'Deathbringer' is an adult male NightWing
and the main protagonist of Assassin. As an apprentice under his mother,
Quickstrike, he formerly served as an assassin for the NightWings. He
has since relocated to the Rainforest Kingdom and is currently in a
relationship with Glory.

## Description

Deathbringer has black scales, eyes, and wings with a glittering spray
of scattered, sparkling, silver scales underneath that catch the morning
light like trapped stars. He is a lot younger and smaller than
Morrowseer, and only a bit larger than Starflight. He is strong and
astonishingly fast. He has a rakish, cheeky grin, and is wiry and
graceful in his movements, even when he is startled. He is heavier than
Winter and has clearly been trained to fight based on the way he stands
and assesses others.

## Personality

As a young Dragons|dragonet, Deathbringer followed orders without asking
questions, even when he was tasked to kill a MudWing prisoner; he killed
him as cleanly and quickly as possible. He is thoughtful, impatient,
intelligent, and trustworthy, and he was determined to follow orders. He
can keep his emotions under control, he does not typically worry, and he
is confident and talented. He felt guilty after killing Tempest, but
ordered himself to feel otherwise. Since Quickstrike's death, he vowed
that protecting the dragons he loves will come before completing any
mission.

He was described by Glory to be an "overenthusiastic bodyguard." He
looked amused rather than repentant after attacking Winter, and Glory
mentioned that if Deathbringer turned out to be correct, it would make
him insufferable. Despite his confidence, he acts uncomfortable around
scavengers.

## Biography

### The Dragonet Prophecy

left The Lost Heir

Deathbringer was indirectly mentioned by Morrowseer, saying to Blister
that they had dragons working on killing the Talons of Peace#Dragonets
of Destiny|dragonets.

left The Hidden Kingdom

Deathbringer was sent to kill off a few of the original
dragonets of destiny as part of Morrowseer and Queen Battlewinner's plan
to promote Blister as the new queen of the SandWings. This step was
necessary for the NightWings to replace the given with Talons of
Peace#The False Dragonets|the false dragonets. He met Glory, who at the
time was camouflaged to look like an IceWing, as she had disguised
herself as one when they first met in the Ice Kingdom. He flirted with
her and offered to take her on a date, showing that he really must have
liked her, despite the fact that NightWings usually hated IceWings. She
learned that he was there to kill the dragonets because they were "insufficient" for the The Dragonet Prophecy (prophecy)|prophecy. Later,
when he finds Glory with Clay, Sunny, Starflight, Tsunami, and Blaze, he
takes advantage of the situation and tries to assassinate Blaze so as to
get him out of trouble for refusing to kill Glory. He threw several
sharp silverFile:13.png|thumb|Glory stopping Deathbringer from killing
Blaze in The Hidden Kingdom Weapons|discs at Blaze in an attempt to try
and kill her. One disc landed in the SandWing's neck (however, it did
not hit her main artery), while the other slashed through one of
Tsunami's wings as she leaped in front of Blaze. Before he could do
anything else, however, Glory sliced the sack off from around his neck
and held a silver disc to his throat threateningly, while Clay tied a
camel blanket around Blaze's neck to prevent the bleeding. At this
point, Deathbringer promised Glory that he would let all of the
dragonets escape if she allowed him to kill Blaze. His bargain, however,
was interrupted as Queen Glacier approached them from the sky, and he
was forced to flee before he was caught by the IceWings.

Back in the Rainforest Kingdom, Deathbringer was found by Tsunami and
Glory as he entered the rainforest through the NightWing tunnels|tunnel
from the SandWing territory as a way to stop an attempt to kidnap more
RainWings. The dragonets captured him by tying him up with thick vines,
as Glory insisted that they trap him but not kill him. When Glory left
Clay to watch Deathbringer and make sure he did not try to escape, Glory
herself was eventually captured by another NightWing, Vengeance.
Deathbringer, who escaped the vines after convincing Clay to let him go
because he said Glory was in danger, later helped Glory and Kinkajou
break away from the NightWing island|NightWing prison, with the support
of Clay.

left The Dark Secret
Deathbringer was imprisoned for helping Glory and Clay escape and was
thrown in the dungeon in the NightWing Fortress. Flame, one of the false
dragonets, later questioned Deathbringer of what it was like to kill
without remorse, seeing that Deathbringer was an assassin. Deathbringer
told him to only kill dragons if he was going to stay fully committed to
that decision. He also told Flame to be "his own dragon" and make
decisions for himself, not always from others, implying Deathbringer's
own refusal to assassinate any of the dragonets of destiny, especially
Glory. He also told Flame "avoid talking to your targets, in case you
find out they are beautiful, sarcastic, and fascinating. For instance."
Starflight and Fatespeaker also asked Deathbringer about the queen, with
which Deathbringer has little knowledge about, but he told them where
the throne room was so they could try to find her.

Later, when the volcano erupted, Glory and Starflight rescued him and
Splendor. According to Starflight, Glory and Deathbringer exchanged a
look that said: "thank you, and a whole lot more." Even as the volcano
started erupting heavily, Glory sticks to the job of finding the right
key to unlock his cage.

left The Brightest Night

When Fierceteeth, Strongwings, and Preyhunter kidnapped
Sunny, they talked about how Deathbringer was a traitor to the
NightWings by siding with Glory. Later, when Sunny and her friends
discussed how to end the war, Deathbringer acts as Glory's bodyguard,
claiming that there were three assassination attempts and that he had
stopped them. Glory does not believe him, claiming that they were
"alleged assassination attempts," but it is clear that she trusts him
more than the other NightWings, as shown how Deathbringer was told the
location of the RainWing village and was allowed to wander around it
freely. He and Glory were also seen comparing how many times each dragon
had saved the other, and Glory said that the assassination attempts were
just to make his list longer. He later claims that he is not afraid of
scavengers, but they 'give him the heebie-jeebies. With their eyes and …
faces.'

Deathbringer went with Glory and her friends to SandWing
stronghold|Burn's stronghold at the end of the book. He was also allowed
to choose a few of the most trustworthy NightWings to bring along so the
tribe was represented. Deathbringer was also one of the dragons who
helped hold Clay down while Peril burned out the poison from his leg.

In the epilogue, he was seen with the dragonets of destiny, and Sunny
wondered what Glory and his dragonets would look like if they had them
in the future.

-----

### The Jade Mountain Prophecy

left Moon Rising
He
was mentioned in Sunny's mind as part of the backup coming in to
organize the chaos after the explosion in the Jade Mountain Academy#The
History Cave|History Cave and to also help guide students home. Later,
when Darkstalker showed Moonwatcher his vision of the good future of
Jade Mountain Academy, she saw a dragonet, Firefly, who potentially was
the offspring of Deathbringer and Glory.

left Winter Turning

When Winter entered the NightWing village, he was intercepted and sat on
by Deathbringer, who accused him of planning to assassinate Glory and
stated that he was under arrest. Deathbringer claimed that Winter
sounded "murder-y" and that a dangerous IceWing had been reported to be
on the loose (later turned out to be Icicle), and so he kept Winter
immobilized until he received further instructions. Moonwatcher,
Kinkajou, and Qibli attempted to convince him to let Winter go, but with
no success, until Glory arrives on the scene a bit later. Glory scolded
Deathbringer for arresting the wrong IceWing-"Deathbringer, I am
seriously going to fire you as my bodyguard if you can not tell the
difference between a male IceWing traveling with my friends Moon and
Kinkajou and a lone female IceWing out to get me"—and claimed to punish
him "creatively and firmly." He later accompanied Glory and the others
when they flew to the Rainforest Kingdom#Royal Pavilion|royal pavilion.
Then, when Glory, Winter, and Qibli went off without Deathbringer, he
was outraged, because he thought that Glory would be at risk from an
assassination, despite her invisible royal guards following her, Moon,
Qibli, and Winter.

Later, when the dragonets discovered Icicle on the abandoned NightWing
island, Glory, Deathbringer, and other RainWings arrived at the scene,
and Glory shot a tranquilizer dart at Icicle when she was about to kill
Kinkajou. When she fell asleep, Glory and the RainWings carried her off
to the healers' pavilion, while Deathbringer was sent to make sure no
NightWing looked for her.

Then, after Moon sketched a picture of the mountain range that Scarlet
was at in the dream Icicle had, the dragonets ask Deathbringer if he
recognized it. Deathbringer said that it was unfamiliar to him but
suggested that the Talons of Peace might know something about it.
Deathbringer then directed them to the scavenger den where they contact
the Talons.

left Escaping Peril

The smile Qibli gave Moonwatcher reminded Peril of the NightWing that
always follows Queen Glory around, Deathbringer.

left Talons of Power
Once Darkstalker arrived at the NightWing village, Deathbringer could
be seen protecting Glory and defending her spot on the throne. When
Turtle went to talk with Glory, he yelled "Halt!", making Glory state
that she thought he sounded ridiculous which then demonstrated more
affection between Glory and Deathbringer. Deathbringer and Glory both
admit they like Darkstalker. Later, Fierceteeth and others were on their
way to assassinate Glory, and Deathbringer said he can easily stop the
assassins. Darkstalker said he sees the future and saw Deathbringer
getting stabbed by a SandWing tail. Darkstalker created a prison for the
RainWings and told Deathbringer and Glory to wait near the prison until
the assassins arrived. Deathbringer was one of the many dragons to fall
under Darkstalker's spell, although he and Glory both had a feeling that
they were making the wrong decisions.

left
Darkness of Dragons
Deathbringer
appeared in the epilogue eyeing the NightWing village suspiciously.

-----

### Legends

left
Dragonslayer
When Wren came across
him before he went to the Ice Kingdom, she mistranslates his name to
Murderbasket. Despite thinking that Wren was a dream until she stabbed
him, Deathbringer then flew her to Burn's stronghold so she could save
Sky.

-----

### Winglets

left
Assassin
When Deathbringer was four,
Quickstrike, his mother, told him to spy on the queen while she spoke to
Greatness|Princess Greatness in one hour. While spying, Deathbringer
found out that Quickstrike was going to the continent, and wanted to
bring Deathbringer with her to train in the real world. To prove his
abilities, Deathbringer was challenged to kill either Slaughter or
Vengeance during the night. Deathbringer quickly completed the task
while Slaughter was being saved by Morrowseer. Worried that they may be
stopped, Quickstrike and Deathbringer quickly set off for the continent.
He had nightmares of black wings descending from the sky, talons holding
a scroll that commanded his return so that he could be punished for
murder.

While on their first task to kill a SeaWing commander, Commander
Tempest, Quickstrike was struck by lightning and lost consciousness.
Despite his best efforts, Deathbringer could not wake Quickstrike up. He
killed Commander Tempest by himself. While the SeaWing army (Commander
Tempest, Gill, Piranha|Commander Piranha), Blister, and the MudWing army
(Swamp) are gathered on the beach, Deathbringer saw her and was
immediately intimidated, thinking, "Holy mother of lava, I'm supposed to
kill THAT?"

Tempest asked all the dragons on the beach to lay down their weapons.
The troops followed her command, but Deathbringer managed to snatch a
MudWing spear. He threw it at her heart, and it hit, giving the
unsuspecting Tempest mere moments to live. She uttered her last words,
"Well, son of a starfish," and hit the beach "like a slow avalanche."

Despite all of the panic going on, Blister was described as calm and
ordered her troops to search the island. During the search, Quickstrike
was found and presumably killed. In his sorrow, Deathbringer told
himself that he followed the orders. Then he vowed, "But this will never
happen again. If I ever find someone else to care about, I will not let
my mission come first. I will break my order. I'll endanger my own tribe
if I ever have to."

At the end of the book, Morrowseer and Deathbringer met. Unaware of
Quickstrike's death, Morrowseer was led to believe by Deathbringer that
Quickstrike sent Deathbringer alone. Morrowseer gave Deathbringer his
new order to kill General Six-Claws with three month's time to complete
it. The last line of the book read: For now … let's see how creative I
can get with these orders.

left
Deserter
After Six-Claws, who was
Burn's general at the time, came back from the Ice Kingdom, he
encountered a NightWing who is presumed to be Deathbringer hiding in the
shadows. Deathbringer found a loophole in his orders and attempted to
convince him not to be loyal to Burn and to go to the Scorpion Den
instead. Although at first Deathbringer did not succeed, Burn's brutal
treatment of Dune caused Six-Claws to abandon his post, fulfilling
Deathbringer's mission without any loss of life.

-----

### Field Guides

left
A Guide to the Dragon World

Deathbringer was the transcriber for literature#Named scrolls|Studying
the Studiers: Interview with a NightWing.

## Relationships

### Clay

Similar to Sunny and Deathbringer's relationship, Clay and Deathbringer
seem to be good friends. For a short amount of time while Glory was a
prisoner in a NightWing lab, Deathbringer was Clay's prisoner in the
rainforest. Deathbringer somehow convinced Clay to let him go and to go
with him to the NightWings' island to save Glory. Although it does not
show his direct feelings on the matter, Clay presumably does not object
to Deathbringer loving Glory, like Sunny.

### Glory

Glory is his love interest, and it seems that the two return feelings
for one another. Deathbringer volunteered to be her bodyguard, most
likely so that he could protect her and be close to her at all times.
Deathbringer is stated constantly throughout the series to care for her
and finds little things to protect her from. In almost every book that
he appears in, he and Glory flirt with one another between times of the
books.

Despite finding Deathbringer's need to protect her sometimes exhausting,
Glory seems to care for him as well, even to the point of talking to him
affectionately. Deathbringer often deliberately provokes Glory because
he likes how she shoots him down. She does not speak very highly of him
in front of other dragons—even though it is obvious that the insults
they give each other are hollow, she often tries to make others assume
that his status is just bodyguard to the queen. This often fails due to
Deathbringer's flirting; Glory also trusts Deathbringer more than the
majority of the other NightWings — this can be emphasized by how she
once saved Deathbringer from a dungeon in a volcano, while Deathbringer
saved Glory from the NightWing prison. Deathbringer mentioned that he
was half a dragon before he met Glory, and that he would be even less if
he lost her after meeting her. He stated that he could not live without
her.

Another reason why Deathbringer is so loving of Glory can be shown on
the night Blister sent his mother to be executed. Young Deathbringer
vowed that if he ever found a dragon to love and care for again, he
would make sure to do everything he could to not lose that dragon like
how he lost his mother. In the epilogue of The Brightest Night, Sunny wondered if Glory and Deathbringer
would ever have dragonets together. A dragonet called Firefly in Moon and Darkstalker's vision in Moon Rising is the
possible daughter of Deathbringer and Glory. He smiles at her like he
loves her, and always follows her around.

### Greatness

Greatness and Deathbringer seem to be friends since she was upset to
find out that he failed his mission. She also chose to spare his life.
He is mentioned by Vengeance to be "her pet assassin."

### Kinkajou

Deathbringer and Kinkajou appear to be friends. When they first meet,
Deathbringer rescues both Glory and Kinkajou, much to Kinkajou's relief.
When talking to Qibli, she lists Deathbringer as one of the NightWings
she considers trustworthy, claiming "he is usually pretty great." She
seems to be mad at him when he attacks and sits on Winter. She may have forgiven him after the events of Winter Turning.

### Moonwatcher

Moon and Deathbringer seem to know each other, as in Winter Turning he and Moon have a more or less friendly
conversation while he is sitting on Winter, which consists of her trying
to reason with him. In another part of the book, Moon suggests that they
"Try Deathbringer" to see if he knows where a certain mountain is that
will help them find Hailstorm.

### Quickstrike

His heart screamed to go and save her, and he cried when the SandWings
killed her. He felt thousands of moments of sorrow and grief after her
death. Quickstrike was Deathbringer's mother.

### Starflight

Starflight and Deathbringer have a slightly complicated relationship.
They had their first real conversation when Deathbringer was in the
dungeon and Starflight was asking him questions from outside the bars.
Starflight seemed to know that Deathbringer loved Glory. Starflight
tried to stop Glory from going into an erupting volcano to get
Deathbringer at first, as it would result in putting their lives at
extreme risk—Starflight was very surprised that that was even on her
agenda, let alone something she would risk entering an exploding volcano
for. Despite objecting, he reluctantly went with her and assisted in his
breakout. Presently, Starflight presumably does not quite think of him
as a friend but seems to respect Deathbringer's profession and also has
some respect for him.

### Sunny

After Glory, Sunny seems to be the closest to Deathbringer. Sunny knows
that Deathbringer loves Glory, but she does not object to it in any way.
She even once imagined what would happen if they got married and had
eggs, and whether other dragons would object to her marrying a NightWing
rather than another RainWing. Sunny does not trust Deathbringer as much
as Glory does, and she does not quite seem to understand why Glory
trusts him so much. However, it seems as if Sunny thinks of Deathbringer
as a friend. She and Clay also seem to hold almost no grudge for their
attempted murder by him.

### Tsunami

Although Deathbringer and Tsunami do not interact much, Tsunami
expresses a strong distaste for Deathbringer. Out of all the dragonets
of destiny, Tsunami seems to like Deathbringer the least, once openly
stating to Sunny that she does not trust nor like him. Unlike the other
dragonets, Tsunami does not quite seem to approve of Deathbringer's love
for Glory. She does not like that Glory loves him, too, since he once
specifically tried to assassinate her. Tsunami once tried to convince
Glory to kill him when they captured him in the rainforest. Tsunami does
not like how he helps them and follows them as if he is one of the
dragonets of destiny. Presumably, she may also hold a grudge against
Deathbringer because he accidentally cut her wing once when he tried to
kill Blaze, although it was her who leaped forward.

### Winter

Deathbringer and Winter dislike each other. Deathbringer sits on Winter
when he goes to the rainforest, claiming that Winter is a threat to
Queen Glory. Winter demands that Deathbringer deserved to be punished
and Queen Glory says he will be. It is unknown if Deathbringer ever was,
and whether Glory was joking or serious about the issue.

### Wren

Deathbringer seemed to think of Wren to be a dream or illusion at first,
and later seemed somewhat curious about her ability to speak
Languages#Dragon|Dragon. She managed to cut him in the spot between his
claws two times, which amused him. He mentioned that "No one [had]
managed to draw [his] blood in years … And now [she'd] done it
twice." He also seemed to be somewhat embarrassed by this, offering that
they should both keep the situation secret. Deathbringer from Wren's
perspective in Dragonslayer is called Murderbasket, as she could not
translate his name correctly.

Later in The Brightest Night when Sunny returns to her friends and told
her story, Deathbringer brought up that confronting scavengers gave him
a shudder. Glory teased him that "The big bad assassin terrified of
itty-bitty scavengers," to which he retorted by telling her to face a
sword-waving scavenger. His fear of scavengers most likely comes from
Wren, who was able to cut him twice which no one had done in years.

## Quotes

It will be Ice Kingdom territory one day. […] If Blaze wins
the war, that is. She's promised Queen Glacier all the land you can see
from here to the southern horizon — basically where the desert starts.
[…] I suppose you know all that. […] But it's interesting, isn't it?
That's a lot of land Blaze is willing to hand over. But not exactly
useful land to either tribe, so what would Queen Glacier want with it?
Do you think there's treasure under these rocks? That would be my guess.
A diamond mine, perhaps. Maybe you know. Maybe all the IceWings know and
are wisely keeping it a secret from Blaze and her SandWings.

to Glory The Hidden Kingdom

115

-----

You feel sorry for the dragonets. […] That's interesting.
I've seen a lot of that around Pyrrhia, actually. Everyone expects so
much of them, but they also think it's a heavy burden for five young
dragons. I wonder if the dragonets would be surprised by all the
sympathy for them. […] You haven't seen any sign of them here, have
you? Rumor has it they were headed for the Ice Kingdom next.

to Glory The Hidden Kingdom

117

-----

Is that an invitation? […] I probably have a day or two
before the—before my work can begin. I wouldn't mind seeing the inside
of an IceWing tavern, if you'll be there.
to Glory, disguised
as an IceWing The Hidden Kingdom
118

-----

But maybe you could come back and see me sometime. I'll be here
for a few more days at least, probably, and it's pretty boring just
sitting here.
to Glory The Hidden Kingdom (book)|The
Hidden Kingdom
119

-----

Why, hello, everyone. […] Isn't this a coincidence? I was
just talking about you all this morning. […] Mystery dragon! Hmmm.
There's something different about you. Did you get your claws trimmed?
[…] You could have told me you were one of the dragonets. […] I'd
have asked for your autograph. I see now that you're a RainWing, so …
Glory, right?
to the dragonets of destiny
The Hidden Kingdom
146

-----

You can express your undying gratitude to me later. I'll wait.

to Glory The Hidden Kingdom

198

-----

I don't know, he sounds kind of murder-y, Kinkajou. And we
heard there's an extra-dangerous IceWing on the loose right now. So I'm
going to keep sitting on him until I get further instructions.
to Kinkajou Winter Turning
48

-----

Loyal to what? Do you even know why you follow her anymore?
She's not a good queen. You are helping a viper and making her stronger
and more poisonous. Can't you see that? If you can't, you will soon, I'm
afraid.
to Six-Claws
Deserter

-----

You know, I've never understood what happened to Queen Oasis,
but now I see that scavengers are tiny ferocious mean little monsters,
and it all makes sense.
to Wren, after she stabs him

Dragonslayer
312

-----

No one had managed to draw my blood in years, and now a tiny
scavenger has done it twice. I have this great idea: Let's both never,
ever tell anyone about this.
to Wren, after she stabs him
again
Dragonslayer
338

-----

Breathe through it. Don't get caught. Don't do anything
foolish. Don't let your rage be the queen of you. Don't let him win.

to himself during his first assassination attempt

Assassin

-----

Don't be seen. Don't get caught. Never let anyone know the
NightWings are meddling in the war.
reciting the rules to
Quickstrike
Assassin

-----

But this will never happen again. If I ever find someone else
to care about, I will not let my mission come first. I will break any
order. I'll endanger my own tribe if I have to. I will make up for this
somehow. Someday.
to himself
Assassin

-----

I'll make Morrowseer tell me everything one day. For now...
let's see how creative I can get with these orders.
to
himself
Assassin

## Trivia

  - Deathbringer went on his first mission, to assassinate Tempest, when
    he was four years old.
  - A monkey once climbed and rode on Deathbringer while he was on a
    mission in the Kingdom of the Sea.
  - In Tui's letter in the beginning of the Winglets Flip Book|Winglets
    Flip book, she mistakenly refers to Deathbringer as a RainWing
    assassin instead of a NightWing assassin.
  - Though in Assassin Deathbringer is stated to have hatched six years
    before the brightest night, he is mentioned to be "a few years older
    than Winter" in Winter Turning. Aditionally, in The Dark Secret,
    Deathbringer said that he hatched after the queen disappeared, which
    occurred only eight or nine years before the main series; however,
    in Assassin, it was mentioned that Battlewinner disappeared when
    Deathbringer was four years old.
  - Wren mistook Deathbringer's name for Murderbasket.
  - Deathbringer has a good internal clock from sleeping out in the
    open.