The Flames of Hope

The Flames of Hope is the fifteenth book in the New York Times bestselling series Wings of Fire and the fifth book in the third arc. The main protagonist is Luna. It was published on April 5th, 2022.

It is preceded by The Dangerous Gift.

Summary

With talons united …

Luna has always wanted to change the world — to fix it, to free it — even if she's never actually known how. Now that all of dragon — and humankind are in mortal danger, Luna is flying back home to Pantala with a team of dragons on a rescue mission, determined to be brave and useful.

But saving a continent isn't as easy as a prophecy makes it sound, and "facing a great evil" definitely requires more than the fiery silk that Luna is uniquely able to create. As she fights her way to the abyss that hides the dark roots poisoning Pantala, Luna must uncover a long-buried secret and unite her friends, her enemies, and her own powers. If she doesn't, she won't get to change the world. She'll have to say goodbye to it — forever.

Plot

Prologue

Raven reflects on the the Leaders' plan to abandon the abyss and never mention it, talk about it, and act like it was never there. Raven thinks that it was right to stop worshipping the abyss, but she feels that Vole, the current Guardian of the Abyss and Mole's big brother was too hard to leave behind. She thinks about a human named Quartz, who was "extremely boring" and and Raven would not mind giving him up. Then, she visits Mole, and the two start to talk about how to find "the dragon" that Vole had mentioned in his message from the abyss. They contemplate for a while, and then decide to bring a dragon there, thinking that that the abyss will bring Vole back.

Part One: The Land Across the Sea

Luna sets out with the rest of the Super Secret Stealth Team to find the abyss in Queen Snowfall’s vision. On the way there, they are attacked by multiple HiveWings and a SilkWing who are under Queen Wasp's control. Using the gift of stealth, Sundew is able to hide part of the team but Tsunami, Pineapple, and Qibli are not hidden. The dragons fight but the visible dragons and an invisible Moon are captured and taken to Wasp Hive. Most of the HiveWings take the prisoners. Four are badly injured, however, and are left on the island. The remaining members of the team talk and decide what to do. Sundew and Lynx end up following the attackers to try and rescue the captured dragons. The others go to Pantala, and wait for the others.

They end up in a cave system, and in one of these caves they find a human studying a dragon book. Wren follows the human to their village and learns that the human from before is named Axolotl. When the dragons and Wren become visible again, they ask Axolotl about the abyss and Axolotl agrees to take them to a village known for worshipping an abyss if the dragons translate a dragon book for them. On the way there they are spotted by Pokeweed who takes them to dragons hiding from Queen Wasp. The group is made up of SilkWings from Bloodworm Hive, Jewel Hive and Mantis Hive, as well as Lady Scarab and Lady Jewel, and Bryony, Hemlock and Pokeweed. The dragons are very curious about the newcomers and a young SilkWing named Dusky becomes very attached to Luna. He says, “It’s just me,” hinting that he has no family. Luna ends up making flamesilk for the dragons and telling them about the 5 kinds of flamesilk: gold silk, firefly silk, glow silk, blaze silk, and sun silk. Tau tells Luna and the other about a place she knows where humans get water and agrees to take them to it the next day while Hemlock and members of the Bloodworm Hive Chrysalis agree to go to Lake Scorpion to watch for the missing members of the Super Secret Stealth Team.

In the morning, Luna meets Whitespeck who tells her about Dusky's family and Bloodworm Hive. She then leaves to find the human colony with Tau, Cricket, Bryony, Bullfrog, Sky, Wren, Axolotl, and Dusky.

More flying in soon...

Part Two: A Secret Buried Far Below

When Luna witnesses Dusky being taken by Vole, she jumps into the abyss, however: she is brought into a strange room illuminated by an unknown source. She then sees the Breath of Evil growing throughout the place. She follows Vole to an entrance to another cave from which the Breath of Evil seemed to be growing. She realizes that this cave is more like a room, with pillars and a throne. She is disturbed by what she sees on the throne: a plant growing from a human holding a dragonet. Luna, thinking it is Dusky, approaches closer, but then she realizes that the plant was growing through the human and dragon skulls and they must both be dead. An unknown voice commands Luna to step back and proclaims themselves to be the emperor of the world. Luna, while conversing with the Othermind, looks back to the dragonet and wonders about the origins of its tribe since they looked unlike any tribe she had ever seen, seemingly a hybrid. This dragonet is also realized to have leafspeak, which then goes to reveal another voice, with the prior voice being frustrated that Dusky was not Sundew. The other voice whispers that it wanted Dusky. The first voice then goes to mock Luna for thinking she could escape with flamesilk, which Luna realizes is impossible, because her mind would be taken over by the smoke from the vines. Realizing she is trapped, she calls for help in vain. The voice claims they would love more dragons to play with. Vines start to ensnare Luna and Dusky, and they soon pass out.

Next, the two awake in a seemingly dream-like state and they question where they are, remarking that the area looked like Sanctuary. They then hear humans, who are playing among themselves. Strangely enough, Luna could make out what was being said, and a little human boy named Coyote is introduced, claiming to be an emperor. Luna realizes that the group is searching for dragons, with them claiming they have not seen one for at least a year. The humans then move, and Luna follows them hiding, hoping for them to not see her. A human city looms upon them, which startles Luna. The humans talk about affairs with two other Empires: the Diamond Army and the Jaguar Empire. Luna is then worried they have seen her, but it seems they cannot see Luna at all. She tries to touch Coyote and he walks straight through her. Then the whole world goes into a strange haze, and they find themselves before a cave nesting a dragon, one with two wings and orange scales with a yellow underbelly. The unknown dragon cannot see her either.

The humans wait for the dragon to leave the cave and rush inside. Coyote and Cottonmouth are shown to be older, which indicates a passage of time. They come back out with an egg in their arms, with Cottonmouth remarking that he knew a nest was set up in this area. He then asks how many eggs there were, in which there were three, Cottonmouth commands the group to go get the other two eggs, in which Coyote protests to. One of the other humans questions him, wondering if that would make the dragon notice, to which Cottonmouth responds by stabbing him in the gut and killing him. In the end, they gather all of them, With this knowledge, Luna thinks to herself that the group of humans had something to do with the grotesque-looking human and dragonet on the throne earlier. A shift occurs again and this time Luna is at a small island, with a different group of humans gathering eggs. The humans remark how other empires are collecting dragon eggs in the hope of using them. More shifts occur, and Luna witnesses many cruelties that the humans inflicted on the newly hatched dragonets. Just then, a group of gigantic dragons came, with multiple scales and identifiable traits with multiple tribes, depicting the common ancestors of each tribe. Luna realizes that this was the beginning of the Scorching.

Dusky is enraged, thinking humans are awful, but Luna defends them by stating not all are the same. She connects this to the HiveWings, and contemplates on how she cannot wish for a genocide. Another flash passes and a group of worn-down humans are shown, with Cottonmouth holding a large bowl. Luna was confident the box held a dragon egg within it, questioning his morality and why he was so greedy for power. The haze of shadow takes over the world again and they are in a lush, sunlit jungle, Luna realizes this was Pantala before the Tree Wars. Cottonmouth is shown again, except he has found the Breath of Evil and claims that he can use it to control the dragon tribes. The humans, skeptical, think that the plant is strange, and creepy. An almost hatched dragon egg is ahead of them in another flicker of the world and it seems that Cottonmouth is experimenting on reptiles. A voice rings with perfect clarity, stating that it didn't like this part. Luna asks who had said that, but there was no response. A group of humans barge in, bringing samples of the plant, and Cottonmouth reassures them that whatever he was planning would work. He demonstrates the power of the plant by making a human bow, this human was notably from another area, which had been in the small island. Cottonmouth opens a box, in which a small head is spotted. Luna remarks that she did not look like any of the tribes, but a mix of a few of them. Cottonmouth is speaking cruelly with the dragon, and Dusky remarks that the dragonet had been named Lizard, and she wanted an actual name from a dragon. Just then, the dragonet spoke to Dusky, and stated she did not want him to speak for her. Cottonmouth spoke, in Dragon, stating that she was interrupting the story. Lizard in response yelled that she hated experiencing the same thing for the past five thousand years. They then seem to argue, and Luna asks if they can hear her and Dusky. Lizard, seeming annoyed by the question, then asks Dusky to give her his memories.

This confuses Dusky, asking how and why he would do that. She states that he must allow her to, and again tells him to give her them. Dusky says no, frustrating her. Lizard then goes on to state that she is the most miserable dragon to ever live, so she deserves what she wants. Lizard says that Cottonmouth got the both of them caught by the plant. Cottonmouth disagrees, citing that Lizard was rebellious and annoying. They then have another exchange of arguing in which they were blaming each other for faults committed. It seems more so that Lizard and Cottonmouth view dragons and humans as toys, with Lizard throwing a tantrum when Cottonmouth suggests killing Dusky. The Mindspace is then revealed, which is how Lizard and Cottonmouth were able to allow Luna and Dusky to see their memories and lets them shift the area, Lizard demonstrates this by showing the Weaver Hall, Dusky's school. Dusky wondered how Lizard was able to do this and asked if she had his memories. She responds by saying that he needs to let her have them, and she had seen this through a HiveWing, of which she used to watch Dusky. Luna then requests to see Blue and Swordtail, to which Lizard reluctantly does. The Mindspace shifts again, this time towards a HiveWing within sight of Swordtail. Luna asks if Lizard could bring Swordtail to the Mindspace, in which Lizard replies she could, but did not want to as it was tiring. Lizard then complains that SilkWings are boring and thought it would be more fun to have new dragons. Luna asks if Lizard felt bad for the dragons she controlled. Lizard snaps and is enraged with the concept of feeling bad for them. She says those dragons could actually live and did not have to be stuck all the time with Cottonmouth, saying how her life is the worst and how those dragons should feel bad for her.

Luna agrees that Lizard's life is awful and Dusky asks if they could free her. Cottonmouth chuckles and Lizard reveals the the only reason they're alive is because of the Breath of Evil and if they were separated, they would die. Cottonmouth then ponders if the mind control will work on the dragons from Pyrrhia. Another shift occurs and they are transported into the throne room of Queen Wasp with Tsunami, Pineapple, and Qibli in front of them, bound and Cottonmouth then commands Queen Wasp to not kill them, and unbind them in which she is defiant to, but caves in. Cottonmouth interrogates the group, and demands to know where Sundew is. They refuse to answer and Wasp proclaims that the invisible one, Moonwatcher, is missing. Luna thinks that Lynx and Sundew saved her. Wasp then complains that she cannot deal with whatever the invisible dragon was using. In response, Cottonmouth steps out of the Mindscape, appears where Wasp was sitting, and forces her to choke herself. Luna is then scared for the group, and pleads to Lizard to free them, but she declines. Luna then offers her memories, tempting Lizard. The group of dragons then attempts to escape, with Pineapple shooting venom at Queen Wasp. Lizard asks Luna if she would really give her memories if the group got away, and Luna again accepts. Lizard then clears a pathway, allowing the group to escape. Luna questions if they were safe and Cottonmouth denies it, revealing that he already has one of them under his control. He then claims they would all be there soon.

Part Three: Talons United

Luna hears Cricket calling to her in the real world, outside of the cave. Cottonmouth uses Luna's real world body to trick Cricket and the others to go after Sundew, so he could capture Sundew. Luna calls him a monster to which he replies saying that anyone would have taken the chance to be him. Lizard loudly demands Luna to give her memories as promised. Luna worries about what Lizard would do with the memories, before Lizard replies saying that nothing will happen to the memories. Lizard explains that Wasp is only in charge of the HiveWings and is only just one of Cottonmouth's "big toes". She continues, saying that all three of them, Cottonmouth, her and the plant, can control all the mind-controlled dragons. Cottonmouth is just the active one because he refuses to let Lizard control anything and the plant does not have a mind of its own. Dusky then offers to share his memories first to Lizard, which Lizard replied eagerly to. In Dusky's vision, they are brought to Bloodworm Hive. They see Dusky's father trying to make a younger Dusky try and say his own name. He fails to do this as Dusky was only able to repeat "Dada". Dusky asks for a banana before Dusky's father replies that they do not have any bananas. Dusky runs to retrieve a rotting banana that he was hiding and shows it to his father. This vision ends and Lizard is repulsed by the vision and declares it to be "boring".

Luna comforts Dusky after seeing his vision. Lizard calls Dusky's father strange, as it was not very "dragonlike" for a parent to care about their dragonets. Luna tries to convince Lizard that dragons do care about each other, but to no avail. Lizard then demands Luna to give her memories, which Luna hesitantly obliges to. They appear in the art room of Silkworm Hall. In the vision, they see a younger Luna, Blue, Swordtail helping Io with her Metamorphosis weaving idea. Blue was worried that they would get caught which the others reassured that they would not. Swordtail and Blue go off to tidy the art room, while Io and Luna stay behind. Io wondered where she should put her Chrysalis symbol. Luna gave a suggestion which made Io interested. Swordtail suddenly bursts in, saying that the headmaster is coming. Luna and Swordtail played as a distraction so that Io and Blue could quietly escape from the school and vision ended there. Lizard called Luna and Swordtail "nitwits" for allowing themselves to be caught. Luna explains that Blue would have been sad if he got caught, so Luna and Swordtail gave themselves away so he could get away. Lizard still did not understand why Luna would care so much about another dragon. Coming soon...

Epilogue

Luna looks up and notes that the sky was full of dragons. She had already made six weavings, trying to display how beautiful it was, but still could not capture the true breathtaking sight of the skies. Swordtail suggested that she make a tapestry of the SilkWing Assembly, the new governing body for the SilkWings. He did a mocking impression of them to which Luna replied to saying that they will get sorted out eventually. A lot of things have changed between the defeat of the Othermind and now. Queen Wasp had been thrown in her own flamesilk cave, along with the rest of her sisters. Lady Jewel was now Queen Jewel of the HiveWings, which some of the HiveWings responded negatively to. Some of the HiveWings wanted to be as far away from the Hives and from any remainder of Wasp; these dragons had moved into the new SilkWing encampments. Another group of the HiveWings wanted Queen Wasp back, mind control and all; this which mystified Luna the most. She was glad that there were dragons like Belladonna who were happy to take care of that problem. Luna had hoped that everything would be fixed once they defeated the bad guy, but it was not. Swordtail reminded her to focus on the dragons that were trying to do good instead of the ones who are doing bad.

Soon, Blue, Cricket, Axolotl, Sundew, Willow, Bumblebee and Cricket's parents arrive. It was mentioned that most of the dragons like Cricket's father, Malachite and the librarian, who have been mind-controlled for years, have taken refuge in the LeafSilk Kingdom. Blue comments on how beautiful everything looked and Willow joked about how it would take a magician for Sundew to eat anything. Swordtail wanted to have a tree planting party and was deeply outraged by Sundew's idea of the tree planting party. Luna and Swordtail joked around with each other, before Cricket showed her tree that she left behind at Terrarium Academy to Sundew. Sundew with the power of her leafspeak helped the tree grow into a mighty tree. Sundew suggested that Luna should make a tapestry of the tree, before Swordtail showed them Luna's previous tapestry. Luna comments to Cricket that she does not want to make a tapestry of the Scorching or Freedom's backstory as she wanted to make happy weavings. Cricket agreed that she would write books of the true history as she felt it was her responsibility. Malachite offers to help Cricket with that and the two find that they have a lot in common with each other. Luna wonders if there is a point to having big dreams at all if they do not come true. The others disagree, saying that the world needs big dreams. Luna accepts that while she can empathize with the dragons that hurt them, that does not mean they get an excuse to do terrible things. Sundew asks for the dreamvisitor to try and contact their Pyrrhian friends and see if they want to visit. Luna mentions that Jambu and Pineapple plan to visit soon and Swordtail adds they will also visit Pyrrhia. Luna wonders about what the future will hold for both dragons and humans.

Gallery

Click here to see the cover gallery.

Trivia

• Sky and Wren appear on the back of the cover.
• The Barnes and Noble version of the novel comes with a poster of Luna and Swordtail flying in the sky.

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