SkyWings

File:Flare s ref by echoflight spaz-d5w4dyi.jpg

Lineart by Joy Ang

SkyWings are one of the seven dragon tribes that come in varying shades of red-gold or orange with massive, powerful wings. They were previously under the rule of Queen Scarlet, but the tribe is now torn between her and her eldest daughter, Queen Ruby, due to belief that their older queen is dead (which is false) or Queen Ruby would make a better leader.

The SkyWings were originally allied with Burn and the MudWings in the War of SandWing Succession, but once Ruby became the official queen, she wanted to "restore order in the Sky Kingdom" before she would aid Burn in another battle outside her territory. Skywings are seen to have a blood lust, as seen when they cheered and hollered at the arena battles in the dragonet prophecy.

Description

SkyWings have fire-colored scales, usually red, orange, or gold scales with yellow, amber, orange, or (rarely) blue eyes. They have enormous wings, making them excellent fliers and fighters. In addition, they can breathe fire at any given time. Their wings are a separate joint, allowing them to Fly faster than other dragons .

SkyWings are typically portrayed as short-tempered, militaristic, and grumpy. Clay once thought that Kestrel was exiled from the Sky Kingdom for her grumpiness, though he later changed his mind after meeting the rest of the tribe, realizing that she seemed to "fit right in" to the tribe.

Click here for a list of known SkyWings.

Abilities

SkyWings are well-known for their superior skills of combat. They can fly faster than any other tribe, thanks to their large wings, and are capable of breathing large amounts of fire at extreme temperatures.

In The Dark Secret, Flame, a SkyWing dragonet, was the only dragonet that wasn't breathing heavily after a long flight from the Night Kingdom to an outpost in the Sky Kingdom. This may indicate that SkyWings have more cardiovascular endurance and better muscle toning than the other dragon tribes.

In rare cases, a SkyWing dragonet can be born with too much fire, with Peril being one of them. They possess so much fire that everything they touch burns, which makes them invulnerable to any attack by almost any dragon, but also curses them by making them unable to have physical contact with any other living being. These dragons are often shunned and alone. According to Queen Scarlet, the mother will usually drop the dragonet off a cliff to kill it.

Peril has blue eyes, copper-colored scales, and gold wing veins, unlike other SkyWings, so this may be a trait for these dragons.

At least once, a dragonet with too much fire had a twin with too little fire. These twins are presumably killed in the same way that their siblings are, probably because they would be too weak to survive. It is unknown that the twin is the cause of the sibling having too much fire, but it is very likely.

Society

The SkyWing culture is built mainly on warfare and power, and they are also a military tribe. SkyWings value excitement and oftentimes gore, as shown with the SkyWing Arena, yet they still keep justice and honor in mind as with the Champion's Shield. Peril asked to use the Champion's Shield to save her mother, Kestrel.

The tribe is currently in a state of political upheaval and civil war; in The Lost Heir, SeaWing guards on patrol reported that they had seen a group of SkyWings fighting each other, some shouting for Queen Ruby and others replying that Queen Scarlet is still alive. In The Dark Secret, the SkyWing army's farthest outpost was told by Queen Ruby to leave the outpost, which went against what Queen Scarlet told them.

SkyWings tend to name their young after birds, such as Osprey or Kestrel, names pertaining to fire like Flame, or names related to mountains, such as Avalanche. The royal family seems to be an exception to this, with all of its shown members being named after shades of red or red gemstones, with Scarlet, Ruby, and Vermilion being examples. However, an exception is Carnelian, who has a gemstone as a name, but is no more than a soldier. Peril probably got her name from how fierce she would be because of having too much fire and how her opponents seemed to always "perish".

It is unknown if SkyWings engage in lifelong partnerships like SeaWings.

The Prophecy

It is spoken in the prophecy that a SkyWing was to be one of the dragonets of destiny. However, when Hvitur, a member of the Talons of Peace, stole the original SkyWing egg, Burn caught him and destroyed it. Webs replaced this broken egg with a RainWing named Glory as last-minute substitute, though he neglected to inform the Talons of Peace of this for many years. In The Backup Plan, Flame would be Glory's replacement. Clay also thought that Peril was their replacement but she wasn't as she hatched almost a year before the brightest night.

Arena

The SkyWing Arena is a fighting arena where prisoners of Queen Scarlet fight to the death. Apparently, if a dragon were to get a certain amount of victories, they would be set free. However, under Scarlet's rule, prisoners were required to fight Peril just before reaching this tally. As almost nobody could touch her, she could claw and burn them as she wished, and no one could, under the imposed rules, leave the arena alive.

It is unknown if Queen Ruby will continue with the arena matches.

Known SkyWings

• Avalanche
• Carnelian
• Flame
• Garnet
• Kestrel
• Osprey
• Peregrine
• Peril
• Peril's Brother
• Thrush
• Queen Ruby
• Ex-Queen Scarlet
• The SkyWing Dragonet of Destiny
• Prince Vermilion

Trivia

• Many attributes of the SkyWing Arena are like the Roman Colosseum.
• According to the artwork in A NightWing Guide to the Dragons of Pyrrhia by Joy Ang, SkyWings and RainWings share multiple physical features.
• According to Clay, SkyWings make a particular hissing noise before breathing fire.
• According to Tui T. Sutherland in a forum Q&A, SkyWings have better cold resistance than other tribes (aside from IceWings)