Talons of Peace

The Talons of Peace is a group of dragons founded during the War of SandWing Succession, intending to end the war by fulfilling the Dragonet Prophecy. During the war, the group worked in secret and came out of hiding following the end of the conflict. Their current leader is Riptide, preceded by Nautilus. One of their hideouts is located near the largest human settlement in Pyrrhia.

Some members of the Talons of Peace were infiltrators, such as Crocodile and Chameleon (under the disguise of Cirrus). Some members are or were unable to return to their tribes. Others remained in their tribes as spies, although this practice presumably ended along with the war.

Members

The false dragonets

The false dragonets, also known as the alternate dragonets, were a group of five young dragons raised by the Talons of Peace as replacements for the dragonets of destiny in the event that any of the true dragonets were "defective." They were hatched around the brightest night and were raised believing they were the dragonets of destiny. They did not appear to get along or like one another.

The group consisted of Ochre, Squid, Flame, Fatespeaker, and Viper. They were raised in the Talons of Peace camp until being brought to the NightWing island by Morrowseer.

Guardians of the dragonets

The guardians, sometimes referred to as dragonet minders, were the five dragons recruited to raise, train, and protect the dragonets of destiny. Kestrel was explicitly chosen as she had lost two dragonets (Peril and Sky) a year before the brightest night.

The guardians originally consisted of Asha, Dune, Hvitur, Kestrel, and Webs. Only Dune, Kestrel, and Webs survived gathering the dragonets and helped to raise them.

Dragonets of destiny

The dragonets of destiny were the five dragonets chosen to fulfill the dragonet prophecy and end the War of SandWing Succession.

The dragonets were Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny. The eggs originally included a SkyWing, which was destroyed by Burn in an attempt to disrupt the Talons of Peace. The SkyWing was replaced with a RainWing egg, stolen by Webs.

Other Members

Known Talons and Allies

Avalanche - A SkyWing, Flame's mother, and a spy for the Talons. She was formerly stationed at the SkyWing palace during the war, and it is unknown where she is currently stationed. Nautilus - A SeaWing, Nautilus was the former leader of the Talons of Peace. He tried to kill Webs so that Webs wouldn't ruin the "Backup Plan." Tsunami witnessed him meeting with Riptide just before she met him. Riptide - A SeaWing, Riptide joined only to investigate more about his father, Webs, but is currently the leader, according to him. The other Talons refused to give him the information, so he worked as a spy, giving information about the SeaWings to the Talons of Peace. In Moon Rising, when Webs introduced himself, he said that his son Riptide "is the new leader of whatever the Talons of Peace [are] becoming." Stonemover (possibly associated) - A NightWing, Stonemover was first/indirectly mentioned as The Dragon of Jade Mountain near the end of The Dragonet Prophecy, implying that he might have been an ally of the Talons of Peace. Kestrel said that the dragonets would be able to send a message to her through him. An unnamed female MudWing who appeared in Winter Turning and Escaping Peril. Winter - An IceWing, and as of the epilogue of Darkness of Dragons Winter is working with the Talons of Peace. He helps Riptide and the Talons raise Sanctuary, a newly-built multi-tribe town much like Possibility. By suggesting the building of a scavenger sanctuary, he coined the name of the town. He was seen studying scavengers for the town.

Former Talons and Allies

Asha - A MudWing, Clay's aunt, and the one who delivered his egg to the Talons. She was chosen as one of the dragonets' caretakers but died soon after delivering Clay's blood-red egg due to the wounds she sustained after getting caught in the crossfire of Blister and Blaze's forces. Clay was found wondering what his life would have been like if she had survived. Princess Blister (associated) - A SandWing and one of the rival sisters for the throne. She conspired with Morrowseer and killed Kestrel. She is not a Talon; however, she was associated with them. Cirrus - An IceWing, known to be working with Nautilus and almost killing Webs, though he was stopped by Crocodile. Later, he met with Moonwatcher, Winter, and the others in Winter Turning when they visited the Talons. He was later confirmed in Escaping Peril to be the shape-shifting Chameleon and was spying on the Talons for Queen Scarlet. Crocodile - A MudWing, Crocodile was an infiltrator of the Talons of Peace. She worked for the SkyWings and the MudWings, using her cover to follow Webs and lead Burn's alliance to the Summer Palace in an attempt to destroy it. She met with Tsunami and the other dragonets, plus Webs and Riptide as they escaped the Summer Palace. Glory sprayed her with her venom straight into her eyes as they fled, which killed her. It was unknown at the time if she survived, but it was confirmed in The Dark Secret that she had perished. Dune - A SandWing, Dune was one of the guardians chosen to raise the dragonets. He was missing one leg and couldn't fly, which is why he was chosen for an underground job. He was the kindest toward Sunny out of the three guardians, supposedly because she was the only SandWing. He used to be an Outclaw and a trusted friend of Thorn's, but he then stole Sunny's egg and fled the Outclaws while Thorn continued to search for him. Ex-Queen Scarlet later killed him after she had tracked Clay and Tsunami to their underground cave. Hvitur - An IceWing, and the IceWing guardian of the dragonets; he was murdered by Burn the day before the brightest night while trying to steal the SkyWing egg. Kestrel - A former SkyWing soldier. She conceived an egg that contained twin dragonets. One, Peril, had too much fire, and the other, Sky, had too little. Queen Scarlet made a deal with Kestrel that if she killed one, she'd spare the other and Kestrel, but then broke her deal after Kestrel "killed" the one with too little fire. Kestrel fled from the Sky Kingdom, and Queen Scarlet raised Peril to be her champion. Kestrel then joined the Talons and raised the dragonets for six years. When Clay's smoke trail accidentally led the SkyWings to the cave, Kestrel was captured by Scarlet. Later, she escaped, along with the dragonets. She was then killed by Blister, not far from the Summer Palace. Morrowseer (associated) - A NightWing, Morrowseer was the dragon who foretold the dragonet prophecy and became affiliated with the Talons after delivering the prophecy. He appears to care little for most of the dragonets but takes an interest in Starflight. He ordered for Glory to be killed, citing the fulfillment of the prophecy, but one of his other motivations was that having a RainWing being one of the dragonets of destiny would be an obstruction to the plans of the NightWings to take over the rainforest. He conspired with Blister to make her queen, using the dragonets. He later decided to have some of them replaced. He was swallowed by fire in a volcanic eruption on the NightWing island and died. Pyrite (formerly) - A believed SkyWing that was found out to be a dragon mask, created by Chameleon and hiding Prince Hailstorm. Viper - A SandWing, and the SandWing false dragonet of destiny. Viper was Sunny's replacement. Unlike Sunny, she was vicious and cruel. In the Night Kingdom, she died during a "training session," where she attempted to murder Fatespeaker and fell into lava. Webs (formerly) - Webs was a soldier of Queen Coral's army. After he fled, he joined the Talons of Peace and was chosen to raise the dragonets. He then stole Tsunami's egg from the Royal Hatchery. He escaped before Queen Coral could capture him. Webs followed the dragonets to the Bay of a Thousand Scales, where Blister's poisonous tail barb stabbed him. The dragonets then took him to the Rainforest Kingdom and healed him with a brightsting cactus they eventually found. He is currently a teacher at Jade Mountain Academy.

Signals & Communication

• Riptide called to two members of the Talons with an odd, high-pitched whistle.^{[citation needed]}
• The Talons respond to signals including twin trails of fire in the night sky and reflection from an IceWing's scales in the sun.

History

It is known that the group was formed under Nautilus's leadership. They later became affiliated with Morrowseer, believing his prophecy to be genuine. The Talons of Peace were very protective of the dragonets of destiny, assigning Asha, Kestrel, Webs, Dune, and Hvitur as their guardians.

Hvitur and the SkyWing egg were both killed by Burn, and while returning with Clay's egg, Asha was caught in a battle between Blaze and Blister's armies. She later died of her wounds.

The cave that the dragonets were raised in was located in the mountains near Queen Scarlet's palace. When Morrowseer visited, he ordered the killing of Glory, which resulted in an escape attempt, which was initially successful. However, Queen Scarlet tracked them down mid-escape, which resulted in Dune's murder, Webs fleeing, and Kestrel being taken prisoner along with the dragonets. Kestrel later escaped from Scarlet's prison with the five and met with Blister and Morrowseer, who allowed Blister to kill her.

Before departing as the dragonets prepared to travel to the Mud Kingdom, Kestrel mentioned that if they needed to contact her, to send a message via "the Dragon of Jade Mountain." This dragon was Stonemover, as revealed in The Brightest Night.

In Moon Rising, when Webs introduced himself to his history students, he said that his son, Riptide, "is the new leader of whatever the Talons of Peace are becoming." Their goals are shifting from those they had during the war. Since Ruby's reign as queen, most of the SkyWing members that had strife with Scarlet have returned to the Sky Kingdom.