- "Be as stealthy as you can, and meet me afterward at your sleeping cave."
- — Quickstrike to her son, Deathbringer.
Template:Charbox Quickstrike was a female NightWing with black scales[1] and eyes[2]. She was Deathbringer's mother and teacher as well as a NightWing assassin, she was also a rival to Morrowseer, who proved to be a possible threat to her son. She was later struck by lightning, and was then soon killed by two of Blister's soldiers.
Personality
Quickstrike seemed to be a quick-thinking dragon. She got worried about her son, whom she probably loved very much, though she never actually admitted this due to the fact that she treated Deathbringer like an apprentice. She seemed to hold a small grudge against Morrowseer, as he did order Deathbringer to go on a nearly impossible mission. She was extremely patient, as she had stayed out waiting for Tempest at least a few days, although this could be because of her dedication to her mission. Quickstrike was protective of her tribe, and knew she couldn't let any other dragon see them on a mission, or their secret will be revealed. This is why she was secretive. She was a very skilled NightWing, with plenty of training techniques to show other NightWings and Deathbringer.
Biography
Assassin
Quickstrike is first seen asking her son, Deathbringer, to spy on the queen. She says that she is going to have a meeting with Princess Greatness in one hour, and wants him to listen in on the conversation.
Later, at the beginning of the meeting, Deathbringer hears Morrowseer talking with Quickstrike, Greatness, and the queen. Quickstrike keeps it short and asks if Deathbringer can come with her to the continent on an assassination assignment involving a SeaWing general named Tempest. She claims that he needs to learn about the politics and the geography of Pyrrhia, as well as how to properly assassinate a dragon, and that it would be the perfect opportunity. Morrowseer says no at first, but agrees on the condition Battlewinner proposed that Deathbringer must slay either Slaughter or Vengeance by midnight of that night before he can go.
After, Deathbringer completes his mission, however, Quickstrike meets him afterwards in the dragonet sleeping cave. She says she was going to tell him not to attempt an assassination, and that he should've checked with her first. Deathbringer apologizes, but Quickstrike is still fretting. She fears that Morrowseer will have some kind of punishment ready for her son because he killed one of Morrowseer's "pets", and so she arranges for them to leave that night.
Later, the two are hovering over the Bay of a Thousand Scales, waiting for any sign of life, when Quickstrike is hit by a bolt of lightning. Deathbringer hides his luckily, still-breathing but unconscious mother under some fallen trees. She does not wake up, and when Deathbringer kills Tempest, Blister's allies are confused, yet enraged, and search the island. They find Quickstrike by herself, and Deathbringer cannot follow, afraid that his cover will be blown. After the soldiers came back with news that Quickstrike was half dead, Blister called her "completely irrelevant", and told the soldiers to make her "completely dead".
Quotes
"If she's there, [...] I'll be meeting with Greatness in an hour in the council chamber, and I want you to sneak in and listen, if you can. [...] Be as stealthy as you can, [...] And meet me afterward at your sleeping cave." -To Deathbringer about practicing spying by spying on the queen.
"[Morrowseer] You don't have to be here, [...] Greatness, this is a matter for you, me, and the queen. Nobody else." -To Morrowseer and Greatness.
"You know I'm being sent to the continent, [...] To carry out the council's new strategy of targeted assassinations, starting with the growing threat from the Kingdom of the Sea. I'm here because I want Deathbringer on my team." -To Greatness, who then tells Queen Battlewinner.
"You don't get to decide, [...] The queen is still the queen, despite all your pretensions lately, Morrowseer."' -To Morrowseer when he says that Deathbringer can't come with her.
"Yes, but he's the smartest dragonet in the tribe, [...] And if we want to train him to be our next assassin, he needs to start now. He needs to know the geography of Pyrrhia and the way the seven tribes work. He needs to understand the politics of this war for the SandWing throne. He needs to learn how to slip into a tent and slice open an IceWing's throat without waking the rest of the army." -To Greatness when she says Deathbringer can't come with her.
"He can't learn to be an efficient assassin from here, [...] And if I die on this mission, you'll have no assassin, and no way to train another." -To Greatness.
"Vengeance and Slaughter both have boulders for brains, [...] Deathbringer could stab out their eyes and tie their tails in knots before they even noticed he was on the same island as them. I want him and no one else. He can keep your secrets, even though he's young. And I'm not leaving him here to be trained by someone inferior to me." -To Morrowseer about training assassins.
"I don't treat him like a son, [...] I treat him like a student. He's my apprentice. The council agreed to that when he hatched; that's why he's called Deathbringer. And he's lived up to the name. He'll be the greatest NightWing assassin of all time if you let me take him on this mission." -To Morrowseer.
"I would never leave him with you!" -To Morrowseer about Deathbringer.
"What if-- what if one of them [Vengeance or Slaughter] catches him and kills him?" -To Greatness about Deathbringer having to kill Vengeance or Slaughter in order to come with her.
"Deathbringer! [...] Where have you been? Why didn't you follow my orders?" -To Deathbringer.
"You-- but I didn't sense you there-- [...] Are you lying to me?" -To Deathbringer about the meeting.
"No, [...] You're not. You have to stay here." -To Deathbringer.
"What-- what did you--" -In disbelief that Deathbringer killed Slaughter.
"You did it? [...] You really killed Slaughter?" -To Deathbringer.
"I was going to tell you not to do it, [...] Because it was too dangerous."
"It's still dangerous, [...] Morrowseer will want to punish you. He won't be pleased that one of his pets is dead."
"He could still cause trouble for us. Or he could force us to bring Vengeance along as well, who will hate you and try to hurt you for what you did to his cousin. [...] There's only one thing we can do-- leave right now, [...] If it's already done, no one can stop us. Do you need anything?"
"Our first target is a SeaWing."
"First, tell me who they're allied with."
"That's right, [...] As of now, Blister is the most powerful, to the point where we are worried that she could win the war in the next few months. She's smart and devious and pays her soldiers very well, and her allies cover a vast swath of territory. We need to slow her down."
"Because we don't want anyone to win for another ten years."
"There's a plan in place, [...] Every piece of it must work in order to ensure the future of the NightWing tribe. This is our piece, and it starts with Commander Tempest."
"Yes. Blister has found a military ally as smart as she is, but even more fearless. In the last few months, Commander Tempest has led forays into SkyWing and SandWing territory that have been devastating for Burn's army. Between her and Blister, they could win this war."
"It's not that easy. [...] The SeaWings have two palaces-- the Summer Palace and the Deep Palace-- but no one knows where either of those are, and they're probably underwater. You're very talented, but I haven't noticed you sprout gills lately."
Family Tree
| More | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacaranda | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Several Generations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grandeur | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Several Dragons | Quickstrike | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jambu | Glory | Deathbringer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Firefly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
= Possible timeline
Trivia
- Quickstrike may be the stuffed dragon in Burn's weirdling collection featured in The Brightest Night, though this is unconfirmed.
- Quickstrike's name is ironic because lightning ultimately caused her death.
- Quickstrike is the only known dragon to die at least partially from a lightning strike.
- She is one of the seven characters whose name is ironic, the others being Quickdeath, Slaughter, Scarlet, Coconut, Secretkeeper and Chameleon.
Gallery
References