Clay

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* GN
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* Ref (Book)

### Occupation

A Dragonet of Destiny, hall-monitor, doctor, and teacher at Jade Mountain Academy

## Appearances

### Appeared In

The Dragonet Prophecy, The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, The Brightest Night, Moon Rising, Escaping Peril, Talons of Power, Darkness of Dragons

**Clay** is a young male MudWing and is the main protagonist of *The Dragonet Prophecy*. He is considered bigwings to the Dragonets of Destiny, and although he is the oldest and biggest of his biological siblings, they are currently led by Reed. Clay was born from a blood-red MudWing egg, meaning that he has fireproof scales. He may currently be in a relationship with Peril.

## Appearance

Clay is a strong, broad, and muscular MudWing with thick brown scales that seem richer and deeper when in direct sunlight, like the bark of a healthy mahogany tree with undertones of glowing amber and golden colors. He is large, and powerfully built, and he has warm hazel-tinted brown eyes, he has flat, wide snout and thick, powerful jaws. He has small dark brown horns as well. Clay was also said to have very large talons and thick brown claws, as well as a large sloping back topped with dark brown spines. Ever since Peril burned the venom of a Dragonbite Viper out of his veins to save his life, he has a large burn scar on his right hind thigh and walks with a limp, as the wound was too deep and large for his fireproof scales to heal over completely.

## Personality

Clay is a sweet, protective dragon who is seen as a bigwings by most of his friends due to his selflessness and kindness. He is willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but he will stand up for himself and his loved ones at all costs, even willing to guard them with his own life. He is very loyal, honest, and open, and he would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings. He is also very patient as well as empathetic, as shown in Moon Rising when he kindly separated Pike and Carnelian during a heated argument. He also has an adorable love for food.

## Biography

### *The Dragonet Prophecy*

Clay is the son of Cattail the MudWing, who, without hesitation, sold her egg for two cows to the Talons of Peace, then ate the cows. Clay was brought as an egg to the hidden cave by the MudWing guardian, Asha, a member of the Talons of Peace who was also his aunt. Sadly, Asha died shortly after bringing him due to injuries she received when she had been caught in a battle between the armies of Blister and Blaze. Clay was the first Dragonet of Destiny to hatch and tried to help break the rest of the dragonets' eggs open. (the Bigwings of a MudWing clutch would be the first hatched and would help the other dragonets in his or her sibling group out of their shells by breaking them), but with Asha being dead and unable to explain this, the rest of the guardians misunderstood this action and thought he was trying to kill them, so Clay was thrown into the river until the rest of the eggs hatched.

Clay grew up with the other Dragonets of Destiny, Tsunami, Glory, Sunny, and Starflight under a large mountain in a cave in the Sky Kingdom. They were cared for by Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, members of the Talons of Peace, although they had low opinions of their guardians, calling their raising "imprisonment." Clay had trouble in battle training with Kestrel, who periodically attacked him with fire and complained about how he was too gentle, demanding to see more of the 'vicious little monster' he had supposedly been when he hatched, referring to his "eggshell-breaking" episode. When the dragonets were old enough, they were supposed to leave the cave and fulfill the prophecy. However, they all possessed a desire to escape their confined existence, excluding Sunny. One day, the deliverer of the prophecy, Morrowseer, visited the cave to inspect the dragonets.

The menacing NightWing decreed that Clay, Tsunami, and Starflight were worthy of staying, showing special favor toward Starflight, that Sunny was a possible candidate, and that Glory was an unworthy substitute for the deceased SkyWingmentioned in the prophecy. Clay eavesdropped on the guardians through a river that ran throughout the entire cave and, overheard that they were planning to have Kestrel kill Glory the next night by breaking her neck. Tsunami was chained as part of this plot, as she was the only one who could stop Kestrel from killing Glory. Knowing that time was running out, Clay escaped through the underground river. Glory hid by changing her scale pattern to match the rocks and stalactites in the cave, gaining more time. Risking his life, (as MudWings are only able to hold their breath for over an hour compared to SeaWings, who have gills and can breathe underwater infinitely), Clay managed to get reasonably far down the river, but he was then covered with a substance that started to dissolve his scales (probably sulfur or sulfuric acid). He was rescued from this unfortunate fate by Tsunami, who finally succeeded in escaping with the aid of Sunny and Starflight by melting the chain links with their combined fire breath. After catching up to Clay, the two swam through the cave filled with glowworms and toxic white substances until they burst outside, emerging from the waterfall that dropped at the cave entrance. This caused the two dragonets to start flying, or trying to fly, in Tsunami's case. After Clay got over the bout of excitement caused by his first flight, he noticed that Tsunami had rapidly fallen. Upon looking closer, Clay guessed one of her wings was dislocated, and this was the reason she was unable to fly properly. He barreled into a dive and sped towards her as fast as he could. He wasn't strong enough to stop her fall, but he was able to slow her down until they crashed into trees and thudded to the grassy ground.

Clay was unsurprisingly delighted by the mud that was bordering the banks of the river they had landed beside. After convincing Tsunami he could push the dislocated bone back into its socket, a scavenger had appeared in the clearing. It was holding a sword and a burlap sack. Upon further investigation, they found the sack contained a variety of jewels, gold, and jewelry. The duo then encountered Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, who insisted they would return to her kingdom after she had a conversation with Clay and decided they could be useful. Knowing they had to get back to their friends still trapped in the cave, they had no choice but to injure the regal SkyWing by stabbing the scavenger's sword into the vulnerable spot on her tail. They managed to quickly escape before Scarlet found them and find their cave in able to free their friends shortly afterward, but were captured by the enraged Queen Scarlet, due to the smoke signal the remaining dragonets had set so that Tsunami and Clay could find the cave and free them.

Queen Scarlet challenged different prisoners against each other in gladiatorial style battles in her dreaded arena for her and her subjects' entertainment. If the prisoner won enough battles, she would pit them against her champion, Peril. Peril was invulnerable because of a rare birth defect that caused her to be born with too much fire. This meant that Peril would burn anything she touched, so she couldn't read or write and had to be extremely cautious around other dragons. Clay made friends with Peril, who was attracted to him because he was resistant to her fire, despite the fact he did not know this. Clay volunteered to stand in for Starflight after learning he was next to fight in the arena. Queen Scarlet sent Clay to face off Fjordof the IceWings, who managed to pin him down. Fjord was about to strike the killing blow with his deadly frostbreath when Glory secretly shot acidic venom that dissolved his face, and Clay was victorious. Later on, he decided to hide Peril during Kestrel's trial in exchange for the knowledge of Sunny's location.

After the trial, Peril did not speak with him. That night Queen Scarlet had her ally, Princess Burn over. Soon, Clay started to get the prisoners to sing the song about the Dragonets of destiny with a wire Peril accidentally burned through earlier to try and get her attention. Scarlet and Burn noticed the racket and Clay, Starflight, and Tsunami were taken to Peril’s room, where Peril helped them escape. With the help of Peril, Clay and his friends tried to escape, only to be betrayed by Peril herself. During this vain escape, he learned that his scales were impervious to fire.

The following day, it was Queen Scarlet's hatching day. Of course, she had horrifyingly bloody plans for her and Burn’s entertainment. The three confused dragonets (Starflight, Tsunami, and Clay) were taken to the balcony of the queens, on which Burn and Scarlet were seated on as well. He helplessly watched as Tsunami was forced to fight a mad SeaWing called Gill, who was later revealed to be her father. After Tsunami killed him, Clay was also forced to watch Starflight and Tsunami fight scavengers and IceWings. After Starlight was rescued by Morrowseer and the other NightWings, Clay was faced against Peril. He surprised her with his ability to fight back, and quickly pinned her, but wouldn't kill her. When Scarlet suggested Clay used what she thought was his venom, Glory shot venom from her front longest fangs at Burn, who shoved Scarlet in the way, and then a part of her face started to melt. They were then able to escape with Peril's help, and succeeded in rescuing Kestrel in the process, the action in which Clay and Sunny were the only supporters.

They finally managed to escape, and then they traveled to the Mud Kingdom to find Clay's parents. Clay was disappointed to find that his mother didn't care about him and sold him to the Talons of Peace in exchange for cows, but he found the group of his brothers and sisters, Reed, Marsh, Sora, Umber, and Pheasant (though one named Crane was killed in a recent battle, later found that it was Icicle who killed her) that he would have belonged with if he not been taken by the Talons of Peace. Finally, at peace with himself, Clay leaves with his friends in the search for Tsunami's parents.

### *The Lost Heir*

For almost all of The Lost Heir, Clay was imprisoned with his friends, chained by the ankles to a cave floor. When water levels rose due to a flood, he was willing to keep his friends away from the rising water by letting them sit on his back and stack on top of each other, showing the willingness to sacrifice his life to save them although MudWings can hold their breath for up to an hour. He was soon freed by Tsunami and they together sat in a dry cave and ate fish. When Blister arrived she called him "the burly one". Clay wasn't seen later on in the book until The Summer Palace Pavilion attack by the SkyWings. Clay was seen shielding Starflight and Sunny since his scales are immune to fire, surprising many of Burn's soldiers in the process.

### *The Hidden Kingdom*

After the dragonets escaped from the Kingdom of Sea, they headed to the Rainforest Kingdom, where Clay was knocked out with a sleeping dart to get to the RainWing village. While Glory was being toured around by Jambu, Starflight went right on torturing Clay in his sleep by rolling a melon in front of his nose and watching for Clay's reaction. Clay reacted by sighing in a really wistful way and his tongue lolled in and out of his mouth, later stating that the food in his dream "smelled like a melon" and that it was kind of weird. Later, when Glory became imprisoned by the NightWings (which happened since she was trying out an experiment), Clay and Deathbringercame to her rescue, and Clay helped fight off the NightWing guards near the tunnel to the rainforest by throwing red-hot coals at them. He, Glory, and a RainWing dragonet named Kinkajou ended up escaping successfully, while Deathbringer stayed behind with the NightWings. Clay later kept watch by the tunnels to the Night Kingdom alongside with Starflight. After Glory becomes queen, he came running back from the tunnel to tell her that Starflight was gone and falsely guessed that Starflight went to warn the NightWings.

### *The Dark Secret*

Clay didn't appear much in The Dark Secret because Starflight was imprisoned in the Night Kingdom for most of the book. Starflight did try using a dreamvisitor (a blue gem-like object that was created by an animus to allow dragons to visit each other in dreams) to visit Clay in his dreams, but Clay didn't find Starflight popping into his dreams disturbing or even abnormal. He seemed to think Starlight was a part of the dream. Clay was seen to be eating or 'feasting' and was extremely pleased his siblings were there with him. However, when Starlight returned, Clay was the second dragonet of destiny to see him and was extremely pleased that Starlight has returned. When Starflight was injured by the volcanic explosion's fire, Clay sheltered him with his wings, protecting him and carrying him through the tunnel and out of danger, although the Nightwing still lost his sight.

### *The Brightest Night*

Clay was first shown when he bursts out of the tunnel, shielding Starflight. Sunny mentioned that the Dragonets of Destiny may have been like the alternate dragonets if not for his kindness and support. He was not mentioned much more until Sunny returns to the Rainforest Kingdom. Clay met Sunny when he came out of the healers' hut and tackled her down, telling her how he knew that she would be alright. When the dragonets were in the stronghold, Burn ripped off the top of the box Blister sent her and pulled out a dragonbite viper. A second one jumped out and bites Burn, so she released the first viper. It headed toward Starflight, Fatespeaker, and Sunny, but Clay knocked them out of the way and got bitten instead. Black veins soon started spreading out all over his right thigh. Peril flew out of nowhere, said that "she would not let Clay die", and burned out the venom by placing her talons on the section of his leg that got bitten, removing the venom, and Clay survived, though he was left scarred and limping for the rest of his life.

### *Moon Rising*

It seems like Clay serves as a hall monitor for the Jade Mountain Academy, shown in how he patrols the halls and stops at least two fights. He is in charge of the Prey Center at the school, which turns out be much more chaotic than he originally expected. He also appears to be a doctor, treating injured dragonets.

When the Dragonflame Cactus exploded in the History Cave, he runs inside to help get anyone out who may have been trapped. He is unharmed again due to his fire-resistant scales. At the assembly later he talks, but Moon wasn't listening to him in her search for the dragon that caused the explosion.

### *Escaping Peril*

Clay appears in the first part of the book. He is supposed to retrieve Peril from her cave as soon as Queen Rubyleaves. Peril follows him as he and the others fly out to face Scarlet, and promises to help Queen Ruby. When Peril asks Clay what he wants her to do, he replies that she "should make her own choices". Later in the night, during an argument with Queen Ruby about whether or not they are able to trust Peril, Starflight reveals to him that Peril is in love with Clay, and will likely kill everyone if she finds out that his feelings aren't mutual. Clay acts slightly embarrassed but then changes the subject.

### *Talons of Power*

Clay comes out to the landing area with Sunny to stop Darkstalker, where he asks Darkstalker if he's a monster and if reading everybody's minds is nosy. He looks embarrassed, alarmed, and confused at the same time when Darkstalker says his thoughts are very kind about "certain dragons", most likely meaning Peril, although this is yet to be confirmed. Later, Clay gathers dragons to tell them the story of Ruby's fight with Scarlet. Peril says that she talked to him, and he hugs her, pleased with her as a whole. Qibli tells Peril that Clay likes her too, but doesn't know "quite what to do about it yet."

### *Darkness of Dragons*

Clay first appears in the book teaching the herbs and healing class explaining his injury. Then he helps Qiblisearch for a weapon to break into the Scorpion Den to save one of Clay's students, Ostrich. Clay was showing the "weapon box" (as Qibli calls it) when Qibli complains about the limited selection of weapons, and that he'd be better off cutting his own throat and hanging himself from the alley wall. Clay then asks if Qibli really needs to be armed to visit his grandfather. Straight after Clay said no to Qibli's question of having any poison, Winterappears, stating that he will not need any poison because he will be there, accompanying Qibli. After a bit of arguing, Winter spots a replica of Qibli's earring on Clay's ear. Clay then proceeds to say that they're very fashionable. Qibli attempts to persuade Winter to put one on but fails. In the epilogue, Clay and Peril talk and fly in the rain together, showing that Clay most likely returns the feelings that Peril has for him.