The Lost Heir

Blister is a SandWing, one of three SandWing princesses vying for the empty throne. Blister is cunning and manipulative, as well as a vicious fighter. Openly allied with the SeaWings, she secretly forms an alliance with Morrowseer and the Talons of Peace.

Blister exerts great influence on Starflight and the SeaWings. She pressures Starflight to vocalize his—and thus the dragonets’—support for her but is disgusted by his nervous nature. She treats the SeaWings callously, openly disrespecting Queen Coral. Blister views the SeaWings with contempt, uncaring that her vengeance against Webs leaves the SeaWing kingdom open to attack by SkyWings. She and Tsunami engage in several verbal battles; though Blister is the better politician, she cannot win over the dragonets and rejects them in favor of the Talons’ spares.

Blister parallels Coral in that they are both queens who prioritize their petty squabbles—Blister desires to win the war, not to end it—but is also a foil for her. While Coral does eventually learn her lesson to some degree, Blister continues down her villainous path, determined to achieve victory by any means necessary and twisting the prophecy for her own benefit.

Morrowseer is a NightWing connected to the Talons of Peace. Although the NightWings are supposedly neutral in the war, Morrowseer operates on a mysterious, if ominous, agenda. Morrowseer knows the dragonet prophecy best of all the characters thus far, but his motivations and goals remain shrouded in mystery. He and Tsunami dislike each other; the dragonets have always been wary of him. In The Lost Heir, he allies with Blister and orders Starflight to convince the dragonets to do the same. However, he is cold-blooded and will willingly sacrifice even a dragonet of his own tribe to achieve his own ends.

Queen of the SeaWings, Coral is a flawed character. Her main role is as a foil to Webs and the other Talons of Peace guardians to the dragonets of destiny. Coral has experienced much trauma, which manifests in her paranoia and desire for control. Her eldest daughter, Orca, challenged her for the throne and failed, meaning that Coral nearly died and had to kill her own child. Coral’s subsequent daughters die as eggs—except for Tsunami, who was stolen—rendering her extra fearful for Anemone, whom she keeps under constant watch, both out of a desire for control and a fear of losing another child. This trauma is compounded by losing her husband, Gill.

Coral’s relationship with Tsunami is thus a complicated one. Although she is overjoyed that her child survived, she has retreated so far into the delusion of her legacy and her publications that she can’t see Tsunami for who she really is—Coral’s greeting to Tsunami, a direct quote from her fairy tale, The Missing Princess, indicates her disconnect from the real world. This is only furthered by the obsequious council, her fearful citizens, and her “ally” Blister’s manipulative disrespect. It is only once her last egg hatches, Tsunami proves who the real egg murderer is, and the war is brought to her doorstep that Coral demonstrates her potential to be a proper queen, sacrificing her stories for her people. Her behavior allows Tsunami to put her own guardians into perspective and better empathize with their sacrifices.

Anemone is Queen Coral’s only other surviving daughter and Tsunami’s younger birth sister. She is an animus; for this reason, and because of the serial egg murders, she has been kept under Coral’s thumb her whole life, literally harnessed to her mother since hatching. Anemone is intelligent, well versed in SeaWing court life, and fluent in Aquatic.

While Anemone is not a direct foil to Tsunami, their lives parallel and contrast with each other just enough to put Tsunami’s experiences into perspective. They both have complicated and difficult relationships with their parental figures, and both long for freedom—Anemone from her mother’s control and Tsunami from the Talons of Peace. However, while Tsunami is brash and outspoken, Anemone must be more subtle, keeping her animus magic secret to avoid the war. Her journey highlights the importance and symbolism of self-empowerment.

Clay is a MudWing. Steadfastly loyal to his adoptive siblings, Clay is easygoing and excited about food. His size, fighting skills, and ability to swim and travel easily through water align him with Tsunami, though his protective and pacifist nature allows him to empathize with the smaller and less aggressive dragonets. As such, he is often a mediator between Tsunami and the others.

In The Lost Heir, his MudWing status results in hostile treatment from the SeaWings. Although he willingly submits to their harshness in order to keep the peace, he sometimes struggles to read the room. No matter what, however, the dragonets refuse to abandon him, even during the Summer Palace flooding; he is the linchpin of the group.

Glory is a RainWing, the most disparaged group of dragons. Often dismissed and underestimated due to negative stereotypes, Glory is prickly and defensive to hide her insecurities; ironically, she is also the most expressive of the dragonets, as her scales can change color and can camouflage with her surroundings. Glory’s secret weapon is her venom.

As a RainWing, Glory was not included in the original dragonets of destiny prophecy; she was a last-minute substitution. This resulted in constant disdain and rejection from Morrowseer and the Talons of Peace guardians. While Glory and Tsunami both had the most combative relationships with their guardians, they snipe at each other instead, contributing to Tsunami’s longing for her SeaWing family. However, by the end of the novel, the dragonets make up; Tsunami even suggests the RainWing territory as their next destination after the SeaWing kingdom, thus proving that their bond is stronger than their bickering.

Starflight is a NightWing and the only dragonet to be freely given by his tribe for the prophecy. While Starflight previously benefited from this status, this connection comes with its own price—Morrowseer can and does exert secret influence on Starflight. While Starflight is the “nerd” of the group, he has not manifested the NightWings’ preternatural powers.

Starflight appears to struggle with similar internal conflicts to Tsunami—as a NightWing, he is supposed to represent Morrowseer’s interests and openly support Blister in the war. However, his nervous nature means that he struggles to instigate conflict, especially against the dragonets. Although Tsunami misses most of Starflight’s inner battles, the reader can see his struggle to maintain a balance; much like Tsunami, he ultimately sides with the dragonets and is deemed a traitor by Morrowseer.

Starflight’s intelligence and caution mean that he is the best at politicking and picking up subtleties, allowing him to help Tsunami navigate the pitfalls of verbal battle while at the SeaWing court. Although Tsunami bickers with him at the beginning of the novel—mostly due to Morrowseer’s secret orders—by the end of the book, free of their respective obligations, they make up and respect each other’s skills.