Mandrake

**Mandrake** is a male LeafWing dragonet who was introduced in *The Poison Jungle*. He has the ability of leafspeak and served as an insect sorter for the PoisonWings before the events of *The Poison Jungle*. He was formerly betrothed to Sundew.

## Appearance

Mandrake has dark green wings with thin gold stripes on top and mahogany brown underneath.

## Personality

Mandrake appears to be a nervous but understanding LeafWing, and he even agrees with the fact that he's not like the other LeafWings when Cricket asks him if all LeafWings are loud and "shouty." He is shifty, quiet, and unconfined, which causes him to be looked down upon by his family. Mandrake enjoys tending to the PoisonWings' poisonous insect collection, where "he was always happy tending to the bullet ants and venomous centipedes." He seemed to be indifferent about being betrothed to Sundew, despite grinning when he called her his 'fiancé.' Mandrake is especially nervous when catching prey or facing battle, as it was shown that even during life-or-death situations like facing an over-sized panther, he needs to stop to calm down, close his eyes and think. He is also shown to be very understanding when Sundew tells him she wasn't going to marry him, and Mandrake says he already knew and hopes she is happy to be with Willow.

## Biography

### The Lost Continent Prophecy

#### *The Poison Jungle*

Mandrake is first seen trying to kill a panther while his father, Wolfsbane, and his sister, Nettle, watch. He is extremely nervous and keeps panicking before he can seize his opportunity. He also takes a lot of time to do it, causing Nettle to whine about how slow he is. When Sundew traps the panther for him with her powers, he at first believes he did it and is confused by his success. When Sundew appears, he seems happy to see her, though he is visibly disappointed to have his sister's suspicions of Sundew killing the panther confirmed. Mandrake offers to stay with Sundew and her friends while his father and sister go alert Commander Belladonna to their presence. While he is with them he informs the group that he is Sundew's fiancé. Mandrake later appears with Sundew, Willow, Cricket, and Nettle on their expedition to the Eye of the Jungle having been forced to come along by Belladonna.

As soon as Mandrake and Sundew begin speeding up the growth of the Heart of Salvation, Sundew tells him she was never going to marry him. Mandrake says that he always knew she was not, and that he hopes she marries Willow. Later on, Sundew attempts to convince him to organize the LeafWings for evacuation. At first, he was unsure of his ability, but Sundew's persuasive nature got him to take responsibility. It can be assumed that he was able to get the tribe off the continent before the othermind overtook them.

## Relationships

### Sundew

Mandrake was Sundew's fiancé in the first part of *The Poison Jungle*. He seemed proud of it, but then it became more and more clear as the book progressed that Sundew did not want to marry Mandrake, and wanted to marry Willow instead. Sundew eventually revealed this to Mandrake, but Mandrake was not surprised and said that he had always known that. However, Sundew says that Mandrake is one of the only dragons that Sundew actually likes.

### Nettle

Mandrake does not get along with his sister. He obeys Nettle's orders and seems a bit scared of her at times. They are not very often cooperative, as Mandrake's friendly, non-violent personality clashes with his sister's aggressive, bossy personality.

### Wolfsbane

Mandrake's father, Wolfsbane, is concerned with strengthening Mandrake's leafspeak powers. However, unlike Nettle, Wolfsbane is shown to be calmer about the subject, as he believes that Mandrake will indeed improve in the power of his leafspeak.

### Cricket

Unlike most PoisonWings, Mandrake actually gets along surprisingly well with the young HiveWing after she was formally indroduced to him and talked with her quite friendly, in oppose to his sister's bullying and negative attitude towards the young HiveWing outlaw.