The Dragonet Prophecy

Peril is a SkyWing dragon who “was born with too much fire” (137-38), meaning she sets anything she touches ablaze. Smoke emits from her scales, and she has blue eyes, both of which are unusual for SkyWing dragons. She is Queen Scarlet’s champion, and fights on behalf of the Queen in the arena, executing imprisoned dragons after they’ve won too many fights.

As Clay and Peril discuss their opinions about whether it is right to kill dragons, they force each other to face their own biggest fears. Peril doesn’t think twice about her cavalier attitude toward killing until she meets Clay. Her opinions help Clay to understand how important it is to him that dragons shouldn’t have to die for there to be peace again in Pyrrhia.

Peril, who has grown up believing “no one else wants [her]” (137), doesn’t have any friends besides Osprey, an old dragon who serves as a middling defense lawyer in Queen Scarlet’s fake trials. Peril would do anything to please the queen, which causes a conflict, because she would also do anything to keep Clay as a friend. Clay offers her friendship easily and willingly, and offers his forgiveness just as easily after Peril betrays him and his friends. Through his own kindness and example, Clay teaches Peril how to be a good friend.

Clay’s kindness activates Peril’s good nature. Peril’s kindness manifests when she reunites with her long-lost mother, Kestrel. Activating the Champion’s Shield, she saves Kestrel’s life, and when chaos ensues, Peril still finds a way to make sure Kestrel goes free. By the end of novel, Peril fights an internal conflict about fact that she has killed many dragons. She stays in the SkyWing Kingdom because she’s afraid of the harm she’ll cause in the world.

In the novel, the dragonets function like a troop in the MudWing kingdom. They are Clay’s “sibs”—the dragons he feels responsible for looking out for, keeping safe, and making sure they all get along. The dragonets of destiny motivate Clay to keep going when he wants to give up on himself and the prophecy, which leads him to find peace with himself and his role in the group.

Tsunami is a princess whose egg was stolen from the SeaWing Queen’s hatchery before she hatched. Tsunami’s origins aren’t revealed until the end of the novel, but their guardian, Kestrel, knows about her lineage. Kestrel and Tsunami’s conflict reveals Kestrel’s resentment about Tsunami’s royalty.

Tsunami is a natural leader, often giving the dragonets instructions, like assigning roles in their history study game. Tsunami doesn’t let adult dragons push her around, and she doesn’t like it when they try to exert authority over her. In her confrontations with Queen Scarlet, Tsunami addresses Queen Scarlet as if they are equals. She stands up to and fights Kestrel in defense of Clay and the other dragonets. Tsunami seems impulsive, but she also thinks before she acts. Her long thought-out plan helps set the dragonets’ escape plan in motion. Tsunami’s battles with authority figures advance the plot: Her outburst with Morrowseer lands her in chains, which increases the dragonet’s urgency to escape.

Sunny is a SandWing dragonet. The others see her as naïve and somewhat helpless. She doesn’t look how typical SandWings look. Her scales are golden instead of pale yellow; she has green eyes instead of black; she’s tiny compared to the other dragonets, and she doesn’t have a barbed tail. Her small size gives her advantages in fighting, and her cheery disposition makes her endearing to both Clay and Starflight. Tsunami and Glory have less patience with Sunny, believing that she “doesn’t care” (26) about how the guardians treat them. Sunny’s reactions to the tensions she has with Tsunami and Glory provide the foundation for story lines in other novels.

Glory is the RainWing dragonet whose egg was brought to replace the SkyWing dragonet of the prophecy. Throughout the novel, Glory struggles with other dragon’s preconceived notions of her. Others overlook, dismiss, and try to kill her because she isn’t in the prophecy and due to the widespread belief in Pyrrhia that RainWings are “lazy and worthless” (32). Glory uses those attitudes against her enemies to keep both herself and the other dragonets alive. In Glory’s defense, Webs argues that Glory is “smarter than she wants us to know” (32). Her defiance of other dragon’s prejudices about RainWings supports the novel’s themes of overcoming stereotypes.

Starflight, a NightWing dragonet, was delivered to the Talons of Peace directly from the NightWing kingdom. He lectures the other dragonets about history and culture in Pyrrhia almost constantly and loves reading. His lectures and dialogue with the other dragonets provide exposition to explain aspects of the fictional world and progress the plot. While Starflight is book-smart comic relief in this novel, his character develops as the series continues. By the end of The Dragonet Prophecy, Starflight is implicated in an underhanded plot.

Kestrel is the SkyWing dragon whose anger, brutality, and harsh words go unmatched until the dragonets meet Queen Scarlet. She is one of the dragonets’ three guardians and Peril’s mother. Kestrel tests the dragonets in the battle cave, teaching them how to fight in preparation for their destiny. In the Sky Kingdom, the dragonets’ tenuous relationship with Kestrel develops their character. Despite her cruelty and their distaste for her, the dragonets (except for Glory) help Peril save her mother’s life after the palace descends into chaos.

Kestrel also offers Clay a final piece of advice that helps him to understand the difference between necessary violence and unnecessary violence in the dragon world. Her advice prepares him to take his role as the groups bigwings more seriously.

Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings is the novel’s most powerful antagonist. She is as cruel as she is lavish. When she meets the dragonets, she wears “a fine coat of golden chain mail, hung with rubies and amber drops” and “a row of tiny rubies [is] embedded between the scales over each of her eyes and more rubies edged the top of her wings” (91-92). She has significant amounts of treasure and power, which she wields over her prisoners of war by having them battle to the death in her arena for entertainment.

The queen’s cruelty and her beliefs on violence contrast the dragonet’s varying views on necessary and unnecessary violence. When Tsunami, the dragonet most prepared for battle, tries to show mercy to a SeaWing in the arena, Scarlet’s cruel response provides an example of just how excessive the violence is in Pyrrhia. This contrast highlights the subtheme that peace is the solution to war.