The Lost Heir

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The Lost Heir
Arc	The Dragonet Prophecy
Book No.	2
Page Amount	296
Publication Date	January 1st, 2013
ISBN	978-0545349192 (hardcover) 978-0545349246 (paperback)
Points of View
Prologue	Webs
Protagonist(s)	Tsunami
Epilogue	Morrowseer
More Information
Character List
Cover Gallery
Chronology
Preceded by	The Dragonet Prophecy
Followed by	The Hidden Kingdom

The Lost Heir is the second book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire. The main protagonist is Tsunami. The book was officially released on January 1st, 2013.

The Lost Heir succeeds The Dragonet Prophecy and precedes The Hidden Kingdom.

Summary

The lost heir to the SeaWing throne is coming home at last…

She can't believe it's finally happening. Tsunami and her fellow dragonets of destiny are journeying under the water to the great SeaWing Kingdom. Stolen as an egg from the Royal Hatchery, Tsunami is eager to meet her future subjects and reunite with her mother, Queen Coral.

But Tsunami's return to the home she never knew doesn’t go quite the way she had always imagined. Queen Coral welcomes her with open wings, but a mysterious assassin has been killing off the queen's heirs for years, and Tsunami may be the next target. The dragonets came to the SeaWings for protection, but this ocean hides secrets, betrayal - and perhaps even death.

Quote on Back of Hardcover

Tsunami burst into the air and kept beating her wings to rise into the sky. In the distance, she could see the cliff-side cave and the worried faces of her friends poking out.

An enormous splash sounded behind her. The other SeaWing surged out of the ocean. His massive tail whacked the water twice as he lifted off into the air, sending giant waves rushing in all directions.

He looked even bigger out here in the air. His hooked claws gleamed sharply in the sunlight. His dark blue eyes were fixed on her wings.

The first true citizen of her kingdom she'd ever met, and he was coming to kill her.

Dedication

For Jonathan and his magnificent SeaWing costume.

Plot

Prologue

The prologue began the day after the dragonets escaped the SkyWings, with the focus centered on Webs as he emerged from a river. He was suddenly made aware that he was surrounded by seven members of the Talons of Peace, three of the dragons being Nautilus, a male SeaWing and the leader of the Talons; Cirrus, a male IceWing; and Crocodile, a female MudWing. After Webs informed them of what befell the dragonets, they conversed amongst themselves with Webs still there. He heard about The Backup Plan, although they never clarified what that really was. Then, on Nautilus' orders, Cirrus said that he was going to rip Webs' heart out and feed it to the fish (which Webs found ironic, considering he had just eaten a fish). However, Crocodile knocked the two unconscious, thus letting him go unscathed. As Webs flew away, Crocodile caught up with him and encouraged him to go back to the Kingdom of the Sea. She described Queen Coral as a good queen and claimed the SeaWing queen was in a "good mood". After saying good-bye to the MudWing, Webs decided to return home and to ask Coral to forgive him.

Part 1: The Edge of the Ocean

The story started with Tsunami standing on a beach, with her friends behind her. Starflight attempted to order the others back under the trees, as he was worried they would be spotted by a SkyWing patrol, but no one listened to him. He reminded them of the dragons that were searching for them after Glory possibly killed Scarlet and they escaped from the SkyWing Palace. Clay began to complain about the tiny fish in the shallow water instead of big ones while Tsunami and Starflight started arguing. Sunny reacted by asking Clay to intervene. Glory then teases Clay about him being a "bigwings." Clay explained that they should get to the SeaWings as fast as possible, to be safe. Starflight then heard wingbeats and started to panic. Tsunami was doubtful of the sounds of wingbeats, not being able to hear them herself, and thought Starflight was overreacting. Then Sunny chimed in and said that she heard them, too, and smelled smoke.

Tsunami dove into the water upon seeing a patrol of SkyWings approaching. Sunny ran after Starflight, while Clay encountered a mud shelf and Glory camouflaged with the sand. The SkyWings bolted past, but the last one stopped and looked around. Tsunami, thinking he saw Sunny, attacked the dragon. Clay flew to Tsunami's aid soon after she attacked, and helped drag the SkyWing into the ocean. After the soldier passed out, Tsunami and Clay hauled him onto the beach. There, Clay attempted to revive him, much to Glory's displeasure. The others soon arrived and lectured Tsunami for attacking the soldier without needing to. Starflight then requested for Tsunami and Clay to go get a fallen tree, which they placed on the soldier's shoulders. They covered his eyes with leaves, and began to fly inland, "just in case." As they left, Tsunami glanced over her shoulder for a long moment at the sea. She felt regret because of the dragonets' annoyance with her and then that they started listening to Starflight.

Four days later, Tsunami woke up on an island in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. She contemplated the recent events concerning Starflight. Then, she jumped into the ocean. She fought the currents to the next island, where she spotted a SeaWing. She watched him as he interacted with another SeaWing. The second SeaWing then left and Tsunami caught up with the first one. He first seemed startled to see her. She pointed to the surface and the SeaWing swam away. Tsunami chased him and pinned him after he head-slammed into a whale. The dragon flashed his stripes at Tsunami. Tsunami responded in kind, causing the dragon to look confused. She reached the surface, and the other SeaWing followed momentarily and flashed his stripes again. Tsunami imitated him and he lunged for her. Tsunami then attacked him and flew back to her friends. The SeaWing followed her and asked what was wrong. Tsunami then told him that he attacked her, but he denied the accusation. He then informed Tsunami that she said she liked him. He claimed that Tsunami said, quote, "Hey, sparkling teeth, I love three of your claws but not the others, and I wish your nose was a herring so I could eat it, and also your wings sound like sharks snoring." Tsunami burst out laughing in response. The SeaWing told her to leave because he thought that a SeaWing that does not know Aquatic is not a SeaWing, and he attacked Clay, whom he had mistaken for an enemy. Tsunami then set him straight a few points after Sunny attempted to stop the SeaWing, by telling them that the five of them were the dragonets of destiny.

The SeaWing then revealed his name to be Riptide. He asked about Webs, and Tsunami told him a few things. He then offered to go inform Queen Coral because he did not want to bring Tsunami's friends to the hidden Summer Palace. Tsunami refused, saying, "How would she feel if you told her you met her missing daughter and did not bring her to the palace?" In response, Riptide started to protest, but again, Tsunami insisted on ongoing and bringing her friends. Riptide then placed seaweed on Clay and Sunny, serving as a blindfold. The six dragons then flew over the sea and towards the Summer Palace. They met Commander Shark, who turned out to be Tsunami's uncle and Queen Coral's brother, along with being the Chief of Defense. Tsunami acted defensively towards him, not believing he was very trustworthy. Shark ordered the soldiers to kill the dragonets and bring Tsunami to the Palace. Tsunami knocked one soldier out of the air and told Shark to bring all five of them to the palace. They swam underwater for a long time, surfacing occasionally to breathe in a semi-aquatic tunnel entrance, modified for Blister's rare visits.

Part 2: Into the Deep

As Tsunami emerged from the water, she noticed all the blue and green SeaWings staring at her. She remembered the stripes on her wings that Riptide mentioned earlier and lit them up. She then tried an "I'm home!" speech but ended up embarrassing herself. Riptide led the dragonets to the top of the pavilion, a stone structure twelve stories tall. Riptide explained how each level had a different purpose. After they reached the top level, Riptide informed the dragonets that an animus SeaWing designed it by animating the stone to grow into its shape. Minutes later, Queen Coral arrived. Tsunami was thrilled to see her mother but was shocked to see another dragonet with royal stripes on her wings with the queen. Riptide told Tsunami that the dragonet was her sister, Anemone.

Tsunami growled at Starflight and asked why he did not know about Anemone. He claimed that the scroll, The Royal Lineage of the SeaWings: From the Scorching to the Present, was old and outdated. Glory noticed this and commented on the situation. Before Tsunami could even react, Queen Coral landed and embraced her, quoting the homecoming scene of The Missing Princess. Anemone complained that her claws hurt. Coral then explained to Anemone that Tsunami was the dragonet that she lost six years ago. Tsunami introduced herself, and Coral asked about Webs. Coral noticed Clay and proceeded to shout at him, saying, "WHY IS THERE A MUDWING IN MY SUMMER PALACE?" Tsunami quickly explained by saying that Clay was her friend, as a Dragonet of Destiny. Coral then ordered the guards to place the dragonets in Blister's cave with a guard, much to the dragonets' outrage. Coral told Tsunami that the other dragonets would be fine. Tsunami told Coral about how Webs never let her near the ocean or taught her Aquatic. Outraged, Coral stated that she would execute him.

Coral gave Tsunami a strand of smooth white pearls, claiming that "I have to start making up for all the gifts I missed giving you." Tsunami noticed dark stains on Coral's claws. Coral told her that they were "the perils of my job! Well, my hobby, anyway. My art, you might call it." Coral then took Tsunami to the 8th level of the pavilion, the library. Coral introduced Tsunami to Whirlpool, claiming that he would make a fine king someday. Tsunami noticed Anemone quickly hide a hopeful expression, and wondered how much the little dragonet could clear up. Coral explained that she loved to write and gave Tsunami four scrolls 'for her to read tonight.' One of them was The Missing Princess, and Tsunami excitedly informed Coral how that scroll was her favorite. "Really?" Coral asked. "I wrote it for you!"

Just then, a SeaWing bearing a resemblance to Shark appeared. Coral identified her as Moray, Tsunami's cousin. Moray kissed up to the queen for a moment before explaining that there was a dead SkyWing a few islands from the Summer Palace. Coral immediately went to see the body, with Shark, Moray, Tsunami, Anemone, and another dragon, Piranha, close behind. When they reach the island, Tsunami was exhausted from swimming. She then looked down at the dead dragon. Shock quickly subsided to disbelief. The dead SkyWing was Kestrel, one of their old guardians. Someone had murdered her.

Tsunami felt conflicted while flying back to the Summer Palace. She eventually decided to go see her friends tomorrow and tell them everything then. Coral returned from a war meeting with Anemone. The three SeaWings flew to a waterfall and swam under it, revealing an underwater bedroom. Tsunami collapsed into her bed and fell asleep. She woke up the next morning to find Anemone watching her. Startled, Tsunami feared that Anemone was trying to kill her. However, Anemone signaled for her to be quiet then tried to say something in Aquatic, forgetting that Tsunami never learned to speak the language. Anemone tried again and remembered, frustrated. Tsunami inspected the harness, which she guesses grew with her. Anemone signaled Tsunami to follow her to the surface, which Anemone was barely able to reach. She expressed her relief that Tsunami was home, claiming that, "Maybe you can make her less crazy, or maybe she'll set me free now that she has you." About Coral. Anemone claimed that she was happy she no longer had to marry Whirlpool, but Tsunami said no to the prospect of marrying that dragon. She also stated that she did not have the time to get married.

Tsunami asked a few more questions, specifically about Orca, Coral's oldest and deceased daughter, which Anemone hurriedly answered so that the two sisters could return to their beds before Coral woke up. When the queen did awaken, she gave another strand of pearls to Tsunami, these purple and oddly shaped. The three of them then head to the Council meeting on the 6th floor of the pavilion. Tsunami was given the pool marked "Dragonet Care" to sit in, as its occupant, Tortoise, was absent due to guarding the royal hatchery.

After Tsunami embarrassed herself by eating before Coral's permission, Coral began to discuss rescuing Gill, the SeaWing king. Unknown by the Council or the queen, he was killed by Tsunami in the SkyWing arena. Tsunami soon learned after a confession from Coral that Gill was Tsunami's father. She felt incredibly guilty after the meeting was dismissed, wanting to be alone. However, Whirlpool insisted on giving her an Aquatic lesson. After learning nothing from it, she headed out to the island that looked like a dragon skeleton and met Riptide there. He gave her a proper lesson in which she learned basic Aquatic and she returned to the palace.

While swimming through the tunnel, a dragon attacked her, forcing a hood over her head so that she could not see. She managed to fight off her attacker but did not see who it was. Riptide showed up and asked if she was okay. In Aquatic, she said 'alright' and headed in to alert her mother. Queen Coral was reading to a bored Anemone of how she chose Gill to be her husband. Tsunami informed her that someone attacked her and Coral became concerned about her eggs. She gathered her council, and they rushed to the Deep Palace.

They headed inside to the hatchery. Tsunami saw the statue of Orca, which she knew was her dead sister. She heard Coral's roar of fury and saw the limp body of the blue hatchling. Coral exited the hatchery and Tsunami picked up the last egg, believing and swearing to protect it. Queen Coral was attacking the failed dragonet care council member Tortoise. After killing her, she spotted Tsunami with the egg. She beckoned her to hand it over, but Tsunami refused and flashed her stripes saying, "I will protect" and pointing to the egg. Coral headed to the surface with Anemone and Tsunami and they argued about the egg. Coral eventually gave in, and Tsunami got a harness for the egg, but it did not fit. Anemone touched it and it shrank to the egg and her size.

Tsunami swam back to the Summer Palace in a storm, worried about her friends. She got lost, but eventually found Riptide, who showed her the way. She met up with her friends in the caves and found that someone had chained up Clay. She convinced some guards to hand over the key to unlocking him and they flew into a dry cave. Tsunami gave Sunny the egg, to keep it warm with Sunny's warm body heat that all SandWings possess.

The dragonets awoke to find Princess Blister standing over them, and Coral yelling angrily about her egg. Tsunami and the dragonets came to breakfast after Blister convinced Coral they should come. Tsunami loudly announced that Lagoon and Shark disobeyed Coral, getting them locked in the underwater dungeon. They then talked about Kestrel, who Tsunami had forgotten to mention to her friends about. In the commotion, Blister backed Tsunami up by saying it could be shocking seeing the dead body of someone you knew. Then she said, "especially when you've wanted to slash her throat yourself once or twice in your lifetime — right, Tsunami?". Tsunami wondered how Blister knew Kestrel's throat was slashed when only a stabbing was mentioned. Starflight also caught Blister's mistake.

Blister then wanted to see their "secret weapon" and Tsunami followed them. Whirlpool took a strand of pearls and told Anemone to make it crawl across the room. On her second try, she obeyed, and Tsunami realized she was an animus. Blister and Coral went off to talk privately and Anemone made the pearls fly off the edge, causing Whirlpool to follow. Anemone explained that every time an animus used their powers, they lost a bit of themselves, and she was scared for that to happen. Blister and Coral finish conversing but they then heard a noise from the canopy.

Blister flew up to see what the noise was and grabs a dragon, Webs, out of the canopy, leaving a hole. Coral was still angry at Webs and she attacked him, throwing him off the edge. Tsunami found herself trying to save him, and Clay helped. They land on the library level and the other dragonets follow. Coral questioned why she would save him, and she lied saying they could use him for information about the Talons of Peace. Webs woke and Coral forced him to explain how he got into the hatchery. He said he drugged the guards with help from his wife. Queen Coral cruelly said she put his wife in battle, and "too bad that first battle was such a bloodbath." Coral then wanted information about the Talons of Peace. Tsunami was upset that Coral did not seem to care that a dragonet's life was ruined. Starflight then said that Webs saved her life by stealing her egg because she would have been murdered as well. Urchin then came and announced that they found a dragon outside of the palace. They brought him in, and it was Riptide.

Tsunami admitted she had been taking Aquatic lessons from Riptide, and not Whirlpool. Coral suspected he was working for the Talons of Peace and Tsunami claimed it was a lie. Blister cut in and said that Riptide and Webs were working together to kill the heirs to the throne to use Tsunami as a bargaining chip. Coral was excited by this idea and believed it. Starflight then explained that it would not work, because the murders started two years before they stole Tsunami's egg, and Webs could not have flown there and back whenever he wanted to kill a dragonet. Coral and Tsunami made a deal; she would let Riptide go if she caught the murderer. Tsunami realized that Blister wanted Webs dead, but for unknown reasons.

Part 3: Out of the Egg

Tsunami is in the pitch-black hatchery. She hears a scraping noise and notices Orca's statue moving. The statue attacks her and cuts one of her gills. It then steps on her and breaks some of her ribs. Tsunami fights back and yanks out its eyes, which does not affect it. She grabs the narwhal spear while it looks for its eyes. The statue attempts to walk over her to the egg as Tsunami realizes that an animus enchanted the statue. While she is thinking, the statue leaps at her and she stabs the spear into its chest. She notices that it crumbles a bit and gets the idea to trap it. She lodges the spear into the statue's mouth and jammed the other end into a crevice. The statue attempts to escape but Tsunami grabs the egg just as it breaks open. A little green head with dark green eyes blinks at Tsunami, and she says "hello" in Aquatic. She swims over to the door and opens it. The statue freezes. Tsunami has a theory of who enchanted it; she believes it was Orca.

Later, Tsunami names the newly hatched dragonet Auklet. Tsunami questions Starflight of why he is favoring Blister all of a sudden, and he does not answer. Coral, Anemone, and Blister arrive and say Orca's statue was destroyed. Tsunami still believes that Shark attacked her in the tunnel. Clay says that they are leaving, but Blister claims that she wants the dragonets to choose her as the SandWing queen. She nearly says the NightWings want her, but she corrects herself. Blister almost says to Coral that Tsunami killed Gill, but Starflight says that Blister killed Kestrel, and does not care about her daughters at all. Coral, unsure of who to believe, scoops up Auklet and Anemone and flies away after she orders the guards to take the dragonets. The dragonets are thrown in prison.

The prisons are islands with water flowing from the ceiling around them. In the water are electric eels that the prisoners are afraid of getting shocked by. Starflight, aware of this, pulls Tsunami back from the waterfall and explains the eels to the group. Sunny says that she hears wingbeats and Glory spots someone. It turns out to be an unharnessed Anemone, and for Tsunami, Anemone enchants a spear to find her attacker. It turns out to be Whirlpool. He is impressed and admits that he wanted Tsunami dead so he could marry Anemone. Then he muses that he could marry Auklet and inform Blister of this "development" of Anemone's powers. Anemone swings the spear across Whirlpool's head, and he falls into the moat. Anemone did not mean to do it, but she was just angry. The eels give out a full shock that killed him. Tsunami takes a chance and jumps through the waterfall. Then, she opens the cage and frees them. She then asks Anemone to come with them, but she refuses. Sunny hears the wingbeats again, and a firebomb is dropped through the canopy. Tsunami then frees Riptide and Webs.

Crocodile, a MudWing, claims that she followed Webs to the palace. She has brought an attack with her from Burn's alliance. Glory shoots venom into her eyes, and Crocodile is presumed dead. Tsunami spots her mother and Anemone, who are throwing the scrolls into the water to keep them from burning. Riptide joins in the defense of the palace. The dragonets escape the palace, but as they do, Blister stabs Webs with her tail. It misses his heart but still poisons him. Tsunami has an idea to go to the RainWings. The novel ends with her thought, "So the Kingdom of the Sea wasn't my home after all. I wonder if anywhere ever will be."

Epilogue

Morrowseer and Blister are discussing the future of the dragonets. Nautilus is called to them, and he tells them of his Backup Plan. He has a group of false dragonets of destiny made up of the offspring of his fellow Talons. When discussing this plan, Morrowseer suggests that they can combine the best options from each group. Blister demands that Tsunami and Starflight be deposed for the new Dragonets. Morrowseer agrees and says that they may be able to keep Clay. He also states that he has already hired an assassin.

Mistakes

• On the English cover, Tsunami has blue eyes, although she is described to have green eyes.
• On the cover, Tsunami is missing the patterns of spirals under her wings, which is a characteristic of the royal family.
• Coral's tongue was described to be forked, but SeaWings do not have forked tongues.
• Whirlpool was described to have rings on his talons. However, SeaWings have webbed talons, and therefore should not be able to wear rings.
• The phrase on the other hand appears twice.
• When Auklet's snout was covered in sand, it was described to look like a mustache. However, dragons do not have mustaches and should not know what one is.
• Starflight said that only sisters and daughters could issue a royal challenge, but nieces are also able to challenge.
• Independent is misspelled as indepent twice. Future prints corrected this mistake.
• In the audiobooks, Starflight is misread as Starlight.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

• Tui had debated on calling this book The Princess Murders and on the pre-final cover it was called The Last Heir.
• Tui wanted to include a scene where Tsunami and Riptide kiss, but her editor thought it was too weird.

Gallery

Click here to see the cover gallery.

International Releases

• French: Les Royaumes de Feu. La Princesse disparue (January 2015)
• German: Wings of Fire. Das verlorene Erbe (January 2015)
• Spanish: Alas de Fuego. La Princesa Desaparecida (June 2015)
• Chinese: 火翼飞龙. 龙蛋孵化室里的念力魔咒 (July 2015)
• Polish: Skrzydła ognia. Zaginiona Sukcesorka (March 2016)
• Russian: Драконья сага. Потерянная Принцесса (September 2016)
• Italian: I Regni del Fuoco. La Principessa Perduta (October 2016)
• Turkish: Ateşten Kanatlar. Kayıp Varis (November 2016)
• Brazilian Portuguese: Asas de Fogo. A Herdeira Desaparecida (October 2017)
• Czech: Ohnivá křídla. Dědička trůnu (July 2018)
• Serbian: Na krilima vatre. Nasledstvo (2018)
• Hebrew: כנפי האש - היורשת האבודה (April 2019)
• Persian: وارث گمشده .بالهای
• Ukrainian: Крила Вогню. Загублена принцеса
• Korean: 불의 날개와 잃어버린 후계자 (August 2021)
• Finnish: Puuttuva perillinen (September 2021)