(This is the page for the book titled "Escaping Peril." You may be looking for the Escaping Peril (graphic novel)|graphic novel instead.)
'Escaping Peril' is the eighth book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire and the third book in
the second arc. The main protagonist is Peril. The book was officially
released on Tuesday, December 29th, 2015,[1] with the cover being
released on the Scholastic Wings of Fire forums on Tuesday, May 26th,
2015.

Escaping Peril follows Winter Turning, and precedes Talons of Power.

## Summary

The most dangerous Dragons|dragon in Pyrrhia is on a mission …

Peril has always been loyal. First, to Scarlet, who used Peril's fatal
firescales to kill countless dragons in her violent SkyWing arena. Now,
Peril is loyal to Clay, the only dragonet who has ever been her friend.
So when Scarlet threatens Jade Mountain Academy, Peril sets off to find
her former queen, stop her, and save the day, no matter what it takes.

There's just one problem: a strangely persistent SeaWing, Turtle,
insists on coming along, too. Turtle is worried about his friends, who
left the Academy to search for Scarlet and haven't returned. Peril is
worried that she might accidentally burn Turtle — or burn him on
purpose, for being so annoying — and frustrated that she keeps saying
and doing the wrong things. She can't escape her firescales, and she
can't escape her reputation as the deadliest dragon in Pyrrhia.

So when she's offered a chance to trade everything for a new life, Peril
has to decide who she's really loyal to . . . and whether her own scales
might actually be worth saving.

## Quote on Back of Hardcover

"You're Peril, aren't you?" he said. "Queen Scarlet's …" He trailed off,
perhaps realizing there was no good way to end that sentence. Champion?
Weapon? Notorious death monster?

"Yes," she hissed. "I'm Queen Scarlet's notorious death monster."

## Dedication

For Jack — may you be bold and kind and starry-eyed, and may you always
save the world your own way.

## Plot

### Prologue

The prologue took place just before the brightest night, from the point
of view of Ruby. She remembered the last time she saw her sister,
Tourmaline, which was three days ago. Tourmaline had been planning to
take the throne from Queen Scarlet, with the will of ending the war or
at least withdrawing from it. However, she mysteriously vanished the
next day without telling Ruby or any other dragons she was going
anywhere. While wondering if Scarlet killed Tourmaline, Ruby was called
by Scarlet to meet in the throne room. She entered to find several other
SkyWings already assembled there and was told to stand between her
brothers, Vermilion and Hawk. Vermilion snorted at her, but Hawk smiled.
Ruby wondered if Hawk was acting friendly because he knew she would be
dead once she challenged Scarlet. Scarlet then told the crowd about the
SkyWing egg that was stolen to fulfill the prophecy. Her guards then
carry in all the eggs that were to hatch on the brightest night (except
one) at her request. When she said that one was missing ("there should
be eight"), one of the guards reassured her that it would not get far,
and "it was a runty one anyhow." Then she revealed Peril, who was a very
young dragonet at the time. Scarlet declared Peril her future champion
and demonstrated her power by giving her a SkyWing egg to hold. The egg
burned in her talons, and the dragonet within died. Scarlet then told
Peril to touch all of the other eggs, and they are also burned. The
crowd was horrified by this demonstration, and Ruby saw this as proof
that she could not take the throne from Scarlet. It was now that she
wondered if Peril killed Tourmaline, and seemed to subconsciously blame
Peril for the loss of her sister. The prologue concluded with Ruby
realizing, This dragon could destroy the world.

### Part 1: Scales of Fire

Queen Ruby had come to Jade Mountain Academy to perform the proper
SkyWing death rituals for Carnelian. Clay had instructed Peril to stay
inside her cave until Queen Ruby was gone, but after waiting for a while
Peril impatiently (under the impression that Clay had come) leaped into
the hallway, nearly bumping into Turtle. Turtle prompted her to
eavesdrop on the Carnelian proceedings. They then heard a loud roar, and
Peril assumed that Queen Ruby was just told of Peril's presence in Jade
Mountain. Queen Ruby started yelling at the dragonets of destiny but was
interrupted when Scarlet arrived.

Peril, the dragonets of destiny (except for Glory), Turtle, and Queen
Ruby went to confront Scarlet. Scarlet was holding the head of Queen
Glory and then proceeded to throw it at the gathered crowd. Sunny was
left screaming in horror and dropped out of the sky while Tsunami was
extremely furious, and chased after Scarlet. Ruby demanded why Peril was
there, and Peril claimed that the queen could not keep her away from her
friends.

Clay, Ruby, and Peril studied the head but when Prince Turtle took a
look, he recognized the head as an enchantment. Scarlet had apparently
decapitated a MudWing and enchanted its head to look like Glory's. They
were shocked that it had been the work of an animus because there were
very few known animus dragons in Pyrrhia. Queen Ruby decided to take the
head to Queen Moorhen to identify who it had belonged to.

A little while later, Peril was left alone with Clay and Turtle. Peril
asked Clay what he wanted her to do. He replied that "he won't be
another Scarlet and tell her what to do," implying that she had the
chance to make her own decisions.

Peril figured out what Clay really wants: his friends and the academy to
be safe and the only way to do that was to kill Scarlet. Before she went
off to go find Scarlet, she decided that she needed to say goodbye to
Clay. On her way, she almost bumps into Turtle again. Turtle realizes
that someone is coming and tells Peril to hide. There they eavesdrop on
a conversation between Ruby, Clay, and Starflight. Ruby tells them to be
careful of Peril to which Clay replies saying that he could trust Peril.
Starflight also adds that Peril is in love with him which made Peril
want to burn his tongue off. Ruby suggested to Clay to be careful around
Peril as she may set his friends on fire if he did not love her back.
Peril denies this in her thoughts, though she was unsure. The
conversation ended with Starflight saying that he did not trust Peril,
which hurt Peril's pride. Both Turtle and Peril know that she has to
kill Scarlet to ever earn everyone's trust.

She set off through the mountains, accompanied by a determined Turtle
who did not even have half the stamina Peril did. A little while into
their expedition, they were ambushed by five members of the Talons of
Peace (Cirrus, an unnamed MudWing, Nautilus, an unnamed SeaWing, and
Avalanche), who did not know who they were or if they were conspiring
with Scarlet. Cirrus seemed to recognize Kestrel's name when Avalanche
mentioned her, saying that Kestrel was "big, red, grumpy-looking." After
the Talons members confirmed that everyone was on the same side, Turtle
and Peril were allowed to continue on to Possibility to find Moon and
Qibli.

### Part 2: Possibility

Peril and Turtle stopped for dinner and Turtle showed her how to eat
fish without burning them. Peril discovered that Turtle had been rolling
a rock between his shoulders, which she thought was a bit odd, but
decided that SeaWings may have some ability to heal themselves with
river rocks.

The two continued on toward Possibility, and repeatedly caught glimpses
of a strange NightWing following them. When they finally reached the
town, Turtle suggested that Peril travel underwater so that she would
not burn any other dragons, which turned out to be a good tactic.
However, when she came out of the water, a Plants#Dragonflame
cactus|dragonflame cactus exploded at her feet. The explosion did not
severely injure any dragons, but it did lead Qibli and Moon to Peril and
Turtle.

Once Turtle left to go see Kinkajou, Peril got upset and flew into the
desert, where she ran into Winter and Foeslayer, who was traveling back
to Possibility. Winter seemed enraged to see her and accused Peril of
conspiring with Queen Scarlet. They started to fight, and Peril
accidentally burned Winter very badly while trying to get away from the
fight. Turtle rushed to the commotion along with the others, and he was
revealed to be an animus, just like two of his sisters, while healing
Winter. Everyone was surprised by this, but Turtle assured them that his
soul was perfectly fine at the moment. Moon then told Peril about the
prophecy.

Peril flew off in a fit and ran into a SkyWing decked out in jewelry. He
claimed that he was her father, Soar. He told her to follow him and led
her right to Queen Scarlet. After Scarlet ripped off Soar's necklace, he
was revealed to be a RainWing named Chameleon with unalterable green
scales, who grudgingly hated RainWings for banning him from the
Rainforest Kingdom due to his scales. He admitted to being the one who
harmed Kinkajou because she probably would have laughed at him like the
rest of his tribe. He told Peril about his animus powers and offered to
give her an enchanted necklace of chains that can remove her firescales.
Peril agreed, and under the enchantment, became completely loyal to
Queen Scarlet and forgot completely about Clay, assisting the former
SkyWing queen to take back her Sky Kingdom|kingdom.

### Part 3: A New Peril

Scarlet, Peril, and Soar entered the Sky Kingdom, and many SkyWings they
passed were still afraid of Peril because they did not know of the
enchantment. They entered the wingery, where Scarlet was humiliated by
some of the dragonets, but she ignored them and asked for her grandson,
Cliff. They captured the prince and brought him into the throne room,
planning to hold him for ransom until Ruby came and agreed to give up
her kingdom in order to keep her son safe. Ruby accused Peril of killing
Tourmaline and betraying her friends, which Scarlet replied to by saying
that Tourmaline still alive, but hidden. Ruby was shocked, but Scarlet
dismissed this quickly and forced her to give up her kingdom. An unknown
MudWing, seemingly one of Ruby's soldiers, asked Peril what Clay would
think. Peril is confused and asked who Clay was, making Ruby realize
that there is a spell over Peril. Peril stated that she was only
"following orders" from the first Queen. Ruby ordered two of her
soldiers to lock her up in one of the dungeons where Kestrel was held.

Later on, Peril and Soar were in charge of guarding Cliff, but after
putting him in the highest prison tower under the impression that he
could not fly, they soon realized that Cliff was lying and managed to
escape. Meanwhile Ruby had also escaped from the specially-designed
prison cell. Scarlet found out and burst into the room. As Ruby was
pinned down, Scarlet revealed her plans of making Cliff a murderer like
Peril, claiming that "he'll be my adorable little weapon." Seeing that
Scarlet was planning to manipulate him, Peril learned of the animus
enchantment on herself and accused her father, Chameleon, of betraying
her. She ripped off the necklace and remembered her loyalty to Clay, and
attempted to kill Scarlet. However, Ruby stopped her, saying that it was
her battle, not Peril's.

Ruby declared a battle for the throne. The SkyWings flew up to the
highest spire to see them battle. Ruby was being beaten by Scarlet and
losing the fight until Peril burned her earring that she claimed was
given to her by her sister Tourmaline and showed everyone that Ruby was
Tourmaline all along. Scarlet then admitted that she made up Ruby
because Tourmaline was becoming too dangerous. Tourmaline then out of
pure emotion finished the duel by shouting "For the SkyWings!" and
snapping Scarlet's neck, ending her terrible reign and life. The
SkyWings cheered, and Peril heard Turtle in the crowd. He explains that
he came to rescue her. Cliff then started to cry after seeing that Ruby,
his mother as he knew her as had been turned into Tourmaline a stranger
to him. The SkyWing queen then ordered Chameleon after learning that he
was the one that had first changed her to turn her back into Queen Ruby.

Then a SkyWing party was held to celebrate, and orchestras gathered
around for Ruby's coronation. Chameleon was then forced to make her Ruby
yet again. Peril also apologized to Ruby for the eggs on the Brightest
Night. Tourmaline/Ruby forgave her, saying that she was no longer in
exile. But a guard abruptly disturbed the moment crashing onto the
balcony, saying that Chameleon had escaped. Turtle then decided to bring
Peril and the rest of their Jade Mountain Academy#Winglets|winglet to
search for him. Peril then told the story to Moon, making her desperate
to get it back so that they could finally put it back into good hands.

As they searched the area, they saw a NightWing, Shapeshifter, who was
Chameleon in disguise. Peril threatened to try to get him to give the
Darkstalker's scroll|scroll back, but he then said that scales as hot as
Peril's could not burn him, and he was well protected, "foreseeing"
death among the five. Winter wanted to get vengeance after what he did
to Kinkajou, but suddenly, Turtle used his animus abilities so that
Shapeshifter's armor started to shake and attacked him. The scroll was
flung out of his talon, into Turtle's. Angry, Chameleon said, "I'll find
you! I'll take it back! You'll be sorry! It's mine, it's mine, it's
mine!"

The five huddled around a fire, discussing what to do with it. Moon
mentioned that it already belongs to someone. She revealed that there
was an animus dragon who was trapped. Winter immediately realized that
she was talking about Darkstalker. They agreed to talk about it in the
morning. As Peril woke up, they saw that Moon was gone, taking the
scroll with her. Qibli told Peril to fly ahead, and that the rest of
them would catch up with her. Once Peril arrived at Jade Mountain, she
saw Moon, who was crying.

Moon told her about how Darkstalker had enchanted Arctic to be his slave
and made him disembowel himself. The rest of the winglet arrived, and
after seeing that Moon had not set him free, they started discussing
what they could use it for. Qibli started talking about what he could do
for Thorn, but Winter argued back. Moon tried to shut them up as well as
Darkstalker, and Peril realized that good dragons could fight for power
and the scroll was too dangerous. Peril burned the scroll, and suddenly,
the ground started shaking and splitting apart. Turtle thought that this
was the prophecy as a dragon slowly rose out of the ground. The book
ended with Darkstalker thanking Peril for all of her help.

### Epilogue

In the epilogue, Starflight was working late in the library and heard
Anemone walking through the halls. Anemone said that she had a
nightmare. When Starflight asked what it was about, the SeaWing princess
replied that she felt the earth shaking beneath her feet. She added in a
whisper: "It felt like something slithering over my grave."

## Mistakes

  - Peril's tail slips into a pond and "immediately boiled the two fish
    swimming there." However, when she is later swimming in the lake
    leading into Possibility, fish flap against her scales without
    burning or boiling.
  - The spell on Peril was only described to remove her firescales and
    memory of Clay and make her loyal to Scarlet. Nevertheless, it
    appeared to remove Jade Mountain memories as well.
  - When Peril wears the enchanted necklace given to her by Chameleon,
    it did not melt. Yet, everyone still believes she has firescales.
  - Turtle states Peril cannot hurt him as long as he is in the water
    even though he witnessed Peril boiling the fish.

## Trivia

  - In the first release of the cover of Escaping Peril, only Peril's
    iris was white-blue, later her entire eye was changed to blue for
    the final book cover.[2]
  - The paperback release does not feature Scarlet on the back
    cover.[3]

## International Releases

  - 'Chinese:' 火翼飞龙. 龙魂泯灭的假面女王 (July 2017)
  - 'French:' Les Royaumes de Feu. La Mission de Péril (April 2018)
  - 'Russian:' Драконья сага. Преодоление Беды (January 2019)
  - 'German:' Wings of Fire. Perils Flucht (January 2021)
  - 'Korean:' 불의 날개와 선택의 시간 (October 2022)
  - 'Finnish:' Vaaran valinta (March 2024)