Clay

Clay on the cover of the first book. Cover art by Joy Ang.

Clay is a Mudwing and one of the five Dragonets of Prophecy.

History

Clay was brought to the cave where he was raised by a Mudwing named Asha , who was a member of the Talons of Peace. He was son of Cattail, who sold him for cows for Asha. However, she died shortly after bringing him due to the injuries she sustained.

Clay grew up with his companions, Tsunami (a Seawing),Glory (a Rainwing), Sunny (a Sandwing), and Starflight (a Nightwing) under the mountains in a cave near the Sky Kingdom. They were cared for by Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, members of the Talons of Peace, and when they were old enough, they were supposed to leave the caves and fulfill the prophecy. However, they all possessed a desire to escape their confined existence, a desire that turned into a necessity. That day, the teller of the prophecy visited the cave. The Nightwing Morrowseer decreed that Glory was an unworthy substitute for the deceased Skywing mentioned in the prophecy and ordered that she be disposed of. Tsunami was chaned up as part of a plot to kill Glory, as she was the only one who could stop Kestrel. Knowing that Glory would be killed, Clay led the others out in a daring escape. He managed to get a ways down the river, but he was then hit with a substance that started to dissolve his scales. He was rescued from this fate by Tsunami, who succeded in escaping. The two made their way outside, at which he had to save Tsunami from falling due to a dislocated wing, which he subsecuntly fixed. He was happy and fascinated by mud and Scavangers, suprsing Tsunami. The duo then encountered Queen Scarlet, who insisted they return to her kingdom after answering some questions wrong. They escaped by impalling her tail into the ground. They managed to free their friends shortly afterward, but than were captured by the Skywing queen.

Queen Scarlet pitted dragons against each other in gladitorial style battles, and if they won enough, she would pit them against her champion Peril, who was invulnerable because of having too much fire (see Skywings). The friendly Clay made friends with Peril, who was attracted to him because he was resistant to her fire, despite the fact he did not know this. Clay volunteered to stand in for Starflight after learning he was next to fight. He was pitted against Fjord of the Icewing's, who managed to pin him down. However, a corroisve venom dissolved his face, making him victorous. Later on, he decided to hide Peril during the trial of Kestrel in exchange for knowledge of Sunny's location. After the trial, Peril did not talk with him, and he started to get the prisoners to sing with a vire Peril accidently burned through. He, Starflight, and Tsunami were taken to her room, which Peril helped them escape with. With the help of Peril, Clay and his friends tried to escape, only to be betrayed. During this, he learned that his scales were impervious to fire.

The next day, Scarlet's hatching day, the three were taken to the balcony of the queens, on which Burn was seated on. He helplessly watched as Starflight and Tsunami were forced to fight a mad Seawing, Scavangers, and Icewings. After Starflight was rescued, he was pitted against Peril. He suprissed her with his abillity to fight back, and quickly pinned her, but wouldn't kill her. At that moment, Glory spat acid at Scarlet, the same that melted Fjord. They were then able to escape with Peril's help, and succeded in rescuing Kestrel in the process, whom Clay and Sunny were the only supporters.

They finally managed to escape, and then traveled to the Mud Kingdom to try and find Clay's parents. Clay was disappointed to find that his mother didn't care about him (see Mudwings) but he found the sib group of his brothers and sisters that he would have belonged with had he not been taken by the Talons of Peace. Finally at peace with himself, Clay leaves with his friends in the search for Tsunami's parents.

Personality

Clay, because he was a "bigwings," was very protective and caring towards his group of friends that he was raised with. When another of his group is attacked, he would lash out to protect them. He was not afraid to use his large size and formidable strength to defend his "family" and would protect them at all costs. He also is friendly towards other dragons, a quality of which helped him befriend Peril. He felt clumsy about himself, and didn't want or think he was worthy of being a Dragonet of Destiny. He was also slow sometimes at planning, a skill he didn't like to think about. He was slightly crushed to learn about Mudwings, but ended up making peace with himself by talking to his siblings.