(This is the page for the book titled "The Brightest Night." You may be looking for the The Brightest Night (graphic novel)|graphic novel or the
Brightest night|event instead.)  'The Brightest Night' is the fifth and
final book in the first arc of the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire. The main protagonist is
Sunny. The book was officially released on March 25th, 2014.

The Brightest Night follows The Dark Secret and precedes Moon Rising.

## Summary

One will have the power of wings of fire . . .

Sunny has always taken The Dragonet Prophecy (prophecy)|the Dragonet
Prophecy very seriously. If Pyrrhia's dragons need her, Clay, Tsunami,
Glory, and Starflight to end the War of SandWing Succession|war, she's
ready to try. She even has some good ideas on how to do it, if anyone
would listen to her.

But shattering news from Morrowseer has shaken Sunny's faith in their
destiny. Is it possible for anyone to end this terrible war and choose a
new SandWing queen? What if everything they've been through was for
nothing?

Buried secrets, deadly surprises, and an unexpected side to scavengers
are all waiting for her in the shifting sands of the desert, where Sunny
must decide once and for all: Is her destiny already written?

Or can five Talons of Peace#Dragonets of destiny|dragonets change their
fate and save the world . . . the way they choose?

## Quote on Back of Hardcover

It was Clay, with his wings shielding Starflight. Starflight's front
talons were covering his eyes, and long burns were blistering along his
scales. As soon as they reached the open air, he collapsed to the
ground.

"Stay back!" Tsunami shouted ferociously at the dragons who were
flapping around them.

"Starflight!" Sunny cried, feeling a stab of guilt. He's hurt. I never
should have left my friends with Morrowseer. She jumped forward, trying
to squeeze through the crowd of frantic dragons to get to him.

But suddenly talons wrapped around Sunny's snout and shoulders, and she
was yanked backward into the dark trees.

## Dedication

For Adalyn — may you be fierce and brave and sunny, and may you always
choose your own destiny.

## Plot

### Prologue: Twenty Years Ago …

The book began with a flashback to twenty years before the events of the
first arc, right before the war began. Queen Oasis heard a noise in the
SandWing treasure|treasury and went to investigate, running into Blister
and Blaze in the hallway. Oasis noted how Blaze would be an awful queen
but was a good daughter, how she and Burn had different interests but
got along, and how Blister had always made her feel uneasy. She realized
that scavengers had stolen some of the most important treasure in her
possession, including the Eye of Onyx. Oasis went out to find and attack
them and told Blister to get Burn for backup. Queen Oasis went out to
eliminate the thieving scavengers but realized that she had forgotten to
lock up the treasury. She thought about the possibility that that
Blister might take something but resolved to punish her badly if she
did. She reflected that Blister may not be getting Burn, but she saw
that there were only three scavengers and decided to deal with them
herself. She approached them, and the prologue ended with the
foreshadowing, "After all … what's the worst that could happen?"

### Part 1: The Shifting Sands

Sunny fled from the NightWing island|Night Kingdom after Morrowseer told
her that the prophecy was false and that her destiny was never real. She
kept wondering what would happen to her and the other dragonets as she
returned to the Rainforest Kingdom|rainforest. She bumped into a
NightWing and listened as Queen Glory began talking to the NightWings
about what was expected of them. Two RainWings then dragged Mastermind
forward, telling Glory he should be punished. Glory had him bound, but
before anything else happened, Fatespeaker, Tsunami, Clay, and
Starflight came out of the tunnel, escaping a massive fireball. Clay put
Starflight on the ground, and before Sunny could get to him, she was
dragged into the forest by three NightWings.

The three NightWings, revealed to be Preyhunter, Fierceteeth, and
Strongwings, revealed their plans to use Sunny as a bargaining chip to
win the NightWing throne. Sunny tried to derail their efforts by
belittling herself but ended up feeling guilty about it. Preyhunter then
revealed the Animus enchantments|Obsidian Mirror and used it to spy on
Glory. In the image, Glory told Jambu to count all of the NightWings,
but upon realizing that Jambu could not count, changed her mind and had
Deathbringer do it instead. Preyhunter then called Deathbringer a
traitor. Clay appeared in the image with an update on Starflight's
injuries. Tsunami appeared and mentioned that Sunny was upset and said
not to worry about her. When Glory asked why Sunny was upset and heard
why, she got mad and started ranting at dead Morrowseer, promising to
bite his head off, stuff him in a volcano, and kill him again. Clay and
Tsunami belittled Sunny's faith in the prophecy, angering Sunny. The
NightWings debated selling Sunny for a reward and decided on Burn. At
that moment, Sunny bit Fierceteeth's tail and fled, being pursued by the
three NightWings.

Sunny soon managed to get away from them, and when they gave up, Sunny
decided to prove her friends wrong about her and followed the dragons.
They stopped near Jade Mountain, and Sunny managed to steal the Obsidian
Mirror leaving the NightWings a cryptic, threatening message on a large
flat rock. Sunny left to find her friends, and used the Obsidian Mirror
to spy on Blister along the way. She heard that Blister was planning to
kill Burn, but was unable to figure out how. She then spied on the
NightWings and heard Fierceteeth yelling when she realized the Mirror
was missing. Strongwings was terrified by her messages, claiming that it
must be the work of The Darkstalker, but Fierceteeth dismissed this.
They soon decided to keep going without the mirror and Sunny followed
them through the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. While following them,
Sunny found the remains of a Human settlements|scavenger den. She
marveled at the craftsmanship and wondered how the scavengers made the
village. Sunny then continued to follow them to the desert. The three
NightWings went to the Scorpion Den first, to send a message to Burn.

When Sunny arrived at the Scorpion Den, she watched the NightWings try
to gain entry. She decided to bury the Obsidian Mirror, to keep it safe,
and when the NightWings were admitted, Sunny followed them. She was
intercepted instantly by a SandWing who introduced himself as Six-Claws.
Sunny tried to deny that she was following the NightWings, but Six-Claws
did not appear to buy it. When Sunny gave up and said, "Yes, I'm
following them because they tried to kill me," he gave her a tip, "When
a dragon tries to kill you, run the other way." He explained about the
Scorpion Den on the way to see Thorn. When they arrived, Thorn
questioned the NightWings about Morrowseer and was told the NightWing
prophet was dead. This angered her, and so she proceeded to kill
Preyhunter, as she believed he was lying.

Thorn tried to get a more satisfying answer out of Fierceteeth and
Strongwings, but they backed up Preyhunter's story. To save Starflight's
sister, Sunny confirmed the tale. Thorn asked who she was and the two
NightWings tried to ask for a message to Burn, but Thorn refused. Then
Fierceteeth claimed that Sunny was the SandWing dragonet of destiny.
Thorn dismissed the NightWings to "someplace unpleasant" and further
questioned Sunny about her past. Thorn then revealed that she was
Sunny's mother.

Soon afterward, a dragonbite viper was reported near an orphanage that
had caught fire. Thorn left to confront the issue, leaving Sunny with
Qibli but soon fell asleep afterwards. When Sunny woke up, Six-Claws was
waiting for her so he could escort her to the party Thorn was throwing
for her. However, Addax and some other SandWings appeared, holding Ostrich, Six-Claws' daughter, as a hostage. Addax
explained that the dragonbite viper was simply a hoax to distract Thorn.
He wanted Sunny so that he could give her to Burn in exchange for his
return to the SandWing heir's army. Sunny told Six-Claws to make the
trade, and he was forced to allow Sunny to go with Addax to SandWing
stronghold|Burn's stronghold.

### Part 2: Burn's Stronghold

Sunny faltered while nearing the stronghold, smelling the rotting heads
of decapitated dragons hanging on the walls. Sunny remembered where she
had first seen Addax, at Scarlet's SkyWing palace|palace. Smolder,
Burn's brother, took Sunny out of Addax's possession and escorted her to
Burn's weirdling tower, where she would be held prisoner. Smolder told
Sunny that three scavengers had killed Queen Oasis, and they encounter
Scarlet and Flower, Smolder's pet scavenger. While there, she saw a
white dragonet with no wings, only small buds were the wings were
supposed to be, and it is conjectured that this might be a SilkWing. He
apologetically chained Sunny to the upper level of the tower, promising
to take her out for a walk later.

Smolder returned to unchain her. He let it slip that the Eye of Onyx was
needed for anyone to be the next SandWing queen. During their walk, the
stronghold was attacked by Thorn and the Outclaws. At the same time,
Sunny discovered that Peril had come to save Queen Scarlet. Sunny
convinced her to help, by making the Outclaws and Smolder's army stop
fighting. Peril stopped the fight and Thorn along with the Outclaws
starts searching for Sunny, but Thorn quickly dismissed the search as
Sunny appeared in front of her. Thorn suggested touring the palace and
headed to the library. Smolder then told Thorn that she had a letter
from someone that was intercepted when he took them to look at it, he
locked Thorn and Sunny in the library. Thorn discovered that Smolder was
not lying about the letter, and it was from Sunny's father, a NightWing
animus named Stonemover. When they escape, Sunny left for Jade Mountain
where Thorn said her father lives. Thorn took care of the remaining
Outclaws, while Peril freed Scarlet. When Sunny lands in Jade Mountain,
she met her father, Stonemover. He admitted that he had built the
NightWing tunnels|tunnels between the Kingdom of Sand, the Rainforest
Kingdom, and the Night Kingdom. He also confirmed the prophecy was a
false statement and revealed that no NightWing has had telepathy or
precognition in over a century.

### Part 3: The Eye of Onyx

Sunny has woken up and was now ready to leave the cave. She informed
Stonemover, but he did not want her to leave. Sunny decided on a plan
and goes toward a scavenger den. She met two scavengers and names them
Fluffy and Holler. They present her with their stolen SandWing treasure.
The horde included a dreamvisitor, but not the Eye of Onyx. Later, she
returned to the rainforest and reunited with the other dragonets and
told them about everything that happened to her while she was away and
her idea to end the war, which they all agreed to.

First, Tsunami and Sunny, guided by Ochre, fly to the Talons of Peace
camp. They are greeted by Nautilus, Riptide, Avalanche, and an unknown
SandWing and IceWing. The dragons notice a small, red SkyWing flying
toward them, and Avalanche calls for Flame. The dragon, who happens to
be Flame, replies, and dives for his mother. They embrace, and Riptide
explains that Flame was taken from her while she was stationed at the
SkyWing palace. Sunny and Tsunami ask Nautilus to send a specific
message to Blister, and he agrees to do so.

Jambu and Mangrove go to the IceWings to get a message to Blaze. When
the message through the IceWings fails, Sunny used the dreamvisitor to
deliver the message to Blaze. Sunny hoped that Blaze listened, as she
did not appear to do so.

Clay and Sunny used the dreamvisitor to tell Queen Moorhen of the
MudWings to send a message to Burn. They learned of the MudWings' plan
to eliminate the IceWings and beg the queen to abandon that plan. The
queen agreed to tell Burn their message and hoped that she will not have
to attack the IceWings.

At Burn's stronghold, the three sisters meet. Blister offered Burn a
gift, to "reunite the family." The gift happened to be a box containing
two dragonbite vipers. Burn ripped off the top, seizing one of the
vipers, but she was unaware of the second one. The second viper leaped
from the box, biting Burn's ankle. She stomped on the viper, killing it,
but it is too late. The venom quickly killed the eldest and strongest of
the sisters, and Burn's dead talons fell open, releasing the first
viper.

The viper slithers about, reaching for Starflight and Sunny. Clay
knocked them out of the way but was bitten in the process. Peril,
denying Clay's imminent death, burned out the venom. She left a gaping
hole in his thigh that would scar, leaving him limping, but this saved
his life.

Blister then challenged Blaze to a one-on-one fight, only mere steps
away from the throne. Mid-battle, Flower led Sunny to the grave of Queen
Oasis, which was where the Eye of Onyx was hidden. Sunny decided to give
the Eye to Thorn, declaring that Thorn should be the new SandWing queen.
Out of rage, Blister revealed that she planned everything — from her
mother's death to Burn's, and snatched the Eye out of Thorn's talons.
The enchantment on the treasure reduced Blister to a pile of ash,
leaving only Blaze left, who accepted Thorn as the new queen. Sunny then
declared Thorn to be the queen of the SandWings, and thereby ending the
war.

### Epilogue: One Month Later …

Clay, Sunny, Tsunami, Starflight, Glory, Fatespeaker and Deathbringer
were planning out a intertribal school for young dragonets. Sunny looked
out over Jade Mountain and asked her friends to picture a school there
and whether or not it was perfect. The group agreed and pitch in their
ideas about what to do with the school and who should attend it.
Deathbringer mentioned Mightyclaws and Moonwatcher, a NightWing dragonet
whose Secretkeeper|mother hid her egg in the rainforest. Sunny told
Starflight that she does love him, but as a brother and that he should
be with Fatespeaker, who does love him. Clay mentioned that Scarlet went
missing after Peril rescued her. Tsunami thought that she could get both
Anemone and Auklet to attend the school but in the end, only Anemone
did.

The dragonets call the fulfilled prophecy "The Last Prophecy," and take
to the sky.

## Mistakes

  - On the English cover, Sunny's tongue is not forked and is pink.[1]
    Neither SandWings nor NightWings have pink or non‐forked
    tongues.[2]
  - On the summary of the hardcover book, there was an editor's mistake
    with "waiting" spelled "wailing."
  - The Unnamed characters#SandWings|SandWing guard from the Scorpion
    Den is first referred to as female then male.
  - Queen Scarlet's palace is mistakenly referred to as Burn's palace.
  - Smolder mentioned losing "[Sunny] and Scarlet in one fell swoop,"
    although Peril had not rescued Scarlet yet, and he hadn't been with
    Sunny and Peril to know what Peril was going to do.
  - Vermilion is misspelled as Vermillion in the title of Smolder's
    letter "A Letter from Smolder of the SandWings to Vermillion of the
    SkyWings on the Challenges and Joys of Scavenger Pet Ownership."

## Trivia

  - There was a Barnes & Noble exclusive edition with a tear-out,
    foldout copy of Smolder's letter to Vermilion regarding scavengers.
    This letter later appears in the last pages of Winter Turning     (book)|Winter Turning.[3]

## International Releases

  - 'Chinese:' 火翼飞龙. 预言龙和屠龙蛇的生死之战 (July 2016)
  - 'French:' Les Royaumes de Feu. La Nuit-la-plus-claire (September
    2016)
  - 'German:' Wings of Fire. Die letzte Königin (March 2017)
  - 'Italian:' I Regni del Fuoco. La Notte Delle Tre Lune (September
    2017)
  - 'Russian:' Драконья сага. Трёхлунная ночь (December 2017)
  - 'Polish:' Skrzydła ognia. Najjaśniejsza noc (January 2018)
  - 'Czech:' Ohnivá křídla. Nejzářivější noc (November 2020)
  - 'Korean:' 불의 날개와 예언의 밤 (March 2022)
  - 'Finnish:' Kirkkain yö (October 2022)