The Brightest Night (book)

The Brightest Night, the fifth novel and finale of the first Wings of Fire series, was available on Amazon March 25, 2014, and released everywhere else on the first day of April 2014. Sunny, the SandWing Dragonet of Destiny, is the main protagonist.

This book follows The Dark Secret.

The title most likely refers to the night when the three moons of Pyrrhia were all full at the same time, known as "the brightest night" in the prophecy.

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Summary

One will have the power of wings of fire....

Sunny has always taken the Dragonet Prophecy very seriously. If Pyrrhia's dragons need her, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight to end the war, she's ready to try it. She even has some good ideas how to do it, if anyone would listen to her.

But shattering news from Morrowseer has shaken Sunny's faith in their destiny. Is it possible for anyone to end this terrible war and choose a new SandWing queen? What if every thing they've been through was for nothing?

Buried secrets, deadly surprises, and an unexpected side to scavengers are all waiting for her in the shifting sands of the desert, where Sunny must decide once and for all: Is her destiny already written?

Or can five dragonets change their fate and save the world... the way they choose?

Plot

Prologue

The book begins with a flashback to twenty years before the events of the series, when the war first started. Queen Oasis hears a noise in the treasury and goes to investigate. On her way, she bumps into Blister and Blaze in the hallway. Oasis notes how Blaze is a good daughter, but would be a poor queen, and how Blister makes her uneasy. She realizes that scavengers have stolen some treasure. Oasis goes out to find and attack them, and tells Blister (who followed her) to get Burn to come help. Queen Oasis then goes out to eliminate the thieving scavengers, realizing that Blister had gone into the treasury and probably wouldn't wake Burn.

Part 1: The Shifting Sands

Sunny flees from the Night Kingdom after Morrowseer tells her that the prophecy is false. She keeps wondering what will happen to her and the other dragonets as she returns to the rainforest. She bumps into a NightWing and listens as Queen Glory begins talking to the NightWings about what is expected of them. Two RainWings then drag Mastermind forward and Glory has him bound, but before anything else happens, Fatespeaker, Tsunami, Clay, and Starflight come out of the tunnel, escaping a massive fireball. Clay puts Starflight on the ground and before Sunny can get to him, she is dragged into the forest by three NightWings.

The three NightWings Preyhunter, Fierceteeth, and Strongwings, reveal their plans to use Sunny as a bargaining chip to win Glory's favor. Sunny tries to derail their efforts by belittling herself, but soon feels guilty about it. Preyhunter then reveals the Obsidian Mirror and uses it to spy on Glory. In the image, Glory tells Jambu to count all of the NightWings, but changes her mind and has Deathbringer do it instead. Preyhunter then calls Deathbringer a traitor. Clay appears in the image with an update on Starflight's injuries. Tsunami appears and mentions that Sunny was upset and says not to worry about her. When Glory asks why Sunny is upset, and hears why, she gets mad and starts ranting at Morrowseer, promising to bite his head off, stuff him in a volcano, and kill him again. Clay and Tsunami belittle Sunny's faith in the prophecy, angering Sunny. The NightWings debate selling Sunny for a reward and decide on Burn. At that moment, Sunny bites Fierceteeth's tail and flees, and is pursued by the NightWings.

Sunny soon manages to get away from the NightWings, and after they depart, Sunny decides to prove her friends wrong about her and goes after the dragons. The dragons stop near the Jade Mountain, and Sunny manages to steal the Obsidian Mirror and leaves a cryptic message for them on a flat rock. Sunny leaves to find her friends, and spies on Blister on the way. She hears that Blister is planning to kill Burn, but is unable to figure out how. She then spies on the NightWings, and hears Fierceteeth yelling when she realized the Mirror was missing. Strongwings mentions The Darkstalker, and Fierceteeth dismisses this. They soon decide to keep going without the mirror and Sunny follows them through the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. En Route, Sunny finds the remains of a scavenger den and marvels at the craftsmanship and wonders how the scavengers made the village. Sunny then continues to follow them to the desert. The three NightWings decide to go the Scorpion Den first, to send a message to Burn.

When Sunny arrives at the Scorpion Den, she watches the NightWings try to gain entry and decides to bury the Obsidian Mirror. When the NightWings are admitted, and Sunny follows them, but is intercepted instantly by a SandWing who introduces himself as Six-Claws. Sunny tries to deny that she was following the NightWings, but Six-Claws doesn't appear to buy it. He explains about the Scorpion Den on the way to see Thorn. When they arrive, Thorn questions the NightWings about Morrowseer, and is told the NightWing prophet is dead. This angers her, and so she proceeds to kill Preyhunter, as she believes he is lying.

Thorn tries to get a more satisfying answer out of Fierceteeth and Strongwings, but they back up Preyhunter's story. In an effort to save Starflight's sister, Sunny confirms the tale. Thorn asks who she is and the two NightWings try to ask for a message to Burn, but Thorn refuses. Then Fierceteeth claims that Sunny is the SandWing dragonet of destiny. Thorn dismisses the NightWings to "someplace unpleasant" and further questions Sunny about her past. Thorn soon reveals that she is Sunny's mother.

Later, a dragonbite viper was reported near an orphange that had caught fire. Thorn leaves to confront the issue, leaving Sunny with Six-Claws. Addax and some SandWings appear, holding Ostrich, Six-Claws' daughter, as a hostage. He explains that the dragonbite viper was simply a hoax to drive Thorn away. He wanted Sunny, so he could give her to Burn and return to the SandWing heir's army. Sunny tells Six-Claws to make the trade, and he is forced to allow Sunny to go with Addax to Burn's Stronghold.

Part 2: Burn's Stronghold

Sunny falters while in the stronghold, smelling the rotting heads of decapitated dragons hanging on the walls. Sunny remembers where she had first saw Addax, at Scarlet's palace. Smolder, Burn's brother, takes Sunny out of Addax's possession, and excorts her to Burn's weirdling tower, where she would be held prisoner. Smolder tells Sunny that there were three scavengers that had killed Queen Oasis, and they encounter Scarlet and Flower, a scavenger. He chains Sunny to the upper level of the tower, promising to take her out for a walk later.

Smolder returns, and unchains her. He lets it slip that the Eye of Onyx is needed to be SandWing queen. Soon, the stronghold is attacked by Thorn and the Outclaws. Peril had come to save Queen Scarlet, and instead, makes the Outclaws and Smolder's army stop fighting. Smolder tells Thorn that she had a letter from someone that was intercepted, and locked Thorn and Sunny in the library. When they escape, Sunny leaves for Jade Mountain, Thorn takes care of the remaining Outclaws, while Peril frees Scarlet. When Sunny lands in Jade Mountain, she meets her father Stonemover. He admits that he had built the portals between the Kingdom of Sand, the Rainforest Kingdom, and the Night Kingdom. He also confirms the prophecy's false state, and reveals that no NightWing has had telepathy or precognition in over a century.

Part 3: The Eye of Onyx

Sunny has woken up and is now ready to leave the cave. She tells Stonemover, but he doesn't want her to leave. Sunny decides on a plan and goes toward a scavenger den. She meets two scavengers and names them Fluffy and Holler, gets the dreamvisitor, and realizes that they don't have the Eye of Onyx. Later, she reunites with the other dragonets and tell them about her plan to end the war.

First, Tsunami and Sunny, guided by Ochre, fly to the Talons of Peace's camp. They are greeted by Nautilus, Riptide, Avalanche, Flame's mother, and an unknown SandWing and IceWing. The dragons notice a small, red SkyWing flying toward them, and Avalanche calls for Flame. The dragon, who happens to be Flame, replies and dives for his mother. They embrace, and Riptide explains that Flame was taken from her while she was stationed at the SkyWing Palace. Sunny and Tsunami ask Nautilius to send a specific message to Blister, and he agrees to do so.

Jambu and Mangrove to the IceWings to get a message to Blaze. When the message through the IceWings fails, Sunny uses the dreamvisitor to tell Blaze the message. Sunny hopes that Blaze listened, as she did not appear to do so.

Clay and Sunny use dreamvisitors to tell Queen Moorhen of the MudWings to send a message to Burn. They learn of the MudWings' plan to eliminate the IceWings, and beg the queen to abandon that plan. The queen agrees to tell Burn their message, and hopes that she will not have to attack the IceWings.

At Burn's Stronghold, the three sisters meet. Blister offers Burn a gift, to "reunite the family." The gift happens to be a box containing two dragonbite vipers. Burn rips off the top, seizing one of the vipers, but unaware of the second. The second viper leaps frm the box, biting Burn's ankle. She stomps on the viper, killing it, but it is too late. The venom quickly kills the eldest and strongest of the sisters, and Burn's dead talons open, releasing the first viper.

The viper dashes about, reaching for Starflight. Clay knocks them out of the way, but is bitten. Peril, denying Clay's imminent death, burns out the venom. She leaves a gaping hole in his thigh that would scar leave him limping, but saves his life.

Blister challenges Blaze to a one-on-one fight, only mere steps away from the throne. Unable to watch Blaze's death, Sunny digs up Queen Oasis' grave, which hid the Eye of Onyx. Sunny hands the Eye to Thorn. Out of rage, Blister reveals that she planned everything - from her mother's death to Burn's, and snatches the Eye out of Thorn's talons. The enchantments on the treasure cause Blister to explode into a pile of black dust, therefore ending the war.

Epilogue: One Month Later...

The dragonets are planning out a school for young dragonets. They mention Moonwatcher, a NightWing dragonet whose mother left her egg in the rainforest. Sunny tells Starflight that she loves him as a brother, and that he should be fine with Fatespeaker.

The dragonets call the fulfilled prophecy "The Last Prophecy", and take to the sky, ending the first series.

Trivia

• It is one of the only books (along with The Dark Secret) where nighttime is of the background.
• Although The Brightest Night was originally thought to be the final book in the Wings of Fire series, Tui T. Sutherland has revealed that she will be writing five more books, making ten in total. However, if the author chooses to write a sequel series rather than expanding upon the original books, this could be considered the final book of the Original Wings of Fire series.
• If you look closely at Sunny on the cover of The Brightest Night, you can see her NightWing-like features, such as her scales are pebbled like a NightWing's, and the scales that march up her wings are like a NightWing's, not a SandWing's. These are also shown on Sunny's back toes, her tail ends like a NightWing's, she has stars that run down her side, stripes on her underscales, and spines on her tail that resemble a NightWing's.
• The author hinted that a SandWing dragonet based off the name of one of her sons would be briefly mentioned.
• The book reveals a new side to the scavengers.