(This is the page for the book titled "The Lost Continent." You may be looking for the prophecy instead.)
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The Lost Continent is the eleventh book in the Wings of Fire series and the first book in the third arc. It follows Darkness of Dragons, and precedes The Hive Queen. The main protagonist is Blue.
Summary
Everything is about to change.
Blue the SilkWing is content. Life in his Hive is safe; he loves his family; he has enough to eat. And Pantala has been at peace for as long as he can remember — SilkWings and HiveWings live and work together in harmony, and because they stay vigilant, no one has seen a dangerous LeafWing in years.
Now that Blue's sister, Luna, is undergoing her Metamorphosis, Blue knows things are going to change. Luna will have her wings and her silk, be assigned a partner and a work order and move to another Hive. A few days later, Blue's own wings and silk will come in.
But nothing could prepare Blue for what happens when Luna's wings start to grow. Suddenly his world is turned upside down, throwing him into dangers he never knew existed. Pantala isn't as peaceful as it seems, and Blue isn't safe. Whether he's ready or not, it's time to adapt — and fight for his life.
Dedication
”For Mum and Dad - I love you, and thank you for being nothing like these dragon parents!”
Quote on back page
Blue dug in his claws as Io tried to throw him out the door. "Wait, wait! Run where?"
"Anywhere!" she said. "Listen, Blue. Stop trusting the HiveWings right now. They've let you go about your ordinary life so far, but now you look dangerous to them, and they're not going to let you have that life back. It's gone."
"But if I'm good, if I do what I'm told - I'm not dangerous. I could never be dangerous."
"I know," Io said. "But they don't care. Please promise me you'll hide. And don't let them catch you."
Prophecy
Turn your eyes, your wings, your fire
To the land across the sea
Where dragons are poisoned and dragons are dying
And no one can ever be free.
A secret lurks inside their eggs
A secret hides within their book.
A secret buried far below
May save those brave enough to look.
Open your hearts, your minds, your wings
To the dragons who flee from the Hive.
Face a great evil with talons united
Or none of the tribes will survive.
Plot
Prologue
The prologue began with Clearsight flying through a hurricane. She had two visions in her head, one of where she waited the storm out on a safe island, and another where she made it to the Lost Continent. The latter, to her, was more important, and she ignored the vision of safety. If she went to the safe island and waited out the storm, she would arrive at the continent in the hurricane's aftermath, which would be full of dead dragons. But if she flew through the storm to warn them, they would survive if they believed her. As she was flying, she saw a hut pass her, splintering to pieces. Finally, she reached Pantala. Upon her arrival, two dragons emerged from the trees. One was a brown-and-green LeafWing, the other a primarily gold SilkWing. The SilkWing knew a bit of “Dragon", and Clearsight got basic communication across that they needed to evacuate quickly. She warned them about the hurricane that was coming, and after the dragons discussed her in their language, they agreed to evacuate their territory. They brought her to their home, where they announced to their two tribes her arrival. Once there, she witnessed many new futures. Finally, as they flew to escape from the storm, she told the SilkWing that she came from a land called Pyrrhia, and he told her that this was Pantala.
Part One: In The Cocoon
Blue was thinking about his society and how perfect it was. He also thought about Luna, his sister, who was about to start her Metamorphosis. The next day, he woke up when Luna bounded across the web and started shaking him. Luna kept annoying Blue about her Metamorphosis, which was that day. In response to her excitement, Blue reminded her that some SilkWings (most likely referring to himself) wouldn't get their wings until later and that today was only the day that Luna would begin metamorphosis. Luna then promptly upended his hammock, dumping him onto the webs, and proved to Blue that she could outsmart him when it came to silk studies. At this point, Luna was already beginning to show signs of metamorphosis. They said goodbye to Silverspot, Luna's mother, who said she would try to be there for Luna’s Metamorphosis, but her mistress might not let her, out of spite. Blue noticed a strange expression cross her face, and Blue guessed that for some unknown reason she thought she would never see Luna again.
Blue climbed the silk webs with his sister, Luna and made it to the hive entrance before waiting there. On the wall, Blue saw a mural of HiveWings and SilkWings happily co-existing, as well as posters warning about vigilance, the woes of disobedience (for SilkWings) and the threat of LeafWings. Luna began to talk brashly about the Leafwings, and Blue warned her of her recklessness. Later, they made it to the security entrance and a HiveWing named Hawker asked for their names. Blue showed him his right palm (carved with a little "B" for him, a big "B" for his mother, Burnet , and an "A" for his father, Admiral) as well as the bronze cuff on his left arm, an accessory inscribed with his school's name, Silkworm Hall. When Hawker got to Luna, he remarked that it was Luna's Metamorphosis today. He commented that Luna would get a new wrist cuff after her metamorphosis, which made Blue slightly melancholic. Hawker let them enter the hive, even speaking a couple words of luck to them, which the both of them find terribly amusing after being out of earshot.
They walked to the open market of the Cicada Hive, and Luna said wanted to go to the Sugar Dream, the shop with the best honey drops. Blue protested and said they should to go to Droplets, since SilkWings weren't usually welcome in the Sugar Dream. They decided to go to the Sugar Dream because it was Luna’s Metamorphosis day and she wanted to do everything she loved while she was still a dragonet. Once inside the store, Luna asked for two honey drops. The shopkeeper, Chafer, rudely said he needed to serve his other customer, who happened to be the only other customer in the shop. Two HiveWings later entered the shop. Weevil, one of the HiveWings, asked to touch Luna's wingbuds. She jumped away, irritated at his actions, to which Blue jumped in and offered to let Weevil touch his wingbuds instead. After Weevil and his friend leave, Luna asked again for their honey drops, but Chafer said he needed to serve Lady Scarab , who just came in, first. Lady Scarab interrupted, saying she would like Chafer to serve Luna and Blue first, to which the salesdragon refused. She let out a horrible smelling scent in response to his. Chafer was horrified and served them their two honey drops. He begged Luna and Blue to leave and didn't even mind if they didn't pay him. Lady Scarab advised Blue and Luna to choose a more SilkWing-friendly shop next time.
Once having left, Luna discussed with Blue about the HiveWings, saying that it seemed unfair that Silkwings didn't have a say. Blue deliberately ignored her comments. They noticed that her wrists were glowing a little too brightly than normal. From what they'd seen from Swordtail and his sister, Io, as neither of them had glowing wrists during their metamorphosis. Blue suggested taking her to a doctor, but Luna refused, saying she didn’t want a HiveWing doctor to poke at her. They then walked to the Mosaic Garden.
Afterward, they went to the Cocoon near the bottom of the hive, where all SilkWings went for their Metamorphosis, a process in which they spun a cocoon and emerged with their wings. The Structure itself bore many weavings, a feature resulting from newly emerged SilkWings making a weaving as thanks. Blue tried to distract Luna from her nervousness by asking what weaving she was going to make. She replied that she wasn’t sure yet. Many bored-looking guards arrived, and Blue joked that Luna was popular, but he was worried because of the unusual number of HiveWing guards. Swordtail , Io, Silverspot, and Burnet came, seeming worried about something.
Luna started her metamorphosis, and flamesilk started coming out of Luna's wrists, (a rare gift inherited by her missing father, Admiral.) Io noticed the flamesilk and guessed that Blue had flamesilk too. HiveWing guards saw the flamesilk and came to take Luna. Io warned Blue about how the HiveWings would capture him next and told him to run. Blue didn't want to, but Io carried him away. They try to not be noticed, but the guards saw him. Queen Wasp mind controlled all the HiveWings and told them to capture Blue. They were cornered, but Io used her silk to help Blue escape. Blue lost sight of Io as he ran from the HiveWings. A dragon whom Blue believed to be a SilkWing helped him hide. The dragon's name was Cricket, and Blue soon realized that she was a HiveWing, and they ended up discussing the mind-controlled HiveWings and flamesilk.
Blue suddenly felt woozy and collapsed. Cricket said his wristband probably injected him with a toxin to make him feel dizzy and faint, and therefore easier for the HiveWing guards to catch. Then Cricket unscrewed a lamp that had flamesilk in it, and used the flamesilk to cut the wristband off. Blue soon passed out from the toxins already in his bloodstream, waking up to Cricket urgently shaking his shoulder. Blue and Cricket hid in the passageway Blue came from to avoid the soldiers coming into the library. After they left, Blue made sure that the soldiers were all gone from the area using his antennae. While doing so, he slowly came to the realization that he had fallen in love with Cricket. They continued to converse about flamesilks, and Cricket eventually decided to help Blue escape, rescue Luna, and free Swordtail.
Cricket and Blue got ready to free Swordtail, and Cricket first took Blue to the chemistry lab. She stole six vials and tucking them into her pouch. Blue said stealing was wrong, but Cricket argued helping other dragons was more important. Next, Cricket took Blue to an art room to paint his scales into shades of brown and dark blue to rescue Swordtail and Luna without getting caught. They went to Misbehaver's Way, and Cricket was shocked to see how the prisoners had been kept there. She thought the toxin knocked them out, like a temporary coma. Blue found Swordtail and Cricket did an experiment by dropping a thread of flamesilk in a potion which had been used on saving plants that had been poisoned and poured it on Swordtail. It worked, although Swordtail acted strangely, and his eyes and silk turned into the same shade of green as the liquid in the bottle.
Once Swordtail was freed, he smashed the wall with some boulders, making a door for them to escape. Afterward, they made their way to Wasp Hive, and more importantly, to Luna.
Part Two: Out of the Hive
Cricket and Swordtail flew the rest of the night, with Swordtail carrying Blue. They flew low when the moon showed, just to make sure they were hidden from the HiveWings. Later on, the trio flew within sight of the Wasp Hive and decided to find somewhere to hide. After a brief search, they found a hole that seemed to have no bottom. When they flew down and started to explore, they came across an underground lake with a rope attached to an object in the center. Blue wondered who was in this place before them, and why they would need a rope if they had wings. After walking a bit farther, Blue saw a cavern with supposed firelight, which he was afraid contains flamesilk. It turned out to be made by a scavenger-like creature, who resided in the caves. It ended up being scared off by the dragons, and afterward, they took a break while Swordtail slept.
After a rest, the three woke up and continued their journey. Swordtail was now himself again, and the trio had an argument about the true nature of HiveWings. Unfortunately, since the stimulant had worn off, Swordtail was unable carry Blue anymore. Swordtail suggested that Blue should climb up the wall, even with the thought making Blue nervous. As Cricket tried to come up with a plan, Swordtail warned Blue about falling in love with Cricket, but he replied that he believed it was too late already. Cricket consulted the two for her plan, which was to lift Blue up into a crevice so he could wait the day out there. They reacted with apprehension about another day being wasted, but they eventually agreed. After Blue reached the hole, Cricket curled up with him and they discussed the Distant Kingdoms (Pyrrhia) as a possible place to flee to, even though Blue thought that it wasn't really real. Suddenly, they heard two HiveWings fly by on a patrol, but they flew away after a short stop. When night fell, the group started off towards the Wasp Hive.
Swordtail went ahead to scout out the Hive, and Cricket landed next to Blue so they could walk together. Blue noticed that most of the paint that Cricket disguised him with had fallen off, showing some of his true scales. The two hurried as fast as they could to Wasp Hive, and on the way, Cricket mentioned a bright moon-like comet that passed by half a year ago. As they neared the Hive, Blue noticed many greenhouses surrounding the base of the Hive. Swordtail came back from scouting out the Hive and reported that the main door was closed, with guards possibly inside watching the door. They tried to come up with solutions, and Blue suggested hiding in one of the greenhouses. They found one with a sign saying it was the property of the queen and not to enter and a silk barrier covering the doorway. After they destroyed the barrier Swordtail began to recreate it using his silk. When Cricket attempted to explore further into the greenhouse, Blue heard a sudden shriek, who he thought was Queen Wasp. Blue rushed forward to turn himself in but was caught by another dragon who tied him up with vines and propped him against a tree. Cricket was in a similar condition, and Blue noticed that their captors were neither HiveWings nor SilkWings, but instead a trio of LeafWings.
Swordtail came to see what the commotion was, but the three LeafWings soon tied him up as well. A male LeafWing wandered off to check for more intruders and soon came back to report that no one else entered. A tall, female LeafWing with a system of pouches expressed surprise at a HiveWing working with two SilkWings, but a younger female with the same pouches scoffed at this, saying that HiveWings didn't make friends with SilkWings. Blue told them his name and Cricket's name, but Swordtail refused to reveal his. The female LeafWing told Blue their names, hers being Belladonna, the young female's being Sundew, and the male being Hemlock. Blue told them that he was looking for Luna, but that he didn't know where the flamesilks were being kept. Belladonna, Hemlock, and Sundew were surprised at this, and Belladonna told Blue that she knew where the flamesilks were, but that in exchange for their help, Blue had to steal the Book of Clearsight from the temple.
After telling Belladonna that he wanted to discuss it with his friends, Blue told Cricket that he was sorry he dragged her into this situation. She replied, saying that she was excited about all the things she was discovering. They discussed how the LeafWings might kill them, and Blue said that they had to either help the LeafWings or escape from them. Swordtail said that he thought the LeafWings were eavesdropping on their conversation, to which Belladonna admitted. Cricket wrote in some dirt that they should pretend to agree and then escape later so that the LeafWings wouldn't know about it. Finally, all three of them agreed to steal the Book of Clearsight for the LeafWings.
However, their plan fell apart quickly, as Sundew insisted on going into the Temple of Clearsight with them, and she was disguised as a SilkWing using her pouches, vines, two leaves, and some flower dye. Cricket used the dye to repair some of Blue's disguise as well, and they exited the greenhouse with Sundew. The three went through an opening in the wall made by lifting a glass pane out and set off for Wasp Hive. Cricket knocked out the two guards in front of the door using a flower from one of Sundew's pouches. After they entered, Sundew immediately clawed a wood carving of Queen Wasp, ruining the statue. They made their way towards the temple while Blue tried to make Sundew act more like a SilkWing in fear of her arrogance leading to them being caught.
Sundew took out the two guards outside the temple entrance using a blowgun to shoot darts. She did the same with the other guards stationed inside the temple, and they finally entered the last room in the temple, where the book rested inside a case placed on a pedestal. When Sundew tried furiously to remove the book from the pedestal, the Librarian revealed herself and tried to stop her. The Librarian looked at Sundew for a moment, then turned to Cricket. She then ripped off her veil, revealing white eyes that showed the queen was controlling her. The queen raged at the fact that she couldn't get into Cricket's mind, and Blue tried to protect Cricket by turning himself in. Sundew barreled into the Librarian and managed to subdue her. Blue spotted a key on the ground, which the Librarian dropped in the battle. He used it to unlock the case and retrieved the Book of Clearsight. Cricket dropped two bullet ants on the Librarian on Sundew's request, which caused the queen to lose control because of the pain inflicted by the ants, but not before telling them that there were HiveWings surrounding the temple.
The Librarian thanked them while Sundew gave her a pain reliever, and she said that she could help them and that someone else should be able to read the book after all this time. She lead them through a secret panel to the balcony, where they saw that every single HiveWing in the Hive had been mind controlled and surrounded them. Sundew tried to take them out using things in her pouches, but there were too many. Blue pointed out that they could escape through the skylight, and the Librarian, Sundew, and Cricket fly outside, and they held a silk rope for Blue to climb out with. However, the queen took control of the Librarian again and cut the rope. Blue tossed the Book up at Cricket and told her to escape just as he fell among the HiveWings.
Part Three: Metamorphosis
Blue was dragged through the Hive tunnels by five dragons dispatched by Queen Wasp. Blue guessed that the other brainwashed subjects were off searching for Cricket and Sundew. Blue wondered if they got away and if they were alright. They put him in with all of the other flamesilk SilkWings and he met his father, Admiral. Admiral told Blue about his letters to Queen Wasp. It is also discovered that all of the flamesilks had divided up into different factions that all hated each other. Admiral introduced Blue to all of the different dragons in the flamesilk cavern, with each dragon he met telling him to hate the other dragons there. After a day, Luna awakened from her cocoon and they had a heartfelt conversation. She was then introduced to Admiral. She then tried out her flamesilk, which resulted in one of Admiral's stack of letters to the Queen Wasp to catch on fire. After Admiral handled the flame silk with his bare claws, it was revealed that SilkWings after their metamorphosis could handle flamesilk without being burned. Blue then tried to think like Cricket and formulate an escape plan. After walking around the cave, he discovered a hole in the wall. The next morning, Blue went back to the hole and stuck his arm through it. He then felt something grasp his arm, which then turned out to be Cricket, accompanied by Sundew and Swordtail. They smashed the hole open, thus creating an escape route. Luna and Blue then told Admiral that they could escape, however, he was too afraid to risk the wrath of Queen Wasp, so he started to call for the guards, but Danaid insulted Admiral and started an argument with the other flamesilks to create a distraction.
They then went to a cave that led to the ocean where they all read The Book of Clearsight and discovered a letter written to her descendants. They found out that her predictions only lasted about two hundred years, the last one being nine hundred years in the future. It said to protect the trees. The last prediction of Clearsight had dated over a thousand years ago. They realized that Queen Wasp lied about all the knowledge she had and that the Book said that Clearsight wanted Queen Wasp to rule the tribes.
After the discovery, Luna and Swordtail went out to test out Luna's new wings. They were soon spotted by a HiveWing patrol and started fighting. Luna tried to use her flamesilk, but it wrapped around her and the wind blew her into the sea. Blue tried to help, but he began his Metamorphosis. Cricket led him into a cave where he weaved his cocoon. As he entered Metamorphosis, he confronted the fact that he was in love with Cricket.
Epilogue
Luna woke up on wet sand, and when she tried to stand up, she found out that her back ankle was twisted, and her wing was bruised. She looked around, not knowing how far away she was from Pantala, and when Jerboa II approached her, Luna fiercely demanded who she was. Jerboa responded that she was glad that she spoke Dragon. Luna asked where she was, and Jerboa II introduced herself, and Luna discovered that she traveled over to another continent. Jerboa II took Luna to her hut to heal her wounds, and Luna explained she needed to get back to Pantala.
Later, Moon and Qibli entered the hut. She described Moon as the “Clearsight looking dragon,” and Luna explained to them that they needed to stop Queen Wasp. She learned that Moon could see the future, but not as well as Clearsight could. She told them that they needed to figure out how to get her home, especially Moon, whom Luna called “vision dragon”. She feels triumphant when she realized that Moon could be the "secret weapon" the LeafWings and SilkWings needed.
Trivia
- The pre-final cover was discovered on December 25th, 2017.
- The pre-final cover with Blue on it was originally portrayed him as green.
- The sleeve has 54 dragons including Blue giving it the largest number so far. If you include Cricket from the exclusive Barnes and Noble version poster, there are 55.
- This is the third book in which the title is above the protagonist on the cover, the others being The Dragonet Prophecy and Moon Rising, which are also the first books of an arc.
- When Clearsight arrived on Pantala, the dragons there spoke a different language and very limited "Dragon." Tui stated that in current times, they speak "Dragon," with limited knowledge of the old language.
- This is the fourth book (out of five total) in which the protagonist on the cover does not have an intimidating or negative expression on their face, the first being Moon Rising, the second being Darkness of Dragons, and the third being Darkstalker (Legends), with the fifth being The Hive Queen. The expression is thought to be worry, sadness, or fear.
- A good amount of this book, including the prologue, epilogue, tribe guide, and many other pages, was leaked on Amazon prior to the release.
- There is a Barnes & Noble exclusive edition with the dust jacket printed on both sides. The overside is the traditional cover with embossed logos and quick excerpt on the back, and the underside is a poster with the Wings of Fire logo printed on the upper left corner and Cricket added to the picture.
- The Lost Continent book cover depicts Blue as having wings. However, he doesn't enter Metamorphosis until the last chapter and is never revealed with wings in the book. Tui recently revealed she was aware of this before the cover was made and Joy originally made a few sketches of Blue without his wings. The reason why he is portrayed with wings is that Tui thought they were too pretty to be left out.
- This is the first book to have a dust jacket printed on the inside of the cover. It is also the second book to have a dragon on the cover that is a future protagonist, the first being Moon Rising.
- This is the third book to take place during the time of Talons of Power and Darkness of Dragons, as the last chapter of the book takes place three days before the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons.
- In this book, Cricket mentions that HiveWings do not eat snakes and lizards as they might be related to dragons, but Queen Wasp eats black mamba anyways.
- The Lost Continent is the first book in the series to have not a single unnatural death mentioned or shown.
Gallery
References