Hvitur clutches his stolen SkyWing egg, hiding from the dragons searching for him. Queen Burn and her dragons find him, capturing him and the egg. Queen Burn realizes that Hvitur is from the Talons of Peace and he believes this SkyWing egg will fulfill a prophecy about young dragons that will the end the war that is raging across Pyrrhia. Queen Burn and Hvitur argue about the war and Queen Burn decides to take matters into her own hands. Much to Hvitur's horror, Queen Burn drops the egg off of the side of a cliff. She believes that if the Talons of Peace do not have all five of the correct eggs then the prophecy cannot come to pass. Queen Burn kills Hvitur, then she and her dragons leave. In the caves, Kestrel, Dune, and Webs meet. Unsure what to do now that the SkyWing egg has been lost, Webs leaves to steal and RainWing egg in the hope that they can salvage the prophecy.
Six years later, Clay, a MudWing, is practicing fighting moves with Kestrel but it isn't going well. Kestrel feels like Clay isn't giving it his all but Clay doesn't feel like a fighter. Tsunami, a SeaWing, comes to his rescue when Kestrel has him cornered. Kestrel mocks Tsunami for coming to Clay's rescue, especially since when Clay hatched he attacked Tsunami's egg along with everyone else's. Clay hates this story since it makes him feel guilty, but everyone sees it as a sign that he must be a great fighter. However, he doesn't feel like a great fighter. Disgusted, Kestrel leaves. Tsunami playfully knocks Clay into the water with her. As they swim she tells Clay that Kestrel will pay when Tsunami becomes queen of the SeaWing's. Clay points out to her that you have to be related to the queen to become queen yourself. Tsunami responds that maybe she is a lost princess like in their favorite story. Clay thinks on the story and how their only link to the outside world is the stories that the Talons of Peace let them have. He wonders what his parents are like while Tsunami wonders if any of their parents are even alive. Lost in their thoughts, Tsunami hints to Clay that maybe the dragonets should run away.
Clay is cleaning up from dinner when Sunny, the SandWing, startles him. Sunny isn't like most SandWings. She is too small, her coloring is off, and she is missing the poisonous barb at the end of her tail. But her egg fit the prophecy so the Talons of Peace took her. Kestrel often calls Sunny "harmless." This gets Clay thinking about Glory, the RainWing whose egg replaced the broken SkyWing egg, and how the adult dragons always call her a mistake. Sunny tells him that Dune wants them to study before bed. On the way to the study room he tries to budge the rock blocking the main entrance but has no luck. He hopes that one day he will be strong enough to move it. They meet up with the other dragonets, including Starflight the NightWing, and act out the current war of succession for the SandWings that is currently tearing their world apart. The playacting leads to some bickering amongst the friends but then they are interrupted by Kestrel, who is furious to find them playing instead of studying. Tsunami stands up for her friends and is punished for it. Kestrel knocks over the scrolls on her way out of the room and Tsunami asks Sunny to clean them up. With Sunny distracted, Tsunami talks to the other three about escaping. They agree they need to keep it a secret from Sunny until it is time to leave.
The dragonets hear a commotion in another room. Tsunami and Clay go to investigate. They go into the pool of water so they sneak into their caretakers room and find out what is going on. They hear Webs tell the others that Morrowseer, the NightWing who gave the prophecy, is on his way. He does not know about the broken SkyWing egg or their "defective" SandWing.
Morrowseer arrives and looks over the dragonets, displeased. He is furious to find Glory instead of a SkyWing and feels the lot of them are pretty pathetic. Tsunami stands up to Morrowseer, telling him that their guardians mistreat them. Dune begs Tsunami to be quiet but she refuses. Morrowseer attacks Tsunami and Clay tries to help her. When Morrowseer breaks off his attack he declares that Clay and Tsunami will do. Looking at Sunny he says they will have to see about her. He assumes that Starflight read his mind and knew that Morrowseer was never going to hurt Tsunami and that is why he too didn't attack. He says he wants to speak with Starflight in private. As for Glory, he says they will discuss her later. Morrowseer leaves with Starflight and Tsunami and their guardians get into an argument. However, the guardians leave to discuss things and the other dragonets assure Glory that she is their fifth dragon. As they go their separate ways Clay asks Sunny what she thinks of leaving but Sunny believes they should listen to their guardians, follow the prophecy, and then everything will be okay.
So I have mixed feeling about this book. I don't want to say I hate it, because that is certainly not true, but it is not a very pleasant story. Clay and his friends are hated by their guardians, locked away in a cave, and forbidden to know anything about the outside world unless the Talons of Peace want them to know it. Tsunami is right, they ARE treated like prisoners. And now that Morrowseer is here - and so clearly disdainful of them - I don't foresee things getting better. And I am worried about Glory. Morrowseer clearly hates her for no reason whatsoever. He also doesn't like Sunny, but she at least fits into the prophecy.
And I understand that the dragons want an end to the war, but they all clearly hate each other. Clay and his friends don't, but that seems to be an exception to the rule. And how exactly are the dragonets supposed to end the war with limited information and while locked away in a cave? The idea seems absurd. The more of this book I read the more convinced I am that Tsunami is correct and they should run away. I will have to see what happens next... because I have a bad feeling that as bad as things are they are about to get worse...
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