Talons of Power (graphic novel)

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Talons of Power (graphic novel) is a comic adaptation of the ninth Wings of Fire book, Talons of Power, with art done by Mike Holmes. The book is written from the point of view of Turtle. It was released on December 30th, 2025.

Synopsis

The graphic novel adaptations of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series continue to set the world on fire!

For every villain, there is a hero ...

Turtle isn't one of the heroes he reads about in stories. If he were, he'd use his animus powers to help Pyrrhia – instead of keeping his abilities a secret, even from his own sister. Now that Darkstalker, the sinister and impossibly old dragon from Pyrrhia's most notorious legends, has returned, Turtle knows his own role is simple: hide. And stay hidden.

The more he watches Darkstalker from the shadows, the more Turtle knows that someone needs to stop the powerful dragon. A real hero. But Turtle is running out of time to find one, which means ... he might have to try to save the day himself.

The #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series soars to new heights in the ninth graphic novel adaptation, with art by Mike Holmes.

Dedication

For Alex, William, and Penelope, who are awesome! — T.T.S.

For Meredith — you've made every year better than the last, and you've done it without any magical powers. I think. — M.H.

Plot

Prologue

King Gill is worried about his female eggs in the Deep Palace's hatchery, as all of his and Coral's female eggs had been destroyed in the past five years. He decided to visit the hatchery to check in on the guard, but found Abalone sick with a growth in his neck. Gill told Abalone he would get help and found three of his sons playing in the hall. He asked them who would help him and one of the dragonets, Turtle, volunteered. Gill told Turtle to find Snapper and before returning to Abalone. After a while without any sign of Snapper, Gill decided to go get the healers, but once they were brought back to the hatchery, Abalone's growth had burst and the female eggs had been destroyed. After breaking the news to Coral, Gill spotted Turtle and told him that he failed and his sisters were dead. Coral vowed to stay in the hatchery with their next egg until she hatched while Gill ran the kingdom. She decided that this daughter would be named Anemone.

Part 1: A Dragon Awakens

After Darkstalker emerged from Agate Mountain, Turtle panicked and immediately thought about how he had to hide. He reflected on his dreams of being a hero, a writer, and loved by his mother until he failed to find Snapper and gave up on being a hero. Turtle used his animus magic to enchant a stick to hide him from Darkstalker, but after Darkstalker mentioned there being a particular dragon he wanted to meet, Turtle added to the enchantment that Darkstalker could not remember him or perceive him in the future or other dragons' minds.

Darkstalker turned his interest toward Moonwatcher, excited to see her now, but Moon was distrustful toward Darkstalker since he lied about how destroying his scroll would destroy his magic. Darkstalker told the group they should go hunting, and Winter appeared to change his mind about Darkstalker, causing Moon to become concerned that Darkstalker had put a spell on him. Moon and Qibli figured out that Darkstalker did not seem to know about Turtle, and tried to tell him to go back to Jade Mountain.

Turtle flew back to Jade Mountain Academy to warn Anemone about Darkstalker, but Anemone wanted to meet Darkstalker instead and ran off. Turtle instead went to warn the dragonets of destiny, where he overheard that some prisoners had escaped from the SandWing stronghold who might try to kill Glory. Turtle told Sunny and Tsunami that Darkstalker had awoken and would come to the academy, but Mightyclaws overheard and ran off. Sunny ran after him while Tsunami and Turtle went to the library to ask Starflight about Darkstalker. In the library, two IceWings overheard Starflight's explanation and told the teachers and Turtle that Darkstalker had killed his father, but Darkstalker showed up right then. The IceWings panicked and one tried to attack Darkstalker, but he pinned them down after their attacks did not work.

After the IceWings ran away, Darkstalker asked Starflight to find any scrolls that mentioned what had happened to Clearsight and Fathom before two NightWing students attempted to attack him while another tried to run away to the Rainforest Kingdom to warn the tribe. Darkstalker stopped them and tried to assure them that he was not a threat to the tribe before Clay and Sunny showed up. Darkstalker told Sunny that they are related, as Whiteout was Sunny's ancestor. A thunder storm appeared and Anemone called out to Darkstalker, using her enchanted bracelets to change the weather. Darkstalker told her that he was looking for her, wanting to discuss with her about protecting her soul.

Turtle met with Winter and Qibli again who say that they trust Darkstalker, but Qibli was skeptical about how Winter was acting. Peril also appeared to trust Darkstalker, but Qibli told Turtle that he should stay hidden and observe Darkstalker to make sure. Turtle watched as Darkstalker used one of Anemone's breastplates to protect his soul and then enchant a necklace to protect Anemone's. Turtle kept observing Darkstalker as he interacted with several academy students, including healing Flame's face scar with a flower, causing Flame to run off.

Moon gathered the other academy NightWings to officially introduce them to Darkstalker. To gain their trust, Darkstalker used his magic to give each of them a superpower: Mindreader the ability to read minds, Mightyclaws the ability to make anything he drew real, and Fearless super strength. He also revealed to the others that Moon had the power to read minds and see the future, despite Moon not wishing to. Darkstalker then sensed something, and Moon realized that Stonemover was being attacked. Darkstalker, Moon, Sunny, Mindreader, Anemone, and Turtle all flew to Stonemover's cave to find him barely alive.

Anemone used one of the prey bones scattered around the cave to find Stonemover's killer while Darkstalker used his magic to heal Stonemover, but Stonemover began to panic, saying that his claws were not his as his scales unpetrified. After Moon told him to, Darkstalker covered Stonemover in stone again. Anemone then returned with Flame, who said that he attacked Stonemover because he lied about not being able to heal his face. Darkstalker went through Flame's items and found the third dreamvisitor, claiming that Flame must be the stalker of dreams from Moon's prophecy. Darkstalker used his magic to chain Flame in the cave with Stonemover, using the bone that Anemone had originally enchanted to find him. Darkstalker then told Anemone and Mindreader that they should rest early, as he and the rest of the NightWings would be flying to the rainforest the next day. He asked Moon to go flying with him, but she told him she promised to help Starflight find scrolls for him, so he went flying alone.

Turtle returned to his cave, but did not want to spend the night alone as it reminded him of the isolation he experienced when his brothers punished him for failing to find Snapper, before he used his magic to make them forgive him. He went to Qibli and Winter's room and asked if he could sleep there. Winter eventually left after an argument over Darkstalker and Qibli told Turtle that he thought he might be under a spell. He asked Turtle if he could make him an animus, but Turtle was hesitant, so Qibli instead asked if Turtle could make him immune to Darkstalker's spells. Turtle enchanted Qibli's earring to make him immune to all of Darkstalker's spells, regardless of when they were cast, and shortly after, Darkstalker arrived to ask if Anemone had been there. Turtle realized that Darkstalker could sense when animus spells were cast and that he could not use his magic anymore. Once Darkstalker left, Turtle revealed to Qibli that the NightWings were leaving for the rainforest the next day and Qibli told Turtle that he had to go with them. Turtle gave Qibli one of his stone slabs so they could communicate.

Part 2: Rise to Power

While flying to the rainforest, Anemone questioned why Turtle came along. When they arrived at the NightWing village, Darkstalker was met by Queen Glory and Deathbringer, who had been informed of Darkstalker's awakening by Sunny. Darkstalker gave a speech to the surrounding NightWings, telling them that he wished to make them a great tribe again and challenged Glory for the NightWing tribe. Deathbringer protested, saying that Darkstalker could not rule because he was a male, and Moon told him that he could not hurt Glory because she was a friend. Darkstalker then heard an idea in Glory's head to let the NightWings choose who they would be loyal to and listened to the NightWings talk about living in the rainforest.

Turtle observed as Darkstalker gave Mindreader's father the ability to heal from any wound. He gave four other NightWings powers as well, trying to sway the NightWings in his favor. Turtle tried to find the RainWing village so he could warn Glory and used his coral to find her. He remembered how he had first discovered his animus powers by unintentionally enchanting an earring to go on his ear, and then created the coral that could search for anything to test his powers. Once he found Glory, he warned her and Deathbringer that Darkstalker was creating an army of superpowered NightWings, but Glory was not concerned and said that she trusted Darkstalker. This made Turtle realize that Darkstalker had used a spell to make other dragons like him.

Turtle asked if he could see Kinkajou and Glory directed him to the healers' pavilion where he saw Kinkajou sleeping. He tracked down Anemone to convince her to use her magic to wake up Kinkajou. Anemone teased Turtle about his crush on Kinkajou and agreed to wake her up, despite Darkstalker not wanting her to cast spells without his permission. While Anemone casted the spell on Kinkajou's skyfire stone to heal her, Turtle casted a spell at the same time to make Kinkajou immune to Darkstalker's spells and completely insignificant to Darkstalker. Anemone added to her spell that Kinkajou would be in love with Turtle, to which Turtle protested, but Anemone said she did not know if she could take it off.

Kinkajou woke up and Darkstalker arrived shortly after, stating that he wanted to heal Kinkajou. Glory and Deathbringer arrived and Darkstalker warned them that there was a group of dragons on their way to kill Glory. Darkstalker told her that he could help save her and used his magic to create a prison for the incoming killers. While he took her and Deathbringer to tour the prison, Turtle recapped everything that Kinkajou missed to her, including that he was an animus.

That night, Turtle and Kinkajou watched as Darkstalker, Glory, Deathbringer, and Anemone waited for the dragons. Once they arrived, Darkstalker captured them and brought them to Glory, who revealed that the NightWing assassins were Fierceteeth and Strongwings. Fierceteeth told Glory that she wanted to take the throne, but Darkstalker told her that he had taken care of that. After he revealed his identity, Fierceteeth remained defensive and Darkstalker offered her a position of power if she went with him. Glory allowed Darkstalker to take Fierceteeth and Strongwings with him instead of keeping them in the new prison.

On the day Darkstalker took the NightWings to the Night Kingdom, Moon and Kinkajou reunited. Moon revealed that she and her mother were staying in the rainforest and that she had been trying to convince other NightWings to stay as well, despite Darkstalker trying to convince her to go. After the NightWings left, Turtle, Kinkajou, and Moon followed to try to figure out Moon's prophecy by going to the lost city of night. One night while the NightWings were resting, Turtle noticed that Darkstalker flew off by himself and he decided to follow him.

Part 3: Lost City of Night

Turtle followed Darkstalker to the peninsula below the Kingdom of Sand where he found the abandoned Night Kingdom. Darkstalker entered the abandoned school and used his magic to restore an old painting of Clearsight. Wanting to see how he would react, Turtle placed a marble below Darkstalker, who thought it could have been Clearsight. Darkstalker attempted to talk to Clearsight, revealing that he had put spells on her when she was alive and that he saw the NightWings as only slaves and soldiers. Turtle also learned that Darkstalker was immortal, before Darkstalker turned on Fathom, believing that it was all his fault and that he made Clearsight betray Darkstalker.

Darkstalker flew back to the NightWings and Turtle flew back to Kinkajou and Moon. Moon was awake and told Turtle about her vision of him pinning down Anemone. Once the tribe started moving again, the three followed them to the lost city of night where Darkstalker saw that Moon had come and was excited to show her around. He took them to the palace and while showing them his room, Anemone entered, unable to find the suite Darkstalker told her she could stay in. Darkstalker took her to the room Fathom had stayed in while he was in the Night Kingdom and told her to clean the room, wanting to show Moon the gardens.

Jealous of the attention Moon got from Darkstalker, Anemone used her magic to create a broom and enchanted it to attack Moon until she cleaned the room. She created gems to distract Darkstalker and created an earring that would make him lose interest in Moon and to only care about her. Darkstalker arrived and stopped the broom. He froze Moon and Kinkajou, although Kinkajou had to pretend to be frozen due to her immunity to his spells. Darkstalker told Anemone to return to the Kingdom of the Sea and to kill her mother if she wanted. Anemone took off and Turtle followed her, wanting to protect his family.

While flying to the Sea Kingdom, Turtle thought about how Anemone was his responsibility and reflected back to the Talons of Power ceremony he attended. Despite being younger than the other participants, Coral wanted Anemone to be tested. Not wanting his magic to be revealed, Turtle enchanted his coconut not to move, but also wanted to distract the council, so he enchanted Anemone to be an animus. Once Anemone's coconut moved, Coral deemed the test over and celebrated Anemone for her magic.

Turtle arrived at the Deep Palace where he was spotted by his brother Fin, who told him that Coral and Auklet were in Auklet's favorite garden. At the garden, Turtle talked to Coral. He apologized to her for failing to find Snapper and Coral revealed that Snapper was in the Summer Palace. Coral asked Turtle his name and promised not to forget it, and the two hugged. When Coral and Auklet left, Turtle used his coral to find Anemone, who went to the ruins of the Island Palace.

Anemone was angry at Turtle for ruining everything. She told him that she was searching for a dagger that Whirlpool had left her that she would use to kill her mother. To prevent her from killing their family, Turtle used his magic to break any spell that Darkstalker had put on Anemone and removed the necklace Darkstalker had enchanted to protect her soul. Turtle revealed to Anemone that he was an animus and had enchanted her to have magic, causing Anemone to attack him. The two fought using their magic, Anemone with the intent to kill Turtle, while Turtle tried to protect himself. When Anemone attempted to crush Turtle with a wall, Turtle casted a spell to make himself unbreakable and impossible to hurt.

Turtle finally enchanted a piece of seaweed to prevent Anemone from talking or casting spells. Anemone continued to attack Turtle with her claws, but Turtle did not receive any injuries due to his invulnerability spell which remained permanent. The two finally talked and Turtle told Anemone that it was not her destiny to kill their mother. Anemone believed that because she was an animus, she was going to turn evil no matter what she did, but Turtle told her that there were good animus dragons, such as Fathom and Jerboa.

Turtle gave Anemone a piece of skyfire to hide her thoughts from Darkstalker. After sensing something, Anemone casted a spell to remove their spells from Darkstalker's memory, but the seaweed to not allow her to cast spells prevented it from working. Darkstalker casted a spell to summon all of the animus dragons from the seven tribes to his throne room. Turtle, Anemone, Stonemover, and a mysterious SandWing all appeared in the NightWing palace throne room, but the SandWing disappeared quickly. Darkstalker asked Stonemover to tell him how many dragons were in the room, revealing that there was a secret animus Darkstalker did not know about.

Turtle quickly wrote a message to Qibli that he had been caught by Darkstalker, while Darkstalker enchanted a sword to bring a dragon the hidden animus loved to the throne room. Anemone defended Turtle to Darkstalker, causing him to enchant her to obey his every command, which Turtle recognized as the spell he used to kill his father. The sword returned with Kinkajou and Darkstalker threatened to kill her if Turtle did not reveal himself. To protect Kinkajou, Turtle threw his hiding stick to Anemone so she could find Qibli. Now able to see Turtle, Darkstalker mistook him for Fathom and breathed fire on him, but Turtle was unharmed due to his unintentional invulnerability. Despite this, Kinkajou attacked Darkstalker, spitting venom in his eye. Anemone used the commotion to escape out the window and Turtle gave Kinkajou his bag of enchanted items.

After regenerating his eye, Darkstalker recognized Turtle. Darkstalker told Turtle he would not hurt Kinkajou, as he promised not to hurt any of Moon's friends. He enchanted Kinkajou to forget everything that happened in the throne room and to wake up from suntime an hour later, but the spell did not work. Darkstalker took Turtle to put him in the palace dungeons, but before leaving the room, he enchanted Turtle to get rid of his animus magic.

Epilogue

In the Kingdom of Sand, several markets were bombed, causing SandWings to get frustrated with Queen Thorn. In the Kingdom of the Sea, a class of dragonets were attacked by a ghost-like figure of Albatross. In the Ice Kingdom, Hailstorm stood before the ranking wall, wondering why the tribe was falling ill. A messenger approached Hailstorm who asked about his parents' condition. The messenger told him that they are both sick, but alive. Hailstorm was informed that Queen Glacier, the first IceWing who got the plague, was dead.

Variations from novel

• Darkstalker enchants a prey bone to chain Flame to the ground instead of using his Library Card.
• Instead of using her magic to create a bucket and a mop for Moon to use to clean, Anemone creates a broom.

Mistakes

• Gill's anklet disappears.
• Cerulean is shown with teal scales in the prologue, but has blue scales later in the novel.
• Turtle thinks the word people instead of dragons.
• Turtle's coral is show as bright pink when it should be light pink.
• Darkstalker says hand instead of talon.
• Tamarin is missing her neck bandages in one panel.
• Turtle is missing his armband.
• Tsunami is missing part of her arm in one panel.
• Fearless is missing her pouch in several panels.
• Darkstalker is missing his teardrop scales in several panels.
• Anemone is missing a talon in one panel.
• Anemone's treasure is shown as all gold when it has different colors previously.
• Mightyclaws's pouch is missing in one panel.
• Anemone is missing her weather bracelets.
• The inkwell on the table disappears in one panel.
• Qibli is misspelled as Quibli.
• Qibli is missing his tail barb.
• Qibli is missing his snout scar.
• Turtle's coral appears as brown when it should be light pink.^{[page # needed]}
• Turtle is missing his glow in the dark scale on his face.^{[page # needed]}
• One of the SandWing assassins is missing their back legs.
• Turtle's banana disappears from his hand.
• Both of Strongwings's horns are intact, when he has a broken one in The Dark Secret (graphic novel) and The Brightest Night (graphic novel).
• Darkstalker is missing Anemone's breastplate from his wrist.
• Anemone has an extra glow in the dark scale on her face.
• Darkstalker's bone earring is missing.
• Turtle's left speech bubble is meant to be a thought bubble.
• Anemone is missing several glow in the dark scales.
• The seaweed around Anemone's arm is missing in one panel.
• When Darkstalker summons all living animus dragons to his throne room, he does not have his crown, but it is present after Turtle is summoned.
• The NightWing guard's arm is disconnected from their body.

Gallery

Click here to see the cover gallery.

International releases

• French: Les Royaumes de Feu en Bande Dessinée. Les Serres du Pouvoir (May 2026)