'Assassin' is the second installment of the Wings of Fire:
Winglets|Winglets series. This winglet takes place before the events of
the main series, and follows Deathbringer as he is sent on an
assassination mission with his mother Quickstrike. Assassin was released
as an e-book on September 29th, 2015, in the paperback collection A
Winglets Collection: The First Three Stories in late 2016, and in The
Winglets Quartet in late 2020.

## Description

Welcome to the story of life as a NightWing assassin in the middle of a
war. What was Deathbringer like before he met Glory? What missions did
Battlewinner send him on? Who did he kill … and how did he change
everything?

Before the brightest night, the NightWings were plotting…

Deathbringer is ready to be the next assassin for the NightWings. If he
can just convince them to send him along on one mission with his mother,
Quickstrike, he'll prove that he can help the NightWings decide who wins
the War of SandWing Succession|war between the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia.

But when their mission takes an unexpected turn, Deathbringer has a
terrible choice to make … one that will change his path forever, and
perhaps alter the course of the entire war…

## Plot

The story started two years before the brightest night with
four-year-old Deathbringer being told by his mother, Quickstrike, to spy
on a secret meeting between herself, Morrowseer, Greatness, and Queen
Battlewinner. Deathbringer, who always followed orders, obeyed and snuck
off to where the meeting was being held. After waiting for a while, the
meeting started, and Deathbringer heard that it was about whether or not
he should be sent to the continent with Quickstrike on a peace mission.
Quickstrike was in favor of letting him join her but Morrowseer and
Greatness said that he was too young and that she should take someone
else. Battlewinner then said that if Deathbringer could kill Vengeance
or Slaughter that night in stealth then he could go on the mission.

That night Deathbringer found Slaughter in his room, asleep. As he
prepared to kill him, Morrowseer arrived and woke Slaughter up,
informing him that Deathbringer was coming to murder him. While
Morrowseer was talking, Deathbringer quietly slit Slaughter's throat
with a metal disk and ran off to find Quickstrike.

When Deathbringer found Quickstrike she accused him of not spying on the
meeting as she told him to, but he assured her that he did and told her
that he was going with her to the continent. Quickstrike said that he
was not allowed to go, but Deathbringer showed her his talons covered in
Slaughter's blood, impressing her and describing the kill. Quickstrike
said that she was going to tell him not to do it because it was too
dangerous and that they had to leave for the mission now so they did not
get in trouble. They left the island together.

Two weeks into the expedition, Quickstrike informed him that their first
target was a SeaWing. When she tested his knowledge on the alliances, it
was revealed that the MudWings was currently allied with Blister. She
told him that they must not kill any of the SandWing queens and they
should drag out the war for the next ten years. The goal was to kill
Tempest|Commander Tempest, a talented SeaWing general who was
threateningly close to winning the war for Blister's side. They decided
that Blister and Tempest must meet somewhere on land to discuss war
plans and they just needed to find that place.

As they continued their search, Deathbringer found that his night vision
was growing stronger the longer he was away from the volcano. They flew
into a storm and found a SandWing hurrying into an island, the site of
Blister and her dragons. They got ready to fly onto another island to
wait out the storm but Quickstrike was suddenly struck by lightning,
badly wounding her and rendering her unconscious. Deathbringer struggled
to steer her onto the beach. He tried to wake her up, but she did not
wake up so he hid her and himself.

Two days later, when Quickstrike still had not woken up, he decided to
continue with the mission. At midnight he snuck off to spy on the camp
and heard Blister and the MudWings discussing war plans. He heard from
Blister that Commander Tempest would arrive tomorrow. The next morning
Tempest arrived with Gill|King Gill, Piranha|Commander Piranha, and
several other SeaWings. They laid out their weapons before going to
discuss war strategies in the tent.

When the dragons came out of the tent, concluding their discussions,
Deathbringer threw a spear into Tempest's heart from his hiding place,
killing her. A note was found with the spear which said "THIS IS WHAT WE
THINK ABOUT YOUR SECRET DEAL WITH BLISTER. STAY IN THE WATER WHERE YOU
BELONG! THE COAST OF THE Mud Kingdom|MUD KINGDOM IS OURS!" The dragons
became outraged with each other and the different tribes started
arguing, but Blister demanded that the island was to be carefully
searched. No one found Deathbringer, but a pair of dragons reported to
Blister that they had found a NightWing who had been hit by lightning.
Blister, though curious, told them that it was irrelevant and to kill
her. Deathbringer blamed himself and silently cried for Quickstrike's
life, vowing that if he ever found someone else to care about, he would
not let his mission come first.

Two weeks later, Morrowseer met with Deathbringer to deliver a message.
Deathbringer did not tell him about Quickstrike's death and instead
reported the results of the mission, saying that the MudWings may leave
Blister and would possibly ally themselves with one of the other
sisters. Morrowseer admitted they did better than he expected and gave
him a mission to kill a SandWing General, Six-Claws, who was working
under Princess Burn. After Morrowseer left, Deathbringer decided that he
would not kill Six-Claws, but instead would try and convince him to stop
working for Burn.

## International Releases

  - 'Russian:' Убийца (October 2020 as a part of Мятежники)

de:Assassin fr:Assassin pl:Skrzydła Ognia: Zabójca ru:Убийца