Kestrel

"I'm the way life made me. Take it or leave it."

— Kestrel to Peril, The Dragonet Prophecy

Kestrel was an adult female SkyWing who was introduced in The Dragonet Prophecy. As a member of the Talons of Peace, she was tasked with guardianship over the dragonets of destiny, primarily teaching them tribe strengths and weaknesses. She was murdered by Blister in the epilogue of The Dragonet Prophecy.

Description

Kestrel had jewel-hard, bright red-gold scales the color of rust and flames. She had orange-yellow eyes, as well as a red tail, wings and talons. Her tongue was forked.

She was enormous, bigger than Ex-Queen Scarlet and more than twice the size of Sunny. She had several odd scorch marks across her palms caused by carrying Peril, as well a burn mark on her cheek. She was grumpy-looking.

During her imprisonment in the SkyWing palace her talons became blunt, and her scales became scraped and chipped.

Personality

Kestrel was mean, grumpy, aggressive, easily irritated, and insensitive. She yelled a lot, and was mentioned to hate everything. She never believed that dragons could keep their word or care for other dragons. She often fought unfairly when teaching the dragonets of destiny battle training, stating that "Nothing I do is cheating". She would often punish the dragonets of destiny by taking away all of their cave's torches; in addition, young Starflight feared that Kestrel would be furious if his friends ripped one of the cave's maps, insisting that Kestrel would do something awful to them as punishment. She was initially assumed to be cruel and naturally hostile but was later revealed that this was because she was bitter about being lied to and losing both her dragonets. She abused Glory due to her being a RainWing when the prophecy called for a SkyWing. Kestrel seemed to hate all of the dragonets of destiny and was excessively hostile towards them; she herself seemed to be a core reason the dragonets loathed life underground, as brought up many times later on in the books on how Kestrel treated them. However, Kestrel seemed to have a protective side, which was shown when Morrowseer and Blister tricked her into believing that the dragonets were in danger. She arrived immediately to "save" them, hinting she did have some protectiveness over the dragonets.

Biography

Pre-Series

Kestrel and her dragonets Peril and Sky Years before the events of The Dragonet Prophecy, Kestrel was one of Queen Scarlet's most loyal soldiers. Under Scarlet's orders, she entered the SkyWing breeding program and produced one large egg containing twins, which was a rare occurrence. One of the dragonets, the female (Peril), hatched with twice the amount of fire she should have had while her brother (Sky) had almost none. Since SkyWings always killed such dragonets for the danger they caused, Kestrel attempted to escape with them but was caught at the Diamond Spray River. Scarlet told her that if Kestrel killed one, she would not be held responsible for her disobedience, and the other dragonet would live. Kestrel decided to kill the fire lacking dragonet, yet the dragonet secretly survived after she dumped him into the river. Afterwards she went looking for him, however she was unable to find him and assumed he was dead. Kestrel being forced to abandon Peril Scarlet went back on her word and ordered her guards to attack, forcing Kestrel to flee for her life. Kestrel attempted to save her daughter but burned her palms on the dragonet's scales. She was forced to leave her surviving dragonet behind and could not return to her, as she knew Scarlet would kill her. After this unfortunate event, she became a member of Talons of Peace, where she was assigned to be a guardian for the dragonets of destiny, along with Webs, Dune, Hvitur and Asha.

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The Dragonet Prophecy

The Dragonet Prophecy

In the prologue, Kestrel found Hvitur's dead body and the shattered SkyWing egg at the base of a mountain after he had been murdered by Burn and had a short, snappy conversation with Webs before the prologue ended, speaking of Webs retrieving an egg from the Rainforest Kingdom. It also included the news of Asha's death, where she got caught in a skirmish and was killed, but not before she got Clay's egg to the Talons of Peace. Six years later, Clay was having a battle training lesson with Kestrel and was deeply failing at it. Kestrel started telling him to reach for the "monster" inside him, referring to him attempting to break everyone else's eggs at hatching. Tsunami bit one of Kestrel's scales off to get her to stop picking on Clay. During the dragonets' reenactment of the War of SandWing Succession, Kestrel came in and yelled at them about how they were "too old for games" and punished Tsunami for talking back. Later, after Morrowseer's visit, Clay eavesdropped on the guardians, and found out about Kestrel's plan to kill Glory. To prevent this from happening, the dragonets came up with a plan to escape the cave by sending Tsunami down the underground river to find the cave entrance outside. However, Kestrel and the other guardians chained up Tsunami, forcing Clay to be the one to go down the river. Tsunami was later freed by Starflight and Sunny using their fire. In the meantime, Glory stayed hidden from Kestrel using her color-changing scales to stay invisible. This effort thwarted Kestrel's plan, who instead took off to look for Clay, Tsunami and Glory, believing that they had escaped. Tsunami and Clay were able to reunite with the rest of the dragonets of destiny while she was gone. Unfortunately, their reunion was cut short by Queen Scarlet, who had discovered their location through a smoke signal. While Scarlet and her guards planned on taking the dragonets back to the Sky Kingdom, they were interrupted by Kestrel. Kestrel tried to convince Scarlet to take her only and to leave the dragonets out of it, calling them "useless". Scarlet refused, ordering her guards to take Kestrel and the dragonets of destiny. She was seen as Peril hid behind Clay, wondering about the trial she was forbidden from watching. When Peril burst from her hiding spot, Kestrel was stunned by the revelation that her daughter was still alive. Scarlet appeared to find their relationship amusing, and Peril offered to go through the challenge of the Champion's Shield to rescue her mother. After Glory shot venom onto Scarlet's face, leaving the Sky Kingdom in disarray, Clay, Peril and Tsunami left to rescue Kestrel while the others took shelter near the Diamond Spray River. She later parted ways with them and her daughter, but Peril believed she would have time to talk to her mother after making sure that Queen Scarlet was dead. Kestrel told them that if they needed her, they should send a message through the Dragon of Jade Mountain. In the epilogue, Blister and Morrowseer betrayed her. First, they told her that the dragonets were in danger, to get her to come. Then Morrowseer said that neither the dragonets, Blister, nor himself needed her anymore; Blister then slashed Kestrel's throat and stabbed her in the chest with her venomous tail barb. Morrowseer proceeded to fling her off the cliff and into the ocean.

The Lost Heir

Urchin found Kestrel's body upon a boulder at the base of a cliff near the Summer Palace. She was murdered violently before the arrival of the dragonets of destiny at the Summer Palace, having her throat slit and her heart stabbed by a SandWing's tail — earlier found to be killed by Blister in the epilogue of The Dragonet Prophecy. At first, only Tsunami and Coral's court knew about the murder, although the other dragonets eventually found out. Sunny was distraught over Kestrel's death, even though Tsunami assured her that Kestrel, with her foul temper, did not deserve Sunny's grief. Blister said that it must have been very upsetting for Tsunami to see the dead body of a dragon she may have wanted to slit the throat of a few times during her life. Tsunami and Starflight both noticed the fact that Blister was not meant to know that Kestrel's throat was slashed, and figured out that she must be Kestrel's murderer.

The Hidden Kingdom
Glory thought about how she was angry at Kestrel and Dune for mistreating her and at Webs because he agreed to let Kestrel kill her. She also was annoyed at Tsunami for not telling them about Kestrel's death right away.

The Dark Secret
In Starflight's dream, Kestrel stormed into the study room and destroyed the scroll about the prophecy that Starflight and Sunny were reading. She then yelled at Webs for "filling their heads with questions and ideas."

The Brightest Night

Sunny told Peril of Kestrel's death. Peril seemed devastated and deeply shaken, even though she had shown distaste towards her mother. When Sunny first heard the name Jade Mountain in the book, she remembered someone had said something about the mountain but did not at first remember what it was. When Sunny saw Jade Mountain, she remembered that it was Kestrel who had mentioned the Dragon of Jade Mountain, and wondered if Stonemover was that dragon. Later, Sunny mentioned Kestrel as one of the dragons who did not survive to see the end of the war.

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The Jade Mountain Prophecy

Moon Rising
Kestrel was indirectly mentioned when Clay told Kinkajou that, back then, the guardians had brought live prey for the dragonets to practice hunting without having to leave the cave.

Escaping Peril
Kestrel was mentioned several times, including when Peril and Turtle talked to Cirrus and the Talons of Peace.

Darkness of Dragons
When Sunny told Qibli to go to history class, Qibli said that the class was "torture." Sunny responded by saying that he was lucky that he did not have to do battle training with Kestrel.

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The Lost Continent Prophecy

The Flames of Hope
When Tsunami shared a memory of her and the other dragonets, it was mentioned that they could not tear the map or else Kestrel would be furious.

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Legends

Dragonslayer

At first, Wren saw Kestrel shortly after finding Sky. She hid and wondered if Kestrel was Sky's mother and if she was making sure Sky was dead or looking for him. Eventually, Wren spotted the burn marks made by Peril as well. Kestrel later appeared with the younger dragonets of destiny, watched by Wren and Sky through the "sky hole" at the top of the dragonets' main cave. When Sky trembled in fear, Wren wondered if that was because Kestrel was the same mountain dragon going after Sky a year earlier. Wren had thought that Kestrel was there to make sure that Sky was dead.

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Field Guides

A Guide to the Dragon World
Kestrel was mentioned in Coral's scroll about the War of SandWing Succession to have been killed by Blister. She was later mentioned in the SkyWing chapter to be one of the dragons that Scarlet wanted to kill, although Scarlet noted that she should thank Kestrel for Peril.

Relationships

Chameleon

Upon hearing Kestrel's name, Chameleon flared his wings and asked for more information. He was fully a SkyWing upon meeting her, and she never knew that he was originally a RainWing. She did not know who he was and thought that he was assigned to partner with her in the breeding program, but he stated "But I knew her. I am unquestionably your father." to Peril.

Clay

Clay was often the one to be picked out of all the dragonets to learn how to fight because of his ability to breathe fire and his size. Kestrel expected Clay to be the dragonet who supposedly tried to "kill" the other dragonets of destiny during hatching, and often used this as an excuse for expecting Clay to win every fight. Kestrel was shown often visibly disappointed in Clay, loathing how he did not use his "inner monster" to help him fight like a SkyWing.

Clay did not think of Kestrel quite as strongly as the other dragonets, but it was revealed that he thought of her as hot-tempered and mean when he stops an argument by saying that they are "mini-Kestrels."

Dune

Dune helped Kestrel and Webs raise the dragonets of destiny while hidden in the caves. Kestrel seemed to be neutral with him, and tolerated his strict and slightly rough personality.

Glory

Kestrel never liked Glory, and claimed she never would, a feeling that Glory shares. Her hatred stemmed from the fact that originally, they were supposed to get a SkyWing egg for the prophecy, however they had to use Glory's egg as a replacement. Kestrel did not like RainWings in general and saw them as "wretched creatures," and "nothing like SkyWings." She would often verbally abuse Glory by calling her "lazy" and using "lazy RainWing" as an insult to her and her friends. She would also often physically abuse Glory. She, along with Dune, would call her a mistake and growl at her constantly. When Morrowseer ordered the guardians to dispose of Glory, she expressed no remorse, and claimed she did not care about the RainWing dragonet.

Peril

It is likely that Kestrel cared about her daughter, as she tried to flee with her despite getting burned. Kestrel was surprised to learn that her daughter, whom she thought was dead was alive the whole time. However, when Kestrel expressed wanting to talk to Peril, Peril stated that because she believed Kestrel killed Sky and abandoned her and she had no desire to know her. She spoke to Kestrel without any warmth in her voice, and when Kestrel offered Peril to come with her after they escaped the Sky Kingdom, she refused, stating that she had never imagined Kestrel as she was, and thought that Kestrel would not be good for her.

Scarlet

Initially, Kestrel respected Scarlet, but was also a bit fearful of her – she was one of Queen Scarlet's most loyal soldiers, but when Scarlet ordered her guards to attack her, Kestrel was forced to flee for her life. Kestrel hated the queen very much afterwards for lying to her and forcing her to lose her dragonets. She was aware of how manipulative Scarlet was as she was immediately able to tell that Peril's "requirement" of black rocks every day was one of Scarlet's tricks.

Sky

Kestrel seemed to care about Sky before his supposed "death" in Dragonslayer when Kestrel roared and flew over the river, looking for Sky. However, this might have been her searching for confirmation of his death rather than his life, showing that she did not care if he was dead, though it might have been an act, as Queen Scarlet was likely watching. After failing to locate her son, Kestrel believed Sky had perished. Kestrel never learned that her son was still alive and well. The loss of her dragonets also prompted Kestrel to take her anger out on the dragonets of destiny.

Starflight

Kestrel would often insult Starflight just like all the other dragonets, likely because he could not and did not want to fight.

Sunny

Kestrel seemed to dislike Sunny the least. The optimistic dragonet was most likely treated better by the guardians, including Kestrel. However, Kestrel called Sunny "defective." Sunny cried after learning of Kestrel's death. It was mentioned in The Brightest Night that Sunny mourned for Kestrel.

Tsunami

Tsunami heavily dislikes Kestrel, and Kestrel felt the same way. Kestrel severely punished Tsunami to the point of chaining her up when she disobeyed an order. Kestrel seemed to consider Tsunami the strongest out of the dragonets, as she said that the SeaWing was the only one who could have stopped her from killing Glory.

Webs

Webs helped Kestrel and Dune raise the dragonets of destiny while hidden in the caves. Kestrel seemed to be neutral with him, like Dune.

Family tree

Kestrel

Soar

Peril

Sky

Quotes

"We await the wings of fire. [...] Not that it'll do us much good now. [...] Hvitur is dead."

― to Webs

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"Oh, how amazing! I've never seen Kestrel be mean before!"

― Tsunami, about Kestrel

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"Of all the horrible ideas. RainWings are wretched creatures. Nothing like SkyWings."

― about Webs' plan to replace the broken SkyWing egg with a RainWing egg

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"I'm your teacher. Nothing I do is cheating. Get down here and fight like a SkyWing."

― to Clay, after stomping on his tail

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"Where's the monster I saw when you hatched? That's the dragon we need for the prophecy."

― to Clay

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"Aren't you sweet? Protecting a dragon who tried to kill you while you were still an egg."

― to Tsunami, about her protecting Clay

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"We'll tell you what you need to know about the prophecy. [...] You don't need a pile of gossip and rumors and speculation cluttering up your tiny little minds."

― to Sunny and Starflight

Gallery

• 
  Kestrel from The Dark Secret (graphic novel), by Mike Holmes
• 
  Reference by SpaceshipEarth

• Art by Mike Holmes, from the Wings of Fire Graphic Novels
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References

cs:Poštolka de:Kestrel fi:Jalohaukka fr:Crécerelle nl:Valk pl:Pustułka ru:Кречет uk:Боривітер