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Wings of Fire is a series of fantasy novels written by Venezuelan-American author Tui T. Sutherland. The novels are set in the fictional dragon-inhabited continents of Pyrrhia and Pantala, and chronicle the quests of young dragons to fulfill prophecies. Each book is written with a different main character. The series consists of three five-book arcs (the third is currently incomplete), two prequels (one is out, the other is coming out on March 3, 2020), and four short-stories known as Winglets.
 The Wings of Fire logo, used on the covers of the novels and universally in relation to the series as a whole. | |
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| Author | Tui T. Sutherland |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Joy Ang (covers and guides) Mike Holmes (Graphic Novels and maps) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Young adult fiction, fiction |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
| Published | 1 July 2012 - present |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) Audiobook & E-book |
| No. of books | 19 (currently) |
| Website | wingsoffire |
Books
Arc 1: The Dragonet Prophecy
The first arc is centered around a prophecy, delivered by a NightWing named Morrowseer, (read below) that foretells that five chosen dragonets will put an end to the 20-year war ravaging Pyrrhia, called the Dragonet Prophecy. The events in this first arc, as well as the second arc of the series, occur in the dragon-inhabited continent Pyrrhia, home to the RainWing, IceWing, SeaWing, SkyWing, MudWing, SandWing, and NightWing dragon tribes, as well as scavengers (humans).
The queens with secure positions of each respective tribe are Queen Dazzling of the RainWings, Queen Glacier of the IceWings, Queen Coral of the SeaWings, Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, Queen Moorhen of the MudWings and for the NightWings, at the time, unknown. Later on, in the first series we find out the Queen of the NightWings is called Queen Battlewinner. The RainWings rotated queens, each one ruling for a determined amount of time. At the time of the third book in the first arc, The Hidden Kingdom, Queen Magnificent is ruling. The other queens are: Dazzling, Grandeur, and Fruit Bat. Grandeur is the only one with royal blood. The SandWings currently do not have a Queen because when the former queen, Queen Oasis was killed, there was no way to decide which of her daughters, Blister, Blaze or Burn was to be the new SandWing queen. This began the long and bloody war of SandWing succession. Each princess chose an alliance for the war, Blaze allied herself with most of the SandWings (as she was the favorite), and the IceWings. Burn allied herself with a portion of SandWings, alongside MudWings and SkyWings. And Blister allied herself and her SandWing army with the SeaWings.
The prologue of the first book itself occurs a few years before the events in the main story. An IceWing dragon named Hvitur was working for the Talons of Peace, a peace organization dedicated to stealing the eggs of the dragonets of the prophecy from their respective tribes in order to raise them to stop the war. He was flying towards a cave in order to give the SkyWing egg that was recently stolen to its handlers. He knew the SkyWings and Burn were after him but he thought he could make it. Burn and two guards grabbed Hvitur from behind. Burn figured out that he was with the Talons of Peace. She then taunted Hvitur and then dropped the egg off a ledge. He tried to save it but Burn killed him. Later, Kestrel, one of the three dragons assigned with raising the Dragonets of Destiny, found Hvitur's corpse and the broken egg. She met with a SeaWing dragon named Webs and told him the bad news. Webs resolved that, to Kestrel's discontent, he would go and get a RainWing egg substitute, which would hatch to be Glory, the RainWing dragonet of destiny.
Book 1: The Dragonet Prophecy
Point of View: Clay the friendly MudWing
Book 2: The Lost Heir
Point of View: Princess Tsunami the SeaWing
Book 3: The Hidden Kingdom
Point of View: Queen Glory the RainWing, the queen of the RainWings, and NightWings. (Basically, she's queen of the Rainforest. Literally.)
Book 4: The Dark Secret
Point of View: Starflight the NightWing, the smartest Dragonet of Destiny out of the other 4, goes to the NightWing Volcano and meets the Alternate (False) Dragonets of Destiny. Later, he gets blinded by the eruption of the main volcano. (The biggest one.)
Book 5: The Brightest Night
Point of View: Princess Sunny the SandWing/NightWing hybrid, the smallest, and sweetest, Dragonet of Destiny. She's smarter than you think, and helps end the War of SandWing Succession. She's Queen Thorn of the SandWing's daughter.
Arc 2: The Jade Mountain Prophecy
The second arc features another prophecy, this time delivered by the young NightWing, Moonwatcher.
This arc is from the views of the remaining members of The Jade Winglet.
Book 6: Moon Rising
Point of View: Moonwatcher (Moon) the NightWing. Moonwatcher is in The Jade Winglet. She's the first NightWing in hundreds of years to have the ability to read minds and see the future.
Book 7: Winter Turning
Point of View: Prince Winter the IceWing, the nephew of Queen Glacier of the IceWings.
Book 8: Escaping Peril
Point of View: Peril the SkyWing. Peril is a dragon with firescales(and has an obviously enormous crush on Clay.)
Book 9: Talons of Power
Point of View: Prince Turtle the SeaWing. Turtle doesn't talk much, but has a secret. A powerful secret that could save or destroy Jade Mountain.
Book 10: Darkness of Dragons
Point of View: Qibli the SandWing. Qibli is a kind, smart, clever, and "funny" SandWing was bullied by his family, which eventually resulted in him getting a scar on the top of his snout.
Arc 3: The Lost Continent Prophecy
The third arc takes place on a new continent, Pantala, featuring new tribes and a new prophecy, which like the previous one, is delivered by Moonwatcher.
Book 11: The Lost Continent
Point of View: Blue the SilkWing. Blue is a flamesilk, and he also has a flamesilk sister named Luna.
Book 12: The Hive Queen
Point of View: Cricket the HiveWing. Cricket is immune to Queen Wasp's mind control, and wears glasses.
Book 13: The Poison Jungle
Point of View: Sundew the LeafWing. Sundew, a fierce PoisonWing LeafWing, has the most powerful leafspeak in her tribe.
Legends
The Legends books are a side series to the main story that detail the history behind the dragon world. They're also meant to fill in gaps left in the plot of the main series.
- Legends: Darkstalker
Points of View: Darkstalker the NightWing-IceWing hybrid, Prince Arctic the IceWing (only in the prologue), Prince Fathom the SeaWing, and Clearsight the NightWing.
- Legends: Dragonslayer
Points of View: The scavengers (humans) Ivy, Leaf, and Wren.
Winglets
The Winglets are a series of short stories, published as e-books, that focus on minor characters. Like the Legends books, they also fill in gaps from the main story. There are currently five stories in the series, and Tui has expressed interest in writing more in the future.
Winglets 1: Prisoners
Point of View: Fierceteeth the NightWing
Winglets 2: Assassin
Point of View: Deathbringer the NightWing
Winglets 3: Deserter
Point of View: Six-Claws the SandWing
Winglets 4: Runaway
Points of View: Prince Arctic the IceWing, Foeslayer the NightWing, and Snowflake the IceWing.
Winglets 5: Creeps
Point of view: The Breath Of Evil
Main Characters
Arc 1
In the first arc, the main protagonists are the Dragonets of Destiny, who are part of a prophecy that states that they are destined The War of SandWing Succession and bring peace to the seven warring tribes. The dragonets are:
- Clay, who narrates The Dragonet Prophecy. He is the MudWing of the prophecy, and his egg was sold by his mother Cattail to her sister Asha. Clay is kind, goofy, and friendly, but in the first book he struggled with his identity and whether he was the dragon everyone else expected him to be. Clay has a strong bond with all of his friends and tends to stop fights and arguments between them. Being a MudWing, Clay loves food and will always look for a chance to eat or try new foods, even dreaming about food sometimes. He is also not very bright, but is fiercely loyal to his friends and family. He has fireproof scales due to being hatches out of a blood-red egg. Clay has five siblings who he is close to, and would of been the bigwings of their group is he had not been sold. He has romantic teases with Peril, who has a crush on him, but it is unknown if he likes her back.
- Princess Tsunami, who narrates The Lost Heir. She is the SeaWing of the prophecy, and her egg was stolen from the SeaWing Royal Hatchery by Webs. Tsunami is fierce, strong-willed, stubborn, and bold, though she is fiercely determined to do what's right and is a loyal and dependable dragon. Tsunami is the leader of the group and insists on making most of the decisions, but she learns to also listen to others' decisions as the series progresses. She wants nothing but to reunite with her family and her tribe, but grows increasingly disillusioned that dream in The Lost Heir, realizing that while she does love her family, her friends are more important to her, even though they bicker often. She bears a strong hatred towards the Talons of Peace for stealing her egg and making the first six years of her life miserable. Tsunami is also a member of the SeaWing royal family, as the daughter of Queen Coral, and has two sisters, Anemone and Auklet, and thirty-two brothers. She is in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend Riptide.
- Queen Glory, who narrates The Hidden Kingdom. Glory was a last-minute replacement for the original SkyWing egg of the prophecy. Due to this, she received lots of abuse from her caretakers Kestrel and Dune, and was raised to think that RainWings are lazy and stupid, even though Glory is not. Glory is sarcastic and frequently grumpy, but cares deeply for her friends and those she cares about. She is initially overjoyed to meet her tribe, though when she realizes that they are pacifistic and isolated, she begins to resent them, though she eventually gets over this. Glory gets crowned queen of the RainWings at the end of The Hidden Kingdom, and later becomes the queen of the NightWings. She is known to be a benevolent queen who treats her subjects fairly, despite only being seven years old, and has also tried to improve her tribe by teaching them how to fight and sending dragonets to school. She and her NightWing bodyguard Deathbringer are heavily implied to be in a relationship, and in a possible future they end up getting married and have a daughter named Firefly.
- Starflight, who narrates The Dark Secret. He is the NightWing of the prophecy, and his egg was given to the Talons of Peace by Morrowseer. Starflight is a smart, nerdy, cowardly, and somewhat arrogant dragon who loves scrolls, which usually annoys his friends with the exception of Sunny. However, Starflight struggles immensely with himself, and his perfect view of the NightWing tribe is shattered when he realizes how desperate and cruel they have become. In The Dark Secret, Starflight learns to be brave and use his intelligence to his advantage. He becomes permanently blind at the end of the The Dark Secret due to the volcano eruption, meaning that he can no longer read scrolls, though he does have friends to help him and is currently a librarian at Jade Mountain Academy. Starflight's parents are Mastermind and Farsight, and he has a half-sister named Fierceteeth. Starflight had a crush on Sunny for the majority of the first arc, but she gently rejected him and tried to convince him to pursue Fatespeaker, a NightWing dragonet who he had befriended. In a possible future, he ends up having a daughter, who is implied to be the dragonet of Starflight and Fatespeaker.
- Princess Sunny, who narrates The Brightest Night. She is the SandWing of the prophecy, and her egg was stolen from the middle of the desert by Dune. Sunny is noted several times to be odd due to her small size, golden scales, and her lack of a venomous tail barb. She is idealistic, naïve, optimistic, and trustworthy, and sees good in all dragons, but constantly feels like her friends underestimate her. She has a heavy faith in the prophecy and believes strongly in destiny, and the revelation that the prophecy is fake breaks her. It is revealed that Sunny is in fact a hybrid, and a product of a secret relationship between her mother Thorn, a SandWing, and her father Stonemover, an animus NightWing. At the end of The Brightest Night, she crowns Thorn as the new queen of the SandWings, making Sunny a princess. She is currently a staff member at Jade Mountain Academy. Starflight had a crush on her for the majority of the first arc, but she only saw him as a brother and rejected him for that reason. She is the only protagonist to not have a love interest or be in a relationship.
Arc 2
The protagonists of Arc 2 are the Jade Winglet, who are students at Jade Mountain Academy.
- Moonwatcher, more commonly known as Moon, narrates Moon Rising. She is a NightWing. Her mother Secretkeeper raised her in the rainforest instead of the NightWing island. Moon hatched under two full moons, causing her to receive mind-reading and precognition, being the first NightWing in 2,000 years to have powers. She is shy, nervous, and gets overwhelmed quickly by all of the dragons at school, but she manages to overcome it, and ends up delivering the Jade Mountain Prophecy, the first real prophecy in generations. She befriends Darkstalker in Moon Rising though later turns on him in Talons of Power. She is currently in a relationship with her boyfriend Qibli.
Tribes
As of the third arc, there are ten tribes of dragons in the world of Wings of Fire, seven that are native to the continent of Pyrrhia and three that are native to the continent of Pantala. Each tribe of dragons have their own unique appearances, natural abilities, culture, and society. Depending on the tribe, dragons can even be born with rare abilities, including magic. Most notably, some tribes are capable of giving birth to animus dragons, dragons that carry the power to enchant objects to do their bidding. Animus dragons are extremely rare, and if they were to abuse their power, it is possible they could go insane, or as it's put in the books, "lose their souls". Animus dragons are native only to Pyrrhia. Tribes are also capable of interbreeding with each other, producing hybrids, although this doesn't happen often.
Pyrrhia
The seven tribes of Pyrrhia are MudWings, SandWings, SkyWings, SeaWings, RainWings, IceWings, and NightWings. Each tribe has a queen that rules them and a royal family. Despite their different appearances, all Pyrrhian tribes have bat-like wings.
MudWings
MudWings are strong, thick-muscled dragons with armor-like scales and large, flat heads. They live in the Mud Kingdom, which consists of marshes, swamps, and bogs. MudWings are always brown, giving them the ability to blend in with mud puddles, and they sometimes have gold or amber underscales. MudWings can breathe fire, but only if they're warm enough, and can also hold their breath for up to an hour.
The MudWings value the bonds between siblings very much, so much so that siblings live and work together in units their whole lives. The parents are never a part of their dragonets' lives; the most they will do is check up on their eggs, which are well-protected with rocks and mud walls, but they will not raise their dragonets. The biggest dragonet will always hatch first and is called the "BigWings"; They are essentially the leader of their group of siblings and it is their job to look after and protect them. MudWings care far more about comfort than decoration, and their houses consist of nothing more than mud and plants. A common stereotype among the other tribes is that MudWings are slow and stupid, but this has been proven not to be the case.
If a MudWing were to hatch from a blood-red egg, that MudWing will have fire-resistant scales, which means their scales will heal over any burns at an unnaturally quick rate. The only MudWing known to have this ability is Clay, but there could potentially be others.
The current queen of the MudWings is Queen Moorhen.
SandWings
SandWings are desert-dwelling dragons that live in the Kingdom of Sand. They have a sharp, poisonous barb on the ends of their tails like scorpions, and their scales tend to be light-yellow, pale gold, or off-white, allowing them to camouflage with their sandy environment. They attack and kill with the venom in their tails and can also breathe fire. SandWings can also survive for a very long time without water, and their scales give off a kind of heat.
SandWings are a very musical tribe and enjoy playing instruments. Some SandWings also enjoy getting tattoos. It's been very much implied that SandWings love treasure and will do just about anything to get their talons on it. They are light eaters according to them being in a desert.
The SandWing tribe has only had two known animus dragons; Jerboa, who lived during Darkstalker's time, and her daughter, Jerboa the 2nd, who is immortal for currently unknown reasons and is present in the main series.
The current queen of the SandWings is Queen Thorn.
SkyWings
SkyWings have slender bodies and enormous wings, giving them the ability of powerful flight. Their scales can be red, orange, or gold. They can breathe fire and are also noted to be skilled fighters. They live in the Sky Kingdom, high up in the mountains.
During the reign of the violent and tyrannical Queen Scarlet, many SkyWings came off as bad-tempered and fond of violence, and they had a rather militaristic society. Many SkyWings would come to watch deadly gladiator battles at Scarlet's infamous arena. Despite this, they seem to value justice and honor. After Queen Ruby came into power, the SkyWings became considerably happier and less attracted to fighting, implying that they are very adaptable and capable of change. SkyWings believe in reincarnation, and offer their dead to the sky in the hope that their spirits will be reborn as SkyWings rather than a dragon from a different tribe.
If an egg has twin SkyWing dragonets growing inside of it, one of the twins can absorb all of the fire from the other twin, resulting in a condition known as "firescales". A SkyWing with firescales is too hot to touch, and anything or anyone that comes into contact with them will usually combust into flames. The other twin will have no fire as a result. The only SkyWing known to have firescales in the time of the books is Peril.
SkyWings are capable of giving birth to animus dragons, but these dragonets were thrown off a cliff as soon as it became clear what they were. SkyWings believe animus dragons, and dragons with firescales, are too dangerous to live.
The current queen of the SkyWings is Queen Ruby. [citation needed]
SeaWings
SeaWings have gills that enable them to breathe underwater, as well as webbed talons that make them excellent swimmers. As such, the SeaWings live underneath the ocean off the coast of Pyrrhia, in what is known as the Kingdom of the Sea. Their scales can be blue or green or aquamarine, and they have stripes and markings along their bodies that can glow. Their tails are powerful enough to create large waves when smacked against the water, and they can see in the dark. SeaWings can communicate with each other underwater by flashing their bioluminescent markings in a language called "aquatic".
Not much is known about SeaWing society, although they seem to enjoy scrolls, a trait shared by Queen Coral, Whirlpool, and Turtle.
The SeaWings have had many animus dragons, bred only through the royal family. There are two living animus SeaWings in the main story: Prince Turtle and his sister, Princess Anemone. Known animus SeaWings that existed in the past are Prince Fathom, Prince Albatross, and Princess Orca.
The current queen of the SeaWings is Queen Coral. [citation needed]
RainWings
RainWings are peaceful dragons that live in the Rainforest Kingdom. They are famous for their unique scales that can shift between colors like a chameleon, and they enjoy being as bright and colorful as possible, usually like birds of paradise. This ability is also useful as excellent camouflage. Like monkeys, they use their long, prehensile tails to swing between the branches of trees. RainWings can shoot a dangerous, acidic venom from their fangs, but due to their pacifist nature, many of them don't enjoy using it.
RainWings need the sun to keep their scales vivid and colorful and to keep them happy, so they often sleep during the afternoon in what is called their "sun time". RainWings who don't get enough sun have duller scales and a grumpier attitude. RainWings are seen as lazy and stupid by the other tribes due to their hatred of conflict. Their society is very carefree, with plenty to eat. RainWings used to be infamous for never keeping track of their eggs, which was how Glory was so easily stolen in the first place. Before Glory came along, RainWings couldn't read and were bad at counting, and because they rarely left the rainforest, they knew little of the other tribes. They can, however, make blowguns used to shoot darts which can put a dragon to sleep, and they have extensive knowledge of medicine. Unlike the other tribes, RainWings having pets is common, with sloths being the most popular pet choice. The RainWings didn't have a royal family for a very long time, and instead they were ruled by "volunteer" queens who proved to be very lazy and selfish rulers. This all changed when Glory came along and won the Royal RainWing Challenge, becoming the new queen of the RainWings. Since then, she's been working to change her dragons into a better, more efficient tribe and sending their dragonets to school. Their scale colors are based on their emotions. (Examples: Red/Black = Anger, Orange = Confusion, Pale Green = Fear, White = Pain, Blue Grey = Depression, Blue = Sadness, Pink = Happiness, Purple = Delight, and Yellow = Excitement.)
Queen Glory remains the current queen of the RainWings. [citation needed]
IceWings
IceWings can withstand subzero temperatures and bright light, and prefer the frigid climate of the Ice Kingdom. Their scales are silvery white and pale blue. Their claws are serrated which allow them to grip onto ice, and their tails have a whip-thin end. IceWings are also covered in icicle-like spikes. They can breathe a deadly freezing breath known as "frostbreath" that can freeze their enemies in an instant, although if an IceWing is too warm, they can't use it. IceWing scales are cold to the touch.
IceWings are very sophisticated and believe themselves to be superior to the other tribes. They come off as proud, arrogant, haughty and uptight, and they tend to look down on dragons from other tribes with disdain. The tribe is ruled by an aristocracy divided into seven ranks, or "circles". The most skilled and brave IceWings are fitted into the First Circle, while the Seventh Circle is for dragons considered "lesser". Where a dragon fits in the rankings will determine the course of his or her life. Dragons in the higher-ranking circles can live in the Queen's palace, while dragons in the lowest circles face possible isolation from the Kingdom. IceWings are very formal and strict, and expect certain behaviors from their fellow dragons depending on which rank that dragon is in.
The IceWings used to have animus dragons, but none have been born for the last 2,000 years since their last animus dragon, Prince Arctic, ran away to be with the NightWing Foeslayer. Like the SeaWings, animus IceWings were also bred into the royal family only, and they were only allowed to use their powers once, to keep them from losing their minds. Other known animus IceWings that lived in the past are Queen Diamond, Princess Frostbite, and Penguin.
The current queen of the IceWings is Queen Snowfall.[citation needed]
NightWings
NightWings usually have black or purplish-black scales, however, one NightWing was recorded to have green underscales. They also have silver scales scattered across the undersides of their wings like stars. They can breathe fire and use their dark scales to blend in with shadows and the night sky. 2,000 years before the main series, many NightWings had the ability to read minds or see the future or, in rare cases, both at the same time. NightWings with future-sighting could even deliver prophecies. Any NightWing that could read minds would have white ‘teardrop’ scales beside their eyes. NightWings could be born with these abilities if they were hatched under any number of Pyrrhia's three moons. However, they were no longer able to lay their eggs under the moons after fleeing the old Night Kingdom and moving to a volcanic island where the sky was constantly covered in smoke, so these powers disappeared for a long time. The NightWings remained on the volcano in order to hide from their enemies, the IceWings. In the main series, one NightWing was finally hatched under the moons, Moonwatcher, who has both mind-reading and prophetic powers. Currently, the NightWings live in the Rainforest Kingdom alongside the RainWings, having accepted Glory as their new queen in exchange for a healthier, safer environment to live in. Glory also put a truce in place with the IceWings in order to protect the NightWings. While living on the volcano, the NightWings developed a bacteria in their teeth that poisoned and killed their prey. They then came back after it was almost dead to eat it. After moving to the rainforest, they have abandoned this tactic and have started hunting normally.
The NightWings were a very secretive tribe while living on the volcano, keeping their location, their queen, and even the fact that they no longer had powers a secret. This was to ensure that the tribes remained afraid of them, but also so no one would find out how starved and weak they really were. Like IceWings, NightWings like to believe that they are superior to all other tribes, and can be pretty arrogant and proud. They have a great sense of loyalty, as they are willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure their tribe will survive. NightWings are more active at night, unsurprisingly, and they can hang from crags and ceilings like bats.
When Prince Arctic ran away with Foeslayer, they had two hybrid dragonets named Darkstalker and Whiteout. Darkstalker became the first animus the NightWing tribe had ever had. Whiteout passed down the animus gene through the tribe by having dragonets. Only one other NightWing animus is known; Stonemover, who lives in Jade Mountain.
The current queen of the NightWings is Queen Glory.[citation needed]
Pantala
The three tribes of Pantala are HiveWings, SilkWings, and LeafWings. Along with the SilkWings, the HiveWings are descendants of Clearsight, who came to Pantala after sealing away Darkstalker 2,000 years prior to the main series, when the continent was ruled by LeafWings and SilkWings. Clearsight married many SilkWings and had many children, and her children had children, and these NightWing-SilkWing hybrids eventually became their own tribe: HiveWings. This effectively split the SilkWings into two tribes.
Just like the tribes of Pyrrhia, Pantalan dragons also have queens and a royal family in each tribe. However, fifty years before the start of the third arc, Queen Wasp of the HiveWings lied to everyone that the Book of Clearsight, a book left behind by Clearsight full of her prophecies, predicted that the other tribes would bow to her. Queen Monarch of the SilkWings agreed and handed over her tribe, but Queen Sequoia refused, resulting in the Tree Wars, which led to the near extinction of the LeafWings (who are now taking shelter in the Poison Jungle).
At the time of the main series, Queen Wasp rules over both the SilkWings and the HiveWings, and her sisters each rule a Hive, or city, and are known by the title of "Lady".
HiveWings
HiveWings have four, translucent, insect-like wings, and their scales can be red, orange, and/or yellow. HiveWings always have black scales on some part of their body, a trait left behind from their common ancestor, Clearsight. However, in a few rare cases, the HiveWing might be entirely black except for a few red/orange/yellow scales scattered around their body. HiveWings are unique in that they have a variety of abilities that range between individuals; examples include long deadly stringers that can extend from their wrists, the ability to secrete a paralyzing toxin that can immobilize prey, or spray a boiling acid from the stinger on their tails, poison in their teeth or claws, and the ability to unleash an unbearable stench to scare away enemies. Like SilkWings, HiveWings have an internal clock that tells them what time of day it is. HiveWings live in the Hives alongside the SilkWings.
HiveWings are first-class citizens in Pantala, with the SilkWings behaving as their servants and slaves. HiveWings look down on SilkWings and many view them as inferior and revolting. HiveWings don't seem to care or think about how they treat SilkWings, likely because they live very comfortable lives and don't want to question the way things are. HiveWings are very sophisticated and appear to be far better at building and schooling than any of the tribes in Pyrrhia. The Hives, along with the structures and buildings inside them, are far more architecturally complex and structured than those on Pyrrhia.
Queen Wasp has the unique ability to take over the minds of all her HiveWing subjects and control them. This is because she ingested the Breath of Evil plant when the LeafWing Hawthorn tricked her into eating it in an attempt to control her and stop her from enacting war. The plan backfired, and Wasp gained the ability to mind control her subjects by injecting them (usually their eggs) twice (Once, around the day their egg is laid, and a second time half a year later.) with the Breath of Evil. She also ironically happens to (whilst not realizing it) be under the control of the Breath of Evil or Othermind, ironically. She can control a single individual or many at a time, the whole tribe if she has to. Cricket and Bumblebee are the only two HiveWings who are immune to Queen Wasp's mind control.
SilkWings
SilkWings are described to be "as beautiful and gentle as butterflies", with scales that come in every color except black. They have a pair of antennae atop their heads that they use to detect vibrations in the air. Unlike any other tribe, SilkWings are born with no wings; they have to go through a process at the age of six where they spin themselves a cocoon and enter Metamorphosis, a sleep that lasts for five days while they grow their wings. Once they emerge, they'll have four beautiful wings shaped like those of a butterfly, and they'll have gained their silk. SilkWings spin silk from their wrists to create webs or other woven objects. Like HiveWings, SilkWings have an internal clock that tells them what time of day it is. The webs they spin serve as their home and can be found at the tops of the Hives.
SilkWings are second-class dragons in their society and have little to no rights compared to the HiveWings. They live in slavery and are forced to be servants to the HiveWings. SilkWings are known for being a passive tribe, which is likely the reason why Queen Monarch gave up her tribe to Queen Wasp so easily. Many of them, however, are more than ready to fight for their freedom, and have created an underground movement called the Chrysalis, whose goal is to dismantle the HiveWing regime and take down Queen Wasp. SilkWings can use their silk to make art, and their silk is also used to make books.
Some SilkWings can be born with a rare ability called flamesilk, in which their silk is made of fire. Flamesilks can produce different types of this silk, from flamesilk that is warm and does not burn, to flamesilk that will light fire to anything it touches. Queen Wasp keeps all the flamesilks imprisoned so they can make it for her only; the flamesilk is distributed to all the Hives as light sources. There are twelve living SilkWings that have this ability, including Blue, his sister Luna, and their father Admiral.
LeafWings
LeafWings have wings that are shaped like leaves, with green, brown, and gold scales that resemble chloroplasts. They are known to be skilled gardeners. Some LeafWings are born with an ability called leafspeak, allowing them to talk with trees and plants and even accelerate their growth at an unnatural speed. The most advanced LeafWing known so far is either the late Hawthorn or Sundew. It is also shown that there are quite a few LeafWings with leafspeak, including Mandrake, Sundew, Belladonna and Hemlock, who are Sundew's parents, and several various other LeafWings who are not named. LeafWings can also absorb energy from the sun, similar to the process of photosynthesis; however, no LeafWing has displayed this ability as of yet.
After the Tree Wars, the LeafWings were believed to be extinct, but they were actually hiding within the Poison Jungle, which was too dangerous for the other tribes to attack them. The tribe split into two factions; those who followed Queen Sequoia wanted to remain in hiding until Queen Wasp was dead, while other LeafWings chose to seek revenge against the HiveWings for killing all the trees in Pantala and attempting to wipe out the LeafWings. The two factions despised each other, but at the end of The Poison Jungle, both sides teamed up in an attempt to defeat the Othermind. The faction wanting revenge, known as the "PoisonWings", are needlessly violent and short-tempered, while the faction wanting peace, known as the "SapWings", are far more passive and reasonable.
The current queen of the SapWings is Queen Hazel, who took over after her great-grandmother, Queen Sequoia, lost her free will to the Othermind. Belladonna of the PoisonWings was 'commander' of the PoisonWings until she too was taken over by the Othermind.
Other
Dragons are not the only sentient beings in the world of Wings of Fire. At this time, there are only two other species known to have "dragon-level" intelligence; scavengers and The Othermind.
Scavengers
Scavengers are the humans of the dragon world, and can be found on both Pyrrhia and Pantala. In Pantala, most dragons seem to be unaware of the humans' existence except for the main characters; Cricket, a HiveWing dragonet, calls them "reading monkeys". In Pyrrhia, however, scavengers are considered a nuisance and/or prey, and many dragons don't seem to acknowledge their intelligence, merely the fact that they are more dangerous than average prey, capable of crafting weapons. For example, in Winter Turning, when the group of dragonets are trying to find the Talons of Peace, Winter sees a "thing too advanced for prey" and scavengers bickering and he sees them fire it, straight at Qibli's heart. The chapter ends there. Mind readers like Moon are able to sense emotions from scavengers, but not their thoughts. Scavengers hunt in groups and have towns and villages, known as scavenger dens, all over the continent, although they are frequently burned down by dragons. Scavengers are always trying to steal treasure from dragons.
About 5,000 years before the start of the main series, scavengers were the dominant life form on Pyrrhia and were constantly hunting down dragons. When the dragons banded together and formed tribes, they wiped out almost the entire Scavenger population and took over the continent. This event is known as the Scorching. [citation needed]
20 years before the series, three scavenger siblings, Heath, Stone, and Rose, were able to sneak into Queen Oasis' palace, kill her, and steal her treasure, a feat thought to be impossible by both scavengers and dragons.
There are a few dragons who consider scavengers as valuable pets. Prince Smolder of the SandWings owns a pet scavenger that he named Flower (her real name is Rose). Rose was captured by the SandWings after killing Queen Oasis and unable to escape, and her brothers believe that she is dead.
Other known scavengers are Winter's pet scavenger, which he named Bandit, and the two scavengers Sunny met in The Brightest Night, which she named Holler and Fluffy. Tui confirmed that Holler is Flower's niece, Ivy. Ivy, along with two other scavengers, Leaf and Wren, will be the three protagonists of Wings of Fire Legends: Dragonslayer.
The Othermind
The othermind is an intelligent organism that exists within a network of plants known as the Breath of Evil. The Othermind is capable of creating a "Hive Mind" by taking over animals and dragons and controlling all of them at once. In order for the othermind to infect another living being, that being must first ingest the Breath of Evil, allowing the othermind to settle inside the brain of the host. The Othermind is only known to exist on Pantala.
The Othermind is a hostile and dangerous organism. According to the Othermind itself, it used to be the "rightful ruler" of Pantala before the LeafWings and SilkWings came along and "stole it" from the Othermind. It attempted to drive out or otherwise kill the newcomers by sending hordes of dangerous animals to attack them. Instead, the dragons destroyed most of the Breath of Evil plants across the continent, severely weakening the Othermind for thousands of years. It would have died out had it not been for Hawthorn nursing it back to health to order to infect Queen Wasp with it. This granted the othermind control over Wasp and the entire HiveWing tribe.
The Othermind's ultimate goal is to wipe out all of dragonkind so that it may re-take its continent.[citation needed]
Wars
The NightWing/IceWing War
In circa 3010 AS, Foeslayer the NightWing and Prince Arctic the IceWing fell in love in the Ice Kingdom. Arctic was an animus, which means that he had magic powers to use only once according to tribe rules. If he married Foeslayer, his tribe, the IceWings, would never have animus powers again. Ultimately, his feelings proved stronger, and the couple fled to the Nightwing Kingdom. Later, they had a son named Darkstalker and a daughter named Whiteout. Darkstalker was born an animus, and was hatched under all three moons, granting him the trademark NightWing powers of prophecy and mind reading. Due to this union, the IceWings fiercely loathed the NightWings for "stealing their magic" leading them to start battling the NightWings. Later, they kidnapped Foeslayer, and the IceWing queen at the time, Queen Diamond, cast a spell on her so that when she is unfrozen from her ice cage, she cannot get out of the Diamond caves, and she only ages when she is unfrozen, therefore lasting longer than just being trapped. This was to punish Foeslayer, but then was used to let the older and struggling IceWing dragonets take the Diamond Trial, and one will die and one will come to live in the palace. (As Winter and Hailstorm do in Winter turning, except Winter fakes his death and frees Foeslayer, giving her a second chance, anyway.) Darkstalker was furious, and started using his magic to terrorize the IceWings. Clearsight looked into the future and found the tribe's future to be dark. Clearsight got Prince Fathom (an animus SeaWing sent to be Darkstalker's friend and persuade him not to use his animus magic, as it would drive him insane) to enchant an already-enchanted bracelet to put him to sleep for, preferably, forever. As for the war, the battle has so far ended in a draw with the dragons of the Jade winglet casting a peace spell on the NightWings and IceWings.
The War of SandWing Succession
The main war in Wings of Fire book 1-5 was the War of SandWing succession, otherwise known as "The Great War." This is SandWing princesses Blister, Blaze and Burn fighting for the throne after Queen Oasis was killed by a scavenger. The prophecy states that, "When the war has lasted twenty years, the dragonets will come... when the land is soaked in blood and tears, the dragonets will come..." On Burn's side of the war, there are the MudWings and the SkyWings, on Blister's side of the war, there are the SeaWings, and on Blaze's side of the war, there are the IceWings, and most of the SandWings support Blaze. The NightWings are not involved in the war, though they highly support Blister. The NightWings were "too powerful and mysterious to be part of the war...". The Talons of Peace raised the dragonets of destiny, of whom are Clay the MudWing, Tsunami the SeaWing, Glory the RainWing (not in original prophecy. She is a replacement for the broken SkyWing egg), Starflight the NightWing, and Sunny the SandWing-NightWing hybrid. The prophecy stated that two of the three queens will die, which were Burn and Blister, and Blaze survived. The prophecy also stated: "Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn, two shall die, and one shall learn: if she bows to a fate that is stronger and higher, she'll have the power of wings of fire." It turned out to be partially true, since Blaze ended up bowing to Thorn, Sunny's mother, but there was no "power of wings of fire."
It was Blister's idea to start the war, since she knew she could not defeat Burn in claw to claw combat.
The Tree Wars
The Tree Wars took place 50 years before the events of the third arc, during roughly 4962 AS. In this, Queen Wasp of the HiveWings, lied to all the tribes by saying that The Book of Clearsight, a book written by Clearsight about her predictions of the future, said that she should rule all three tribes. The SilkWing queen, Queen Monarch, believed her and agreed, but the LeafWing queen, Queen Sequoia, did not, causing a war between all three tribes. The SilkWings and HiveWings won, and then destroyed all trees except for the ones in Poison Jungle, along with banning trees from art and hunting down the LeafWings, and making them endangered. Only a few hundred LeafWings remain, and they are believed to be extinct.
Adaptations
Graphic Novels
(The abbreviation for Graphic Novel is GN. The plural abbreviation is GNs.)
The first GN The Dragonet Prophecy, was announced in 2012 by author Tui T. Sutherland who hoped it would be finished quickly, however, the GN adapter, Mike Holmes, announced that it would be released on January 2, 2018. A second GN, The Lost Heir, was released on February 26, 2019. And third GN, The Hidden Kingdom, was released on October 15, 2019. The 4th GN, The Dark Secret, with be released on July 19, 2020.
Year System
The time in Wings of Fire is measured by A.S., meaning "After Scorching". The Scorching took place a year before 1 A.S., and is when dragons toppled humanity. Legends: Darkstalker takes place from 3006 A.S. to 3017 A.S. The War of SandWing Succession and the main events of the first arc occur from 4993 A.S. to 5012 A.S. Arc 1 takes place in 5011 A.S., and Arcs 2 and 3 take place on 5012 A.S. The Winglets and various prologues are set during different years before 5011 A.S.