How to Train Your Wings of Fire 3

How to Train Your Wings of Fire 3 is a fanfiction crossover of the How to Train Your Dragon film franchise and the Wings of Fire book series, written by HTTYDPokemonFan under the username ReptileGirl497 on Fanfiction.net. It is the sequel to How to Train Your Wings of Fire 2 and features the human and dragon characters from How to Train Your Dragon as dragons and "scavengers", respectively, in the Wings of Fire universe.
== Summary ==
The lost continent of Pantala is home to four other dragon tribes...and they're all in great danger. SilkWings, LeafWings, WebWings, and two HiveWings show up on the shores of Pyrrhia to escape the clutches of a cruel queen, and a mysterious ancient threat. Now the eleven tribes must stand with talons united to save all of dragon and humankind - before it's too late.
== Counterparts ==
=== How to Train Your Dragon ===
*Hiccup - Windracer, a SkyWing-NightWing hybrid
*Astrid - Arid, an IceWing-SandWing hybrid
*Stoick - Killer, a NightWing
*Valka - Auburn, a SkyWing
*Snotlout - Inferno, a SkyWing
*Fishlegs - Bog, a MudWing
*Tuffnut and Ruffnut - Marmoset and Mango, twin RainWings
*Spitelout - Scorch, a SkyWing
*Heather - Lagoon, a SeaWing princess
*Dagur - Frost, an IceWing prince
*Hroar - Malicious, a NightWing
*Gobber - Forger, a NightWing blacksmith
*Viggo - Chessmaster, a NightWing
*Ryker - Strongtalons, a NightWing
*Drago - Vanquisher, a NightWing
*Grimmel - Graupel, an IceWing
*Dak and Leyla - Red and Cerise, twin SkyWings
*Scribbler - Snowflight, a NightWing-IceWing hybrid
*Toothless - Bat, a human
*Stormfly - Cloud, a human
*Windshear - Gust, a human
*Patch - Patch, a human
*Winger - Needletail, a human
*Summer - Stream, a human
*Burple - Rubble, a human
*Cutter - Porcupine, a human
*Aggro - Pepper, a human
== The Lost Continent 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 ===
Fifty years before the main series, Queen Monarch of the SilkWings is taken into custody by the HiveWing Queen Wasp after surrendering her tribe to Wasp's rule. A SilkWing named Lulworth tries to save her, but she convinces him to stand down. Lulworth returns to his home, where his son, Argent, is waiting. The dragonet asks his father where his mommy went, and Lulworth tells him she got taken away, revealing that Monarch is Argent's mother. The scene then flashes forward to the day of Argent's Metamorphosis, where Lulworth confesses to his son that Monarch is most likely dead and that Argent is their best hope of preserving the SilkWing royal family. Argent vows to keep this secret to protect the royal bloodline from being wiped out by Wasp until a female heir can claim the throne.
=== Part One: The Lost Continent ===
The story begins three years before the present, with Rannoch thinking about his society and how unfair it is before making his way to the entrance of the hive to meet with his girlfriend, Crescent. On the wall in the entry, he sees a mural of HiveWings and SilkWings coexisting, as well as posters warning about vigilance, the woes of disobedience (for SilkWings), and the threat of LeafWings. Later, they make it to the security entrance where a HiveWing named Hawker asks for their names. Rannoch curmudgeonly shows Hawker his right palm (carved with an "R" for him, a "V" for his mother, Vestal, and a "C" for his father, Checkerspot) as well as the bronze cuff on his left arm, an accessory inscribed with his school's name, Silkworm Hall. Hawker remarks that it's Rannoch's Metamorphosis today and comments that Rannoch will get a new wrist cuff afterwards. He then checks Crescent before letting them enter the hive.
They walk to the open market of the Cicada Hive and go to Sugar Dream, the shop with the best honey drops, despite Crescent telling Rannoch that SilkWings are not usually welcome in the Sugar Dream. Once inside the store, Crescent asks for two honey drops. The shopkeeper, Chafer, tells her quite rudely he needs to serve his other customer, a bespectacled elderly dragon who was the only other customer in the shop. Two more HiveWings then enter the shop; one of them, Weevil, goes to touch Rannoch's wingbuds. The older customer turns out to be Lady Scarab, who distracts Weevil by calling him over to help her with some nectar vials. After Weevil's companion makes and receives her order, Crescent asks again for her honey drops, but Chafer still says he needs to serve Lady Scarab. The other dragon then interrupted, saying she would like Chafer to serve Rannoch and Crescent first, to which the salesdragon refuses. In response, she lets out a horrible scent. Chafer begs Lady Scarab not to stink up his shop, but she refuses to stop until he finally agrees to serve the SilkWings, even letting them go without paying. After they leave, Lady Scarab advises them to choose an establishment more friendly to SilkWings next time.
The scene then flashes forward to the present, where Crescent is visiting the Sugar Dream without Rannoch, who she hasn't seen since his Metamorphosis Day. She orders some honey drops but is refused service by Chafer once again, and this time Lady Scarab isn't around to help. Two other HiveWings, Braconid and his little sister Ladybug, are waiting in line behind Crescent; they try to persuade Chafer to serve Crescent before them but are unsuccessful. Ladybug then pays for the honey drops herself, despite Crescent's insistence that she can afford them. When Braconid asks Crescent why she went to the Sugar Dream, she explains that it's the last place she and Rannoch had been to together before his Metamorphosis.
The story returns to Rannoch's Metamorphosis Day. Once having left the Sugar Dream, Rannoch and Crescent discuss about the HiveWings, agreeing that it seems unfair that Silkwings did not have a say, including with whom they are paired. Rannoch tells Crescent that if it were up to him he'd marry her, and she returns the sentiment. They notice that Rannoch's wrists are glowing a little too brightly than normal, and they consider taking him to a doctor but ultimately decide to finish their outing at the Mosaic Garden.
Afterward, they go to the Cocoon near the bottom of the Hive, where all SilkWings go for their Metamorphosis. Rannoch notices that there are more HiveWing guards than usual, and Checkerspot arrives, seeming worried about something. When Rannoch spins silk for his cocoon, fiery bright strings came out instead of regular silk. Several HiveWing guards then mobilize to take care of it, despite Crescent's best efforts to get to Rannoch.
Five days later, Rannoch emerges from his cocoon in an underground cavern in Wasp Hive known as the Flamesilk Factory, where he meets a SilkWing named Vestal. She explains how she'd been paired with Checkerspot to produce more dragonets with flamesilk and was shipped back to the caverns shortly after having their egg. Rannoch realizes Vestal is his mother. He tries out his flamesilk, which results in Vestal's stack of letters to Checkerspot catching fire. Vestal demonstrates that SilkWings who have gone through Metamorphosis can handle flamesilk without being burned. Rannoch tells her that Checkerspot never got any letters from her and guesses that the HiveWings have been intercepting her letters.
In the present day, Rannoch is still working at the Flamesilk Factory along with ten other flamesilks, including Vestal, with whom he'd been trying to formulate an escape plan. After walking around the cave, he discovers a hole in the wall. The next morning, Rannoch returns to the hole and hears someone calling for him. It turns out to be Crescent, accompanied by Braconid. They bust a hole through the flamesilk factory wall, creating an escape route. Rannoch tells Vestal that they can escape, however, Vestal starts an argument with the other flamesilks to create a distraction as Rannoch, Crescent, and Braconid flee.
Queen Wasp then mind-controls all the HiveWings and commands them to capture Rannoch. Braconid reveals that he is somehow immune to Wasp's power and helps the two SilkWings hide. As they wait out the search, they discuss their families, the mind-controlled HiveWings, and flamesilk.
Rannoch suddenly feels woozy and collapses. Braconid says his wristband probably injected him with a toxin to make him feel dizzy and faint, and therefore easier for the HiveWing guards to catch. Braconid then unscrews a lamp that has flamesilk in it and uses the flamesilk to burn off the wristband. He does the same for Crescent right before she passes out from the toxins. Braconid and Rannoch hide themselves and Crescent in the tunnels they came from to avoid the soldiers. They continue to converse about flamesilks, and Braconid eventually decides to help Rannoch and Crescent escape.
Afterward, they make their way out of Wasp Hive, with Rannoch wanting to head back to Cicada Hive to tell Checkerspot about Vestal and her letters. Braconid and Crescent reluctantly agree. The three dragons fly throughout the night, flying low to make sure they're hidden from the HiveWings. They reach Rannoch's home in the early morning, and recount the events of their escape to Checkerspot, who's delighted to learn that Vestal is alive. While leaving, they run into a SilkWing named Peacock, who tells them about her plans to steal the Book of Clearsight from Queen Wasp's library. Crescent insists they should flee somewhere the HiveWings won't find them, but is outvoted by Braconid and Rannoch. Later on, Rannoch, Crescent, Braconid, and Peacock fly within sight of the Wasp Hive and decide to find somewhere to hide. After a brief search, they find an underground hole that seems to be bottomless.
After a rest, the four dragons wake up and continue their journey, during which they discuss the Distant Kingdoms (Pyrrhia) as a possible place to flee to, even though Crescent isn't sure it's real. Peacock then reveals that she is descended from Queen Monarch and thus in line for the SilkWing throne. They wait for night to fall before entering Wasp Hive.
Peacock and Braconid go scout ahead, leaving Rannoch and Crescent alone together. The two discuss how Rannoch being taken to the factory has affected their plans for the future, but vow to remain together no matter what happens. Braconid and Peacock return from scouting and notice many greenhouses surrounding the base of the Hive. They try to figure out a way past the HiveWing guards, and Rannoch suggests hiding in one of the greenhouses. Soon after entering one, the four dragons are caught and tied up with vines by a trio of LeafWings.
Rannoch explains their plan to steal the Book of Clearsight and tells them his name and Crescent and Braconid's names, but Peacock refuses to reveal hers. The LeafWings introduce themselves as Snakeweed, Saltmeadow, and Speargrass. Snakeweed insists on going into the Temple of Clearsight with them, disguising himself as a SilkWing with materials the LeafWings have. The five dragons exit through an opening in the wall made by lifting a glass pane out and set off for Wasp Hive. Braconid knocks out the two guards in front of the door with his tail stinger, which releases a paralyzing toxin, while Snakeweed takes out the rest using a blowgun to shoot darts. They enter the last room in the temple, where the book rests inside a case placed on a pedestal, but are confronted by the Librarian, who is being controlled by Wasp. The queen rages at the fact that she can't get into Braconid's mind, and Rannoch tries to protect his friends by turning himself in. Snakeweed manages to pin the Librarian and drops a pair of bullet ants on her, which causes 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. Peacock finds a key on the ground, which the Librarian dropped in the battle, and uses it to unlock the case and retrieve the Book of Clearsight.
The newly freed Librarian leads them through a secret panel to the balcony, where they see that every single HiveWing in the Hive is being mind-controlled and surrounding them. Snakeweed reveals his leafspeak ability and causes all of the plants to ensnare the HiveWings and the group flies out through the skylight.
They then retreat into a cave that leads to the ocean where they all read the Book of Clearsight and discover a letter written to her descendants. They find out that her predictions only lasted about two hundred years, and the last prediction of Clearsight had dated over a thousand years ago. They realize that Wasp lied about all the knowledge she had and about the Book saying that Clearsight wanted Queen Wasp to rule the tribes.
After the discovery, Rannoch, Crescent, and Peacock head outside to stretch their wings. They're soon spotted by a HiveWing patrol and try to fight them off. Peacock tries to use her silk, but it wraps around her and the wind blows her out to sea. Rannoch manages to scare the HiveWings away with his flamesilk, and tells the others that they need to run and don't have time to look for Peacock. The flee into a cave as Rannoch reflects on all that has happened. He tells Crescent that he loves her and promises to protect her and their friends in any way he can.
Sometime later, Peacock awakens on a beach on Pyrrhia, with one of her wings having been injured. She is found by Jerboa III and King Windracer, who take her to Jerboa's hut to heal her wounds. Moonwatcher and Qibli arrive soon after, and Peacock explains to them about Pantala and how she needs to get back.
=== Part Two: The Hive Queen ===
Moon sits on the beach near Jerboa's house, contemplating the fact that there were really other dragons and another continent across the sea. She considers Peacock's declaration that the dragons of Pantala need her help, although she doubts she can help, believing it was her fault that Darkstalker had done what he did. Peacock then joins her and inquires as to why she is out there alone. The two talk about their names - how Moonwatcher's name meant she liked to watch the moons, and how Peacock's name is shared by a kind of butterfly and a kind of moth.
Moon asks about the Pantalan dragons and Peacock tells her about an old language that was spoken before Clearsight's arrival. Peacock then confides in her that she is worried about her friends. After this, Moon tells Peacock about a prophecy she had been hearing for a while. Qibli, Prince Turtle, and Princess Lagoon then arrive. Turtle tells them that his and Princess Anemone's magic hasn't been working, and he theorizes that animus magic has "broke". Lagoon then states that the only way to get to the lost continent is to swim there.
Back on Pantala, inside the cave where they hid to escape the HiveWings, Braconid keeps watch for HiveWings while Rannoch, Crescent, and Snakeweed sleep. After a while, he has a flashback about his childhood.
The flashback begins with Braconid hiding in a cupboard, playing hide and go seek with his pet human (which the Pantalan dragons call "reading monkeys") named Whippoorwill. Shortly after Whippoorwill found him, Braconid's parents entered the kitchen. Queen Wasp spoke through their mouths briefly, and Braconid was confused as to why his mother "sounds all wrong". His parents exited the house and Braconid debated whether to follow them or not, eventually deciding to go see what was going on from his mother's balcony. From his vantage point, Braconid witnessed a mob of white-eyed HiveWings corralling an elderly dragon who was insisting that he was not a threat. For as much as he plead, it proved futile, and the blank-eyed HiveWings took him away regardless.
Later that day, when his mother and father returned, Braconid asked them what happened to them and the other HiveWings. Termite, who was worried and perplexed, was shocked when she realized Braconid could not be mind-controlled. Braconid asked more questions about mind control and his parents told him that you just "suddenly want to do" whatever the queen was asking. Braconid objected and reminded them that she was forced to drag away an elderly, crying dragon, and Cockroach responded, "She is the queen, Braconid. We don't have any other choice." His parents agreed that they would not tell anyone Braconid's secret, and the flashback ends.
Following the memory, the other three dragons awaken and Braconid informs them that there was no sign of any HiveWings or Peacock. Snakeweed suggests using Rannoch's flamesilk to defeat Queen Wasp and burn down the Hives, but is outvoted by the others. The group decides to go to Jewel Hive, where they could search for the Chrysalis, a SilkWing revolution designed to rebel against the HiveWings. The group dons disguises in order to make it in, with Braconid pretending to be a HiveWing with many servants. They find a note that leads them to the library at midnight, a step closer to finding the Chrysalis. While waiting for midnight, Braconid takes the group to the home of Ladybug's pen pal, a HiveWing dragonet named Sphex. As they wait, Braconid spies his family sneaking around with Scarab. He leaves Sphex's house to talk to them about Wasp's true intentions, but the conversation is cut short by Lady Scarab, who is revealed to also be immune to Wasp's mind control.
The group heads to the library, sneaking in with a key they find hidden in a statue of Clearsight. They meet three SilkWings from the Jewel Hive Chrysalis - Morpho, Tau, and Cinnabar - on the second floor. After listening for a few minutes, Crescent, Rannoch, Braconid, and Snakeweed introduce themselves one at a time. The three SilkWings recognize Rannoch from the Wanted posters Wasp had made, become scared of Braconid until he explains he can't be mind-controlled, and are shocked to see a live LeafWing. Snakeweed says that the LeafWings have an army prepared, and Morpho votes for allying with the LeafWings to destroy the HiveWings. Braconid, Tau, Cinnabar, Rannoch and Crescent argue that the HiveWings are also victims that need to be saved from Wasp. Braconid remembers Lady Scarab telling him she can't be controlled by Wasp either and suggests they go to her to see if she knows anything about the mind control.
When they reach her home, Braconid decides to go in alone. He asks Scarab if she knows why they can't be mind-controlled, and she answers that she doesn't. Braconid theorizes that he might be half SilkWing on the grounds that he's adopted, but Lady Scarab reveals that Termite and Cockroach are actually his biological parents. She explains how she helped them devise a plan to hide their identities as Braconid's mother and father and leads him and his friends to the family's second home in Jewel Hive.
Cockroach panics upon seeing Crescent, Snakeweed, and Rannoch, but Termite promises to keep quiet about it while Braconid confronts both his parents about his true origins; that he was their son and not adopted like they told him and his sister for years. Termite explains that she and Cockroach were unprepared for parenthood when they had Braconid's egg and had arranged for him to be sent to the orphanage, with Lady Scarab handling the documents so Queen Wasp wouldn't know where he had come from. A few years after, Termite came to regret her decision of giving up her son and reclaimed him under the guise of an adoption. She and Cockroach kept Braconid's relation to them a secret out of fear of what Wasp might do to him.
Suddenly, Wasp's soldiers came to the door and Termite orders them all to hide while she, Cockroach, and Scarab confront Wasp at the door. Lady Scarab denies Wasp access to the house and the dragons currently inside, angering the queen. Wasp then mind controls Termite, Cockroach, and Ladybug and marches them and her soldiers away. Desperate for answers as to how his family was able to be controlled and he wasn't, Braconid proposes that he could sneak into the nest where his parents got his and Ladybug's eggs from. Rannoch and Crescent protest that it would end horribly if he gets caught but Braconid says it may be the only way for him to learn how he's immune to Wasp's power.
Lady Scarab takes Braconid to Lady Jewel where they devise their plan to sneak him in the Jewel Hive Nest. While inside, he inspects the eggs and noticed select differences with each one - some were marked with two stinger shapes, some with only one, and others with none. Among the eggs - each one marked with their mothers' name - Braconid finds one with the word "Orphanage" written on it. On a whim, he takes the egg and flies into the rafters of the building to hide, just in time to see Queen Wasp enter the hatchery.
Braconid watches as the queen stabs the eggs with her tail, injecting the dragonets inside with her venom, and then draw another stinger mark on the shells. He subsequently figures out how Wasp was able to control her tribe: by injecting the eggs, Wasp was able to connect the dragon to her so that the instant they hatched, and throughout their whole lives, she would be able to control them. The reason why Braconid himself could not be controlled was because Termite must have marked the egg herself before placing it with the others, unwittingly saving her dragonet from Queen Wasp's mind control.
Braconid waits until Queen Wasp leaves before escaping the nest. He returns to Lady Scarab, Lady Jewel, and his friends and tells them what he discovered. Scarab and Jewel devise a way to prevent anymore eggs from being injected by using the same trick Termite did with Braconid's egg. The next day, Braconid retrieves Whippoorwill before he and his friends return to the cave to meet Snakeweed's parents, but they're not there. The egg Braconid saved hatches soon after, and Braconid names the dragonet Bumblebee. Snakeweed notices that the inside lining of Bumblebee's egg is covered with an odd green substance, and recognizes the smell as having come from a plant in Queen Wasp's greenhouse.
The group traverses to Wasp Hive through the underground caves, and are ambushed by some dragons that Braconid recognizes as WebWings. After explaining their situation, the group is led to the WebWings' queen, Tarantula. They learn from the WebWings that Bloodworm Hive has been burned down, which angers Snakeweed because his parents had said they'd wait for his report. After Braconid informs Queen Tarantula of their plan, her two children, Princess Black Widow and Prince Orbweaver, volunteer to accompany the group to Wasp Hive. They manage to sneak in thanks to the burning of Bloodworm Hive distracting Queen Wasp and use Rannoch's flamesilk to burn down the greenhouse. Snakeweed takes a sample of the plant and advises that they head for the Poison Jungle so the LeafWings can identify the plant.
Meanwhile, Lagoon and Turtle arrive on Pantala via swimming across the ocean and enter the Poison Jungle through the Gullet River. The siblings are attacked by a large snake but are saved by a LeafWing named Yew, who tells them to go back home or else they'll be killed. Back on Pyrrhia, Moon tells Peacock about a vision that she has about general cruelty occurring on Pantala, and Peacock asks Moon if she found a way to get to Pantala themselves. Moon tells her not to worry because the Pantalan dragons will be coming to them.
=== Part Three: The Poison Jungle ===
The story flashes back to before the Burning of Bloodworm Hive and showed the dragons who had planned it: Bryony, Speargrass, Pokeweed, and Grayling behind one of Bloodworm Hive's greenhouses in the middle of the night moments before burning it. They talk about the fates of the SilkWings, worrying about them, but ultimately decide to go ahead with burning Bloodworm Hive. Grayling thanks Bryony for caring about the SilkWings enough to fight the HiveWings for them, which causes Bryony to feel guilty, because they had planned the burning only as revenge, without thinking of the SilkWings at all.
In the present, Snakeweed leads Braconid (who is carrying Bumblebee), Rannoch, Crescent, Princess Black Widow, and Prince Orbweaver through the Poison Jungle to the LeafWing village, trying to protect them from the dangerous flora. Rannoch asks Snakeweed if the rumors about the jungle's dangers were real, and Snakeweed responds that they are. He notes that Queen Wasp had sent expeditions to the Poison Jungle - the rumors came from the HiveWings who survived and returned to tell the tale - and that Wasp once tried to burn down the Poison Jungle but failed. He also states that the dragons who came to burn the Poison Jungle all died. Snakeweed uses his Leafspeak to negotiate with the plants to let them pass, warning the group not to touch anything that he hasn't touched first. They take a passage through some makahiya and move across a branch, only for Bumblebee to fall into a Venus dragontrap while trying to catch a butterfly.
Braconid panics and asks Snakeweed how to get Bumblebee out. Black Widow suggests slicing the plant open, but Snakeweed shoots that idea down on account of the dragontraps having adapted to resist attacks from dragon claws and grow in clusters, so if somebody tries to help, they will also get eaten. Before Snakeweed can think of a solution, Rannoch shoots a strand of flamesilk at the dragontrap, setting it ablaze. While the fire kills the dragontrap, Black Widow and Orbweaver put half of it out with water from bromeliad leaves and Snakeweed uses his leafspeak to grow a chokecherry tree and uses the chokecherries to snuff out the rest of the fire. Braconid retrieves Bumblebee from the dead plant, and he and Snakeweed scold Rannoch for his reckless idea having put Bumblebee's life and the jungle in danger. Crescent asks Snakeweed if he made the tree grow, and he reveals his power of leafspeak to them.
They continue towards the LeafWing village until Snakeweed hears a LeafWing hunting party. He goes to investigate and witnesses them trying to kill a panther. Snakeweed decides to help them by making a thorn bush grow in the panther's way to trap it and reveals himself to the group. Braconid, Orbweaver, Black Widow, Rannoch, and Crescent come down soon after, and Odollam and Byblis become hostile, but Snakeweed explains that Braconid and the others are allies. Byblis and Odollam go to inform Speargrass and Saltmeadow, while Cobra Lily stays with the group. They arrive at the LeafWing village and discover that the flamesilk used to burn Bloodworm Hive was Rannoch's, which devastates him. After several LeafWings try to treat them like prisoners, Braconid protests loyally as does Snakeweed. Black Widow then reveals her status as Queen Tarantula's daughter and heir and demands that Braconid and the SilkWings shall be treated with respect.
Near midnight, Snakeweed sneaks out, leading the others across the border towards the SapWing village where he meets with Yew, who is the daughter of a PoisonWing named Thistle and a SapWing named Eucalyptus. They lead the group to a hidden clearing where twenty-one LeafWings - Angel Trumpet, Baobab, Candlenut, Cycad, Dragontrap, Ginkgo, Gympie, Heaven, Kudzu, Loblolly, Manchineel, Pecan, Pine, Pitcher, Rafflesia, Roridula, Sakura, Sandbox, Spindle, Tobacco, and Walnut - are waiting for them. Yew explains that the LeafWings split into two factions - the PoisonWings and the SapWings - and that she and Snakeweed had founded the organization, known as the Tribe Builders, to reunite the LeafWing tribe. Snakeweed recounts his adventures to his friends, and the old LeafWing queen, Sequoia, appears out of the undergrowth.
Queen Sequoia asks Snakeweed, Yew, and the other Tribe Builders to follow her to the SapWing village, where Snakeweed tells the queen everything and shows her the mind control plant. Sequoia asks them to meet with her in the morning, so Yew takes Snakeweed to meet the two SeaWings that she had rescued, Lagoon and Turtle, who reveal that they came because of Peacock washing up on the shore of Pyrrhia. Speargrass and Saltmeadow arrive, and the queen invites them to a meeting. Snakeweed's parents bring Braconid, Crescent, Rannoch, Orbweaver, and Black Widow along with them. Lagoon tells them that Peacock is alright, while Speargrass and Queen Sequoia discuss about the future of the tribe. The LeafWing queen then begins to tell them the Legend of the Hive.
When dragons arrived on Pantala for the first time, they were attacked by swarms of insects every night, all moving as one and seemingly united by one mind. After many deaths, the dragons discovered that cutting back the breath of evil, the vine that covered the entire continent, gradually made areas safe. Eventually, the plant had been removed from almost the whole continent. After telling the story, the queen asked Braconid, Yew and Snakeweed to venture into the most dangerous part of the jungle and find Hawthorn, a LeafWing who guarded the small amount of breath of evil still growing in the jungle.
Speargrass arranges for Dragontrap and Pitcher to accompany Snakeweed in addition to his choice of traveling companions. On the trip, they came across the most dangerous obstacles of the journey so far, forcing them to fly across a lake. They all managed to cross until Bumblebee is startled by a large tsetse fly and causes Snakeweed and herself to become trapped in a sundew plant. After some careful planning, Snakeweed and Bumblebee lure the tsetse fly into the sundew's grasp, distracting the plant long enough for them to escape. They make it the rest of the way across and discover that the next part of their journey would be through the Den of Vipers. After entering the area, they realize they're surrounded by dragonbite vipers that are being mind-controlled by Hawthorn, who appears and invites them in for tea.
They talk to Hawthorn, who tells them that he was the one who gave the breath of evil to Queen Wasp, and that was why he had been exiled. He also claims to have found an antidote, which he calls the heart of salvation. They convince Hawthorn to come with them to give the antidote to the arriving HiveWing army, with Hawthorn agreeing on the condition that he brings a few snakes and his favorite carving — the seed of the breath of evil.
Yew, Snakeweed, and Braconid leave Bumblebee with Lagoon, who quickly endears herself to the baby dragonet, and travel toward the LeafWing camp with Hawthorn's antidote. When they arrive, they talked with Queen Sequoia and Speargrass about their plans to distribute the heart of salvation into the HiveWing army. They ask Rannoch to let them use his flamesilk to burn the root, hoping that fumes would have the same effect as consuming the root. He agrees, but on the condition that Speargrass and Queen Sequoia will not use any of it to harm other dragons.
While Rannoch and Crescent go with the other LeafWings, Snakeweed turns in for the night. He overhears Braconid and Lagoon bonding over stories about their home continents and realizes they're falling in love. The next morning, he confronts Braconid over what he'd heard and how they can't risk putting the dragons of Pyrrhia in danger. Braconid stays behind with Lagoon and Bumblebee while the others head out to grow more of the antidote. As Snakeweed tries to reach the heart of salvation with his leafspeak, he feels some king of barrier, making it harder for him to talk to it, and when it finally grows, it turns out to be the breath of evil, whose premature root was disguised as the antidote. Snakeweed warns the others to stop, but it's too late - the fire had already been lit, placing many dragons including Snakeweed's parents and Rannoch under its control.
As they panic, Hawthorn appears on the other side of the river with Yew beside him and a dragonbite viper poised at her neck, ready to strike. Snakeweed, Braconid, and Crescent are trapped by vines, and Snakeweed realizes that the plant is talking through Hawthorn as he tries to soothe them into eating the breath of evil. Braconid tries to distract Hawthorn by asking how the plant works as Snakeweed looks for something that could help them escape. Snakeweed finds a sundew growing in between Yew and Hawthorn and uses his leafspeak to make it eat the viper and Hawthorn. It works, but once Hawthorn was caught, he tries to strangle Braconid while trying to use his leafspeak to free himself. Before he can do anything, though, Yew stabs him with an enormous thorn, killing him instantly.
They cut the vines, which retreat away from the dragons. The group rushes to the village and warn the others about the grave situation with the newly-named othermind. Sequoia's great-grandaughter, Queen Hazel, looks through the Book of Clearsight for help, cuts open the binding and finds a secret page that turns out to be a map of the route from Pantala to Pyrrhia, using small uninhabited islands to rest along the way. They quickly decide to use this discovery to escape the continent. Black Widow volunteers to stay behind to save the rest of the SilkWings, LeafWings, and WebWings, and Hazel reluctantly lends her a quickly-made copy of the map. Black Widow, Cinnabar, and several other SilkWings and WebWings prepare to leave, but before they take off, Snakeweed asks them to bring Saltmeadow, Bryony, and Pokeweed with them. Suddenly, a LeafWing guard crashes into the pavilion with the news that Wasp and her army are setting the jungle on fire.
Queen Hazel orders her tribe to evacuate to the coast, and Manchineel organizes the PoisonWings into groups for evacuation. Yew approaches Snakeweed and asks why he was not managing his tribe himself, and Snakeweed tells her that he believes he was not the right dragon to handle the task. After some prodding from Yew, Snakeweed admits that he does not want to abandon their home and was extremely afraid of what might happen to everyone. Yew and the others admit they're also afraid of everything that is happening to them. In a decisive moment, Braconid tells Lagoon that they'll do what they can to save both of their homes, and the two of them profess their feelings. Yew mentions that Snakeweed needs to run to prevent the othermind from using his leafspeak to spread. The group then takes off with the rest of the LeafWing tribe, following the map towards Pyrrhia. Snakeweed thinks about how they would come back to Pantala once they find help and stop the othermind once and for all.
On Pyrrhia, Jerboa recounts her meeting with Queen Snowfall to Windracer. He confirms that the hundreds of dragons heading for the Ice Kingdom are the Pantalan dragons fleeing from the othermind, having had a vision of their arrival. Jerboa also reveals that Snowfall had been angry when Jerboa showed her that animus magic was no longer working. Based on Snowfall's reaction, Windracer and Jerboa agree not to tell anyone why animus magic no longer works for the time being. He returns to the Jade Mountain Palace and is greeted by Queen Arid, whom he'd previously told about his and Jerboa's secret. Windracer confides in her the difficulty he's been having with maintaining the peace treaty between the NightWings and IceWings since Snowfall became queen, then turns in for the night. He is immediately dreamvisited by Graupel, who he recognizes from the Talons of Peace. Graupel reveals himself as "the NightWing Slayer" and states his intention to exterminate the NightWings. Windracer dismisses the IceWing's claim that Queen Snowfall will help him in his quest and declares that he and his friends will stop him. Angered by this, Graupel vows to destroy everything Windracer loves.
=== Part Four: The Dangerous Gift ===
The prologue is set a few days after the LeafWings and some of the SilkWings fled Pantala. Rannoch wakes up and remembers the events of the past day, along with how the two armies at the river had burned the Poison Jungle and how he had been looking for Braconid while under the control of the othermind, but was unable to find him. The othermind takes over Rannoch's mind again; knowing it cannot read his thoughts, he retains hope that Braconid and Snakeweed found their way over to the Distant Kingdoms and found Peacock and will come back to rescue him.
Snowfall hears about a group of dragons flying towards her kingdom. She demands the scout who reported the sighting to her if he is sure that it is not NightWings and he responds that no black dragons have been spotted. She ponders about numerous possibilities, such as if Darkstalker is not gone after all and if it is a group of RainWings flying towards them. After telling the scout to look again, Tundra shows up and informs Snowfall that it is time to rearrange the names on the gift of order. Snowfall thinks about her experiences of being queen and, after what she lost in order to get it, finds it to be her least favorite thing in the world. She mentions how she thought the gift of order was a good thing for the kingdom, but she realized that it is more an act of twisted revenge rather than a gift at all and hates how she has to move names every single night. Snowfall puts on her crown and moves a couple names around, such as Hailstorm and Permafrost. Tundra questions how little she reordered the names and Snowfall orders her to go away, wanting to move on to dealing with the mysterious dragons as soon as possible. She remembers how Tundra and Narwhal used to be second-in-command to Queen Glacier and that Tundra hates having to bow to her niece. Snowfall then hears a noise in the courtyard and realizes that someone is watching her.
She orders the dragon to show themselves, preparing to use her frostbreath on them. Lynx appears from the tree of light and Snowfall asks if she was spying on her, being surprised when Lynx jokingly confirms that she was. Lynx says that she is worried about her and mentions how the only dragons Snowfall talks to nowadays are "old, bossy, and kind of mean." Snowfall brags about how she has been prepared for being queen her whole life and Lynx says that she did not expect her to be queen for at least a couple decades. A flashback is then shown with then-queen Glacier on her deathbed as a result of the IceWing plague, with Snowfall, Crystal, and Mink beside her. Glacier stresses how she does not want a succession war like the SandWings have and makes her daughters promise to not challenge each other for the throne and to support whoever she chooses to be queen. After all three of them do so, she names Snowfall as the next queen. Crystal leaves the kingdom the next morning afterwards, leaving Snowfall to wonder if she is plotting against her. Lynx suggests that Snowfall should take a break and she rejects it, yelling that her sister is going into hiding to kill her and the "evil" mysterious dragons will likely arrive by tomorrow, and ponders if Crystal and the mystery dragons are working together, or if Queen Coral and Queen Vivid are working together to take her down. Lynx tries to reason with her, asking why anybody would want another war so soon after the War of SandWing Succession, but Snowfall continues to be paranoid. She then tells Lynx that the unidentified dragons are coming from the western ocean and Lynx realizes that they might be from the lost continent. She proposes a plan to Snowfall: they will fly to the coast to meet them and find out who they are and what they intend to do. Snowfall reluctantly agrees and decides to head to the Forbidden Treasury to see if any animus gifts can help her.
She sees Mink chatting with some of her guards as she was walking towards the vault. She gives Snowfall a gift, a mink carved from a tiny block of ice, and asks if she can come into the royal chambers, stuttering that she slept with her mother when she had trouble sleeping. Agreeing to her request, Snowfall stresses to the guards that nobody is allowed in the room for tonight and pushes her bed aside, revealing a hole underneath it, leading to the vault. She tells Mink to never tell anybody else about it and they look around the area. Snowfall spots a small tiara, the gift of strength, and takes it, wearing it on her head. Refusing the gift of compromise when she sees it, she spots an opal ring on one of the alcoves, the carved words saying that it is the gift of vision. Assuming that it would improve her eyesight, she slips the ring onto her talon. Passing by a piece of the gift of understanding, Snowfall sees a set of pale silver wristbands with diamonds and is certain that it will give the invading dragons an unwelcome surprise upon reading the inscription.
She sets off towards the coast at dawn, accompanied by Lynx and five guards. Lynx wonders if Snowfall got any sleep and she admits that she did not, lying that she was busy with both the treasury and trying in vain to have Mink not sleep in her bed. She reveals that her items are animus-touched, causing Lynx to remind her that the Forbidden Treasury is named that way for a reason, which Snowfall ignores. Asking the queen if she can understand and control the items she is wearing, Snowfall assures her that she can, leaving out that the gift of vision is not working the way she assumed. Snowfall then shows Lynx the weapons she has on her, leaving out some of the other hidden weapons on her in case Lynx was working against her, and asks her about one of the outer villages. Lynx mentions that her estate overlooks Among-The-Evergreens and how she has not been back there in a while when one of the guards spots the mystery dragons up ahead. When Snowfall sees them, she starts to panic and says that they are going to kill her, but Lynx manages to calm her down. The group flies to a cliff and watch the mysterious dragons land on the beach below them. Snowfall recalls the Battle of Jade Mountain and how she learned from the empathy spell that the IceWings doubted her ability to rule, and that the NightWings do not believe that she is a serious threat, remembering it as the worst day of her life. Snowfall and her guards approach the exhausted refugees and Queen Hazel introduces herself and the two tribes, pleading for help, but Snowfall refuses and orders them to leave her kingdom. She hears a scream and pulls her knives to prepare herself, but it turns out to be Bumblebee, who cries upon seeing her threatening gesture and runs back to Braconid. The IceWing queen continues to demand that they leave as Lagoon, Turtle, and more of the LeafWings and SilkWings arrive. When Braconid mentions that the HiveWings are descendants of Clearsight, Snowfall, seething with rage, smashes the diamonds on her wristbands together three times, and reveals that she had brought her entire army with her, using the gift of stealth to conceal their presence.
Intimidated by the army, Hazel relents and agrees to leave her kingdom. Lagoon insults Snowfall and decides to lead the refugees south to the SandWing kingdom, where Moonwatcher and Peacock are. Realizing that the route would lead them to the Great Ice Cliff, Lynx warns Hazel and decides that she and Snowfall will escort them safely across, with Snowfall electing to bring ten of her guards. After putting Ivory in charge of the IceWing kingdom, Snowfall flies with everyone to the southern border and she privately considers it to be the happiest day of her rule since she is not rearranging the names on the wall. She and Hazel talk to each other about being queen, the IceWings and LeafWings, and Hazel mentions the breath of evil. Snowfall presses and asks if it is Darkstalker and Hazel clarifies that it is a plant. She advises Hazel to watch her back and not trust anyone as a queen, and the refugees reach the far side of the tundra where Jerboa's hut is. Crescent reunites with Peacock and tells her what happened to their friends back on Pantala. After Snowfall talks to Jerboa, Moonwatcher introduces herself and says that her vision is showing only the beginning, much to Snowfall's annoyance. Jerboa decides to let the refugees stay for a bit and Qibli proposes taking them to Sanctuary where they will be safe. Relieved that she will not have to attend to the gift of order for a little longer, Snowfall decides to keep going with them. Night falls and she notices that she cannot remove the ring on her talon. Giving up and believing that it will come off with palm oil, she falls asleep.
She falls asleep and has a dream that she is Atala. She does not tell anyone about it. A short while later, after interrogating Lappet about SilkWings and LeafWings, she discovers that the ring of vision was the one behind her visions, and she attempted to get it off by hitting the ring onto a nearby rock. This failed, resulting in her talon feeling bruised and sore.
Lynx demands Snowfall to tell her what is wrong, and she tells Lynx about the gift of vision, leading to an argument where Lynx warns her about how her paranoia and mistrust of other dragons will lead to her downfall before angrily storming away, convincing Snowfall to keep her problems to herself.
They reach Sanctuary, and Snowfall sees an IceWing running away from her. She uses the gift of stealth to catch her, and finds her long-lost sister, Crystal.
Snowfall asks Crystal what she is doing here, and Gharial attacks Snowfall, thinking she is going to hurt Crystal. She counters with the gift of strength, and severely injures him. Crystal sorts things out with Snowfall, and she realizes Crystal is not plotting against her. Snowfall, Hazel, and the Pantalan refugees fly over to Sanctuary after hearing Moon's prophecy about Pantala. Lagoon invited the queens from each tribe to a meeting in Sanctuary. As Queen Arid arrives with Qibli, Snowfall lapses into another vision, and this time she is Rannoch and Queen Wasp, from back on Pantala. Rannoch is forced to round up all the SilkWings in Cicada Hive so they can be contained until a new batch of the breath of evil is ready, while Wasp is furious that SilkWings keep disappearing from the Hives, so she stations soldiers in Cicada Hive, Rannoch included, to finally catch whoever is warning the SilkWings. Once the vision is over, she and Queen Arid go for a long flight and they come back to the town square, where Lagoon and Snakeweed are arguing.
King Windracer and Queen Arid have their first encounter with Graupel. He claims to be on a mission to kill off all animus dragons and NightWings to show that history will always be that IceWings are the superior species of all dragons and Windracer's actions (allowing other animus dragons to thrive and live and sharing his magic to help others) have become the undoing of years of society, while Windracer believes otherwise. He also reveals that he killed Snowflight's parents and still seeks to accomplish his mission to kill Snowflight and the remaining animus dragons (Windracer, Turtle, Jerboa III, and Anemone) because of his disgust over animus magic being with other tribes except for only just IceWings.
As the other queens begin to arrive, Snowfall falls into yet another vision, ordering Winter and Qibli to take her away before she is seen. This time she is Bryony, hiding in Pantala's caverns. When she wakes up, Snowfall is told by Winter to guard the human sanctuary. While guarding the sanctuary, Snowfall is approached by Graupel, who tries to convince her to kill Windracer and the NightWings. She refuses, angering Graupel. After he leaves, Snowfall falls into another vision, and this time she is Raven, a human that lives on Pantala, with the vision taking place in the abyss.
Windracer, Arid, Jerboa III, and the queens all gather in Possibility along with Winter, Subzero, Ember, Qibli, Patch, Needletail, Stream, Rubble, Porcupine, and Pepper. Windracer reveals his own animus scroll to aid the Pantala dragons and Peacock. He casts a spell which brings Lady Jewel, Lady Scarab and all of the freed HiveWings, SilkWings, WebWings and LeafWings to Pyrrhia for safety where they all meet the Distant Kingdoms rulers.
Jerboa III reveals that she and Windracer are why current animus magic is "broken" all accept for Turtle's, to his shock, but Jerboa III explains Windracer vouched for him in terms of his pure heart and wanted to see it for herself. Using his mirror, Windracer reveals the history of the Scorching to everyone and they learn the othermind is the consciousness of Cottonmouth and Lizard, which must be destroyed to free everyone permanently.
The queens and Windracer agree, and prepare to send the representatives to go to Pantala: Moonwatcher, Lagoon, Qibli, Tui, Lynx, Snakeweed, Braconid, Whippoorwill, Orbweaver, Bullfrog, and Crescent. Snowfall lends them the gift of stealth, and Windracer gives Braconid a piece of Darkstalker's scroll to use in the event of an emergency.
Graupel then attacks Windracer violently, carrying him into the sky and slashing through his wing. Windracer retaliates by breathing fire on Graupel's wing, causing them both to fall, but Windracer is saved by Snowfall while Graupel is killed on impact. Snowfall brings the injured Windracer back to Sanctuary, where he's healed by Arid using one of the remaining the pieces of Darkstalker's scroll.
The night before Snowfall's return to the Ice Kingdom, she has no visions. She wakes up some time past dawn, and she sees Lynx and Crystal. Snowfall tells Crystal that she will not have her killed if she ever returns to the Ice Kingdom unless Crystal was coming to steal the throne. Crystal replies, saying she has no interest in taking the throne. Snowfall then adds that Crystal has permission to marry Gharial. Snowfall then starts talking about the council with the other queens and has a small talk. They say goodbye and leave for the Ice Kingdom. As Snowfall flies towards the Great Ice Cliff, she thinks about what would happen if the othermind landed in the Ice Kingdom, and about how the IceWings would need connections to the other tribes. She then uses the tiara of strength to break a hole in the cliff.
At night, Snowfall asks the ring again to show her what happened to animus magic. She enters Jerboa I's mind, discovers how she dies, and enters Jerboa III's. She then sees that Jerboa III and Windracer "broke" animus magic except for Turtle's and Windracer making his animus scroll before the spell was cast after Peacock arrived due to Boa's fear of being forced to use magic by other dragons.
When Snowfall returns to the IceWing palace, she takes Mink to the gift of order. At the gift of order, Snowfall asks Mink if she knows what what the gift of order is. Mink replies that the dragons above her are better than her and that she is better than the dragons below. Snowfall replies that Mink was correct, but it did not make sense, as Mink might do a math test better than the dragonet below her, but he might make a better ice sculpture. Mink is shocked at this and Snowfall quickly says that it is a maybe, and Mink calls out to the dragonet below her, Polar Bear, that she still loves him anyway. Snowfall contemplates whether she should have explained later, and smashes her fist into the gift of order.
Tundra shrieks and charges Snowfall, but Snowfall batted her away and continued destroying the wall. Once she finished, Tundra was staring at the rubble as if it might come back, and Lynx was separating Tundra from Snowfall to keep her from charging at Snowfall again, then Tundra fainted, and had to be taken to her room while she recovered. Snowfall went to bed, and dreamed about herself in the forbidden treasury, with an animus IceWing named Opal. After her chat with Opal, she slipped into her mother's mind, and sees herself, realizing that her mother did not just choose her to be queen just because she could not have chosen Crystal or Mink. When she wakes up the next morning, she sees that the ring has vanished. She looks out the window and thinks of the stealth team, and that Lynx is flying to Jerboa's beach to meet them, and hopes they can stop Wasp and the breath of evil. She also hopes that she sees Ember, Snakeweed, Braconid, and the other dragons again.
Meanwhile, Raven goes to the abyss to give Vole some food. It is revealed that she and Mole are the only ones who dared approach him, since he has tossed others into the pit before. Vole asks if she can hear the whispers, and she responds that she cannot understand what it is saying. He suddenly becomes strange and ominous, saying that it is growing and it will soon need a dragon. She attempts to ask for details, but he remains vague, telling her to bring "the dragon" (Snakeweed) to the pit to save the village or everyone she knows will die.
=== Part Five: The Flames of Hope ===
On Pantala, Raven reflects on the the Leaders' plan to abandon the abyss, believing that it's right to stop worshiping the abyss but that Vole, the current Guardian of the Abyss and Mole's big brother, was too hard to leave behind. She visits Mole, and the two talk about how to find "the dragon" that Vole had mentioned in his message from the abyss. They contemplate for a while, and then decide to bring a dragon there, thinking that that the abyss will bring Vole back.
On Pyrrhia, Crescent is shown how to use a dreamvisitor by Lagoon and uses it to visit Rannoch in his dream. The dream is of Rannoch paralyzed in Misbehavior's Way, with Rannoch saying that it's where he needs to be, with Crescent objecting to it. She pushes him off the pedestal, allowing Rannoch to move since he instinctively uses his wings to break his fall. Crescent tells him that they're going to break the mind-control, then asks where he is in real life, and he tells her he's in Cicada Hive. Crescent then agrees to meet him in the Mosaic Garden after they break the mind-control. They talk about the day that Rannoch asked Crescent to be his girlfriend, and him sitting on the box of honey drops prior to that. The reunion ends with Wasp forcing Rannoch to wake up, and Crescent is brought back to her physical body.
Crescent then sets out with the rest of the stealth team to find the abyss in Queen Snowfall's vision. They follow the map to the other continent and converse about when to start using the stealth wristbands while flying.
Upon landing on the next island, they're attacked by multiple HiveWings and a SilkWing who were under Queen Wasp's control. Using the gift of stealth, Snakeweed is able to hide part of the team, but Moonwatcher, Lagoon, Qibli, and Tui are captured by the HiveWings, and Lynx and Snakeweed try to save them. Most of the HiveWings take the prisoners; four are badly injured, however, and left on the island. Snakeweed and Lynx follow the attackers to try and rescue the captured dragons while the others go to Pantala and wait for the others to return.
They hide in a cave system, and in one of these caves they find a human studying a dragon book. Whippoorwill follows the human to their village and learns that they're named Axolotl. When the dragons and Whippoorwill become visible again, they ask Axolotl about the abyss and Axolotl agrees to take them to a village known for worshiping an abyss if the dragons translate a dragon book for them. On the way there they're spotted by Pokeweed, who takes them to dragons hiding from Queen Wasp. The group was made up of SilkWings from Bloodworm Hive, Jewel Hive and Mantis Hive, as well as Lady Scarab, Lady Jewel, Bryony, Hemlock, and Pokeweed. A young SilkWing named Dusky becomes attached to Crescent. Tau tells Crescent and the others about a place she knew where humans got water and agreed to take them to it the next day while Hemlock and members of the Bloodworm Hive Chrysalis agreed to go to Lake Scorpion to watch for the missing members of the Super Secret Stealth Team.
Braconid, Ember, Whippoorwill, Orbweaver, Bullfrog, and Crescent head to the abyss, guided by Axolotl. Queen Tarantula and Cinnabar send all the SilkWings in Mantis Hive, Yellowjacket Hive and Jewel Hive into hiding with the WebWings before presumably being caught in Cicada Hive.
In the morning, Crescent meets Whitespeck, who tells her about Dusky's family and the dragonet's life in Bloodworm Hive. She then leaves to find the human colony with Braconid, Ember, Whippoorwill, Orbweaver, Bullfrog, and Axolotl. On the way there, however, Raven and Mole kidnapp Dusky, and Crescent and the others chase them to the Abyss. Whippoorwill talks to the humans, trying to convince them to release Dusky, but before they can hand him over, Vole jumps from the ceiling and grabs Dusky, jumping into the abyss.
Crescent jumps into the abyss after Vole and Dusky, however she is brought into a strange room illuminated by an unknown source. She then sees the breath of evil growing throughout the place. She follows Vole to an entrance to another cave from which the breath of evil is growing. She realizes that the cave was more like a room, with pillars and a throne, which has a plant growing from a human holding a dragonet. Crescent, thinking it's Dusky, approaches closer, but then she realizes that the plant was growing through the human and dragon skulls, and they must both be dead. An unknown voice commands Crescent to step back and proclaims themselves to be the emperor of the world. Crescent, while conversing with the Othermind, looks back to the dragonet and wonders about the origins of its tribe since they looked unlike any tribe she had ever seen, seemingly a hybrid. The dragonet is revealed to have leafspeak, which then went to reveal another voice, with the prior voice being frustrated that Dusky was not Snakeweed. The other voice whispers that it wants Snakeweed. Crescent looks back at the entrance and realized that the hole she had flown through was blocked by vines now. The first voice then mocks Crescent for thinking she could escape, and she calls for help in vain. The voice claims they would love more dragons to play with. Vines started to ensnare Crescent and Dusky, and they soon pass out.
Next, the two awake in a seemingly dream-like state and they question where they are, remarking that the area looked like Sanctuary. They then hear humans, who are playing among themselves. Strangely enough, Crescent could make out what was being said, and a little human boy named Coyote is introduced, claiming to be an emperor. Crescent realizes that the group is searching for dragons, with them claiming they have not seen one for at least a year. The humans then move, and Crescent follows them hiding, hoping for them to not see her. A human city looms upon them, which startles Crescent. The humans talk about affairs with two other Empires: the Diamond Army and the Jaguar Empire. Crescent is then worried they have seen her, but it seems they cannot see Crescent at all. She tries to touch Coyote and he walks straight through her. Then the whole world goes into a strange haze, and they find themselves before a cave nesting a dragon, one with two wings and orange scales with a yellow underbelly. The unknown dragon cannot see her either.
The humans wait for the dragon to leave the cave and rush inside. Coyote and Cottonmouth are shown to be older, which indicates a passage of time. They come back out with an egg in their arms, with Cottonmouth remarking that he knew a nest was set up in this area. He then asks how many eggs there were, in which there were three, Cottonmouth commands the group to go get the other two eggs, in which Coyote protests to. One of the other humans' questions him, wondering if that would make the dragon notice, to which Cottonmouth responds by stabbing him in the gut and killing him. In the end, they gather all of them, with this knowledge, Crescent thinks to herself that the group of humans had something to do with the grotesque-looking human and dragonet on the throne earlier. A shift occurs again, and this time Crescent is at a small island, with a different group of humans gathering eggs. The humans remark how other empires are collecting dragon eggs in the hope of using them. More shifts occur, and Crescent witnesses many cruelties that the humans inflicted on the newly hatched dragonets. Just then, a group of gigantic dragons came, with multiple scales and identifiable traits with multiple tribes, depicting the common ancestors of each tribe. Crescent realizes that this was the beginning of the Scorching.
Dusky is enraged, thinking humans are awful, but Crescent defends them by stating not all are the same. She connects this to the HiveWings, and contemplates on how she cannot wish for a genocide of them. Another flash passes and a group of worn-down humans are shown, with Cottonmouth holding a large box. Crescent was confident the box held a dragon egg within it, questioning his morality and why he was so greedy for power. The haze of shadow takes over the world again and they are in a lush, sunlit jungle, Crescent realizes this was Pantala before the Tree Wars. Cottonmouth is shown again, except he has found the Breath of Evil and claims that he can use it to control the dragon tribes. The humans, skeptical, think that the plant is strange, and creepy. An almost hatched dragon egg is ahead of them in another flicker of the world, and it seems that Cottonmouth is experimenting on reptiles. A voice rings with perfect clarity, stating that it did not like this part. Crescent asks who said that, but there was no response. A group of humans' barge in, bringing samples of the plant, and Cottonmouth reassures them that whatever he was planning would work. He demonstrates the power of the plant by making a human bow against his will. This human was notably from another area, which had been in the small island. Cottonmouth opens a box, in which a small head is spotted. Crescent remarks that she did not look like any of the tribes, but a mix of a few of them. Cottonmouth is speaking cruelly with the dragon, and Dusky remarks that the dragonet had been named Lizard, and she wanted an actual name from a dragon. Just then, the dragonet spoke to Dusky in Dragon, and stated she did not want him to speak for her. Cottonmouth spoke, in Human, stating that she was interrupting the story. Lizard in response yelled that she hated experiencing the same thing for the past five thousand years. They then seem to argue, and Crescent asks if they can hear her and Dusky. Lizard, seeming annoyed by the question, then asks Dusky to give her his memories.
This confuses Dusky, asking how and why he would do that. She states that he must allow her to, and again tells him to give her them. Dusky says no, frustrating her. Lizard then goes on to state that she is the most miserable dragon to ever live, so she deserves what she wants. Lizard says that Cottonmouth got the both of them caught by the plant. Cottonmouth disagrees, citing that Lizard was rebellious and annoying. They then have another exchange of arguing in which they were blaming each other for faults committed. It seems more so that Lizard and Cottonmouth view dragons and humans as toys, with Lizard throwing a tantrum when Cottonmouth suggests killing Dusky. The mindspace is then revealed, which is how Lizard and Cottonmouth were able to allow Crescent and Dusky to see their memories and lets them shift the area, Lizard demonstrates this by showing the Weaver Hall, Dusky's school. Dusky wondered how Lizard was able to do this and asked if she had his memories. She responds by saying that he needs to let her have them, and she had seen this through a HiveWing, of which she used to watch Dusky. Crescent then requests to see Rannoch, to which Lizard reluctantly does. The mindspace shifts again, this time towards a HiveWing within sight of Rannoch. Crescent asks if Lizard could bring Rannoch to the mindspace, in which Lizard replies she could, but did not want to as it was tiring. Lizard then complains that SilkWings are boring and thought it would be more fun to have new dragons. Crescent asks if Lizard felt bad for the dragons she controlled. Lizard snaps and is enraged with the concept of feeling bad for them. She says those dragons could actually live and did not have to be stuck all the time with Cottonmouth, saying how her life is the worst and how those dragons should feel bad for her.
Crescent agrees that Lizard's life is awful and Dusky asks if they could free her. Cottonmouth chuckles and Lizard reveals the the only reason they are alive is because of the Breath of Evil and if they were separated, they would die. Cottonmouth then ponders if the mind control will work on the dragons from Pyrrhia. Another shift occurs and they are transported into the throne room of Queen Wasp with Lagoon, Tui, and Qibli in front of them, bound and Cottonmouth then commands Queen Wasp to not kill them, and unbind them in which she is defiant to, but caves in. Cottonmouth interrogates the group and demands to know where Snakeweed is. They refuse to answer, and Wasp proclaims that the invisible one, Moonwatcher, is missing because Cottonmouth assigned the SilkWing elsewhere. Crescent thinks that Lynx and Snakeweed saved her. Wasp then complains that she cannot deal with whatever the invisible dragon was using. In response, Cottonmouth steps out of the HiveWing he's currently controlling, appears where Wasp is sitting, and forces her to choke herself. Crescent is then scared for the group, and pleads to Lizard to free them, but she declines. Crescent then offers her memories, tempting Lizard. The group of dragons then attempts to escape, with Tui shooting venom at Queen Wasp. Lizard asks Crescent if she would really give her memories if the group got away, and Crescent again accepts. Lizard then clears a pathway, allowing the group to escape. Crescent questions if they were safe and Cottonmouth denies it, revealing that he already has one of them under his control. He then claims they would all be there soon.
Crescent hears Braconid calling to her in the real world, outside of the cave. Cottonmouth uses Crescent's real-world body to trick Braconid and the others to go after Snakeweed, so he could capture Snakeweed. Crescent calls him a monster to which he replies saying that anyone would have taken the chance to be him. Lizard loudly demands Crescent to give her memories as promised. Crescent worries about what Lizard would do with the memories, before Lizard replies saying that nothing will happen to the memories. Lizard explains that Wasp is only in charge of the HiveWings and is only just one of Cottonmouth's "big toes". She continues, saying that all three of them, Cottonmouth, her and the plant, can control all the mind-controlled dragons. Cottonmouth is just the active one because he refuses to let Lizard control anything and the plant does not have a mind of its own. Dusky then offers to share his memories first to Lizard, which Lizard replied eagerly to. In Dusky's vision, they are brought to Bloodworm Hive. They see Dusky's father trying to make a younger Dusky try and say his own name. He fails to do this as Dusky was only able to repeat "Dada". Dusky asks for a banana before his father replies that they do not have any bananas. Dusky runs to retrieve a rotting banana that he was hiding and shows it to his father. This vision ends and Lizard is repulsed by the vision and declares it to be "boring".
Crescent comforts Dusky after seeing his vision. Lizard calls Dusky's father strange, as it was not very "dragonlike" for a parent to care about their dragonets. Crescent tries to convince Lizard that dragons do care about each other, but to no avail. Lizard then demands Crescent to give her memories, which Crescent hesitantly obliges to. They appear in the art room of Silkworm Hall. In the vision, they see a younger Rannoch and Crescent helping Io with her Metamorphosis weaving idea. Rannoch is worried that they would get caught which the others reassure him that they would not. Rannoch and Crescent go off to tidy the art room, while Io and Crescent stay behind. Io wonders where she should put her Chrysalis symbol. Crescent gave a suggestion which made Io interested. Rannoch suddenly bursts in, saying that the headmaster is coming. Rannoch and Crescent play as a distraction so that Io and Blue could quietly escape from the school and vision ended there. Lizard calls Crescent and Rannoch "nitwits" for allowing themselves to be caught. Crescent explains that Braconid would have been sad if he got caught, so Rannoch and Crescent gave themselves away so he could get away. Lizard still does not understand why Crescent would care so much about another dragon.
Suddenly, Tui appears in the mindspace. Tui is initially confused about where she is before Crescent tells her that Cottonmouth has taken over her body. They watch Lagoon, Qibli and Tui/Cottonmouth escape from the Hives. Qibli reassures Cottonmouth by saying he did the right thing, shooting Queen Wasp. Cottonmouth answers nonchalantly which made Qibli worry even more. Lagoon asks Cottonmouth and Cottonmouth says that they should head towards Lake Scorpion. Qibli is confused on how Cottonmouth knew about Lake Scorpion to which Cottonmouth quickly replies saying that Crescent told him. Crescent asks if Lizard could jump into Tui to which Lizard replies saying she could not, while Cottonmouth was still in Tui.
Crescent realizes that Lizard could let them out, but Lizard refuses. They continue to watch Tui's physical body and the others fly until they see a fire down on the ground. The three dragons go down to investigate the fire and are greeted by Snakeweed, Moonwatcher and Lynx. Snakeweed is surprised that they managed to rescue themselves from the Hives. She continues saying that they wanted to save them, but they grew worried about Crescent and the others.
In the mindspace, Crescent convinces Lizard to let her and Dusky be free from the vines, in turn for Tui giving Lizard her memories. Lizard agrees, and then they were shown a memory of Tui and her family - Tangerine, Quetzal, Tiger, Jaguar, and their pet sloth Cutie Pie - cuddling in a hammock. After Lizard finished going through Tui's memories, Moon then appears in the mindspace. She explains to Crescent that she could read minds and that was why she was in the mindspace, and that she is not controlled by the breath of evil. She finds out that Tui had been mind controlled and disappears from the mindspace when Cottonmouth came back to it and saw her. Moon tells the rest of the stealth team that Tui is controlled by the Othermind, and Cottonmouth, controlling Tui, lies that it was Moon who had the Othermind in her head. A fight breaks out between the invisible dragons. Lynx asked Snakeweed to turn everyone visible again and she did. Cottonmouth wants Snakweed to fly to the abyss, and threatened to hurt Crescent if she does not. Snakweed agrees to go to the abyss, thinking she could use her leafspeak to defeat the breath of evil. Everyone except Tui's physical body is turned invisible again, and they fly to Lake Scorpion.
On the way there, Crescent has an idea to try to show Lizard that most dragons are not bloodthirsty and violent and mainly want to love and be loved. Moon and the dragons flying to Lake Scorpion all agree to give Lizard one memory each, using Moon's mind reading. Moon's memory is of her feeling lonely, waiting for her mother in the rainforest, and naming the three moons Imperial, Oracle, and Perception. Snakeweed's memory is of his meeting Yew for the first time. Lynx's memory is of her playing a fort game with some dragonets from the royal family, and when she became captured, Hailstorm threatened to throw her into the ocean if Snowfall did not give their team the fort. Snowfall says that Lynx is a great swimmer, and that she is not scared of walruses, which Lynx agrees to. Qibli's memory is of him getting stolen from, and an Ocotillo standing up for him, saying it was for justice. Qibli then says he would fight for justice when he was older, and changes his mind, saying he would fight now. He runs and sinks his teeth into the dragon who had stolen from him, starting a fight. Lagoon's memory is of her and the other prophecy dragonets arguing over which kingdom was the biggest.
Lizard complains that she hates the memories that they had given her because none of those dragons were anything like her. Crescent tells her that this was not true and finds a way to relate Lizard to each of the dragons who had just given her memories. Crescent says that what happened to Lizard and the fact that she never got to love anyone was not fair, and Lizard agrees, saying that no one ever loved her, before quickly adding that she did not care whether or not anyone loved her. Lizard says that it seems like loving someone makes you do really stupid things sometimes, which Crescent agrees with, thinking about her own friends and how they’d risked themselves to save dragons they loved.
Lizard glances around, and then looks back at Crescent. She says, in a low, shaking voice, that if Crescent cuts the vine that is growing through Cottonmouth’s and her physical bodies, then the breath of evil will become a normal plant again, and Lizard and Cottonmouth will be gone. Lizard tells her to hurry up and not waste time asking questions or saying sentimental goodbyes.
Lizard and Dusky play-wrestle on the ground as Crescent considers this. She thinks that Snakeweed could be more efficient with stopping the Othermind, but then realizes that she should be doing all that she can to help save the world. She should be like the dragons whose memories they had just seen, dragons who are brave and leap in to save the ones they love, dragons who do not give up, dragons who do not need rescuing. She does not want to be the one who always has to be rescued.
Crescent concentrates on being able to move her physical body. She puts Dusky over her shoulders and starts to make her way over toward the large vine Lizard told her to cut. After an interruption from Cottonmouth, Lizard takes Crescent and Dusky to Cicada Hive in the mindspace, where they see SilkWings shouting and asking questions to mind-controlled guards. Lizard then takes them to Lake Scorpion, where three HiveWings and three LeafWings controlled by Cottonmouth have captured Braconid and Bullfrog, as Cottonmouth-in-Tui, Qibli, Snakeweed, and the rest of Crescent's friends arrive at the lake. Cottonmouth shows them a HiveWing named Carabid, who Cottonmouth had been feeding all the breath of evil he could find. Cottonmouth threatens Snakeweed with Carabid's venom, which he says should be able to absorb a dragon into the Othermind on the first stab, as Crescent continues to make her way to the throne where the vine that she needed to cut was. She stops when a group of mind controlled LeafWings, including Speargrass, arrive, and a fight begins at the lake, with the stealth team on one side and the mind controlled LeafWings, HiveWings, and Tui on the other side. Crescent tries to continue to the throne. In the meantime, Braconid and Bullfrog have been injected by Carabid and are absorbed into the Othermind.
Crescent finds the vine. She spins several coils of silk and then ties it around the segment of vine that was in between Cottonmouth and Lizard's heads. She hopes that by cutting the vine there, Cottonmouth would die, and Lizard would stay alive. Crescent hopes that the silk would be able to easily slice through the vine. She finally cut the vine by launching herself away from the throne, throwing everyone out of the mindspace.
Crescent and Dusky are in the real throne room again, and Lizard tells them that Crescent had cut the vine in the wrong place, and that they have to cut the vine below her head, or else the breath of evil would try to grow back into Cottonmouth's body and try to connect with another being. Crescent apologizes, saying that she wants to keep Lizard alive, because she had saved them and should not have to die. Crescent suggests that perhaps the breath of evil did not have to be evil or control anyone, Lizard could coexist with the breath of evil, and that Crescent could come down and visit Lizard in the throne room. Lizard says that she hated that plan, and she does not want to keep on fighting a weed for all eternity. She says that Crescent should just cut the vine in the correct place and get rid of Lizard.
Before Crescent severed the vine again, Dusky asks if they could give Lizard a real name, one that they could remember her by forever. Lizard asks if she could be named Freedom. Crescent and Dusky say that that was a fitting name, because it would be what Lizard would have, and what she was giving everyone. Crescent and Dusky give their final goodbyes to Freedom, thanking her for sacrificing herself to save dragonkind. Crescent lets Dusky hold one end of the silk that would sever the vine, and they both pull and sever the breath of evil from Freedom.
After the vine was cut, Crescent digs up all of the pieces of the vine left and burns them with her flamesilk. She thinks that it was strange how she had always thought her flamesilk was what made her special, and that she was supposed to use it to save the world, but in the end, it was her regular silk, which could have come from anyone. She, Dusky, and Vole finally leave the throne room where they reunite with Ember, Buck, and Axolotl. They leave the cave and reunite with the other members of the stealth team.
=== Epilogue ===
The representatives from Pyrrhia leave Pantala after using the scrap of Darkstalker's scroll to build a third magic tunnel so they can travel between the continents more easily. Peacock becomes the new SilkWing queen, while Queen Sequoia steps down so that Hazel remains queen of the LeafWings. Wasp and her sisters are imprisoned in the flamesilk caverns, making Jewel the new HiveWing queen. The LeafSilk Kingdom is formed as the new territory for the LeafWings and SilkWings, and the Hives and caves are left as HiveWing and WebWing territory.
After the completion of the magic tunnel, the Pantalan tribes begin enrolling their dragonets into Jade Mountain Academy. Windracer asks Lady Scarab to be the Minster of Education for the school and to learn about the Hive's Curriculum to further the Jade Mountain Academy which she agrees to. Lagoon and Braconid adopt Bumblebee, and are married with all eleven dragon tribes and their human friends in attendance.
=== Continued in Wings of the Nine Realms ===
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