SandWings

SandWing by Joy Ang

SandWings are pale-gold, light yellow to off-white (basically the color of sand for camouflage), fire-breathing dragons with venomous, scorpion-like barbs on the ends of their tails, that reside in the deserts of Pyrrhia, primarily in the Kingdom of Sand. Some have black diamondback patterns like Blister and Smolder. Until approximately twenty years before the events of The Dragonet Prophecy, they were ruled by Queen Oasis; however, she was murdered by three scavengers who sought after her treasure. Following her death, the tribe split between the three heiresses for the throne: Blaze, Blister, and Burn. Blaze, the youngest, had the support of most of the SandWings along with an alliance with the IceWings. Blister, the middle sibling, was allied with the SeaWings and secretly the NightWings, unknown to any of the other tribes or queens. Blister was also allied with MudWings, but later, the MudWings switched to Burn's side because Deathbringer murdered Commander Tempest with a MudWing spear. Burn, the oldest sister, was allied with the SkyWings, and later threatened the MudWings into an alliance with her once their alliance with Blister became unstable. None of the queens allied with RainWings because of the common belief they were very lethargic and had no weapons (Fire, tail barbs, frostbreath etc.)

After the war ended, Queen Thorn was chosen as the SandWing queen by her daughter, Sunny, and the other Dragonets of Destiny. Burn and Blister died, while Blaze "bowed to a fate stronger and higher", as seen when she was bowing to the new Queen Thorn. Burn died from a Dragonbite Viper and Blister, furious about not becoming queen, was burnt to ashes by trying to take the Eye of Onyx from Thorn.

Description

File:Sand Palette.png

SandWing color palette

SandWings are have graceful long necks, and are anatomically and biologically built to survive in the desert. They have pale yellow, pale gold, light sandy-colored, white-gold, light yellow-brown, or off-white scales that blend in with the desert sand. Some SandWings, like Queen Thorn and Qibli, have been described with brown speckles on their wings and snouts. They also have a ridge going from their head to the tip of their tails, forked black tongues, glittering black eyes, and are armed with venomous, scorpion-like barbs on the end of their tails. They can breathe fire and emit moderate heat from their scales.

Abilities

The two main SandWing defenses are their ability to breathe fire and poison other dragons with their venomous barbed tails, which they use by stabbing their enemies' hearts, backs, and skulls (presumably other places as well).

The venom in a SandWing's barb acts like scorpion venom. This venom may possibly target blood cells or white blood cells to let bacteria to set in, as Webs' wound, inflicted by Blister, turned black and became infected, with the darkness spreading gradually. The venom sac, which carries the venom, is most likely located right under the barb. The venom's lethality depends on the dosage. A full dose can kill almost instantly, while a smaller dose kills slowly. Regardless of amount, it can be countered by the remedy/juice from a Brightsting cactus, which grows commonly outside Burn's (now Queen Thorn's) stronghold, and is shown to be sold in the Scorpion Den.

They are also able to survive extended periods of time without water and can bury themselves in the desert sand to camouflage themselves, usually against enemies and for protection. They also radiate heat from their scales.

Queens

Queen Oasis once oversaw the Kingdom of Sand, yet none of the heirs challenged her to death for the throne. The queen was murdered by one scavenger in a group with three in total, who then took part the SandWing Treasure, and Blister taking the rest, as stated in book five, and the rest of Pyrrhia erupted in war along with alliances of the three successors. No one had been able to claim the throne for eighteen years, because whoever held the Eye of Onyx would take the place as the queen. The Eye of Onyx was hidden in Queen Oasis' jaws, buried with her in her grave. Flower the scavenger, owned by Smolder the SandWing, put it in her jaw. Glory described it as "like Queen Oasis was still hanging on to the SandWing throne".

Blister killed Burn with a package containing a Dragonbite Viper and challenged Blaze to the throne, but she exploded into a pile of black ashes when she snatched the enchanted Eye of Onyx away from Thorn, who Sunny declared as queen. Blaze survived, but not as a queen, and as the prophecy says: "Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn, two shall die and one shall learn - If she bows to a fate that is stronger and higher, she'll have the power of the wings of fire." Blaze now needs to accept her new queen, Queen Thorn. However, unknown to the SandWing and most of the Dragon population, the prophecy is false.

The Prophecy also states that the dragon who bows will have "the power of wings of fire", which happened to refer to the Eye of Onyx, however it is probably not what the NightWings originally intended.

Blister promised that she would send Burn out to help kill the scavengers, but she didn't, leaving Queen Oasis to face them alone, so Blister technically started the war.

As of Moon Rising, Queen Thorn rules the SandWings peacefully with her heir being Sunny. At the end of Escaping Peril, Qibli said he thought Thorn deserved to live forever.

Known SandWings

• Addax
• Agave
• Arid
• Armadillo
• Princess Blaze
• Princess Blister
• Princess Burn
• Camel
• King Char
• Dune
• Horizon
• Jerboa
• Kindle
• Meerkat
• General Needle
• Queen Oasis
• Onyx
• Ostrich
• Ostrich (Deserter)
• Ocotillo
• Palm
• Parch
• Pronghorn
• Qibli
• Quicksand
• Rattlesnake
• Saguaro
• General Sandstorm
• Prince Scald
• Queen Scorpion
• Prince Singe
• Sirocco
• Six-Claws
• Smolder
• Princess Sunny
• Queen Thorn
• Viper

Trivia

• Brightsting Cactus juice is the only known substance that can cure someone stabbed by a SandWing's tail barb.
• SandWings have heightened hearing, according to The Brightest Night. Take it from Sunny, though a hybrid, is said to have the best hearing of the Dragonets of Destiny.
• SandWing venom blackens the wound it creates, because the venom, which is presumably black, is slowly eating into the veins, which eventually lead to the dragon's heart.
• SandWings do not need to eat much, and therefore are very light eaters.
• According to Moon Rising, SandWings are a musical tribe. They weren't able to show their talent in the last 20 years because of the War.
• SandWings do not develop their tail-barbs until they're older. When they're younger, they have a smaller barb, which is not effective. (This may also be true of other tribe abilities as well.)
• SandWing dragonets quickly learn how to avoid stabbing other dragons with their poisonous barb by accident.
• It has been confirmed that SandWings have, or at least once had, animus dragons. (Jerboa is the only known SandWing animus).
• There is no pure SandWing PoV in the main series yet. However, Darkness of Dragons will be from the point of view of Qibli.
• Qibli's personality is supposedly modeled after Tui's son.
• Queen Scorpion, the SandWing Queen in Darkstalker (Legends), allowed the NightWings and IceWings to use some of her desert territory as a battlefield in exchange for payments of treasure from both tribes.
• The NightWings and IceWings most likely used SandWing territory as a battlefield because it was right between the Night Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom.
• It is likely that the SandWings obtained most of their treasure from the NightWing and IceWing's payments to them mentioned in Darkstalker (Legends).

Gallery

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