Darkness of Dragons

Darkness of Dragons is the tenth book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire and the fifth book in the second arc. The main protagonist is Qibli. The book was officially released on July 25th, 2017.

Darkness of Dragons is preceded by Talons of Power and is followed by The Lost Continent.

Summary

Time is running out.

Qibli knows Darkstalker must be stopped. And he knows he could stop him — if he had magic. With even a sliver of the ancient dragon's all-powerful scroll, Qibli could rewrite history the right way: end war forever, make every dragon happy, perhaps even cast a very small spell so that everyone would like him...

Instead, as Darkstalker's dangerous influence spreads across Pyrrhia, entrancing or killing every dragon in the seven tribes, Qibli can only grasp the small animus objects he's borrowed from Turtle. With some clever thinking, Qibli's talons finally hold the power to make a difference.

But prophecies are not easy to rewrite. Can Qibli be the magical force Pyrrhia needs, or will he be the one to bring Jade Mountain — and his family, his friends, his whole world — crashing down?

Quote on back of hardcover

"Um," said Qibli, "Wait. How exactly do we know Darkstalker is humble and unambitious now?"

"Because it's obvious," Winter said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like he immediately demanded to be made king of the NightWings or anything."

With impeccable comic timing, the slate in Qibli's pouch gave a little jump. He waited until no one was looking, then pulled it out and hid it under his desk. The message from Turtle appeared, agonizingly slowly.

Darkstalker wants to be NightWing king. NightWings deciding what they want.

Qibli nearly laughed, but he didn't want to draw attention to the slate.

Oh, and also, it was too terrifying to be funny.

Dedication

For Elliot and Jonah, my heroes and my heart, who make me happy every single day

With thanks to Robert Doar and Aayush Srivatsa for Typhoon and to Amy Doar for supporting Lifting Hands International

Plot

Prologue

The prologue was from Palm's perspective. She was shown running away from Queen Oasis' soldiers, who intended to take her back to the SandWing Palace and execute her for having eggs with Smolder, which could lead to more challengers for the SandWing throne. She fled, running for hours in the baking sun, and tried to find the home of her sister, whom she had not visited in a year. On the verge of passing out, she found her sister, Prickle, in her hut near an oasis. Prickle reluctantly let Palm in, and they started arguing about how she should not have been with Smolder. Palm begged her sister to allow her to stay even for a day. In return, Prickle took Palm's earrings, her last connection to Smolder, as payment. Palm realized that it was the only thing she could do, so she hesitantly unclipped them and gave them to her sister. Prickle examined them and decided she wanted to keep them rather than sell them, clipping them onto her own ears and demanding an explanation. Palm explained how she tried to elope with Smolder but was caught before the two could meet up. Prickle and Palm had a hunch it might have been the SandWing princesses who told the queen about their attempted elope.

After a while, the guards then burst in, arresting Prickle by mistake since the sisters were almost completely identical and she was wearing Palm's earrings. Agave, who was one of the guards, recognized the real Palm but did not mention it, as the two had been good friends when they were dragonets (because Palm had noticed how shy and scared Agave was in the hatchery), allowing Palm to escape. Palm lied and pretended to be Prickle for the sake of her dragonet, and they took Prickle away. Prickle swore that she would set the moons on fire and drop them on Palm's head, which, ironically, was how she died: from skyfire falling on her head. Palm then decided to run away and travel to the mountains. As she ran away, she caught sight of three scavengers heading to the SandWing Palace, but soon forgot about it as she planned to raise her child to show that the throne did not matter and to be ordinary, in the way Smolder could not.

Part One: Storm of Sands

The book then flashed to when Moonwatcher, Turtle, Darkstalker, and the other dragons who followed him flew away from Jade Mountain Academy. Qibli noticed that the dragons fell behind Darkstalker, despite him not knowing where the village was because he acted as their leader, so they followed him. He noticed different observations about Anemone and worried about Turtle. He wondered if he should have gone with them. Qibli flashed back to his time before the Scorpion Den and his life with his horrible mother, Cobra, and siblings Rattlesnake and Sirocco. Qibli had a flashback to when he was a little dragonet and tried to steal a coconut for his mother. His mother yelled at him for not being worried about his own survival and caring too much about other dragons, drawing the attention of her client, Thorn, who became interested in Qibli. Thorn then took him in after his mother sold him to her. She soon won his loyalty when she complimented him, as she was the first one ever to have acknowledged that he had done something right. He later had a conversation with Winter, stating mentally that it seemed like "his brain is wrapped in walrus blubber," referring to Darkstalker's spell.

Winter told Qibli to stop moping in the next chapter, and Qibli protested, saying Winter was the one who was moping. Winter denied it haughtily. Qibli then modified the term to "brooding," and Winter claimed that it would be a better description, but he was not doing that either. He told Qibli that it was time to go to History Class, but Qibli said they were in the middle of history right now. Winter scoffed, saying the excitement was in the rainforest now, and they were just the footnotes, much to Qibli's disappointment and irritation. He gave up the argument, and they went to the History cave.

When they got there, Tamarin was tapping cave walls and sniffing the air, and Qibli asked her what happened. She asked Qibli if he smelt smoke, and he denied it. Tamarin decided it was just that she had not been able to get the scent of smoke cleared from her nose since the explosion. Qibli read her scale colors, and Tamarin admitted that the burns hurt and that she was worried about Kinkajou now, and Qibli agreed. He thought back to the talisman and wished his friends had let him have it so that he could have used it to help Tamarin see, and so Darkstalker would still be trapped, Kinkajou would be healed, and Moon would still be around him. Pike burst in, asking where Anemone was, and Winter responded that she went to the rainforest. Pike started freaking out about Anemone alone and unprotected and that he must go after her, so he did not get in trouble with Coral. Winter said that Turtle went with her, and Pike was not in the least reassured. Qibli pointed out that Turtle would be great at protecting her, deciding not to reveal Turtle's invisibility spell. Tamarin added that Anemone was an animus, so she could protect herself. Pike decided to go after Anemone anyway, but Webs ordered him to stay, and Pike protested to no avail at all.

Webs said that since the Jade Winglet and Gold Winglet had shortages in population, the Silver Winglet will be joining them. Qibli was excited as his friend, Ostrich would be joining him. However, Ostrich was not among her winglet, much to his disappointment. Thrush asked if they could learn about Darkstalker, and Changbai agreed, saying he did not seem like the legends. Boto was worried if Darkstalker was likely to murder them. Webs was irked, saying Darkstalker's legend happened 3,000 years after where they currently were in their lesson, but Tamarin interjected, saying they desperately needed to know about him now. Winter snapped that they could see what Darkstalker was like without a history scroll, adding that he trusted his own instincts more than a scroll. Sepia and Winter then started pointlessly arguing about who was more villainous, Icicle, or Sora. Qibli interjected, saying Icicle did try to kill Glory and Starflight, which did not help Winter at all. Webs finally gave in, telling what he knew about Darkstalker. Qibli received a message on Turtle's slate saying that Darkstalker wanted to be king. Sunny then entered the classroom and asked to have a moment with Qibli, only for him to learn that Ostrich was missing from the school.

Qibli and Sunny searched Anemone's room and found animus enchanted bands that can control the weather, which Sunny took. After searching the mountain with Sunny, Qibli realized that Onyx was also missing and was upset that Ostrich was in danger because of him. Turtle sent him a message that said Darkstalker was the new NightWing king. Qibli then got frustrated at Turtle for not adding more details. Then, Qibli tried to put his earring on Winter, but Winter refused, saying it would clash horribly with his scales. Then, Qibli thought of trying to multiply his earrings (that remove any of Darkstalker's spells from whoever wears it) with Turtle's bowl, meant for multiplying food. He got the bowl and got frustrated when he could not remember the command words. Peril came along and joined in with insulting the bowl, then gave Qibli the idea of asking the bowl politely. Then, Qibli started to multiply the earrings. With the new earrings, he doubled them for Sunny, Tsunami, the other dragonets of destiny, and the students at Jade Mountain (Peril was unable to wear one due to her firescales). Sunny told Qibli that by using the dreamvisitor, she saw Ostrich with a dragon covered with tattoos, who Qibli confirmed to be his grandfather in the Scorpion Den. Qibli decided to go there, and brought Anemone's weather bands and prepared to face the terror of his grandfather to rescue Ostrich, and Winter insisted on coming along.

They got to the Scorpion Den and met Qibli's siblings, Sirocco and Rattlesnake, who brought him to his grandfather, Vulture. He greeted Qibli and assumed he must be there to join him. He told Qibli about a group he had made called the Talons of Power. Winter and Qibli realized that might be what the prophecy meant by "beware the talons of power." He also showed them a MudWing witness who confirmed that the MudWings were behind all the attacks on the Kingdom of Sand and that Thorn had not been doing anything. Then it was revealed that Cobra was being held captive. Qibli also discovered Ostrich, who was betrayed by Onyx and captured here. Qibli had the choice of freeing Ostrich and giving Thorn's secrets away or find other means of escape. He pretended to choose to join them and started writing gibberish instead of secrets, and Cobra played along by scolding him for misspelling "Capybara." Eventually, they had a chance to escape. Cobra knocked out the guards, and Winter, Ostrich, Cobra, and Qibli escaped (with Cobra's help since she knew the layout of the hideout). They confronted the MudWing, and he turned out to be Peril's father, who was pretending to be a MudWing called Bog and was working for treasure as always. They also found the hideout treasury and steal the Obsidian Mirror.

The four fled to Thorn's stronghold after Cobra dramatically blew up a dragonflame cactus. Qibli found Thorn and talked to her for a bit, having convinced her to wear an earring, which Smolder suspiciously objected to. After they exchanged quick greetings, Qibli realized something wrong and brought Thorn and the others to Ostrich, Winter, and his mother. Qibli claimed that she was meant to escape and then when inside, assassinate Thorn, so Cobra was then arrested after proving guilty. Thorn, Qibli and a SeaWing-IceWing hybrid named Typhoon discussed the trouble in the Ice Kingdom, and how there was a plague caused by Darkstalker, so Qibli asked them to bring earrings to the IceWings. Typhoon volunteered. Just as they were discussing the IceWings, Winter came inside, curious about what was going on. As soon as he heard about the plague, he attempted to take off to ask Darkstalker for help, but Qibli and the SandWing guards pinned him down. Winter breathed ice on Qibli's arm in anger, and Thorn managed to put his earring on Winter, but both he and Qibli passed out. Qibli woke up, but soon after he did, they were confronted by Vulture and the Talons of Power. Vulture claimed he had the Eye of Onyx, and that meant he should be in control of the throne, but Thorn laughed it off before revealing the real Eye of Onyx. She said that the real Eye was an animus enchanted object which only those worthy can hold, and all others would die (implying Vulture was not worthy, and would die if he held the real Eye). Qibli noticed not seeing Onyx there while his grandfather was threatening Thorn, which was strange. He warned Thorn just in time as Onyx tried to sneak attack her. It was revealed that Onyx was the daughter of Prince Smolder and Palm, which meant she was of royal blood and could take the throne.

Thorn suggested battling for the crown, and Onyx agreed. Qibli worried about Thorn's lack of royal blood and called a storm using Anemone's weather bracelets to interrupt the battle, but instead of a thunderstorm, he summoned a huge sandstorm, forcing the dragons to take cover in the palace. While waiting out the storm, Thorn revealed that the Eye does not discriminate against the lack of royal blood and instead chose the most worthy successor, so Qibli did not need to worry. After the sandstorm finally cleared up, the dragons began to clean up and dig out trapped dragons. Thorn worries about Smolder, so Qibli, Thorn, Six-Claws, and Winter go down in the dungeons. They find Onyx badly injured with Smolder by her side. Next to them was a "mad prisoner" who would not keep quiet. Onyx recognized the dragon as Prickle, who, after being captured twenty years ago, had been forgotten by Oasis. As they were discussing, from the outside, Ostrich opened the window to the dungeon and got rid of the darkness. They carried Onyx back up to the surface, and as soon as they did, Turtle sent a message to Qibli saying, "Darkstalker knows about me. Trapped in the NightWing Palace. Help!"

Part Two: King of Shadows

Qibli started panicking because Turtle did not give any useful information like where the old Night Kingdom even was. Winter and Qibli then argue about rescuing Turtle. Qibli and Winter next use the Obsidian Mirror to see their friends. When they used it on Moon, she was arguing with Kinkajou about her behavior and about Darkstalker. Moon said that they should go back to Jade Mountain, and Kinkajou agreed. Winter remarked that Kinkajou was making more sense than Moon. They then move on to Turtle, coiled in the corner of what Qibli assumed was a cell. He hoped that this was not their fault. They then move on to Darkstalker, who was praising one of his NightWing subjects for doing a good job with clearing the weeds from one of the derelict gardens. Darkstalker said that he could give the dragon some master gardener magic, and the other dragon politely declined, saying he would prefer seeing the future. Darkstalker disagreed, saying that he could see the future and one seer was enough for the tribe. He said that lots of gardeners would be great and that the other dragon could think it over. The other dragon hastily apologized and accepted Darkstalker's offer. Thorn was surprised that it was that easy for Darkstalker to use his magic to give wondrous powers, and Qibli agreed. After listening to Darkstalker greet some more of his subjects, Qibli said there was only one thing they can do, and that was to go back to Jade Mountain. He said that Moon and Kinkajou should be there in a few days. He shook his head, saying he wants to get Turtle now. He also thought about how Moon and Kinkajou were in danger every second. Winter said to try Tsunami to see if she gave the earrings. Qibli said with a sigh that she was probably back at the academy, but he whispered the name to the mirror. This showed Tsunami yelling at a captor that she evidently cannot see. The chapter ends when Qibli, Thorn, and Winter realize with horror Tsunami was not at Jade Mountain and was a hostage.

The two set off to the Kingdom of Night, finding Anemone on the way, trapped in Darkstalker's spell to "shut up." Qibli freed her by giving an earring, and the three head off to find Darkstalker. At the Night Kingdom, Winter worried about the spell bordering the kingdom that killed IceWings, but the spell was blocked because of the earring. The IceWings called that area "Darkstalker's Teeth." In the Night Kingdom, Darkstalker was testing out powers with the NightWings, all of them fighting with each other in an arena. Qibli and Winter realized that Darkstalker was planning revenge against the IceWings. They found Kinkajou but realized Bog was there too. They developed a plan to take away his forms, and Qibli approached him when he turns into Shapeshifter. Qibli calmly told Bog a lie that he ran into Peril in Possibility, and she asked Qibli to buy a matching earring for him if they ever ran into him. Bog angrily accepted the earring, but he was reverted into his normal RainWing form. He got furious, but Kinkajou knocked a brick down from the tower, hitting Chameleon's head, and he is knocked out. As they entered the library, Qibli found Moon, and everyone reunited. Qibli offered Moon an earring to protect her. Darkstalker came up to them and asked about the earring suspiciously. He also introduced them to what seems to be Clearsight in the present time.

"Clearsight" was very monotone, and she did not seem to be interested in being a seer again. Darkstalker said that they are getting married and that she was tired, so they go away. Moon was very confused about this, as they go to their apartment where Winter, Anemone, and Kinkajou are at. Qibli gave her the earring, and Anemone gave Moon skyfire, but she said that she does not feel any different and genuinely likes Darkstalker. Winter got so shocked about it that he accidentally broke one of the vases. Qibli tried to intervene, which causes more trouble. Moon and Kinkajou threw the broken pieces away. Qibli explained to Moon that Darkstalker created the plague that targeted the IceWings and locked Turtle away. They agreed that Anemone and Kinkajou should go off to rescue Turtle, while Moon and Qibli go to confront Darkstalker.

They found Darkstalker testing his spells out on the dragon who appeared to be Clearsight, trying to get her "perfect". He eventually gave up and groaned that he really missed Clearsight. The dragon he was experimenting on turns out to be Fierceteeth. Moon walked up to Darkstalker, saying that enchanting and rewriting someone like that was wrong. She also told him that he created the IceWing plague. Darkstalker protested that the IceWings would have killed them anyways, which Moon replied that they were at peace until Darkstalker came along. Darkstalker reverted Clearsight back into Fierceteeth and sent her to tell the NightWings they were at war.

Part Three: The Light of Dragons

The IceWings decided to go to war with the NightWings because of Darkstalker's plague that killed twenty IceWings, including their queen. The IceWings flew to Jade Mountain Academy to demand the whereabouts of Darkstalker and were confirmed to be the "ice" in the Jade Mountain Prophecy. The NightWings arrived shortly, and a battle sprang out between the two tribes, killing Winter's father as well as many other dragons.

Qibli summoned a storm using Anemone's weather bands in attempt to stop the IceWings' and NightWings' fighting. The storm quickly went out of control, and Qibli realized that the "thunder" that would bring down Jade Mountain in the prophecy was his storm. He got Anemone to drive off the storm and told the dragonets of destiny to evacuate the school and the rest of the students just in case.

Qibli then retreated to Moon, Turtle, Kinkajou, and Anemone just as Moonwatcher received a new vision about a strawberry picking NightWing. Anemone sent away the storm a few moments later. Moon suggested trying to talk to Darkstalker through his mind, and Qibli agreed, despite the fact she might be overwhelmed with the ongoing battle around them.

After thinking over Moon's ability to connect with other dragons with her mind-reading, Qibli devised a spell that connected the minds of all the IceWings and NightWings to realize the thoughts of the other side, and make both sides show compassion for each other, and then teleported them back to their own kingdoms after a hundred heartbeats. Anemone was the one to cast the spell using Qibli's library card and also took off the love spell she cast on Kinkajou. The spell worked, and the two tribes are teleported home, along with Winter.

Darkstalker suddenly swooped in and carried Qibli off to his original prison under Agate Mountain. There, he asked Qibli if he wanted animus magic. He then proceeded to show him all the wonderful things he could do to bad dragons if he were to have powers, using Vulture to show him. Darkstalker wanted Qibli to be his best friend who would help guide him through tough times. The last thought Qibli had before his choice is, "Say yes." Then, he looked at Darkstalker in the eyes and told him, "No." He reasoned that there would definitely have to be something more than that. Darkstalker admitted that there would be a "tiny spell," which would enchant Qibli to not being able to do him any harm. Darkstalker did not like Qibli's meddling in the futures, where Qibli was not his best friend. However, Darkstalker noted that he could simply take off Qibli's earring and forcibly enchant him.

Just as Darkstalker was about to rip off Qibli's earring and enchant him, he heard the sound of the soul reader spinning in Qibli's bag. When it finally stopped rotating, it was pointed at Darkstalker and showed him how bad he really was, with the bottom half filled with white sand and only a few grains of black sand at the top. Darkstalker did not believe this because his soul was protected and enchanted the soul reader over again. It again showed him the same result, to Darkstalker's fury, and Qibli explained that he lost his soul not because the magic ate it away, but because of his terrible actions.

Darkstalker suddenly got a vision and was dumbfounded. He demanded to know if Moon, who was hidden behind a camouflaged Kinkajou the whole time, can see it, too. It was revealed that the vision was about Foeslayer, who was waiting for Darkstalker on the peaks of Jade Mountain. As Darkstalker flies off, Moon praises Qibli's choice of not accepting animus magic, and they fly to Jade Mountain. Foeslayer and her son embrace, and Darkstalker admitted that the soul reader saw him as an evil dragon. Foeslayer told him that he should not try to get revenge on the current IceWing tribe and wished that she could start over.

Moon then shared the vision she had of the strawberry picking NightWing dragonet. That dragonet was Darkstalker but with a new life, in which he had no animus magic or NightWing powers. Darkstalker was reluctant about this future as he eats the strawberry Foeslayer offered him. He then announced that he was immune to all other dragons' animus spells, but Kinkajou said that one dragon's magic will still work on him. Darkstalker disagreed. Kinkajou said she was right, and he asked whose. Kinkajou stated his own magic could still work on him. The strawberry that Darkstalker ate was enchanted to remove his memories and turn him into a NightWing-RainWing hybrid with no powers and no memory. Kinkajou was revealed to be the mastermind behind the enchantment, using the scraps of Darkstalker's enchanted scroll to write the spell, the ones Chameleon used to transform into his different dragon forms.

Foeslayer decided to rename him Peacemaker and rename herself Hope, using Qibli's suggestion, and went to live with what remained of the NightWings in the rainforest.

Epilogue

Peacemaker was growing up in the forest with Hope, Moon, and others. He was making mud pies and loved strawberries more than ever. Moon was thinking about deciding who she should love. She had been thinking hard for a long time and has finally made her decision. She talked for some time with Hope and Peacemaker, asking about the lost continent as Peacemaker runs off to take a nap. Hope explained that according to NightWing calculations, there was a high probability that there was another continent on their planet and suggests that she search for the Legend of the Hive, a story about the first dragons who came to live on the lost continent. Moon thanked her and leaves to go to the Kingdom of Sand, intending to do something about her vision of Jerboa and meet Qibli.

Winter (who was still hated by his family) decided to study scavengers in the wild. He had left Jade Mountain Academy and was now living in Sanctuary, the new city. Kinkajou came to talk with him, scaring away the scavengers, and he asked if Moon came with her, to which she responded no. He admitted that he was not the best towards her sometimes, and Kinkajou said he can still work to mend their relationship even though she believed Moon truly cared for Qibli. Winter realized that he does not actually hate Qibli and considered his former winglet his family. He then suggested for Kinkajou to help him catch scavengers for examination, which she responded to positively.

Peril was contemplating the new school year, excited that she was in the same Winglet as Turtle. She wandered down to the prey center, telling herself that it was to make apple sauce for the RainWings, although she really hoped that Clay would be there. When she arrived, she saw Clay and the two have a brief conversation. She then instinctively asked Clay to go flying in the rain with her, and he agreed.

Turtle read a message from Coral and Auklet. Kinkajou came up to Turtle, and they start to joke around about Anemone's love spell that she put on Kinkajou. She asked him if he could write more of the story he wrote for class earlier, and he was surprised that she actually liked it. He begins to think about how he was not perfect yet, but he was working towards being the dragon he wanted to be and was currently satisfied with himself.

Qibli was helping the SandWings rebuild Thorn's stronghold after his sandstorm disaster. He was leaving the academy behind and was going to be an advisor to Queen Thorn. During the break, Moon visited Qibli and started talking to him. She admitted her feelings for him, and Qibli said that she should be saying this to Winter right now. Moon seemed confused and said that Winter will be fine without her. Moon then told Qibli that she cannot live without him and asked if they can be together, and Qibli said yes. She also convinced him to come back to Jade Mountain. Moon then said that she had been having a vision and took Qibli to see if it was true. The two of them head off towards the further ranges of the Sand Kingdom, near the border with the Ice Kingdom, and found a dragon named Jerboa, much to Qibli's surprise. They learn that the dragon they find was actually the daughter of the original Jerboa. She said that she wanted to show them somebody: the first visitor from the Lost Continent.

Mistakes

• On the English cover, Qibli is missing his scar.
• The word people is used instead of dragons twice.
• Rattlesnake referred to herself as "sir," although she is female.
• Moorhen is incorrectly spelled as Mudhen. This is later corrected in the e-book.
• Winter is said to have pale blue eyes, even though they are dark blue.
• Qibli's narration stated Kinkajou is the "first RainWing in a century to learn to write." However, Glory and Chameleon knew how to write too.
• Darkstalker said that instead of than when he said, "I don't want to lose all my memories! I'd forget Clearsight ... She'd be even more gone that she is now!"
• Peril stated that Starflight was working on "inflammable scrolls"; however, inflammable means something that burns easily. This is likely an error as Tui meant "non-flammable."
• The word "feet" is used instead of "talons".

Trivia

• This book features a fan's character named Typhoon, belonging to a wiki user named Typhoonseawing. This was from an auction that Tui held, which ended on May 2nd, 2016.
• In a few places, the book was titled as Storm of Sands, which is both the name of Part One and the French title.
• Originally, the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons had ten sections — one for each of the featured POVs from the first arc to the second arc. However, Tui's editor stated that it felt "too epilogue-y" and too much like it would be the end of the series forever.

Gallery

Click here to see the cover gallery.

International Releases

• Chinese: 火翼飞龙. 逆转未来的草莓符咒 (March 2021)
• French: Les Royaumes de Feu. La Tempête de Sable (May 2019)
• Russian: Драконья сага. Драконья тьма (July 2019)
• German: Wings of Fire. Dunkelheit der Drachen (May 2021)
• Korean: 불의 날개와 어둠의 용 (April 2023)
• Polish: Skrzydła Ognia. Smoczy mrok (January 2025)
• Finnish: Kavala sydän (February 2025)

References

de:Darkness of Dragons fi:Kavala sydän fr:La Tempête de Sable ko:불의 날개와 어둠의 용 pl:Smoczy Mrok ru:Драконья тьма