Scorching

The Scorching is a vague, cataclysmic event where dragons replaced scavengers/humans as Pyrrhia's dominant life form. It is mentioned several times throughout the Wings of Fire series.                                                      

Dragons seem to use it as a method of measuring time. The current year is 5012 AS (After Scorching.)

Dragon tribes were formed based on abilities and habitats, such as deserts, mountains, and the sea. Each tribe chose their own queen, thus allowing dragons to get help when they needed it, and making it extremely hard for a scavenger to kill any one dragon.

Centuries later, a scavenger managed to kill Queen Oasis, proving that scavengers could very well still kill dragons. Webs mentioned in Moon Rising that there are many versions of the history of the Scorching and also said it happened about 5,000 years ago. This is based on when Webs described some of the legends as "stories" and "fairy tales".  

Trivia

• Clay once accidentally called the Scorching "The Scalding" in Starflight's dream, much to Starflight's annoyance. A scald is a very hot burn.
• Dragons nowadays use the events of the Scorching to keep track of time. (For example, 5012 years AS)
• The Scorching occurred 5,012 years before the events in Moon Rising, according to Moonwatcher. This would make The Dragonet Prophecy happen roughly 5,011 years after the Scorching.

• It is said by young Darkstalker's talking scroll that after the Scorching, Pyrrhia was in a state of almost constant warfare.
• A popular theory is that before the Scorching, scavengers lived like modern humans in the real world. This is suggested when Webs described some of the legends as "stories" and "fairy tales". However, it is still unknown as to what the Scorching is truly about.
• It is revealed in the Kobo preview of Darkness of Dragons that a transformation occurred five hundred years after the events of the Scorching, however Webs was interrupted by Thrush, and never got to finish the details.