(This is the page for the book titled "Winter Turning." You may be looking for the Winter Turning (graphic novel)|graphic novel instead.)
'Winter Turning' is the seventh book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire, as well as the second
book in the second arc. The main protagonist is Winter. The book was
officially released in the United States on June 30th, 2015.

Winter Turning follows Moon Rising and precedes Escaping Peril.

## Summary

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling series soars to even
greater heights with a new prophecy and five new dragonets ready to
claim their destiny!

Daring mission … or deadly mistake?

Winter has been a disappointment to his Dragon royalty|royal IceWing
family his whole life. When his sister, Icicle, runs away from Jade
Mountain Academy, fleeing terrible crimes and possibly planning to
commit more, Winter knows that they both need a second chance to make
things right — if only he can find her.

Winter's new clawmates, Moon, Qibli, and Kinkajou, won't let him make
this dangerous journey alone. They don't seem to understand that
IceWings, the most superior of all dragons|dragon tribes, can fix their
own problems. When their search leads the dragonets straight into Queen
Scarlet's vicious talons, Winter is grateful to have some help. But even
the bravest dragons can't follow him to the Ice Kingdom, where he'll
have to face the greatest threat of all: his own family.

## Quote on Back of Hardcover

Winter hesitated for a moment. Why was he agreeing to this? An IceWing
warrior didn't need help from anyone else, least of all a pack of
misguided dragons from other tribes.

Tundra|Mother and Narwhal|Father would be more than disappointed in me.

He could see their faces so clearly; that look they got whenever he did
something wrong. The look that said, If only we'd lost you instead of
Hailstorm. If only you were everything an IceWing should be.

Shaking rain off his tail with a clatter of spikes, Winter ascended into
the storm and took off without a glance at the other dragons.

## Dedication

To Catherine and Ella, because you are awesome and could definitely save
the world (from dragons or for dragons, either way)!

## Plot

### Prologue

The book began two years earlier from Hailstorm's PoV. He took his
younger brother, Winter, out flying to find a Human
settlements|scavenger den near Sky Kingdom|SkyWing territory. Winter
became increasingly worried that they might be caught by the SkyWings,
but Hailstorm assured him that he could fight off a couple of SkyWings
if they did get caught, and they were doing this for Winter's "weird
little obsession." Hailstorm continued to boast about his position in
the Ice Kingdom and being the second-in-command of the IceWing army.

Fourteen SkyWings appeared from the trees behind them, prepared to
kidnap both IceWing princes. Hailstorm threatened to kill the SkyWings
that dared to come close with his frost breath, but the main SkyWing in
front, Ruby, did not seem to care. Hailstorm attempted to make a deal to
let Winter go and take him instead. Winter was entirely against the idea
and tried to be brave and stay with Hailstorm, so his older brother
started shaming him and calling him useless, knowing that it was the
only way to get Winter to leave. Finally, the SkyWings decide to let
Winter go and knock out Hailstorm.

Later, when Hailstorm woke up, he realized he was face to face with
Queen Scarlet. A strange SkyWing was standing near the queen's throne.
After a short discussion, Scarlet told the strange SkyWing that
Hailstorm was dangerous and needed to be imprisoned. The SkyWing turned
and approached him, making the IceWing prince feel cold with fear. She
reached for something around her neck. Hailstorm, too entranced by her
eyes to move, could not run. He noticed that her eyes were not SkyWing
eyes anymore. Her eyes were black, and they were going to "swallow him
whole."

### Part 1: A Cold Wind

The book started with a flashback to when Winter disappointed his family
when he was two years old. He was out in the IceWing palace|Ice Palace's
courtyard along with his brother and sister, Hailstorm and Icicle, his
parents, two of Queen Glacier's dragonets, and others. Tundra discussed
catching a polar bear for Glacier, stating that the first dragon to
catch one would be able to sit next to the queen at that night's feast.
After some more talking, they all set out to hunt.

Winter decided to head out towards the open sea, knowing that polar
bears were often on islands off the coast. After some searching around,
he finally spotted a female polar bear with two of her cubs. But before
he could kill them all, he noticed a lone scavenger with a spear and who
also seemed to be willing to hunt the polar bears. As Winter wonders
about it, his mother suddenly yelled at him, and Winter desperately
tried to catch the polar bears, but they disappeared into a passageway.

Disappointed in his son, Narwhal hissed at Winter, and Icicle taunted
him about the failed hunt. Winter does not look back at the scavenger,
deciding not to tell his parents about it so that they would not kill it
for the feast. The hunting incident sends Winter down to the
IceWings#Circle rankings|Fifth Circle. Winter remembered that he had
struggled to make his way back up to the rankings and tried so hard,
with no luck, to do so. He later recalled Hailstorm and his dumb
decision to leave him there and why it was all his fault, and the memory
ended. Winter was then shown standing in the middle of a rainstorm in a
forest looking at his scavenger, who was in the cage Winter built. As
Winter tried to make Bandit leave by setting him free, he heard his name
and turned around, seeing the rest of his winglet — Moon, Qibli,
Kinkajou, and Turtle, running up to him. He demanded to know why they
were all here, and Moon said they were looking for him. She also told
him about her mind-reading and prophecy powers, causing him to get
extremely angry at her for keeping that secret from him.

Later they discussed how they would go about rescuing Hailstorm from
Scarlet. Winter, not wanting all of them to go, quickly tricked Turtle
into going off to take care of Anemone and going back to Jade Mountain.
Qibli then warned Winter that it would be harder to get rid of the rest
of them. The group decided to go to the Rainforest Kingdom to find
Icicle. Qibli reasoned that Icicle would go to the Rainforest to get
Glory who is hated by Ex-Queen Scarlet for what Queen Glory did to her.
After landing next to a river, Winter was suspicious when Moon commented
on how he must hate it there because of the heat. Qibli was about to eat
an orange toad, but Moon stopped him due to its terrible effects and
offered him a dragonfruit instead. Winter mentioned how he hated fruit
and immediately tried to eat a sloth but was stopped by
Exquisite|Ex-Queen Exquisite. As they neared the NightWing village,
Deathbringer pounced on Winter, believing him to be Icicle. This
attracted Queen Glory, who was upset that she got a message from the
school saying that four five-year-olds were going off to find some
dragon who just tried to kill Starflight (Icicle), and then stopped
someone else who had tried to kill them "ninety dozen times" (Scarlet).
Winter explained that he came to search for his sister, and he requested
that no one is to get in his way. Glory told him that they were more
than capable. Glory asked Heliconia, another RainWing, to get the scout
captains to meet at RainWing royal pavilion|the pavilion as soon as
possible. Heliconia said that she should stay to guard Glory, but Glory
argued that "I think seven guards are quite sufficient," making
Deathbringer protest that there was no point in a secret invisible guard
if the queen tells everyone about it. They then met the scout team, and
Queen Glory asked if they have seen an IceWing. They all answer no, so
Moon — having heard a thought from one of the RainWings — prompted them
by asking if they have seen anything that could have resulted from an
IceWing's frostbreath. A RainWing scout replied that they had, and they
led them to the spot. They found an area frozen with frostbreath, and
then a NightWing's dead body. Queen Glory assembled search parties for
Icicle and sent Moon, Winter, Kinkajou, and Qibli to the RainWing
wingery|dragonet wingery. To escape and find Icicle before anyone else
does, they started a game of "hide-and-seek" with RainWing and NightWing
dragonets counting up to a thousand. Unfortunately, the dragonets could
not count, giving the team less time. While they were distracted, Winter
froze a hole in the wall, and the four of them jump through. Kinkajou
explained that the dragonets would not give up until they have searched
every square inch of the wingery. Winter planned to ditch them and go
home or find Icicle himself but failed to execute the plan after Moon
alerted the group of a nearby search party. The group hid under a nearby
fallen tree to avoid getting caught.

After the search party left, Winter wondered if Moon was right, that he
did have a confusing mind. He remembered his first rankings test with
Hailstorm and Icicle, and he wondered why his winglet risked their lives
for him. He wondered if he could ditch them now, as they were
distracted. Kinkajou reprimanded Winter, telling him, "The words you're
looking for are thank you." Winter decided maybe it would be better to
follow them, just for a little while longer. They later arrive at the
secret NightWing tunnels|NightWing island tunnel. The group marveled at
how Kinkajou survived as a NightWing prisoner and how she did not hold a
grudge against them. They found a huge dragon that got caught in the
volcanic eruption and died with its talons up, most likely Morrowseer.
Winter told the story of Arctic and Foeslayer, and how she kidnapped the
Animus magic|animus dragon. They later had Dragons|eggs, and one of them
was Darkstalker. Each IceWing was only allowed to use their animus magic
once, to create a gift for the tribe. Moon started to hear a scraping
sound, so the group follows it. Thus, finding Winter's wounded sister,
Icicle.

When they found her, Icicle was in horrible condition. Her wounds from
Jade Mountain Academy had not healed, she was covered in red and blue
blood, and she had not slept to avoid seeing Scarlet in her dreams.
Icicle explained that she would sit by the lava when she got tired, and
the heat would wake her up. Kinkajou attacked Icicle because she
insulted Queen Glory, but right before Icicle killed her, Glory shot her
with a tranquilizer dart and arrested Icicle for "murder and attempted
murder." As Icicle tried to fight sleep, Winter whispered to her to make
Scarlet tell her the truth, and that if she did, Winter would kill
Glory. Kinkajou admitted to leaving a trail for the queen to find them.
Qibli asked Moon if she could get into Icicle's dream and find out what
Scarlet is telling her. Moon replied that she was trying but that Icicle
was sleeping too deeply to dream.

When Winter woke up back at the RainWing village, Moon explained to
Winter that Scarlet has left. Winter then asked Moon if Icicle was
alright and if Scarlet said anything about Hailstorm. Moon replied that
she trusted that Winter would not kill Glory because if Winter did, he
might start a war between the IceWings and Glory's two tribes. Moon
stated that she thought Winter would not kill any dragonets and that
Winter did not just think about himself, that he thought about his tribe
too. Winter said that sometimes he only knew one thing: that he hoped he
would never hurt Moon. Kinkajou then popped up behind Winter and
exclaimed she figured it out. Moon followed Kinkajou into the pavilion
as Winter calmed himself. As Winter stepped in, he saw Kinkajou under
the firefly jars. Moon drew a picture of a mountain that she saw behind
Scarlet when the ex-queen was Animus enchantments|dreamvisiting Icicle.
No one recognized it, but Moon said it would be easy to track Scarlet
down, now that they knew she was near an oddly shaped mountain. Kinkajou
commented on how awesome Moon's powers were and how lucky she was.

### Part 2: In the Claws of the Clouds

Deathbringer could not identify the mountains that Moon saw but told
them that the Talons of Peace might have a SkyWing that could. The four
dragonets and Deathbringer headed off to find them and passed by a
scavenger den. The scavengers tried to hit Qibli with a weapon, most
likely a ballista, but Winter blasted frostbreath at the spear, knocking
it off course. He told them to move to a higher spot to avoid being hit.

After explaining and drawing the weapon for Qibli, Winter was attacked
by Squid. Riptide, who had followed Squid, told him to leave the
dragonets alone. He could not identify the mountains either, so he
called other dragons, including Cirrus and Pyrite. Winter did not
remember Cirrus because Cirrus had been in the Talons of Peace before he
was born. Pyrite remembered the mountains and offered to lead them to
it. Winter touched her scales and identified her as an animus dragon.

While everyone was asleep that night, Winter told Moon about his theory.
Moon said to him that Pyrite's thoughts were all the same as if she did
not think anything else. They wondered if she could be the part of the
prophecy; "Beware the one who is not what she seems." However, Qibli
pointed out that Pyrite could not be an animus because the SkyWings had
not had one possibly as long as the IceWings.

In the morning, they saw the mountain peak and found a scale, which
Pyrite identified as Scarlet's. They searched the valley, but with no
signs other than the destroyed structure where the scale was found.
Scarlet visited Winter's dreams that night and told Winter that she
would kill Hailstorm in the morning. After realizing that Scarlet must
have seen them dreamvisit him, Moon, Qibli, and Winter headed off to
find Scarlet. They were able to find her and saw that Scarlet had a
NightWing ally. Scarlet decided she no longer had any use for Hailstorm
and sent the NightWing to get Pyrite. Pyrite was necessary for the death
of Hailstorm.

The trio flew back to their camp, waking up Pyrite and Kinkajou. Winter
started fighting with Pyrite, and then Kinkajou shrieked upon the
NightWing's arrival. He struck her three times and then knocked her into
a tree. Moon and Winter sprayed fire and frostbreath on him until he
flew away. While Moon saw to Kinkajou's wounds, Winter took off Pyrite's
special necklace. When he did, Pyrite turned into Hailstorm. Hailstorm
had almost no memories of the past two years and tried to remember more,
but it was difficult for him. Their reunion was cut short when they
recalled Kinkajou's current state.

The trio took turns carrying Kinkajou to Possibility, a town where the
Kingdom of Sand meets the Sky Kingdom. Moon and Kinkajou were taken to a
MudWing doctor named Mayfly. Hailstorm, Qibli, and Winter waited in the
garden, where they disassembled Pyrite's necklace, discovering a strange
piece of paper inside that read:

Enchant this paper so that when any dragon wears it in the form of a
necklace, he or she shall fully become a female SkyWing named Pyrite,
with the following conditions:

(1) Completely loyal to Queen Scarlet and the SkyWing tribe

(2) Insecure and weak

(3) No memory of his or her former identity

(4) Compelled to wear this necklace at all times with life-or-death
urgency

Winter wanted to try on the necklace to see what it felt like being
Pyrite and to see what Hailstorm went through. But before he tried it
on, Qibli ripped off number four to see if Winter could take it off.
Winter tried it on and ultimately regretted his choice. Winter forgot
everything about being an IceWing until he took the necklace off.

After Hailstorm made a fool of himself, Winter decided to take Hailstorm
back to the IceWing kingdom. Moon was trying to make him stay, but he
left and told Moon that they were never friends and he could never trust
a NightWing. Then he and his brother left and went to the Ice Kingdom.

### Part 3: Beneath the Ice

As they went to the Ice Kingdom, Winter explained the Great Ice Cliff
for Hailstorm to remember. He said it was animus touched that if any
dragon from another tribe were to pass, they would die. As they entered
the palace, Winter and Hailstorm met their father, who said, "So. My two
sons have returned to me. One I thought would never come back — the
other I hoped never would." Winter looked at the rankings and saw Icicle
and himself in the last two places. Narwhal was extremely displeased
with Winter for his actions, but Hailstorm claimed Winter did so to save
his life. The next day during a rankings ceremony, Narwhal added
Hailstorm back into the rankings. However, he was placed at the bottom
of the Seventh Circle. Winter was moved into first place for bringing
Hailstorm home. Hailstorm then attempted the IceWings#Diamond
Trial|Diamond Trial, which took place at sunset the next day. On the
flight there, Winter told Queen Glacier everything that had happened
since he left Jade Mountain. However, he left out a few things. Once
they arrived at the Ice Kingdom#Diamond Caves|Diamond Caves, Glacier
made a short speech. Winter and Hailstorm then entered the Diamond
Caves.

Hailstorm and Winter went deep into the ice caves. Winter was appalled
to see that there were almost a hundred dragons encased in ice.
Hailstorm then flew over to the spot where Foeslayer was frozen. He
tapped on the frozen dragon, bringing Foeslayer to life. They introduced
themselves, and then Hailstorm attempted to kill her. Foeslayer was
about to stab him with the spear when Winter knocked her aside. Winter
tried to make scenarios where they both lived, but Hailstorm disagreed
with all of them. Foeslayer requested for one of them to kill her, which
Hailstorm did. Winter then told Hailstorm to go out and claim victory
and that he would sneak out later and stay away from the Ice Kingdom.
Several hours later, Winter revived Foeslayer and told her how much she
stole when she took away the tribe's animus dragons. She argued that the
IceWings might have used the magic for evil and revealed that she did
not steal Prince Arctic. Winter freed Foeslayer and proceeded to go with
her, as she knew exactly where the "lost city of night" was.

### Epilogue

Darkstalker listened in on the thoughts of various dragons at Jade
Mountain. He learned that Onyx was planning something with some old
dragon and thought about how the possible futures would play out and if
they would work to his advantage. After studying Anemone's futures and
reading her mind, he moved on to Peril. He theorized that she might be
the "Talons of Power and Fire" and noted that she could change
everything.

### A Letter From Smolder of the SandWings to Vermilion|Vermillion of the SkyWings

A letter from Smolder of the SandWings to Vermilion of the SkyWings is a
letter shown by the end of the special editions of The Brightest Night and hardcover versions of Winter Turning. It
is written by Ex-Prince Smolder to Prince Vermilion on how to raise
scavengers and includes artwork of Smolder and his scavenger, Rose.

## Mistakes

  - On the English cover, the inside of Winter's ears are shown to be
    pink,[1] but IceWing blood is dark blue or purplish.
  - The term birthday is used instead of hatching day.
  - The term people is used instead of dragons.
  - The rabbits Moonwatcher catches are later described as squirrels.
  - The peaches Kinkajou gathers are later described as cherries.
  - 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.

## International Releases

  - 'Chinese:' 火翼飞龙. 勇闯冰翼国的钻石炼狱 (July 2016)
  - 'French:' Les Royaumes de Feu. Le piège de glace (September 2017)
  - 'Russian:' Драконья сага. Сердце Холода (November 2018)
  - 'German:' Wings of Fire. Winters Wandlung (December 2020)
  - 'Korean:' 불의 날개와 얼어붙은 시간 (August 2022)
  - 'Polish:' Skrzydła Ognia. Koniec Zimy (March 2022)
  - 'Finnish:' Talven soturi (September 2023)