Template:Infobox BookDarkstalker is the first edition of Wings of Fire: Legends, starring Clearsight, Fathom, and Darkstalker as the POVs. It is the true story of Darkstalker's past, describing who he really was. It is possible that there will be more special editions after this. The cover art was revealed on the Wings of Fire forums on February 16, 2016 by Tui T. Sutherland herself. There is a preview to this book at the end of Deserter and Talons of Power.
There is also a Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition, which includes a Wings of Fire board game called Wings Over Pyrrhia.
Summary
Three dragons. One unavoidable, unpredictable destiny. This is the beginning . . . of the end.
In the SeaWing kingdom, a young prince learns he is an animus — capable of wonderful magic that comes with a terrible price.
In the mind of a NightWing dragonet, a thousand futures unfold — and almost all of them, she knows, lead to disaster and destruction.
And under three full moons and the watchful eyes of his NightWing mother and IceWing father, the most powerful dragon Pyrrhia will ever know is clawing his way out of his egg: Darkstalker, the dragon who will change the world forever.
Long before the SandWing war, lifetimes before the Dragonet Prophecy . . . darkness is born.
Quote on the back of the Hardcover
He did not understand yet that he could see the future. He had no idea what the flashes meant. He couldn't follow the paths that were unfolding in his brain; cause and effect and consequences were all still beyond him. But in his mother's mind he found the idea of hope, and in his father's mind, he traced the outline of something called patience.
He could wait.
"Darkstalker," said Mother. "Hello, darling." She held out her talons and he climbed into them willingly, curious to be closer to that warmth.
This is my mother. Those are my full moons.
This is my world now.
Dedication
For Amanda, who is always wonderful, patient, funny, and brilliant -- thank you, thank you, thank you for EVERYTHING.
Plot
Prologue
The story begins with Prince Arctic brainstorming ideas in his room. He is talking with a first-circle IceWing that he forgets the name and identity of. Near the end of their conversation, he realizes it is Snowflake, the dragon his mother arranged for him to marry. They then go outside on the balcony and meet an incredibly talkative NightWing who is watching the sunset while trying to keep herself warm. She continuously complains about the cold and talks about how pretty everything is until Snowflake gets annoyed and leaves. Arctic is left alone with her, and she unintentionally introduces herself as Foeslayer. The two chat for a while, and after lots of complaining about the cold, Arctic enchants one of his diamond earrings to keep her warm and gives it to her as a gift, breaking the IceWing animus rule of only being able to use his magic once for a glorious gift to the whole tribe. Arctic later escapes the Ice Kingdom with Foeslayer (see Runaway).
Part One
Outside of the SeaWing palace, young dragonets line up on the beach for the animus test, Prince Fathom among them. Albatross, his grandfather and an animus dragon, is testing them on Queen Lagoon's orders, even though he doesn't think any of them will be an animus. He tells the dragonets to tell their coconut to hit him. At first, Fathom politely tells his coconut to go hit his grandfather, but the coconut does not obey, after Indigo teases him, Fathom firmly commands his coconut to hit his grandfather, and the coconut flies out of his talons and hits Albatross in the chest. Albatross then begrudgingly congratulates Fathom on his newfound powers, while strangling a seagull with a vine in the distance.
The story continues with Darkstalker's first memory. Darkstalker is still within his egg, and he hears Arctic and Foeslayer arguing in the excitement of the hatching of thrice-moonborn dragonets. A NightWing named Foreseer is mentioned to have predicted that Darkstalker is to hatch on the brightest night, stating that 'NightWing mothers always know'. Darkstalker hears the minds of his parents. Foeslayer's mind he describes as worrying and protective, though angry, clearly his mother. Arctic's mind is described as angry and resentful, with a general bitter feeling to it. The bickering continues as Foeslayer moves Darkstalker's egg, along with another egg, outside, where they are set in a stable place somewhere high up. The argument escalates, and Darkstalker cracks his egg in an instinctive effort to protect his mother after he saw a vision of frozen claws and bloody scales. He frees himself from the egg, reaching for the moonlight's power. He finds himself in a stone nest on a cliff jutting into the ocean, near a jagged landscape of caves and ravines. His mother immediately embraces him. Darkstalker now determines that Arctic is Foeslayer's partner and his father. Darkstalker immediately hates him but finds that Arctic truly loves Foeslayer. Darkstalker begins to explore the gift of precognition and sees futures where he could rise to be powerful alongside his sister, contained in the other egg in the nest. He realizes that he could summon his sister out of her egg with his animus magic and grant her the abilities of the three moons as well, but he chooses not to act because he wants all of Foeslayer's love. His mother names him Darkstalker, despite his father's protests and arguments that it's a sinister name; Arctic finally agrees as long as he gets to name the second dragonet Whiteout who, in the future, he loves more than Darkstalker.
A few days after the animus test, Fathom is summoned by Albatross for the first time. The messenger comes as Fathom, Indigo, and Pearl are having a lesson in geography. He goes even he though is reluctant to leave Indigo. They meet alone at the sunset beach of the Island Palace. Albatross jokes with him about one of his talons having more power than the other. Albatross takes him to where the Summer Palace is growing. Fathom suggests the idea of enchanted plants for a canopy and goes to try it out when a bush flies up and Indigo is revealed to be spying. Albatross threatens to tell Lagoon and punish her, but Indigo says that she was only worried about Fathom. When Fathom was going to try a spell Albatross claims that he's tired and leaves. Fathom performs his first official spell (behind Albatross's back). He enchants a piece of bleached wood to carve itself into a sweet octopus. He brings it to life, giving it the "sweetest and most loyal, most agreeable personality of any pet in Pyrrhia". He then gives it to Indigo, who names it Blob.
Clearsight is in her private study room at the library writing down her visions of the future when her father comes in. She greets him without looking up and goes back to studying her scrolls. Her father mentions that she is too young to worry so much, but she replies that she should worry more. She thinks about the upcoming Royal SeaWing Massacre, and how she doesn't know much about it. She only knows that it will involve a lot of death. After a short conversation, Clearsight agrees to go to school when she's three. She then proceeds to work on the timeline scroll for the events that will take place at and after going to school. Clearsight also resigns her fate to be with Darkstalker, accepting this as the most probable route.
Darkstalker is flying to his home in the canyons, hearing the thoughts of his fighting parents. He comes in and notices Arctic and Foeslayer are fighting in front of Darkstalker's sister, Whiteout. The argument escalates and reaches the point where Arctic reveals a message from Queen Diamond, asking for Arctic to come home, and that amnesty can be reached if Arctic kills his dragonets.
Indigo and Fathom are getting ready for a party at the Island Palace with SkyWing guests, Princess Sunset and Eagle. They arrive at the party and Queen Lagoon introduces the SkyWings to Fathom and Manta. As Lagoon sends Indigo away, she tells Fathom that he should stop spending time with Indigo. Then Lagoon tells the SkyWings about her animus dragons, enraging the SkyWings. Albatross then arrives and Lagoon starts talking to him about her future plans for his enchantments. Albatross tells her he disagrees with her ideas and Lagoon threatens to get rid of him because she can use Fathom. This causes Albatross to slice Lagoon's throat with a knife, killing her and beginning the massacre.
Clearsight is getting ready for her first day of school, feeling terrified and excited at the same time. She was planning on tricking Darkstalker into thinking she didn't know him, but only by getting there early. She meets Professor Truthfinder to find out her schedule, and is supposed to be in the same class as Darkstalker, but declines it, trying to avoid him as much as possible. After leaving the room, she finds Darkstalker looking for her and tries to flag her down. Clearsight keeps flying, going to the seer classroom. As she's flying, she has a vision of the Massacre going on, thinking about Fathom's sad futures, if he even survives. She soon finds the seer classroom and proves to the class she is a talented seer. She realizes this class won't help her at all and worries about her future with Allknowing, knowing she is extremely resentful and envious of Clearsight's powers.
Fathom at first thought Albatross did it on accident, body frozen in place, then thinking about either fighting or fleeing. Sunset and Eagle then attempted to flee, screaming out of fear. Albatross quickly attacked them with his enchanted knife, which hit Sunset in the neck and Eagle near his heart. Afterward, everyone panicked, fleeing as fast as they could. Splash then got killed after trying to spear Albatross. Fathom and Indigo then flee and hide under a boat, as Fathom doesn't want to leave his family. Soon after, Albatross soon finds them and confirms Fathom's family is dead. Albatross went to kill Fathom but Indigo jumped in, with just enough time for Fathom to cast a spell to kill Albatross. Albatross had enough time to slit Indigo's throat, nearly killing her, but Fathom used his magic to heal her, leaving him wondering if he will ever become like Albatross.
Clearsight is shown being released out of Allknowing's class, and she finds her way to Room 3A where she meets Listener, her new best friend. Listener is a mind reader and she asks Clearsight not to tell her futures since her family is superstitious and would rather be surprised by life. Listener says to Clearsight that she wants to free the scavengers in their classroom because they're feeling sad. Then Whiteout approaches Clearsight and asks her if she's the dragon Darkstalker has been waiting for. Clearsight replies yes, seeing that honesty was the best way to approach Whiteout. Once Clearsight is released out of class, she knows that she'll meet Darkstalker soon. Wanting to do it on her own terms, she waits in the shadow of a tree. Whiteout appears, accidentally walking through a marble game. The frustrated players yell insults at her, and Darkstalker appears to defend his sister. Darkstalker scolds them and ends the discussion by saying that one of the dragonets was cheating, one of them only thinks about his crush on her sister, and the other one is thoroughly sick of both. Darkstalker passes the tree Clearsight is under, and she steps into his path. Whiteout keeps going, but Darkstalker stops and they start their first conversation. Darkstalker jokes that he's seen her before, on a fishing trip or on the queen's Council of Elders, and Clearsight replies humorously that he's a terrible seer. She realizes that this is the beginning of everything. Darkstalker reminds her to stay in the present, but Clearsight is sucked into a whirl of visions. When she's back, in reality, Darkstalker promises he'll never read her mind.
Darkstalker lands on Clearsight's porch in the middle of a terrible storm, wanting to go to the sea. Clearsight disagrees, wanting to stay inside and read a scroll, but eventually, goes with him. Darkstalker stays on the edges of Clearsight's mind, describing it as fascinating. They fly to a cave, seen in Clearsight's futures, and Clearsight asks him about being half IceWing. He shows her a ridge of IceWing scales on the underside of his wing, which are cold. She asks him what his first animus spell was, and he replies that he enchanted a scavenger doll of Whiteout's to appear at her pillow at the end of the day, no matter where she put it. Then they hear a moan. Going to investigate, they find Current, a SeaWing who survived the Massacre, in the back of the cave. Current tells them about Albatross, and Clearsight reminds Darkstalker about his soul. Darkstalker reassures her that his soul is fine, and they go to get Current help. Darkstalker gets the idea of enchanting a scroll to hold his powers.
Fathom is shown in the aftershock of the massacre. He, Indigo, and Pearl seem to be the only SeaWing survivors, other than their mad aunt, Sapphire. Eagle of the SkyWings is also alive. Pearl, now queen, promises that the SeaWings will never encroach into SkyWing territory again and tributes of seafood and gems for the next five years if the SkyWings keep the massacre a secret. Pearl's first edict as the queen of the SeaWings is to outlaw animus magic. Fathom tells Pearl that Indigo killed Albatross, and Fathom swears an oath that he'll never use his magic again. Pearl also reminds him that he'll never have dragonets and that he'd have to stay away from Indigo. Painfully, Fathom agrees. Pearl comforts him by saying that she'll be put in the Royal Guard. Fathom sadly thinks to himself that he deserves this pain.
Clearsight is in school, and Listener refers to Darkstalker as her stalker. Clearsight then asks Listener which dragon she's stalking, then Listener points out a dragon described as tall and elegantly handsome with an aloof expression Listener always fell for. Due to Listener's insistence on not listening to Clearsight's powers, Clearsight couldn't tell her that the dragon would later cheat and dump her. Listener darted away, and Darkstalker came up to Clearsight, looking excited, and invited her to his house. Clearsight agrees. On the way there, Darkstalker admits to enchanting his nosy neighbors' plants to always grow turnips. Clearsight becomes worried, but Darkstalker takes no notice and leads her into his room, passing Whiteout's paintings on the way. Darkstalker, very excited, takes out a scroll from the rack in his room, one of the other scrolls being a painting of Clearsight before he met her, and shows it to Clearsight. He asks her to guess what it is, then tells her that the scroll is enchanted and holds all his magic. He proves it to her, and Clearsight asks permission to look at the futures. Darkstalker nods and Clearsight sees that some of the dark futures fade away. Delighted, they enchant a moonstone bracelet for Clearsight to keep her mind safe from mind-readers, a blanket to keep the wearer at the perfect temperature, and their history book to read to them.
While listening to the scroll, Arctic comes into the room and finds out that Darkstalker is an animus. Darkstalker and Arctic have a cold, threatening conversation about the effects of animus magic. Clearsight then gets a wave of visions and a prophecy for Arctic: Beware your two queens, beware your own power. Your claws will betray you in your final hour. Confused, Arctic writes down the prophecy and muses over it, and Clearsight leaves, taking the scroll with her for safety.
A year after the massacre, Fathom is summoned to the throne room. The guards there are hostile, but obey Pearl. Indigo, now one of Queen Pearl's bodyguards, is in the room, along with Current, who can't handle the sight of Fathom and begs to be taken away. Queen Pearl tells Fathom that there's a NightWing animus, Darkstalker, and wants Fathom to go to Darkstalker to teach him how animus power can be harmful. Indigo bursts into the conversation, warning Pearl that it might not be safe for Fathom. She then asks permission to accompany Fathom to the Night Kingdom. Pearl then allows Indigo, Lionfish, and Wharf to go with Fathom to the Night Kingdom, however with Fathom feeling slightly guilty as they take off.
Part Two
Darkstalker was invited to the palace two months after his father found out he was an animus. He suspected it would happen after the conversation his parents had with him that evening. Arctic had said that Darkstalker had been hiding something from them, and Foeslayer guessed it was Clearsight, who had been there earlier. He said that Foeslayer would like her, and Whiteout agrees. Frustrated, Arctic reveals that Darkstalker is an animus. Foeslayer was more accepting of the idea of Darkstalker being an animus, while Arctic wanted to find a way to limit his power. Darkstalker then states Arctic can't afford to do any more enchantments, otherwise, he would lose what he had left of his soul. Foeslayer came up with the idea of telling Queen Vigilance, and then she and Arctic speak in private afterward. It soon became known around the tribe that Darkstalker was the tribe's first animus. Whiteout can't keep secrets, and soon everyone at school starts to respect Darkstalker more.
Preparing for the welcoming party, Darkstalker takes his enchanted, silver, snake earring that makes him seem more handsome and charming, along with his silver tailband that would kill the dragon he touched it with. Him, Arctic, and Foeslayer head to the welcoming party for the SeaWings, Whiteout being left behind. Queen Vigilance then takes Darkstalker to meet Fathom, also seeing Indigo with the other guards. Fathom is described as oddly anxious, and Darkstalker later finds out that it's because it was at a party just like this one that the SeaWing massacre occurred. He also noticed that Indigo meant more to Fathom than just a guard. Feeling Fathom's increasing anxiety, he takes them for a short flight with his guests thinking nervous thoughts.
They land on a small island, and Darkstalker explains that he was saving them from the awful party. Fathom asks if Darkstalker knows why he's here, and Darkstalker replies that it's because they're both animus dragons. Indigo, hostile, snaps back that it's to make sure he doesn't turn into Albatross. Darkstalker replies that he's actually delightful and that if Fathom is so worried, he should make something like a soul reader. Fathom shakes his head, his mind thinking terrified thoughts. Darkstalker tries to soothe him by saying that he could make it himself, but Fathom replies that he came here to help Darkstalker stop using his magic. Darkstalker says that Fathom doesn't have to be this miserable and that he should enchant an earring that makes him stop thinking about it so much. Indigo immediately wonders if he's working any magic on them. Fathom says he has to remember what happened so he won't work any magic. Darkstalker replies that he can make Fathom happy, which makes Indigo press a knife against Darkstalker's neck. She warns Fathom that Darkstalker is messing with his head and that she should kill him now. Fathom argues that Darkstalker hasn't done anything bad yet and that he wants to get to know him. Indigo adds that Darkstalker might be a mind reader, to which Darkstalker innocently agreed. Indigo, alarmed, replies that if Albatross could read their minds, they'd be dead by now. Fathom soothes Indigo, and Darkstalker decides not to kill her, for now. Indigo hesitantly steps back, and Darkstalker continues showing them the Night Palace.
Clearsight and Listener are shown on their quest to save the scavengers. Clearsight is nervous about this, but Listener encourages her by saying that they were heroes. Listener says that she tried to convince Truthfinder to let the scavengers free, but all Truthfinder said was that it made them fascinating subjects. The dragonets discuss how to free the scavengers, and they eventually stuff the scavengers into sacks. The scavengers scream and panic. Clearsight and Listener try to hurry, but the scavengers help each other in trying to escape.
Eventually, they bring the scavengers to the North Beach and let them free, although some scavengers throw rocks as soon as they are liberated. Clearsight feels a pulling at the threads and pulls Listener down. A ripple passes across the ocean and an IceWing appears. It eats one of the scavengers, and soon one of its companions joins it. The second IceWing snarls at him, telling him to get back in the water. Seeing the future, Clearsight finds out that they were planning an invasion. Frightened, Listener tells Clearsight that although she doesn't like prophecies and such, she'd want to know if her family was in danger and had to leave. Clearsight agreed and feels that the dark futures got darker.
Fathom and Indigo are shown lost in the hallways of the Night Palace while trying to find their suite. Eventually, they find a NightWing who leads them there. Fathom noticed that she changed when other dragons were around; she became taller, and her voice became more commanding. At their suite, they find Wharf and Lionfish sleeping. Indigo starts to lecture them but Fathom interjects that it was a long flight and to let them rest. Indigo begins to search the room for threats, and Fathom quietly says that he's the only threat here, because of his magic. Indigo replies that he's not a threat to her. Fathom argues that he's a threat especially to her because no matter how many oaths he swears, she's the only dragon who could make him use his powers again. She replies that she trusts him. After a moment, he says that he should go to bed, to which Indigo agrees and says she'll sleep by the door to keep him safe. Worries flood Fathom's mind until he finally falls asleep.
After the party, Darkstalker proceeds to go home at about sunrise. He goes inside to find his parents and sister are all sleeping. He goes into his room and reflects on how Indigo attacked him. This makes him extremely paranoid, making him fear all the ways he could be killed. Darkstalker decides to enchant something to make him invulnerable, but he doesn't want to make it a piece of jewelry as it would make Indigo too suspicious. Then, he decides to enchant his scales to make him invulnerable to any kind of attack. To test his spell he stabbed himself with a dagger, the spell worked retracting the dagger easily. The idea of a soul reader then comes to his mind.
Clearsight is in the palace, about to tell the queen about her vision at north beach, with Darkstalker by her side. Two guards ushered her inside. Inside the throne room, she saw Vigilance and Allknowing. She tells the queen of her vision of an IceWing invasion, starting at North Beach during the next two new moons. Queen Vigilance was surprised that it wasn't a prophecy. Because of the clarity of her vision, she makes Clearsight the new top seer. When the meeting was over she sees Fathom in the palace. She runs to him only to have Indigo stop her. She quickly apologizes.
Darkstalker proceeds to show all of them the soul reader he made. First, he points it at Clearsight and the result if a large pile of black sand and a tiny scattering of white sand. The soul reader was an hourglass with a telescope attached to it while containing black sand and white sand. In order to use it, he had to point a telescope at a dragon and the hourglass shows his or her distribution of white sand and black sand in the hourglass. If the white sand (representing the IceWings) outweighed the black sand (representing the NightWings), it meant the dragon was tipping towards evil. However, if the hourglass showed more black sand than white sand, it meant the dragon he was pointing to was good. Not knowing about Darkstalker's scroll enchantment, Fathom worries about Darkstalker's soul. Darkstalker then proclaims that it was only a little enchantment and didn't cost that much of his soul. Darkstalker asks Clearsight to point it at him. When the soul reader is still taking a long time calculating, Clearsight nervously jokes that Darkstalker confused it. Darkstalker shrugs, saying that it takes a while sometimes. Finally, the soul reader stops, giving out a measure of black and white sand. The black sand outweighs the white sand, but the white sand is a bit more than Clearsight's reading. Clearsight assures herself that Darkstalker isn't completely evil, and Darkstalker says the same, except with more confidence and tells Fathom there's nothing to worry about. Then, Clearsight points it at Fathom. However, Indigo jumps in front of Fathom, saying that it could be enchanted to do something to Fathom, and the soul reader lands on her, showing that Indigo had the same results as Clearsight's.
Fathom reassures her that he wants to see it for himself, and Indigo reluctantly moves away. Soon, the soul reader lands on Fathom, showing that Fathom isn't evil as well. They advise Clearsight to take a break, but she's got so much on her plate. He says that Fathom's power is a gift, and he shouldn't be so terrified of it. Then Darkstalker shoots a hostile look at Indigo, saying that it's not a trick, and his intentions are only to make Fathom happy. Indigo sharply replies that she believes Fathom can be happy without any magic. Clearsight is uncomfortable with the energy that vibrated between Darkstalker and Indigo, sensing a sudden vision of a world with no Indigo with it. She reassures herself, reminding that she would never let that happen and fix the problem. Changing the subject and attempting to distract Darkstalker and Indigo, she suggests going to a beach. With that, the tension gave way a little bit, and they lifted off to the sky to the beach. Clearsight reminds herself again that she would not let the dark visions win.
Weeks passed by, strengthening Fathom's friendship with Darkstalker and Clearsight. He still didn't forget his mission, and constantly checked on Darkstalker. One evening, he finds the soul reader on his desk with a note from Darkstalker that says Fathom's mind should stop worrying so much and he could use the soul reader whenever he wants. Indigo says that it is very suspicious, saying that it was probably enchanted to show that Darkstalker is always good or whenever Fathom touches it, it makes him trust Darkstalker even more. Darkstalker suddenly appears, standing over the balcony, saying that Indigo is paranoid and clever and that they're lucky that Indigo isn't an animus with ideas like that. He then mentions that he used it once Arctic already, saying that Arctic is almost as bad as Darkstalker thought. Fathom tips the soul reader to Darkstalker, and it showed the same results as last time. Darkstalker grins, saying that he's totally not evil and should bother Clearsight.
When they arrived at Clearsight's door, she refused to come out and stated that she needs to finish a report on the next year of IceWing maneuvers. But Darkstalker pointed out that it's Clearsight's Hatching Day tomorrow. They flew out and went into a forest, where they built a fire and ate fruits that Darkstalker brought. Darkstalker was about to give them their presents when Fathom told him to wait. Because Fathom didn't have any gifts, he took a piece of wood from the forest and whittled a NightWing. Clearsight exclaimed that it looked just like Listener, and Darkstalker asked Fathom to make him a SeaWing later when he has the time. Darkstalker then gave Clearsight and Fathom each a Dreamvisitor, keeping one for himself. He explained that it would allow the carrier to walk the dreams of any dragon the carrier had seen or known and that it would connect the three friends so that however far apart they are, they would always be together.
Fathom was unsure and was about to give his Dreamvisitor back when Clearsight suddenly had a vision of Foeslayer in danger. Darkstalker asked Fathom to go back to the palace on his own and flew off with Clearsight. Fathom then realized he never had the chance to give back the Dreamvisitor.
Clearsight and Darkstalker found Whiteout keening in distress as Arctic yelled about her screaming. Darkstalker found out from Arctic's mind that Foeslayer had another fight with him and that she flew off again. Darkstalker was about to enchant a silver armband to protect Foeslayer when he realized that Foeslayer already had the diamond earring Arctic had enchanted and given her in the beginning. But then he saw in Arctic's mind that before Foeslayer flew off, she had flung the earring at Arctic, saying that she didn't love him for his animus magic and that she loves him more than anything.
Arctic was convinced that Foeslayer would fly back for the earring but after Darkstalker enchanted a piece of paper to show where Foeslayer is, Clearsight realized that Queen Diamond must've used her animus magic to call Foeslayer back to wherever she is because Foeslayer was flying straight towards the IceWing camp in the desert. Darkstalker wanted to kill Queen Diamond right away with his animus magic, but Clearsight warned him that Queen Diamond's only heir, Snowfox, hates the NightWings and that she will lead to four highly possible futures of a NightWing genocide. Whiteout said that "The hole is too big, we're going to fall into it forever." Darkstalker comforted her and said that it's not forever and that they would see Foeslayer one day. Whiteout cried and said that "only one of us will, depending on who loses the future." Darkstalker realized that Foeslayer is gone and it's Arctic's fault.
Clearsight went to the library and looked for clues on animus magic, Queen Vigilance saw her and talked about the fact that she had three animus dragons (Fathom, Darkstalker, Arctic) and still didn't win the war. Clearsight pointed out that Fathom wouldn't use his animus powers and Arctic shouldn't she also said that animus magic could be unpredictable and that she hadn't calculated them into the future. Queen Vigilance called for Darkstalker and ordered Clearsight to start calculating. When Darkstalker arrived, Queen Vigilance asked him to give some ideas on how to end the war. Darkstalker showed her some examples of what he can do, such as enchanting a stick so that when it's snapped, every IceWing in Pyrrhia would drop dead. Eventually, they settled on an invisible shield around the NightWing kingdom that makes every IceWing that tries to enter die.
When the queen left, Clearsight confronted Darkstalker, asking him what he's thinking. Darkstalker told her that he wants to teach the IceWings a lesson and he wants to scare them into giving Foeslayer back. Clearsight told him that she couldn't see any futures where Foeslayer comes back. Darkstalker admitted that he couldn't see any either, and that he had used his Dreamvisitor to try and enter Foeslayer's dreams but that he couldn't see anything. He said that he could enchant something to find out for sure but that he doesn't want anything to tell him that Foeslayer is dead. Clearsight told him that their bright futures are disappearing. Darkstalker begged her not to give up on him and to focus on their remaining bright paths. Clearsight nodded, just to make him feel better, but she couldn't believe in any bright futures with Darkstalker's sketch of dead IceWings on the table right beside them.
Fathom was in his room with Indigo and Wharf, wishing that he and Indigo were alone. He wanted to tell her all that was worrying him, but the only thing at the moment was Darkstalker, who was insisting that his mother would return home soon in a weird state of mourning. Clearsight had joined him for dinner (breakfast for her) and began to talk about her power.
Part Three
The part begins with Listener and Clearsight at Clearsight's home in the palace looking out the window. Listener mentions that she can see the whole Great Diamond from the window and they both look down at the party below. She then tells Clearsight about her latest crush on a NightWing called Thoughtful. Clearsight and Listener meet up with Darkstalker, Fathom, and Whiteout in a game pavilion when they are in the middle of a scales-and-squares game. They greeted their friends and then Listener whisper loudly at Clearsight "There's Thoughtful!" Clearsight looked at him and saw two different futures, one with Listener as his love, and the other with Whiteout. She introduced him to Whiteout to change his future. Clearsight then sees Arctic watching them from the shadows. Before Clearsight could wonder why he was there, a different dragon lunged out of the shadows and stabbed a spear right into Darkstalker's heart. However, because of Darkstalker's invulnerability spell, he survives the attack. Lionfish, one of Fathom's guards, lunges toward the attacker and quickly kills him.
Listener, Clearsight's friend, starts freaking out claiming the spear hit him right in the heart. Darkstalker, not wanting to reveal his invulnerability spell, knowing Clearsight wouldn't approve and Fathom would freak out, says that he guessed that the assassin missed. Listener says that he didn't miss and asks Clearsight what she saw and Clearsight replies that she doesn't know what she saw. Listener roars with frustration and then leaves. Darkstalker says it isn't a big deal and then says he would like to know who the assassin was and Clearsight adds that they want to know why he tried to kill Darkstalker. Darkstalker says pointedly to Lionfish, "Too bad he's dead and can't answer any of my questions." And Lionfish says sorry without any actual repentance. Thoughtful then indicates that he knew him by reputation and says his name was Quickdeath, also indicating that he was a killer for hire. Clearsight then asks if somebody sent Quickdeath to kill Darkstalker and Darkstalker says that he failed. Clearsight says that maybe the dragon will try again and then says that she feels like there are bad branching paths for the future but they are all blurry. Darkstalker confidently says that they will find out who hired Quickdeath and say that that would be easy and continues to say that they will stop the one who hired him from trying to kill him again and that would be easier. His eyes, described by Fathom as onyx beads, remind Fathom of his grandfather. Lionfish says that they should go back to the castle and Clearsight, Darkstalker, Fathom, and Lionfish go back to Fathom's room, and Fathom worries about Darkstalker's soul the whole way there.
In the room, Darkstalker tells Lionfish that he can leave and that Darkstalker will protect Fathom. Lionfish leaves, and Clearsight then more privately accuses Darkstalker of his miraculous survival saying Listener was right about it hitting him in the heart. Darkstalker admits to his invulnerability spell. Fathom checks the soul reader, and Darkstalker says that he made the invulnerability before he made the soul reader, so it was going to read the same thing. This was true, however, there appeared to be more white sand than there was before. Fathom is still scared for Darkstalker, and Clearsight tells Darkstalker to tell Fathom about the scroll.
Darkstalker is surprised and asks if that is safe, to which Clearsight responds that Darkstalker shows it to him in all the good futures. Darkstalker says that he also shows it to him in the bad futures, too. Clearsight tells him that Fathom isn't the one who turns them bad. Darkstalker scowls at her, and sarcastically says that her faith in him is heartwarming. Fathom notices Blob underneath his blankets and quickly hides him from Darkstalker and Clearsight. Fathom starts getting worried about Indigo because he knows that she cares about Blob and wouldn't leave him.
Darkstalker flies away at sunrise, and he is reflecting on his talk with Fathom about the scroll. Darkstalker thinks that he expected a little more excitement and gratitude because he'd thought that Fathom would be delighted to find a way to use his magic without damaging his soul, and instead, he had been unconvinced that it wasn't affecting Darkstalker's soul at all.
Darkstalker starts trying to figure out why Arctic would try to kill him, and he swoops into his house. He notices Whiteout sitting on their couch turning a glass seashell pendant on a necklace from the jubilee and Darkstalker asks if she is dreaming of Thoughtful, referring to him as her 'new admirer'. Whiteout replies that she is and isn't thinking of him and that she does like him. Darkstalker asks if she wants him to try and foresee what will happen with them, and she replies, "No, thank you," which is such an abnormal response for her that Darkstalker asks if she is all right. She replies that she feels funny and all her words are coming out wrong. Darkstalker thinks that they were coming out right for once, and that is not how Whiteout normally talks. He asks Whiteout if Arctic is home and she says yes.
Darkstalker walks to Arctic's room and tells him that he is alive and says that he saw Arctic at the pavilion watching. Arctic asks Darkstalker to explain why the spear bounced off his scales. Instead of answering, Darkstalker asks if Arctic knew the dragon who attacked him. Arctic says that he'd seen him around court but had never spoken to him, and Darkstalker sees a brief memory of passing Quickdeath in the halls of the palace but nothing else. Darkstalker asks Arctic why he thought that Quickdeath tried to kill him. Arctic replies that he thinks it's because Darkstalker is an arrogant fool, and probably insulted him at one point or another. He also thinks that Quickdeath was an idiot for thinking that killing an animus would be that easy, and he couldn't have killed Arctic that way either, if he'd been wearing his shielding earring. Darkstalker wonders which earring it is. Darkstalker replies that Arctic is probably right, which Arctic thinks is highly suspicious. As Darkstalker is leaving, Arctic thinks that he should act soon before anyone can stop him.
Darkstalker concludes that Arctic isn't the one who hired Quickdeath and then goes to his room and asks himself who else other than Arctic would want him dead. His thoughts go to Indigo and he thinks, Dragons who try to kill me don't fare too well, don't they, SeaWing?, foreshadowing that Darkstalker did something to Indigo. He enchants a piece of parchment to reveal the name of the dragon who tried to kill him and then freezes with surprise at what the scroll says. The chapter ends with him thinking, Oh yes, there are definitely going to be consequences. Now I know who has to pay.
Clearsight wakes up in her room at the palace with a huge headache from her horrible nightmares about Darkstalker turning evil. After replacing her earrings, which had slipped half-off in the night, Clearsight reassures herself that the argument from the night before didn't mean that any of the bad futures were going to actually happen, and a quick glance at the future reassures herself of this. She stumbles over to the window and spots Queen Vigilance and Allknowing strolling in the garden and having a conversation. Confused on why Allknowing was there after she was fired, Clearsight hurries down to the garden to talk to the queen. Queen Vigilance asks Clearsight about her visions, to which Clearsight responds that her previous visions still stand. Vigilance then asks if she has had any visions about Darkstalker, and Clearsight says that most of her visions about Darkstalker involve their future together and their dragonets. The queen unexpectedly demands to know if Clearsight has seen how she dies, and which one of those futures is the closest. Clearsight says that there are some possibilities. Allknowing asks why she hadn't metioned it, and Clearsight says that it would be at least ten years before an heir would try to challenge her for the throne. Allknowing smirks triumphantly and mocks her, telling her not to hurt herself.
Queen Vigilance orders Allknowing to "share your mumbo-jumbo," and Allknowing does so gleefully, sharing is a prophecy about Darkstalker coming to kill the queen and seize the throne for his own. Clearsight protests that Allknowing is making the prophecy up and that Darkstalker isn't a threat, but the queen doesn't believe her, and tells her that she's so enchanted by her love that she wouldn't be able to see it anyway. Clearsight realizes that this could be true- that her earrings could be enchanted by Darkstalker. She unclips the earrings and drops them on the ground, and she's flooded with terrible futures of Darkstalker killing the queen, NightWings fleeing by the thousands, and Darkstalker with a crown and killing with ease, all about to happen if she doesn't stop them. Bewildered, Clearsight asks the queen whether she sent Quickdeath to kill Darkstalker, and when she responds that she couldn't have done anything else, after Allknowing's prophecy, Clearsight calls her a fool and that Darkstalker might not have come for her if she hadn't, but now it was too late. The queen, furious, orders her guards to arrest her, but Clearsight evades them and flies away, yelling back to the queen that she'll fix everything.
A moment later, wingbeats come up alongside her and Clearsight nearly strikes the dragon flying up next to her before realizing it's Fathom. He asks her what's going on, and Clearsight tells him the queen tried to kill Darkstalker, and in turn Darkstalker is coming to kill her. For a moment, Fathom is hesitant to believe this, and says that Darkstalker might forgive her, since he forgave Indigo. Clearsight suddenly realizes that Darkstalker might not have forgiven Indigo, and that he did something to her, but before she can tell Fathom this, they spot Darkstalker. Clearsight signals for them to land on a nearby roof to talk.
As they touch down, Clearsight says to Darkstalker that she isn't going to let him kill the queen. Darkstalker smirks at her and tells her that Vigilance started it, and she and Fathom plead with Darkstalker to help turn things back the way they were, so that the queen can trust them again. Darkstalker refuses, and tells Clearsight that they'll always be in danger from Vigilance unless he kills her or enchants Clearsight's scales to be invulnerable as well. Clearsight snaps that she would never let him do that, and says that she can't believe he betrayed her by putting a spell on her and messing with her power. Darkstalker dismisses this easily, saying that it was just a tiny little spell that just made them happier and life much easier, and adds that he was double-checking her work. He spreads his wings to go kill the queen, but Clearsight tackles him, pinning him to the roof. A vision suddenly sweeps over them of Arctic taking Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom, and Darkstalker and Clearsight fly off to save her, with a confused Fathom right behind them.
As they fly out of the Night Kingdom and towards the Kingdom of Sand, Fathom notices dead IceWing bodies that lay sprawled near the Nightwing border. He asks Clearsight about it, and she states that Darkstalker had put a border shield that kills any IceWings that try to enter the kingdom. Horrified, Fathom continues in silence. After flying in the Kingdom of Sand for a while, Clearsight says that they could be anywhere. Darkstalker takes out his scroll, and Clearsight questions what he's going to do with it. He responds saying that it wasn't what she thought, and enchants a dagger to stab Arctic's foot, not killing him but forcing him to stop. A few moments passed, and Darkstalker remembers that he has an enchanted earring that protects him. He enchanted a beetle to take the earring off, then the dagger flies off. Darkstalker follows it, with Fathom and Clearsight close behind.
They find Arctic with Whiteout peering at his injured foot. Arctic tells Darkstalker to let them go, as he had spared him. Darkstalker asks where Arctic was bringing Whiteout, and Arctic says that Whiteout wants to go with her. Whiteout agrees, and Fathom could see there was something wrong with her voice. Whiteout even jerks away from Clearsight, staying near Arctic. Arctic says that Whiteout would marry an IceWing princess, not a lowborn Nightwing. Whiteout agrees. Darkstalker states that Whiteout would be even more miserable at the IceWing palace than Arctic was in the Night Kingdom. Arctic then replies that he is doing this for Foeslayer, saying that Queen Diamond would let her go if she had Arctic. Darkstalker objects calmly that he is doing it for himself- that he has no reason to stay in the Night Kingdom now that Foeslayer was gone, that he is taking his chance to go home. Darkstalker also says that Arctic will most likely reveal the NightWing secrets, and also might use his powers again to attack the NightWings. Fathom could see from Clearsight's expression that it was true. Arctic says that he would only do so for Whiteout, and to leave before Queen Diamond's army finds them. Whiteout states that she wants to go with Arctic, and that she doesn't even like Darkstalker. Darkstalker realizes Arctic had been enchanted, and grabs his scroll. He tells Arctic that he made the mistake of not killing Darkstalker before he left. Arctic snarls saying that no matter what Darkstalker thought of his soul, he wouldn't kill his own son. He stood up, then asked what Darkstalker was writing. Clearsight pleaded Darkstalker to stop. Fathom wondered if he could stop Darkstalker, but it was too late, as he had already finished writing.
Darkstalker tells Arctic to stop talking, and when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He then tells him to never use his magic and to never hurt him or his friends ever again. Arctic lashed his tail in silent rage. Fathom asked Darkstalker what he had done, and spotted Clearsight with her face buried in her talons. Darkstalker ignored Fathom and continued, telling Arctic to release the spell he had put on Whiteout. He grabbed the golden glass shell necklace she was wearing, smashing it. Whiteout gasped, as though she had just woken up. She cried that it was too late- that the sand was falling. Darkstalker tries to reassure her, but she just says that she is thankful for being unfrozen, but is sorry for winning. Darkstalker says that she shouldn't be, and that he can give him and his friends the best future. Darkstalker sees Fathom and Clearsight’s panicked and concerned faces and tells them to calm down, since he saved the day. Clearsight responds that she wanted to see the scroll, and Darkstalker hads it to her. Fathom felt like he should know what it said, but he read it anyways. It said: Enchant Arctic the IceWing to obey my every command. Fathom and Clearsight were shocked. The chapter ends with Fathom wondering if it would ever stop.
Darkstalker compliments himself internally about how well he has been handling his temper. He orders Arctic to follow them to the Night Kingdom. Clearsight says that they should rest, though Darkstalker knows that she is trying to push them into a different timeline, and refuses. The start to fly back to the kingdom. Darkstalker lands on a stage at the Great Diamond, ordering Arctic to stand beside him. Clearsight sent Fathom back to the palace, then she and Darkstalker hug, talking about the different timelines. Knowing she couldn't stop him, she steps away, her wings folded close and shaking. Meanwhile, dragons had started to gather, and Darkstalker addresses them all. Darkstalker starts interrogating Arctic, who was forced to tell the truth due to the spell Darkstalker had cast on him. Arctic reveals he was going to give Whiteout to the IceWings so they can breed more animi into the royal family, and that he was going to see if Foeslayer was alive, and would give the IceWings a map of the Nightwing kingdom- plus how to get in- in exchange for Foeslayer's life. The crowd is shocked, along with Whiteout and Clearsight. Darkstalker then commands Arctic to kneel before him, admitting he is the greatest and the best animus of all time. Then, Arctic is told to cut off his tongue, which the crowd stared in horror. Then, Arctic was commanded to rip open his stomach, which he does, swiftly killing him. Darkstalker turns to find Whiteout crying, but Clearsight gone. Whiteout tells him that Clearsight had taken his scroll, and that she wanted to meet him at Agate Mountain. Darkstalker realizes in shock as he realized he couldn't trust Clearsight with his scroll, and that perhaps there wouldn't be a queen on the throne beside him.
It was back to before Arctic's death. Clearsight crept away from the crowd. She runs into Listener, who exclaims that Clearsight's 'boyfriend' was a psycho, just as she thought. She then comforts Clearsight once she realizes she is crying. Clearsight asks Lister about her promise, that she wouldn't tell her the future unless it had something to do with saving her family- something really bad. Listener listens with fear, asking what was going to happen. Clearsight is unsure, as there is so much darkness in the timelines now. She tells Listener that if she ever believed her, then she were to find her parents, her family, possibly the queen, and leave the Night Kingdom. To fly as far as possible, where nobody would ever, ever find them. Clearsight realized she had caught some other dragons' attention, and they were listening intently. Clearsight and Listener hugs, and Clearsight thanks Listener for being her, and for being her friend. She leaves, heading for Fathom's room.
Clearsight finds Fathom pacing anxiously. Clearsight gives him the scroll to find a way to stop Darkstalker, but Fathom refuses to use it, as he suspects it may be enchanted to tell him when someone uses it, and so he says he will use his own power. Clearsight objects at first, saying that it would break his oath, though she knows that the thread of hope in the timelines was wavering, so she agrees. Fathom uses her moonstone bracelet to put an enchantment on, one that only works on Darkstalker. Clearsight thanks Fathom as he gives the bracelet back, and tells him that she is worried Darkstalker had enchanted Indigo somehow. She then tells him that afterwards he is to hide the scroll, but no matter what he was not to break it. She leaves, saying goodbye to Fathom. She flies away to Agate mountain, clinging onto the only thread of hope she has left.
Fathom was thinking about what Clearsight had said. That Darkstalker had dome something to Indigo. Fathom refuses the fact that Indigo is dead. He starts to read the scroll, finding small enchantments for his mother, and one enchantment that made a bell ring when Fathom was ever sad or lonely. Fathom felt guilt deep within him, though he knew Darkstalker had dome some horrible things too. Fathom read the entire scroll, but nothing had something to do with a dragon disappearing. He noticed that Darkstalker had started to put spaces in his scroll, and Fathom wondered why Darkstalker hadn't used every inch. He realizes that he was using his night vision to read, and brings a candle over. Dark shapes flutter over the scroll, and Fathom is shocked to find out Darkstalker had used invisible ink. He saw his immortality spell, the spell on Clearsight's earrings, and, to Fathom's horror, an enchantment on the goblet that Indigo had smashed, and enchantment to make him stop loving Indigo and decide to use his magic. He feels guilty for being mad at her, as she had saved him. he found an enchantment on a dagger to go killing a single IceWing every full moon, leaving a carving of a message near the body that tells them that Darkstalker is coming and will kill them all. The enchantment was made to last a year, or until Darkstalker called it back. Enchantments to torment the classmates he didn't like in creative ways, nightmares that are sent to Queen Diamond about ways he would kill her. Then, Fathom spotted something so startling he nearly burned the paper in the candle.
It was an enchantment, and enchantment that said: Enchant this pebble so that when it rolls into the same room as Indigo the SeaWing, she shall be instantly trapped in the small wooden carving of a dragon made for me by Fathom., and right below that was: Enchant this piece of paper to look like a note written in Indigo's handwriting, with a short, believable message saying she's leaving Fathom and not coming back. Fathom hurried to the carving he had made, picking it up. He called to Indigo, apologizing. He decides to use his magic again, and commands the carving to return Indigo to him. Then the carving went warm, and when Fathom put it on the ground, it grew and shifted into Indigo. Indigo stretched, asking if she had fallen asleep. She then notices Fathom is crying, and asks him about it. Fathom whispers that Indigo didn't leave him, and she says that she never would and never will. Fathom confesses that he loves her, and that he never wanted to be without her again. She agrees, twining their tails together. Fathom explains that something bad was happening, and tells her that he had used his magic. He gives the soul reader to Indigo, but she throws it into the fountain. She demands to know what he did, claiming that she knew Fathom's soul better than any enchanted hourglass did. He says he made an enchantment to stop Darkstalker and an enchantment to bring Indigo back. He claims that he's evil- that his soul is gone- and tell Indigo to stay away from him. Indigo roars that using his magic doesn't make him evil- if he did evil things he would be evil. They start to argue, and Indigo says that he managed to stop two evil animus dragons. Fathom says that it was maybe two evil animus dragons as Clearsight was still out going to stop Darkstalker. Indigo asks why he hadn't said that first, and finds Blob. They all flew away, side by side.
Darkstalker met Clearsight at Agate mountain. He notices that she didn't bring his scroll with her, and he wonders why she stole it if she didn't use it. Clearsight gives a fact that Agate mountain wouldn't be the tallest mountain much longer, as there would be an earthquake and a whole side of the mountain would fall. Darkstalker accuses her of using that as a metaphor- the most powerful dragon falling and another to take his place. Clearsight responds that it was something that will happen in the future. Darkstalker insists that he can easily enchant the mountain to never fall.
More flying in soon!
Trivia
- It is the third book to have a NightWing point-of-view, and the second book to have a SeaWing PoV.
- Counting the prologue, it is the third book to have an IceWing PoV.
- It is the second book with a hybrid in the front of the cover, the first being Sunny.
- It is the first book with alternating points of view, the second being Runaway.
- It is the second book with five perspective (Prince Arctic, Darkstalker, Prince Fathom, Clearsight, and Indigo.), the other being book four: The Dark Secret (Reed, Starflight, Queen Glacier, Blister, and Burn)
- Darkstalker is the only book to have a post-epilogue.
- There was a Barnes & Noble exclusive edition with a foldout map of Pyrrhia (Darkstalker's time of Pyrrhia).
- It is the only book in which the dragons play board games. At the festival, Thoughtful plays Scroll Tower and Whiteout, Fathom, Darkstalker, and Clearsight play scales-and-squares.
- In Darkness of Dragons, Palm says that she used to play dragons and vipers with Agave when they were in the wingery, though it is unknown if it is a board game or a physical game like Hide-and-Seek
Gallery
