Dragonslayer

Legends: Dragonslayer

Cover artist	Joy Ang
Published	March 3, 2020
Page count	512
ISBN	9781338214604 (hardcover) 9781338214611 (paperback)

Dragonslayer is the second Legends book which follows three human protagonists: Wren, Ivy, and Leaf.

Summary

This special edition of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series soars back in time to give readers a glimpse of Pyrrhia through new eyes.

In the shadow of wings ... humans fight for survival.

Ivy doesn't trust the Dragonslayer. He may be her father and the beloved lord of Valor, but she knows he's hiding more than the treasure from the sand dragon he killed two decades ago.

Leaf doesn't trust dragons. They're the reason his favorite sister, Wren, is dead, and now he'll do whatever it takes to slay even one.

Wren doesn't trust anyone. She swore off humans after her village tried to sacrifice her to the dragons. She only has one friend, a small, wonderful mountain dragon named Sky, and they don't need anyone else.

In a world of dragons, the humans who scramble around underfoot are easy to overlook. But Ivy, Leaf, and Wren will each cross paths with dragons in ways that could shape the destiny of both species. Is a new future possible for all of them . . . one in which humans can look to the skies with hope instead of fear?

Plot

Prologue

Two decades ago, Stone and Rose secretly helped Heath steal Queen Oasis's treasure to gain wealth and power. While Stone and Heath waited outside, Rose re-entered for more loot. Stone argued treasure wouldn’t bring power, but Heath disagreed. Rose emerged, and they began to escape, but Oasis caught them. In the fight, Oasis burned Heath, but Stone killed her with a spear to her eye. Heath took her tail barb as proof. Noticing Rose missing, Stone worried, but Heath urged flight as SandWings approached. They fled with the treasure and barb, Stone still anxious about Rose.

Part One

Seven-year-old Wren was unknowingly prepared by her parents for a sacrifice orchestrated by the dragonmancers. She discovered their plan when they took her through a forest to a river near Talisman. Wren resisted, but the dragonmancers tied her to a stone slab by the river. She freed herself and reflected on the betrayals she faced in Talisman. Encountering a dying dragonet tangled in a bush, Wren freed him out of pity and reassured him, calming herself too. A rust-colored dragon with a burned cheek flew by, and Wren hid with the dragonet, who feared it. After Kestrel left, Wren named the dragonet Sky. Feeling safe with him, she distrusted humans but believed they were unstoppable together.

After Wren’s disappearance, Leaf argued with his parents about the dragonmancers’ failure to save her. His sister Rowan mentioned the Dragonslayer, a figure their parents dismissed as a myth. Rowan shared tales of the Dragonslayer’s deeds, inspiring Leaf to aspire to become one, despite parental disapproval.

As a child, Ivy asked her mother why her father, Heath, was famous. Her mother confirmed his fame but dodged questions about his “Dragonstaring” and Uncle Stone’s anger at the Dragonslayer. Other children avoided sleepovers at Ivy’s, fearing Heath’s dragon tail barb. At six, Ivy grew skeptical of her father’s tales. Her friends Violet and Daffodil invited her to join their secret club, The Truth Seekers.

Wren and Sky began learning each other’s languages, starting with “snail” in dragon, Sky’s obsession. They saw the dragonets of destiny playing in a mountain hideout. Sky’s sadness, Wren later realized, stemmed from his inability to breathe fire, unique to him. Wren vowed to protect him.

Leaf, inspired by Rowan, trained to become a Dragonslayer. They speculated about six dragon types. With Rowan’s friend Grove and a boy named Butterfly, they took shelter from dragons.

When Violet and Daffodil visited, Ivy’s mother tried to excuse her from joining them, but Ivy insisted she was free. Surprised The Truth Seekers endured, Ivy impressed them with her dragon drawings and expressed her desire to become a Wingwatcher. The group debunked Heath’s latest palace journey. On a Truth Seekers mission, Ivy ventured outside, claiming to deliver a potato to her father. She described the vibrant outdoors but hid with Wingwatcher Foxglove from a black dragon. Foxglove made Ivy promise not to go out alone.

Wren found a safe valley for her and Sky. Needing supplies, she planned to visit the Indestructible City but convinced Sky to stay behind. At the city, she learned the Invincible Lord sought the Dragonslayer for an alliance, admitting only one family of six. Encountering Undauntable and his cat, Wren traded a silver earring for Sky’s shed scale, claiming she found it in a swamp to mislead him. She returned to Sky with supplies.

Leaf received a dragonmancer invitation, pleasing his parents but amusing Rowan. Training secretly, he grew stronger, unnoticed by others. Assigned to Master Trout, who resented him, Leaf thought Trout suited a tarantula better. Cranberry, Mushroom, and Thyme appeared.

Ivy became a Wingwatcher, attending the welcome ceremony with Violet and Daffodil. They discussed conspiracies until the Dragonslayer appeared. Foxglove warned Ivy against Chipmunk, who avoided dragons. Ivy pondered a possible revolution against her father.

Part Two

Wren and Sky spotted sea dragons, and Sky excitedly suggested Wren ride him. Being too small, he failed, but a year later, he could carry her across the continent as she mapped it meticulously. Undauntable invited Wren to the Indestructible City, but she declined, calling him her second most interesting friend, implying she had only two.

Leaf shared his blueprint with friends. Grove urged him to return to the dragonmancers, who would decide their next steps. Two days later, Rowan revealed the map and Mushroom were missing. Crow and Gorge demanded they find Mushroom, jailing Grove as leverage. Leaf, Rowan, Cranberry, and Thyme headed north to the dragon palace, spotting Mushroom climbing in after four days. They entered the Sky Palace to aid him.

Foxglove instructed Ivy, Daffodil, and Violet to stay in their tree and watch the sky. An ice dragon crashed nearby, revealing Stone riding it with an invisibility necklace, searching for Rose. Ivy, confused, asked who Rose was.

Wren returned to the Indestructible City, giving Undauntable another dragon scale. He suspected she had more and proposed marriage, which she refused. A sand dragon taunted the city, but Wren noted it wasn’t attacking. Undauntable questioned her dragon knowledge, and she left to meet Sky, who wanted to explore a dragon city. She agreed he could go the next day.

At the Sky Palace, Leaf’s group saw Mushroom fleeing with treasure. Rowan failed to convince him to return. A crimson mountain dragon attacked; Leaf’s sword bounced off its scales. The dragon queen chased Mushroom, and other dragons captured Leaf, Rowan, Cranberry, and Thyme. Leaf fainted from lack of oxygen.

Ivy’s group visited Stone, who explained Rose, his sister, was lost during Queen Oasis’s treasure theft, sparking dragon wrath. They planned to return the treasure to appease the sand dragons.

Wren allowed Sky to visit Possibility, warning him to avoid suspicion and return by midday. When he didn’t, she entered the city at night, learning SandWing soldiers had taken him to fight IceWings.

Leaf awoke in a pit with Rowan, Cranberry, Thyme, and others, learning the mountain dragon queen enjoyed arena fights. A dragon took Thyme, then Leaf, to a chaotic kitchen. At a dragon party, Leaf hid with Thyme but climbed a cliff to find Rowan, collapsing from exhaustion. A brown dragon gently placed him atop the cliff.

Ivy’s group showed Stone a sapphire from Heath’s treasure, which gave him nightmares. Heath arrived, acting oddly, and forbade them from leaving. Ivy noticed her mother’s disillusionment. They found Heath’s treasure in a safe under the tail barb pedestal, using “mine” as the code, but left it to plan further.

Leaf entered the palace, seeing the injured dragon queen carried away. A red dragonet spotted him, but an adult dragon gave him the food pit key, freeing Rowan and others. Cranberry and Rowan had fought dragons in the arena. Rowan admitted Wren’s sacrifice, enraging Leaf. He vowed to find the Dragonslayer, refusing to return to Talisman.

Part Three

Wren trailed the SandWing army to rescue Sky, struggling to keep pace on foot as they flew. Reaching the Ice Kingdom, she found they’d already left for the desert palace. In the dragon city, she stole crumbs like a mouse, unable to find a map. She took a dragon’s dagger, a sword to her, and approached a solitary black dragon, Deathbringer, reading a scroll. Wren, speaking Dragon, demanded he fly her to the palace. Confused, he thought she was a hallucination, but she persisted, showing her sword and accidentally cutting him. Convinced, he agreed to take her.

Ivy, Daffodil, and Violet planned to return Heath’s treasure to avoid being eaten. On a Wingwatcher mission, they spotted SkyWings chasing a boy, Leaf. Ivy distracted the dragons and brought him to Valor, where he sought the Dragonslayer to learn dragon-slaying. Ivy explained their Wingwatcher roles, and Leaf revealed his sister’s sacrifice. Horrified, Ivy introduced him to Heath, who dismissed him. Stone warned Leaf the Dragonslayer’s story wasn’t what it seemed.

Wren arrived at the palace with Deathbringer, accidentally stabbing him again. They agreed to secrecy. Searching for Sky, she heard a roaring dragon and found General Sandstorm demanding Prince ;;Smolder]] give Sky to Queen Burn. Wren planned to kill Sandstorm to free Sky, needing his key.

Daffodil told Ivy the Wingwatchers were being arrested. They smuggled a sapphire from Foxglove’s cave and fled Valor. Stone hid Leaf from soldiers, revealing he killed Queen Oasis, not Heath. They met Ivy and Daffodil at the old village, learning of the arrests. Ivy planned to return the treasure, and Leaf mentioned a caged dragon like Sunny.

Wren, with Rose’s help, poisoned Sandstorm’s drink in the palace kitchen. He died in battle, and Wren couldn’t retrieve the key. Sky suggested Rose ask Smolder for a copy. Rose, learning Wren spoke Dragon, agreed to help in exchange for lessons.

Ivy, Leaf, and Stone reached the desert palace. Stone used an invisibility chain on Ivy, who distracted guards to enter. In the kitchen, a dragon mistook Stone for Rose, taking him to Smolder. Rose, content, refused rescue, revealing the dragons sought treasure Heath and Stone left behind. Leaf learned Wren was alive.

Leaf rode Cereus, a human-friendly dragon, to find Wren. Spotting Sky, he fell, but Cereus saved him. Wren reunited with Leaf, learning of their parents’ lies. They planned to return to Valor, sending Cereus with the invisibility chain.

At Valor, Sky’s presence caused panic. Ivy confronted Heath, who confessed Stone was the true Dragonslayer. Ivy demanded the treasure’s return; Lark brought it, and Brook became Valor’s lord. Heath, broken, left with Lark.

In Talisman, Wren and Sky exposed the dragonmancers’ treasure-smuggling and sacrifices. Wren revealed their logbook, freeing Rowan and Grove. She threatened to burn the village if children vanished again, leaving Butterfly in charge. Rejecting their parents, the group left to build a new town for dragon-burned villages, aiming for peace. Ivy sought a golden dragon, and Wren, Leaf, and Ivy planned to return to help after exploring their destiny.

Epilogue

Gazing out his window, Undauntable hoped Wren would return to the Indestructible City. Fifty-nine days had passed since his rejected proposal sent her storming off. Fear gripped him that a dragon might have killed her, a worry sparked whenever one flew overhead. He briefly fantasized about fleeing with her but dismissed it, deeming the city’s walls safer. His father summoned him, revealing that their spy, Boar, embedded in Valor, confirmed Stone, not Heath, was the true Dragonslayer, though Stone was unreliable. Boar shared startling news of a girl who spoke Dragon and controlled a dragon—Undauntable knew it was Wren. His heart raced; he loved her wild freedom, the opposite of the city’s constraints.

After Boar left, the Invincible Lord noted the dragon’s pale orange scales matched those Wren gave Undauntable, now worn as jewelry. Undauntable lied about their origin, but his father, seeing through his poor deception, declared he’d control Wren to dominate the world. Undauntable silently vowed to protect her as long as he could.