NightWings (Species)

 N ight W ings

About NightWings are black dragons with silver scales on their wings. Within the main series they are clever and mysterious. They blend well into the shadows where they are practically invisible due to their black scales. A NightWings' diet consists mainly of cooked or uncooked meat, but they also can enjoy fruits and vegetables. In the series, a NightWing named Peacemaker particularly enjoys strawberries.

Appearance

NightWings tend to have black or dark grey scales, with accents of dark grey, purple, or dark blue. They have white scales on the undersides of their dark wings that are said to look like stars in the night sky, along with white scales running down their neck and tails. They have curved two long, curved horns and a stockier body type. NightWings who can read minds are said to have "silver, teardrop scales" near or next to their eyes. Color Palette A NightWing's main color is typically anywhere from blacks and dark greys to extremely dark purples and blues, though they are described to have silver, purple, dark green or dark blue underscales. See below for examples:

Abilities

Ability 1: Fire Breath

Like many other dragons, NightWings can breathe anywhere from a "small plume of fire" to a "blast of fire" at their opponents. They can do so whenever they please.

"Fatespeaker breathed a small plume of fire"

— Fatespeaker in The Dark Secret, p.310 (E-book)

"[Morrowseer] shot a blast of fire at Squid."

— Morrowseer in The Dark Secret, p.375 (E-book)

Ability 2: Slightly Fireproof

In The Dark Secret a NightWing is thrown into a pool of lava, but does not die immediately, thrashing around until his death. With this knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that NightWings are fire-proof to an extent, being able to resist large amounts of heat.

Ability 3: Strong Sense of Smell

NightWings are also known to have a strong sense of smell, which can be seen in Sunny, a NightWing x SandWing hybrid who has a strong sense of smell from her NightWing genes.

SPECIAL ABILITIES* *Not all NightWings have these, they may be adaptations or abilities that are only acquired under certain circumstances.

Abilities 4 & 5: Mind Reading & Future Vision

Some NightWings have the ability of foresight and prophecy. A NightWing born under one full moon can either read minds or see the future. A NightWing born under two full moons can do both. A NightWing born under three full moons is extremely rare, but it is theorized they can do both but stronger.

"One full moon at hatching gives a dragonet either mind reading or prophecy. Two gives them both. Three is so rare... We think the third moon makes the two powers even stronger."

— Darkstalker to Moonwatcher in Moon Rising, p. 282 (E-book)

Ability 4: Mind Reading

Some NightWings have the ability to read minds. NightWings or NightWing hybrids who are mind readers can easily be identified by "silver teardrop scales" near their eyes. It is described as choosing

"Any NightWing with silver teardrop scales by their eyes is a mind reader—I'm certainly not the only one in the tribe."

— Darkstalker in Darkstalker, p.186

Untrained NightWings can struggle with uncontrollably hearing the echoes of others' minds. This can be especially bad in crowds and can lead to bad headaches and an overwhelmed feeling. The closer to an individual a mind reader is the easier it is to read their mind.

"Easy for you to say...Clearly you don't get splitting headaches every time you walk into a crowd."

— Moonwatcher to Dalkstalker in Moon Rising, p. 195 (E-book)

"It was hard, actually, to have any thoughts of her own when so many were crowding in all at once."

— Moonwatcher entering a crowd in Moon Rising, p. 166 (E-book)

Both trained and untrained NightWings can probe another's mind when wanting to, but it takes a trained NightWing and practice to filter out the emotions and thoughts of others. The stronger the emotions, the more difficult it can be to filter them out. It also is more difficult if the dragon is thinking about the mind reader. Blocking out others’ thoughts is also said to be easier in a crowd than in a "two-dragon conversation" (Moon Rising, p. 199). The process of doing so is described as choosing a repetitive, soothing noise, such as ocean waves or raindrops and filling your head with it. Next, the mind reader must hold onto that sound and imagine tucking the voice of a dragon’s thoughts away into each repetition of the noise. Once this is done, that individual will be drowned out. "Now hold onto that falling rain sound, and then imagine that you're taking each voice you hear and slipping it inside one of the raindrops. Do that as you enter a cave full of dragons, and after a minute all their insignificant, mental howling will be drowned in the downpour."

— Darkstalker to Moonwatcher in Moon Rising, p. 197-198

NightWings overwhelmed by many, panicked emotions at once can anchor themselves on a calm mind by focusing on that individual.

"‘Remember, you're feeling everyone else's fear, it's not all yours.’ ‘Find an anchor,’ Dalkstalker reminded her. ‘Don't let yourself be overwhelmed.’...She reached out and latched onto Tsunami's thoughts. The SeaWing was loud and angry, but at least she wasn't petrified."

— Qibli & Darkstalker to Moonwatcher in Moon Rising, p. 388

It is revealed that a dragon reading the mind of another may leave traces of a presence while they are doing so, as revealed by Flame sensing Moon of Moon Rising, where he demands to know "WHO'S THERE" and then forces Moon out of his mind with a "ferocious blast of fury" (p. 393). There is one known substance for blocking out reading minds, "skyfire"—which is best described as pieces of meteorite or comet shards and can be utilized through pieces of jewelry or through a dragon just holding a piece. An animus-enchanted object could also likely be used.

Ability 5: Future Vision

"The nightmare came immediately this time. Ever since the comet six months ago, she'd had the same awful recurring dream, although the details sometimes changed...She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, couldn't call for help, couldn't warn the dying dragons. She could only stand there and watch as pain pounded through her head and the world was destroyed right under her claws."

''— Moonwatcher receiving a vision through as a nightmare in Moon Rising, p. 131-132' (E-book)'

"Moon faltered as a flash of light suddenly blistered through her mind, then vanished. She stopped, blinking and disoriented...A slow pounding was working its way up her spine...A moment later, pain shot through her like a claw brutally, stabbing into her eye socket. She collapsed on the floor, clutching her head, and the vision came."

— Moonwatcher receiving a strong, negative vision in Moon Rising, p. 304-305 (E-book)

"Visions were already crowding in, trying to fill the space of these new ripples, new timelines unrolling. There were too many new futures all of a sudden, ones she'd never even glimpsed before. Some of them wrapped back around to link up with previous visions—Darkstalker in the crown, or them with their dragonets—but some of them spilled out into awful new directions."

—Clearsight analyzing the future in Darkstalker, p. 252

Ability 6: Infectious Saliva for Prey

Some NightWings have developed an adaptation of having bacteria in their mouths that allow them to infect prey and eat it after it has been dead without getting sick. In The Hidden Kingdom, the wound left by this infectious NightWing bite is described as:

"The would was black and crawling with insects; it looked even worse than Webs's injury [wound from SandWing venom]."

—The wound of a sloth bitten by a NightWing in The Hidden Kingdom, p. 246 (E-book)

The bite is likely caused by bacteria and not venom. It is unknown whether or not it works on dragons effectively, but there is more pointing to that it is not very effective against a dragon in relation to prey. "You bite your prey...and then you wait for it to die. And then you find it and eat it—once it's already dead and rotting. But it doesn't make you sick...There's something in your mouth that kills them, even if the bite itself isn't fatal. Is it venom?"

—Starflight to Morrowseer in The Dark Secret, p. 246 (E-book)

Morrowseeker then notes that the NightWing scientists have found no traces of venom in their tribe's corpse's and that they have had no luck spitting venom like RainWings either, which means the venom is likely a bacteria that is mostly effective on prey, which is later stated by Starflight as well.

NightWings on Melanis

NightWings can be found throughout the Melanis continent. However, many are found especially in Erudite due to the NightWing x IceWing hybrid heritage of its founder, Mystra. They also tend to particularly enjoy the constant night of some areas within the kingdom. Their quick-wits and black scales make them ideal assassins, and many are Erudite scholars, but they can be found in many different occupations.

Resources Useful resources for NightWing characters or NightWing hybrids:


 * NightWings — Wings of Fire Wiki (May Contain Spoilers!)
 * NightWings/Gallery — Wings of Fire Wiki (May Contain Spoilers!)
 * Transparent NightWing Base