WhiteWings

A small shape, dark as the night sky with an occasional glitter of silver scales, flew unevenly under the black rolling clouds of a storm. Rain weighted down its wings and furious winds tried to knock it out of the sky. But the dragon, tired as she was, didn't dare set down to rest. Her cargo, a wiggling mass of white scales, was too precious. Her little dragonet, no older than two years, was too small to fly in such a storm or for so long, and she couldn't risk the life of her only baby. She craned her neck to look back and saw three more dragons fighting the wind almost right behind her. Lightning cracked close by and the baby dragon let out a scared yelp, shivering with fear and cold. Mostly cold though, since he was soaked from nose to tailtip, and more rain was relentlessly striking his scales. The mother dragon beat her massive wings faster, trying to lose her pursuers in the chaos. She folded her wings and dove down, towards the never-ending ocean, and just before her snout could catch the waves, she pulled up, churning water as she glided above it. Her followers cried out as they flared their wings and tried not to be caught in the ocean. She spun around, knowing she had gained a couple moments and hoping she would lose them completely. The continent was near, she knew, but she couldn't risk the other dragons following her. She flew back the way she came, remembering a small foresty island that she saw on her flight. The mother looked back and sighed in relief when she saw her followers winging in the direction of land. She got lucky.
Landing on the island, the mother dragon looked around and stood still in amazement, watching the rain soak bright green leaves and trees as tall as the volcano she flew away from. The island smelled of freedom, happiness, but, most importantly, food.
"Go look into those bushes, baby," she turned to her dragonet. "Hopefully there's food there. Momma will rest here." Her voice was no more than a whisper, tired from the storm and the chase.

The dragonet bounced away, just as smitten by the beauty as his mother, and full of energy. His white tail disappeared into the bushes as he excitedly raced into the undergrowth, yet no one could hear the rustling behind him in the storm. The older black dragon sighed in relief, adrenaline from the flight finally disappearing from her body and leaving her tired but happy. She had kept her baby safe; now they could rest and gather their strength before setting out into the world.
She couldn't return to her tribe, even if she wanted to, because they would take her baby and use him. Her tribe believed, that when a dragon with unnaturally white scales, a WhiteWing, was born into any tribe, they would possess powerful animus abilities. And if they found him, they would try to use her baby, train him to become a manipulator and liar, and he would be forced the intimidate other tribes and disobedient NightWings, if not worse.
She couldn't allow that. Not her only dragonet, little innocent Milk, who even for a young dragon was unusually small; not after they killed his father for getting tired of the lies and secrecy and nearly spilling their darkest secrets to the other tribes. Oh, if only they didn’t have to keep all those secrets!
Even she had to keep secrets. She didn't like having to keep her baby a secret; she was tired of all the excuses, the chilling distrustful glares and the constant fear of exposure. But she had no choice. She had to save him, his soul, from the NightWings' claws and their elaborate plans.
She had managed to keep him hidden for two years, moving him from cave to cave nearly every week, to hide his scent. But it was over and she had to escape.
Feeling some energy returning to her weary bones and sore muscles, she lifted her head from her front talons and looked around, taking in her surroundings properly.
She had collapsed on a white sand beach, edged with tall green leaves on one side and sloping gently into the ocean on the other. It looked like a bay, with the lapping water surrounded by tall cliffs and only one narrow gap at the far end between them, which was nearly invisible in the storm. Along the rocky walls, a few small hidden streams trickled down to the ocean in gentle waterfalls, partially covered by the foliage.
The dragon was downright speechless from the beauty. Of course, she thought, this would all be more beautiful without the storm lashing at her face with droplets and the wind whipping past her like the wings of speeding dragons.
But as hard as she tried, even while focusing on the scenery, she couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't safe yet. What if there were dangerous creatures on this island? Naturally, dragons were one of the strongest ones, but even then they weren't invincible, especially not tiny dragonets, like her precious Milk. Briefly, she attempted  to stand up and go look for him, but her aching body protested the notion violently, so she relaxed again. She wouldn't be able to find him anyway, not in the storm. It drowned out all her senses, washing away scents, covering sounds and blocking her sight. And it surely drove other predators into their dens.
And Milk wasn’t stupid or helpless anymore, he might not know how to fight, but he knew how to hide, which was important as well, especially for a tiny dragonet. Thunder rolled in the distance and she shook her head, trying not to worry too much.
But then a very different sound reached her ears; dragon wings fighting the air currents.
The mother dragon jerked her head up, gasping in shock. How did they find her? Three black dragon silhouettes circled above her head, spiraling lower and lower. No! They couldn't take her baby! He would be doomed!
Time seemed to slow down as they neared, the rain slowly revealing their features and confirming her fears. The raging waves crashed into the cliffs, leaves and trees bent in the ferocious wind, smoke emerged from a dragon's nostril…  
“Well, well, well.” one of them mocked as they landed in a circle around her, all wearing enraged snarls and trapping her between their opened wings. “Look who we have here. Poor Blackflower. Guess you can't escape now, can you?” He leaned so close to her, she could smell his rotting breath.
Another dragon, a female, joined him. “You're just like Wordbenter.” Blackflower winced at the mention of her dead mate’s name. “Always having secrets, always causing trouble.”
Blackflower tried to look behind one of their wings, hoping to find Milk and gesture for him to hide. But she couldn't see him. She prayed that he was smart enough to hide and stay among the trees, if he saw what was happening.
Pain and surprise flashed across her face as the female dragon slashed at her cheek. "Nightstriker, stop!" She pleaded as she was forced onto her belly from the pain. "Please don't hurt me." The dark dragon roared and laughed as she raised her claws again. She had a wicked gleam in her eyes and smoke was rising from her nostrils. "Stargazer? Deathtwister?" Blackflower looked to the other two dragons. "Why are you doing this?"
The bigger male, Stargazer, came close to her, his breath foul-smelling and terrible. "Do you think we would let you live after what you did?”
“I was just protecting my baby!” Blackflower backed away, but her tail touched one of Nightstriker's talons and she froze in her tracks. “Milk is a WhiteWing… I know what you do with those!”
All three dragons laughed at her accusation, which sounded darker and more menacing than even the thunder. Deathtwister looked Blackflower straight in the eye and whispered in a hoarse furious voice. “Exactly. Milk is a WhiteWing. And you tried to rob your tribe of that right and power!” His voice rose into a roar at the end, causing Blackflower to flinch back. Then he smirked at something suddenly and his companions quickly caught on and started snorting in amusement as well. "I can’t believe you called him that! It’s like you don’t even think he is worthy of the NightWing name.”
Blackflower looked away for a brief moment and then snarled back at Deathtwister, “Actually, I don’t think anyone deserves a NightWing name! If this is what we do, I am ashamed of being a NightWing myself. I don’t want to be a liar, I don’t want to be a killer and I don’t want to be twisted like you and use small dragonets for your cruel plans!”

A few moments passed in silence, the dragons taken aback by the outburst. Nightstriker reeled back as if physically struck, Deathtwister stood motionlessly and Stargazer glared heatedly at Blackflower. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm down, before she could dig her own grave. The lack of a response made her wonder if it would turn out alright, if she could slip away while they took in what she said, but then she saw her life flash before her eyes. In a blur of dragon scales and wet sand, talons gripped her neck and scalp and forced her muzzle into the beach.  Stargazer snarled darkly from on top of her, hissing out warm air as he prepared his inner fire to be released. Blackflower curled away as much as she could, feeling the heat of flames unnervingly close to her face. The tip of her ear flared in pain and she jerked it down, but it was already singed.
"You think we're cruel?" Stargazer snarled, putting more weight on Blackflower's neck and nearly crushing her windpipe. "We're doing everything we can to survive! Your dragonet would have lived a better life than any of us, always being the first to be fed, always being taken cared of. He would keep us all safe in return. Is that so much to ask for?"
Blackflower gasped for air, unable to respond and barely even listening. Stargazer lifted his claws and brought them down into her neck and through her throat. Blood gurgled in the wound, sliding down black scales and murderous talons and into the mother dragon's lungs. She writhed on the sand, chest heaving as she tried to take in air through a broken windpipe and mouth opening and closing in shock. Her claws dug ridges in the sand as she waved them in panic. Slowly, she stilled, no longer trying to breathe and her eyes glossed over with death.
“Destroy the evidence, burn her up.” Stargazer ordered and turned around to stand beside a tall palm tree. "We'll say lightning hit her, killed her."
"What about the dragonet? He saw us, definitely." Nightstriker asked, preparing the heat inside her.
“We will come back tomorrow. It's too rainy and windy to look for him now anyway, and he won't be able to escape, especially not in this weather. He'll know better than to tell anyone what just happened.”
The two dragons nodded and opened their mouths, letting their deadly blazes consume the cold body. A small dragon stood in the nearby bushes, too shocked to feel fear and too shocked to grieve. He stared blankly at the scene in front of him, scared of what tomorrow would bring.