In this week’s article, let’s look at the final book of the Wings of Fire series (at least, for now). Spoilers ahead!
The Flames of Hope starts on the west coast of Pyrrhia. Ten dragons (and a human), one from each tribe, are preparing to cross the ocean, find an abyss, and save all of the dragons of Pantala from a great evil. It doesn’t take long for them to be off on their way. They have to follow a map that shows them where important islands are that will allow them to take a break and rest. When they get closer to Pantala, they reach an island full of mind-controlled HiveWings! Luckily, Sundew uses a pair of magic bracelets to hide the ten dragons. A big fight ensues, ending with Pineapple, Tsunami, Qibli, and Moon being captured by HiveWings and taken to an unknown location.
With almost half of the stealth team captured, the remaining six decide to continue to Pantala and split up, with Sundew and Lynx going to save the prisoners while the other four wait in a cave. In the cave, they meet a human named Axolotl, who helps them look for the Abyss. They walk through cramped caves and eventually are found by Pokeweed, a LeafWing hiding from Queen Wasp and the mind-controlled dragons. He takes them to where all of the SilkWings from Bloodworm Hive have been hiding, and Luna meets an orphan dragonet named Dusky. Luna, some other dragons, and their human, Wren, and Axolotl, go to find the Abyss. On their way there, Dusky is kidnapped by two humans living near the Abyss. The dragonet gets thrown into the Abyss, and Luna jumps in to save him.
In part two of The Flames of Hope, Luna finds an overgrown throne room at the bottom of the Abyss. The throne room is ground zero for the Breath of Evil, the plant that lets Queen Wasp mind-control dragons. Luna gets infected and then has a vision of the Scorching. She learns of a human named Cottonmouth, who was responsible for stealing dragon eggs and causing the dragons to attack and destroy all human settlements.
When she wakes up from the vision, Luna is in the overgrown throne room, but this time, it’s not overgrown at all. The Breath of Evil is actually being controlled by Cottonmouth and a dragonet named Lizard. Lizard asks Luna and Dusky (who have also been consumed by the Breath of Evil) to give her their memories. They don’t agree, which makes Lizard mad.
Then, we are able to see into Queen Wasp’s throne room, where Qibli, Tsunami, and Pineapple are tied up. Luna offers to give Lizard her memories if she helps the trapped dragons escape. Lizard accepts and helps them escape. Dusky decides to give his memories to Lizard before Luna does. After absorbing them, Lizard thinks that his memories are boring. Luna then gives the dragonet her memories, but Lizard doesn’t like them either. The Breath of Evil soon takes over pineapple and is able to give Lizard his memories, but again, she doesn’t like them. Luna comes up with a plan: using Moon’s mind reading (which allows her to communicate with Luna and Lizard and the others), have each of the dragons that came to Pantala give her one of their memories. Theoretically, this will help Lizard see that not all dragons are bloodthirsty and violent. At first, she doesn’t like their memories because none of them are like her, but Luna tries to show her that they are. Her plan works, and Lizard tells Luna that if she cuts the stem of the Breath of Evil in the overgrown throne room, it will kill the plant.
As the members of the stealth team slowly fall to the Breath of Evil, Luna, focusing on her senses and physical body, slowly makes her way toward the throne, where the stem is. She ties a strand of silk around the plant and slices it. Lizard still exists in their minds for a second, and Dusky asks to give Lizard a real name, and she chooses Freedom. The plant dies, and everyone is freed.
In The Flames of Hope, The Mindspace is a location that does not exist in the physical world. It is inhabited by Cottonmouth and Lizard (now Freedom), but they can bring in anyone who is infected with the Breath of Evil, although it takes much energy to do. The Mindspace can be made to look like any environment, whether it exists now or in the memories of infected dragons (or humans).