Escaping Peril

The eighth book in the Wings of Fire series, set in the dragon-inhabited continent of Pyrrhia, follows Peril, a SkyWing dragon born with firescales, a rare condition that makes her scales so hot they burn anything she touches.

A prologue set seven years earlier shows Princess Ruby, a young SkyWing, watching her mother, Queen Scarlet, force the young Peril to touch seven SkyWing eggs one by one, killing the dragonets inside. Ruby's older sister Tourmaline has recently vanished, and Ruby suspects Scarlet is responsible. Witnessing Peril's lethal power, Ruby resolves never to challenge her mother for the throne.

In the present, Peril hides inside Jade Mountain Academy, a school founded by the dragonets of destiny, five young dragons who ended a decades-long war in previous books. Clay, a MudWing and one of those dragonets, is Peril's only true friend and the dragon she loves. He asks her to stay out of sight while Queen Ruby visits. Ruby banished Peril from the Sky Kingdom after claiming the throne and now arrives to collect the body of a SkyWing student killed by a dragonflame cactus, an explosive plant used as a weapon. While hiding, Peril meets Turtle, a quiet SeaWing student and son of Queen Coral, who suggests they eavesdrop on the commotion above.

They overhear soldiers accusing Peril of the student's death. Then a watcher announces Queen Scarlet's approach, confirming the former queen is alive. Peril recalls freeing Scarlet from captivity months earlier; Scarlet demanded Peril kill Ruby, but Peril refused and Scarlet vanished. Now Scarlet hurls what appears to be the severed head of Queen Glory, the RainWing queen, at the assembled dragons and retreats. Turtle finds a tiny enchanted paper hidden in the head's ear. When he removes it, the face transforms into a MudWing's. The paper bears an animus enchantment, a type of magic wielded by rare dragons, designed to make the head look like Glory. Ruby raises the alarm that Scarlet may have an animus dragon working for her.

That night, Peril overhears Clay, Ruby, and Starflight, a blind NightWing librarian, discussing her. Ruby warns that Peril will never be trustworthy, and Starflight blurts that Peril is in love with Clay. Shaken, Peril resolves to prove herself by finding and killing Scarlet. Turtle insists on joining her, wanting to find his missing winglet, a small group of student classmates, and his sister Tsunami, who is already out searching for Scarlet.

They fly north toward Possibility, a multi-tribe trading town. Turtle notices a black dragon following them. A Talons of Peace patrol, members of a cross-tribe organization, ambushes them by the river, but Peril intimidates them and they continue on.

In Possibility, a dragonflame cactus detonates against Peril's scales, and Turtle is also injured but heals suspiciously fast. They find Moon, a NightWing mind reader, and Qibli, a SandWing, both members of Turtle's winglet. They learn their RainWing classmate Kinkajou remains unconscious after an attack by Scarlet's ally. While Peril waits outside the city, Winter, an IceWing from their winglet, returns and attacks her. They collide in midair, and Winter plummets, severely burned by Peril's scales. Turtle presses a river rock over Winter's injuries, healing them instantly. Moon and Qibli realize the rock is animus-touched and that Turtle has been hiding his power. Moon recites the Jade Mountain Prophecy, suggesting Peril may be the dangerous figure it describes. Overwhelmed, Peril flies away alone.

A SkyWing named Soar catches up, claiming to be Peril's father. He leads her to Scarlet, who taunts Peril, insisting no one else truly loves her. Scarlet rips off Soar's necklace, revealing a hidden enchanted paper. Without it, his orange scales shift to dull green: He is a RainWing named Chameleon, banished from his tribe for being unable to change his scales. Using an animus-touched scroll, Chameleon writes enchantments on scraps of paper and hides them in jewelry; each transforms him into a different dragon. He offers Peril a black locket enchanted to remove her firescales. Desperate to touch others without burning them, Peril puts it on and agrees to help Scarlet reclaim her throne.

They fly to the Sky Palace, where guards flee from Peril, still believing she has firescales. Scarlet kills guards, reclaims her throne, and takes Ruby's young son, Prince Cliff, hostage. When Ruby returns, Scarlet threatens Cliff's life unless Ruby surrenders. Ruby yields. A MudWing soldier begs Peril to remember Clay, but Peril has no memory of him. Ruby realizes Peril is under a spell.

Chameleon confesses he attacked Kinkajou out of hatred for RainWings. When Cliff escapes, the prince reaches his mother's cell, which loyal guards never truly locked. Ruby breaks free, but Scarlet pins her and declares she will turn Cliff into a mindless weapon, just as she did with Peril. Recognizing the pattern of manufactured obedience, Peril reaches for the locket. Chameleon's desperate reaction confirms the necklace did more than remove her firescales: It also implanted loyalty to Scarlet and erased her memories of Clay. Peril rips it off, restoring her firescales and her memories.

Peril advances on Scarlet, but Ruby stops her. Invoking SkyWing tradition, which requires a formal challenge for the throne, Ruby demands a duel so she can win legitimately. As the fight unfolds, Peril notices Ruby is losing and suspects Chameleon enchanted her too. She spots a small teardrop earring Ruby always wears and crushes it in her fiery claws. Ruby's body transforms: Her scales shift to dark orange, she grows stronger, and her wounds vanish. She is actually Tourmaline, Scarlet's older daughter, enchanted into the fabricated identity of "Ruby" years ago. Scarlet reveals there never was a real Ruby. Restored to full strength, Tourmaline snaps Scarlet's neck.

Tourmaline asks to be changed back into Ruby, the identity she truly feels is hers. Chameleon reluctantly writes a new enchantment restoring her Ruby appearance with all memories intact. Queen Ruby lifts Peril's banishment and tells Peril she no longer blames her for the things Scarlet forced her to do. Peril resolves to keep trying to be good on her own terms.

During the celebration, Chameleon escapes with the scroll. The group tracks him down, and Turtle uses his animus power to seize the scroll. They argue over who should control it. Moon reveals the scroll belongs to Darkstalker, an ancient NightWing animus who placed his power in it to avoid corrupting his soul. Darkstalker has been buried alive beneath the mountains near Jade Mountain, and Moon has heard his voice since arriving at the academy. They agree to decide in the morning, but Moon takes the scroll and flies south. Peril catches her on a hillside, where Moon has read an enchantment Darkstalker once used to force his own father to disembowel himself. Moon tells Peril she can no longer trust Darkstalker.

The others arrive, and Qibli and Winter argue over who should control the scroll. While they fight, Peril lifts it from Qibli's distracted talons and burns it to ash between her firescales. For the first time, she feels a conviction that this is right, not because Clay told her so, but because she chose it herself. The ground shakes violently. The mountain beside Jade Mountain splits open, and Darkstalker, an enormous NightWing, rises from the earth, stretching wings as wide as the mountain. He thanks Peril, implying the scroll's destruction freed him. In a brief epilogue, Turtle turns toward Jade Mountain to warn the school, thinking he is no hero but knowing where to find some.