The Dragonet Prophecy

The dragonets fly over the scene, realizing that the battle happened in the last day or so. They assume the MudWings sent word to Queen Scarlet for help, and she didn’t respond because she was too busy celebrating her hatching day. Bodies of both IceWings and MudWings cover the smoking battlefield. The dragonets land near where Clay’s egg was found, which isn’t far from the battlefield. The dragonets plan to send Clay in with Glory disguised as a MudWing. She changes her scales so that Clay doesn’t have to go alone. Sunny and Tsunami will wait by the waterfall.

Clay and Glory approach a group of standoffish MudWings who are doing group exercises and practicing battle formations. The MudWings watch Glory and Clay approach, but they don’t stop what they are doing or greet them. Seeing Clay’s shyness, Glory speaks up and the biggest dragon comes over to talk to them. The MudWing begins right away, “I’m sorry there are only two of you left [...] but we’re not looking to add anyone [...] we don’t bring on unsibs” (276). Clay and Glory almost blow their cover by asking what the big dragon means by “unsibs” and referring to MudWing couples. Despite the miscommunications, Clay and Glory find out that Clay’s mother, Cattail, is still alive. The Big Dragon doesn’t think highly of Cattail; she tells Glory and Clay where to find her “troop” which she says has “no discipline” and is probably still asleep (277).

As Clay and Glory make their way to where Clay’s mother and her troop sleep, they notice other small groups of dragons waking up and starting their day the same way. In all the groups, the biggest dragon appears to be the leader. Many of the MudWings sleep and rest in mud holes, so Glory and Clay navigate carefully to not trod on any resting dragons. Clay and Glory take in all the details, trying to make sense of the MudWing society. They realize the little groups are army troops that do everything together.

Clay feels nervous that no one notices them or bothers to greet them. He notices one small dragonet staring at him from far away. When their eyes meet, the little dragonet scurries out of sight. Clay has high hopes for a cheerful reunion with his mother and a feast to celebrate his return, like in the scrolls they read in the cave. When Clay finally reaches his mother’s “sleephouse” (281), she comes out and greets him with a cranky, “what do you want?” (281).

Clay can’t find his words again, so Glory steps in to ask Cattail if she “lost” an egg six years ago. When they explain that Clay is her son, Cattail has no emotional response. Cattail snorts with laughter and tells the dragonets she never lost her egg; she sold it to her sister Asha and the Talons of Peace. When she learns that Asha died, she responds angrily that it “serves her right, choosing the Talons over us” (283). When Cattail explains that Asha was caring and passionate about the dragonets of destiny, Clay laments that Asha may have fulfilled the warm vision of motherly love that he longed for under the cave. His mother’s rejection hurts just as bad. Clay can tell that Cattail isn’t trying to be mean. He assumed that because SeaWings and NightWings had mothers and fathers that MudWings would, too. The societies are very different.

Disappointed, Clay and Glory leave Cattail and her troop alone and try to regroup their thoughts. Clay doesn’t want to talk to anyone else, saying, “I don’t have a place here” (286). They start to leave the way they came but are forced to hide when they see a SandWing questioning some MudWings. They overhear that he’s part of the search party likely looking for the dragonets. The MudWings tell him they haven’t seen any dragonets that match the description.

When the SandWing leaves, Clay and Glory hurry to leave. Glory falls into a mud pool and reacts with disgust, not helping them to stay under the radar. They shake the mud off and start to fly away when a voice calls out for them to stop.

Clay starts to fly faster, but Glory tells him they can’t run because the MudWings will know Clay and Glory don’t belong. Clay and Glory turn around to face five other dragonets waiting to talk to them. They ask Clay what he found out about the “blood egg from one of Cattail’s hatchings” (289). They want to know if Clay is their missing “sib” (290).

Suddenly, everything makes sense to Clay and Glory. MudWings stick together in sibling groups, and Clay is standing face-to-face with his troop. As they share about their lives, Clay learns that the MudWings lay their eggs in warm mud pools and don’t watch over them very closely. When the firstborn hatches, that dragon is usually the biggest and strongest, the “bigwings” (294), the troop’s leader. That dragonet’s “first task [is] to help the other dragonets out of their eggs by cracking their shells from the outside” (291). Clay feels relived and happy to know that his instinct at hatching wasn’t to kill, but to help and protect. Clay would have been his troop’s bigwings.

His sibling group invites him back, and Clay loves spending time with them, seeing how much they love and care for one another, but he also knows he doesn’t belong with them. He can’t usurp his little brother Reed as the bigwings; it wouldn’t be right. Reed swells with gratitude for Clay’s kindness. As the siblings part ways, they tell Clay he is welcome to come back to them anytime. Clay wants to imagine a future after the war, but now he feels the weight of more dragons he feels desperate to protect and keep alive by ending the war.

When Tsunami and Sunny hear everything about Clay’s bigwings status, they are not surprised. As the dragonets discuss what to do next, Morrowseer drops Starflight out of the sky and flies away without saying a word. Starflight tells them that Morrowseer thinks they should be more careful: If he saw them from the sky coming out of the marshes, other dragons could see them too. He doesn’t have any other words of advice from the all-seeing dragon. Starflight won’t say much about what Morrowseer said to him or what happened when he was gone. He shares that they didn’t go to the NightWing secret kingdom, they just watched what happened in the Sky Kingdom from a perch high up in the mountains. When the dragonets decide to visit the SeaWing Kingdom next, Starflight starts to lecture them. The dragonets tackle him and fall into a playful heap.

Despite the dangers they face and the uncertainty of the prophecy, Clay feels hopeful because he has figured out part of his role in their destiny: protecting his friends no matter what.

Morrowseer, Kestrel, and Blister stand on a “small rocky island” with wind howling “with the force of a thousand screaming dragons” (301). Kestrel has questions about why she’s on the island with them. Morrowseer ignores her questions while he talks to Blister. He assures Blister that her sister will die and “we have chosen you to be SandWing queen” (301). Blister questions his promise. She wants to know that the dragonets agree with the mysterious “we” Morrowseer refers to. Morrowseer assures her that the dragonets will do it and he’s given the NightWing dragonet “his orders” (302).

When they finally turn their attention to Kestrel, she asks what danger the dragonets were in that brought her to the island. Morrowseer reveals it was a trick, that Kestrel has disappointed them, and they no longer need her for the plan to work. Before she can respond, Blister slashes Kestrel’s throat. Morrowseer pushes her off the cliff and tells Blister that they need to find Webs and eliminate him, too. Then, they’ll “both get everything [they] want” (314).