The Dragonet Prophecy

When Morrowseer arrives, the arena comes to a halt. Morrowseer and the NightWings have come to claim Starflight. Breaking the silence he says, “This dragonet is ours” (229). Queen Scarlet and Morrowseer standoff over who has authority over the imprisoned NightWing dragonet. Clay is hopeful that Morrowseer will read his mind and remember to rescue all the dragonets, but Morrowseer is only there for Starflight.

Queen Scarlet protests that she wants to see Starflight fight the IceWings. Morrowseer twitches his tail slightly, and other NightWings drop out of the sky and kill the still-imprisoned IceWings. Clay saw the tail twitch but didn’t notice any other form of communication between the NightWings. He chalks it up to their mind reading powers.

Morrowseer declares Queen Scarlet’s IceWing “problem” solved (231). He grabs Starflight and the NightWings disappear as suddenly as they arrived. Tsunami is furious about Morrowseer’s callous abandonment and Clay feels disgusted that the NightWings so coldly killed the defenseless IceWing prisoners.

Queen Scarlet commands her guards to put Tsunami back in chains and to prepare the arena for Peril’s Champion’s Shield battle. She announces the terms to no applause because everyone assumes that Peril will win the battle. Then, Queen Scarlet announces that Peril must fight a dragon who won’t catch on fire. Clay realizes that this was Queen Scarlet’s plan all along to make Clay choose between dying or killing his friend Peril.

Clay and Peril argue in the arena. Peril reveals what Tsunami already knew: Peril betrayed Clay because she doesn’t want him to leave. She pouts, “The others can have any dragon! I only want you!” (236). Clay tells her that they don’t have to fight to the death and the dragonets might be destined to teach dragons “how to get along without killing” (236). Only a few audience members can hear Clay speaking, but they lean forward, interested in what he has to say. Queen Scarlet, who can’t hear them, grows bored. Clay has Peril pinned, and the queen commands him to finish the fight with his venom because she “didn’t even get to see it” before (237). Clay and Peril look up in shock because they thought the venom came from Queen Scarlet.

Glory rises out the tree, flashing brilliant colors with her mouth open “like a snake’s” (237). Burn shoves Queen Scarlet in front of herself like a shield and flees. Glory sprays venom onto the side of Queen Scarlet’s face, and she screams as her scales start to melt. Dragons all over the arena scatter.

The dragonets reunite, and Peril burns the clips that hold their wings so that they can fly again. Peril takes them to Sunny and burns through the bars that hold her captive. They explain to Sunny what happened to Starflight. Peril asks them to help her free her mother, Kestrel. Clay talks Glory and Tsunami into helping—Glory agrees to tag along but refuses to be involved. Tsunami grudgingly agrees to help them. The dragonets move quickly, because everyone knows Burn and Queen Scarlet will regroup and come after the dragonets soon.

Kestrel greets them snappily. Peril melts the bars of the cage as she and Kestrel have the beginnings of a mother-daughter conversation. A pair of guards interrupt them, and Kestrel is freed. Peril kills one of the guards by slashing his throat and Clay sets the other guard free before Peril can kill her. Kestrel admonishes him for letting the guard go, warning him that the guard will lead Queen Scarlet right to them. Tsunami tells Kestrel the queen is probably dead. They take Kestrel to the waterfall at the edge of the Sky Kingdom.

The dragonets happily and playfully reunite and discuss their new powers. Peril looks sadder with each exchange and more and more uncomfortable as she sees how mean Kestrel is to the dragonets. Kestrel calls them ungrateful, and Tsunami insists the guardians should have been kinder and more mindful of what the dragonets needed to thrive. She resents that mud for Clay to play in was right outside their cave door. Tsunami suggests they might go as far as to ignore the prophecy to carve out their own destinies, after traveling to their homes and seeing the war for themselves.

Clay suggests that Peril should come with them to see the world. To Glory’s chagrin, the others leap at the idea that Peril might be a part of their destiny—their missing “wings of the sky” from the prophecy (252). Kestrel deflates that idea by reminding them that Peril is a year or so older than the dragonets; she was not born on the brightest night like they were. Clay invites Peril to join them anyway, and Kestrel invites Peril to come with her and leave the Sky Kingdom.

Peril says she must stay in the Sky Kingdom for the black rocks that keep her alive. Kestrel dispels that as one of Queen Scarlet’s lies. She explains that Peril likely got sick because Queen Scarlet put poison in her food. Kestrel refuses to tell the dragonets where she is going, but she tells them they can send a message to her “through the dragon of Jade Mountain” when they “realize [they] need [her]. (254). Clay asks Kestrel to tell them what she can about where their eggs came from and she gives detailed answers for all except Glory, restating she never cared about the RainWing.

Peril decides not to go with Kestrel. She realizes that Kestrel wouldn’t be good for her, and she’s not ready to leave the Sky Kingdom. Kestrel offers a word of advice to Clay. She tells him that he’s no good to his friends if he “can’t fight and kill to defend them” (255). With that, she flies away, leaving the dragonets under the waterfall.

Clay invites Peril to join the dragonets on their journey one more time. She insists she’s not ready to face the world. She feels undeserving, as if the world should be protected from her dangerous ability. The dragonets plan to escape by swimming in the river, while a search party of SkyWings and SandWings takes flight overhead. Clay suggests that Glory can float on top of Tsunami and she can use her scales to blend with the water. With Sunny on top of Clay covered in mud, he can swim near the banks and blend in as well. They hope to be difficult to spot from the sky. Peril agrees to help by leading a chase in the opposite direction.

After an emotional goodbye, Clay hugs Peril, and the dragonets take to the river and set out for the Mud Kingdom downriver from the Sky Kingdom.