The Dragonet Prophecy

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 1, Chapters 7-9

Part 1, Chapters 10-13

Part 2, Chapters 14-16

Part 2, Chapters 17-19

Part 2, Chapters 20-22

Part 2, Chapters 23-25

Part 2, Chapters 26-30

Part 3, Chapters 31-35 and Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Part 1, Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Under the Mountain”

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

Morrowseer arrives, appearing cruel and imposing. To Clay and the other dragonets, Morrowseer is even more frightening than Kestrel. Morrowseer sneers at Glory and to Sunny he says, “Don’t you eat? What’s wrong with you?” (36). The other dragonets come to their defense, despite their fear. Clay is surprised that even Starflight speaks up, since his usual response to feeling threatened or afraid is to stand as still as possible.

When they stand up for one another, Morrowseer attacks Tsunami, who fights back fiercely. Clay and Sunny both rush to help her. Morrowseer looks approvingly at Clay and Tsunami, and insinuates approval for Starflight as well, saying, “I assume you used your NightWing powers to figure out that I wasn’t going to harm the SeaWing” (40). He takes Starflight into another room to have a private conversation. The minders turn on Tsunami as soon as he leaves the room, berating her for complaining about her captivity to Morrowseer. The guardians explain they are doing everything they can to keep the dragonets alive, which means keeping them hidden from countless dragons who want them dead just for existing. Kestrel reminds Tsunami that she is dedicated to that cause, snarling, “Or else I’d have strangled you myself a long time ago” (41).

The minders leave and Sunny, Clay, Glory, and Tsunami remain. Sunny and Clay try to comfort Glory while Tsunami jumps in the river. Glory tries not to show her hurt feeling sand goes to take a nap. Clay floats the idea of escaping to Sunny. Sunny doesn’t like the idea. She tells him, “If we just follow the prophecy, everything will be all right” (44). Clay wonders if Sunny is wrong and the others might be right. He doesn’t think the prophecy can be right if it doesn’t include Glory.

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary

After his private conversation with Morrowseer, Starflight feels overwhelmed by pressure to live up the NightWing reputation. Clay tries to comfort him, while also prying to find out what Morrowseer said about the others, if anything. Starflight shares that Morrowseer assured him that he’d “take care of” Glory (47), which sounds ominous to Clay.

Before they can spy on the adult dragons again, a commotion draws them into the main hall. The guardians chain Tsunami up as punishment for her outburst to Morrowseer. Morrowseer holds the other dragonets back, preventing them from rescuing Tsunami. As he leaves, Morrowseer ominously announces that he’ll return the next day to ensure that everything has been “dealt with” (50).

The guardians leave and Clay tries to help Tsunami get out of the chains, but Tsunami encourages him to go eavesdrop instead. From the river, Clay hears the guardians discussing how to kill Glory and arguing about who will do it. Kestrel volunteers and the others hint that her past might prevent her from going through with it. She insists she can do it that night while Glory and the others sleep. With Tsunami tied up, none of the other dragonets will be strong enough to stop her. Horrified, Clay swims back to warn the others.

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary

The dragonets fretfully hatch a plan to save Glory. The escape they wanted to plan for has now become a necessity. Starflight reveals that the boulder covering the cave door works on a mechanism from the outside and requires a key from the inside. Sunny suggests several plans that won’t work, including flying out of the skylight hole in the study cave. Clay realizes that most of the others have flown up to the hole to see if they could escape, while he never tried. It makes him realize he hadn’t thought as much about escaping as the others have.

Glory insists that they don’t need to “get in trouble for [her]” and that she can “handle [herself]” (58). The others refuse to let her sacrifice herself just because she’s not in the prophecy. They commit to escaping and saving her once they think of a plan.

Tsunami reveals a plan to swim downstream with the river’s current. Tsunami has thought about this plan for a while, but she worries that Clay won’t survive the risk. She believes a SeaWing is better suited because they can see in the dark and breathe underwater. Clay can only hold his breath up to an hour. Still, the dragonets can’t free Tsunami, so Clay must be the one to try. Clay comes up with the idea for the others to set some scrolls on fire as a signal to help him find his way to the cave door.

Because Clay won’t see the smoke signal until daybreak, the dragonets worry about how to keep Glory alive through the night. Glory reveals that she can do more than change her scales to blend in with the background—she can become the background, blending in so well that with her eyes closed she’s basically invisible. She climbs up onto a stalactite to hide and wait for Clay to return. The dragonets hope their plan will be good enough.

Part 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis

Morrowseer’s visit to the dragonets symbolizes their destiny coming to them. While Clay hoped that Morrowseer’s visit would change their lives forever, his hope for a positive change is spurred by a negative event. He and the dragonets must escape and seek their destiny to save Glory’s life. As the dragonets prepare and plan, their unique capabilities and personalities work together to come up with a plan to save them all. Starflight recognizes that the boulder keeping them in, and the world out, works on a mechanism, not dragon strength. The others all know that the skylight is too small, and Tsunami’s clever determination reveals that she’s had the most time to come up with a plan. She must be willing to let Clay try even when she made the plan with herself in mind. Glory’s secret invisibility gives their last-minute plan a fighting chance. This plan to save Glory gives Clay his first opportunity to prove to himself that he is worthy of his destiny.

Both Morrowseer and Kestrel’s cruelty foreshadows the danger and stereotyping that the dragonets will encounter out in the world. These characters ask: if the dragonets’ guardians act this coldly and cruelly in service to the prophecy, how cold and cruel will those dragons who want to prevent the prophecy be?