Everest's eyes widened and she scrambled back. Shadowfall fell forward and his wings left wide swathes in the ground. 
"I didn't imagine it like this." she whispered. "You didn't even officially challenge me." Shadowfall felt a surge of defiance. 
"I officially challenge you." he retorted and lunged again, his claws flying out and scratching the queen's cheek. The guards darted forward but the black moonlight contained within him was sparking out of his scales and held the guards back somehow. 
The shadows inside of him had strengthened it. 
"Do you believe in moonlight?" the queen asked, taking notice of the silver scales next to his eyes. Her cheek was bleeding badly and Shadowfall winced. The guards were still struggling to reach their queen, their eyes bulging at the invisible force-field that surrounded him and her.
"No," he responded. "Only the shadows of what it once was inside of me. The moonlight transformed into power from the pain of my past. My power." He opened and closed his wings and the queen suddenly leapt from her perch and soared up into the gray morning. Shadowfall was right behind her. Everest looped around him and suddenly whipped him with one of her wings. He stalled in the air. He realized he had been blocking out her thoughts this entire time. He let go, and listened.

"I thought he would care about me like I cared about him. Now he is intent on killing me. He doesn't even believe in moonlight so he clearly can't read minds. He is clearly not what I thought he was. He is soulless."  She looked at him with wide eyes and Shadowfall could see all the fears behind them. For him. Of him. Of them. A few of the shadows around his heart disappeared. 
"I am not soulless." He hissed. "My soul has been driven mad from my past. My soul is the cause of everything." He glided through a cloud and broke into sunlight from above. 
"You're past is behind you." the queen responded. "He can read minds" she thought. "He might be listening right now. He may know everything about me." "Your past is behind you and the future is ahead. You can help the world. That can be your future. You can make sure no other dragon is treated like you were and - " "You can be with me." her mind continued. And Shadowfall realized he wanted to be with her. No matter how much his mind denied it, his heart wanted otherwise. 
Shadows, he thought. I'll never escape the shadows. They will always be with me no matter what I do, who I am. "I am trapped by the shadows." He said aloud. The black moonlight pulsed faster and faster, weaving a web that would catch him, trap him, ensnare him. He struggled against it, the moonlight, those sticky strands of blackness refusing to leave. The sun was right there, yet he struggled against his own mind, his own power, his own confinements. He flapped his wings harder and rose, towards the light. He called the sun, in his mind, to expel the strands of blackness clinging to his wings, his talons, refusing to leave his heart. He doubled over in pain as a vision seared through his mind. 
Shadowfaller strolled through the ranks. A storm flared in the distance and he laughed at it's power. The rows of kneeling dragons were still there but so was Everest as he raised his talons to strike a death blow. The blow was dealt by him and she fell, dying. 
"I shall never forgive you." she croaked. "You shall never rule my tribe. They will not let you." then she died in his arms, by a strike by his talons, his own claws clogged with her blood. Suddenly, he felt her pain as he struck himself the same blow with a spear that was black as midnight, black as the shadows that had clogged his heart and mind for so long. 
Shadowfall jerked up and snapped open his wings before he could hit the ground. The gray covering was there again but now he knew he would never, ever rule. If he had to kill her, then never. 
"Shadowfaller!" the queen called. "You are okay!" her voice had gone high pitched with joy. 
A dragon really does care for me. He thought dazedly. With that, the shadows were gone, his heart melting back into what it once had been. 
"Call me Shadowrise," Shadowrise said. "For I have risen from the shadows." He raised his black head, but it gleamed purple even in the gray.

"The moonlight shines silver once again." he said. "Because of you." He looked at the queen. "Thank you." With those simple words, the queen blinked, astonished. But the guards were no longer held back by the black moonlight and they flew to him. 
"You are under confinement for injuring and trying to kill our queen." One said. 
"You're punishment is to be determined." the other added. Shadowrise's heart was expanding in gratitude but he still hung his head in shame for what he had done. 
"Take me." he said and held out his talons. "Tomorrow will bring the light of a new day."