Sunbeam Lair [m] So if you care to find me, look to the western sky

Burning, burning forever —
Until light was wrung from the shadows, and the dark shrieked in fury, and those tiny scratching claws receded, and Reverie was left with only
this;
a choice;
a future;
a small flame from small gods, because the dark cannot exist without light.

In time the convulsions would subside. But the blood continued to gather, soaking fur and skin, a baptism in red for the new life at her flank.

Reverie slept, and she did not dream.