipse said. She kicked her mother in the chest. Centauri roared. The crowds roared, and it was all cut off by one shrill, high-pitched scream.

One lone MoonWing dragonet had been pushed through the fence, and tumbled down the hill towards the arena. The crowds went silent with fear.

But Crescent acted without a second of hesitation. The scream reminded him of a NightWing baby, so helpless and tiny. Crescent rocketed himself right through the fence and into the light.

It was bright. It was blinding. It scorched his back and hands and tails, and Crescent dove for the dragonet. His talons closed around him and Crescent curled into a ball around the baby. The sun burned him fiercely and Crescent thought he'd went up in flames.

"NO!!!" came Eclipse's voice. It was fuzzy and fading, but Crescent held onto his consciousness. He held on to protect the dragonet under his belly.

He heard Centauri scream, and then everything faded into nothing.