Tui T. Sutherland Quotes & Sayings

Oooh," Peril said, momentarily distracted by the idea of an enchanted piece of cheese. — Tui T. Sutherland

Before she could scream. Kestrel clutched at the blood pouring from her neck and staggered back, pummeled by the wind. Blister took another step and stabbed Kestrel in the heart with her poisonous tail. The SkyWing collapsed to the rocks, thrashing in agony. Her mouth opened to scream curses or breathe fire at her murderers, but only dark red blood bubbled out. — Tui T. Sutherland

Tsunami finally woke up on an island that was officially part of the Thousand Scales. She started awake from a dream in which their cave had collapsed and was slowly crushing her to death, and discovered that Clay had rolled over on top of her in the middle of the night. Grumbling, she wriggled out from under him and let his tail flop over onto Starflight's head. The — Tui T. Sutherland

Well, except she didn't tell me about the stealth RainWing bodyguards she put on me. That was pretty hilarious. Everyone should suddenly have the air turn into seven bright purple dragons yelling hysterically whenever she gets attacked. — Tui T. Sutherland

That's your secret," Moon breathed. She had an expression like someone who'd just managed to finally alphabetize a million scrolls exactly right. "An animus. — Tui T. Sutherland

The other dragonets were his own size (nearly), and they didn't cheat (well, most of the time). — Tui T. Sutherland

Peril thought her mother was dead. How would she react when she found out it was Kestrel - and she was still alive? — Tui T. Sutherland

I order you not to die," Tsunami said, grabbing his shoulder. "Clay, stop, STOP IT. Stop dying RIGHT NOW." Her normally bossy voice was full of panic. — Tui T. Sutherland

Glory told us everything you said in her dream, which, by the way, is crazy, visiting a dragon's dreams," Tsunami said to Starflight, winding her tail around his. "Well, except she didn't tell me about the stealth RainWing bodyguards she put on me. That was pretty hilarious. Everyone should suddenly have the air turn into seven bright purple dragons yelling hysterically whenever she gets attacked." "Yeah, I wouldn't have minded something like that," Starflight said. — Tui T. Sutherland

Smile in front of the queen?" she said with a feigned gasp of disapproval. 'Surely that's not allowed! — Tui T. Sutherland

I'm Qibli, and that's Moon and Kinkajou. Guys, this is Riptide and Serious. — Tui T. Sutherland

The NightWings are going to set their heads on fire," Qibli agreed. "No, wait. They're going to set the closest IceWing's head on fire. Winter, I hope your skull is as thick as it looks. — Tui T. Sutherland

Don't leave out the key adjectives in there. Kill one low-ranked, disappointing brother in order to save the long-lost hero with a bright future. That makes the equation a bit easier. — Tui T. Sutherland

Being a good dragon is about the choices you make no matter where you are or who raised you or how. — Tui T. Sutherland

He [Riptide] sighed. "I said, 'What are you doing all the way out here?' and you said, 'Hey, sparkling teeth, I totally love three of your claws but not the others, and I wish your nose was a herrig so I could eat it, and also your wings sound like sharks snoring.'"
Tsunami burst out laughing. — Tui T. Sutherland

Terribly undignified," Qibli said in a haughty voice, tipping his snout at the racing dragons. "We would never allow such higgledy-piggledy shenanigans in the Ice Kingdom." "Was that supposed to be me?" Winter asked him. "Terribly unimpressive, if so. I haven't once said 'higgledy-piggledy' in my entire life. We would never allow such linguistic imprecision in the Ice Kingdom." Qibli barked a delighted laugh and did a loop in the air. — Tui T. Sutherland

That's kind of the point of being stealthy. And if he doesn't catch you, then you're not doing anything wrong, are you?" That sounded true. That sounded very true! — Tui T. Sutherland

I'mjustsayingshe'dbeallright, he mumbled, subsiding. — Tui T. Sutherland

This papaya tastes boring. I guess I normally like papaya. But this one is sort of boring all the way through. Like eating water. Boring water. I wonder when it will be sun time. Maybe I should try a different papaya after this one. But what if the next papaya is boring, too? — Tui T. Sutherland

I WON'T get upset!" Cliff shouted. "I want! to SEE! MOMMY KILL GRANDMA! — Tui T. Sutherland

Something is coming to shake the earth. Something is coming to scorch the ground. Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice, unless the lost city of night can be found. — Tui T. Sutherland

Nope," Clay said. "We're free now. I'm only going to eat what I want to eat from now on." As long as it's slow enough for me to catch it, he thought ruefully. — Tui T. Sutherland

But he found himself picturing Qibli standing here, under this tree with Moon, — Tui T. Sutherland

All right, shutting up now, — Tui T. Sutherland

Moon, can Tamarin touch your face? — Tui T. Sutherland

At night, without the distant hint of sunlight, the room felt colder and more hollow. Clay stretched up and sniffed at the darkness that had fallen on the other side of the hole. He thought it smelled like stars. — Tui T. Sutherland

But if she had Clay and Turtle as friends, and then Turtle got himself killed by Queen Scarlet or accidentally set on fire, well, then she'd survive OK, because she'd still have Clay. It occurred to her that this was a rather morbid train of thought to be having about a new friend. — Tui T. Sutherland

She's frightened of me. Mother would be so proud. He turned away, skewering a fish on one of his claws. I guess I did threaten to slice off her face. — Tui T. Sutherland

Winter glanced over at Moon, for the nine thousandth time that day, — Tui T. Sutherland

Thorn gripped her claws tighter. Sunny. You're my daughter. — Tui T. Sutherland

The queen of the NightWings wants to see you. — Tui T. Sutherland

Ha ha, imagine Winter singing! I wonder if he can scowl and sing and look darkly handsome and mortally offended all at the same time. Probably. — Tui T. Sutherland

He was like the not-funny, not-adorable opposite of Clay, constantly hungry but in a pushy way instead of a sweetly embarrassed way. — Tui T. Sutherland

The corpse of a NightWing guard lay beneath the dirt in a hastily dug hollow, — Tui T. Sutherland

The whole point of a top secret invisible guard," Deathbringer said severely, "is for them to be invisible and secret. Therefore it is extremely unhelpful for certain queens to go pointing them out and discussing them loudly with the entire rainforest. — Tui T. Sutherland

What is with you and faces?" Qibli said. "You should try threatening someone's elbows or ankles once in a while, just for a change of pace. — Tui T. Sutherland

You're nonagoshabibble," Squid said. "Squid, be polite, — Tui T. Sutherland

You're not nothing. — Tui T. Sutherland

What happens if the scroll gets destroyed? Is your magic gone forever?" "No, then it comes back to me, — Tui T. Sutherland

Um," Starflight said as a horrifying thought struck him. "There's no chance this volcano is about to erupt, is there? — Tui T. Sutherland

I haven't had any visions about this! This seems seriously vision-worthy! Powers, help me out!" She closed her eyes. "Oh, no! I see ... darkness ahead! — Tui T. Sutherland

Battlewinner spat out a shard of ice that sizzled into steam when it hit the lava. "You never wanted to be queen," she rasped. "You're a pathetic heir." "I know I am," Greatness said. "Being queen is awful. — Tui T. Sutherland

That's right," she said. "DIE, you little monster plants. May your roots always be thirsty and your seeds all meet a fiery death until you're extinct forever! I HATE you! — Tui T. Sutherland

We are not leaving Deathbringer!" Glory grabbed Fatespeaker. "Point the way and I'll go by myself. Starflight, get out of here. Get everyone off the island." Deathbringer? Starflight opened and closed his mouth. He hadn't realized that rescuing the NightWing assassin was even on Glory's agenda, let alone that it was important enough to risk an erupting volcano for. But she's right. He risked everything for us - for her. — Tui T. Sutherland

Glory had her tail curled around her talons and was holding her wings in close as wave after wave of odd colors spread through her scales. Deathbringer put one wing around her, gently, and she let him. — Tui T. Sutherland

Try a RainWing. They're always asleep. — Tui T. Sutherland

Startled, he blinked at her. King and queen? But he couldn't - she wasn't - well, she wasn't Sunny. And he'd been in love with one dragon his whole life. — Tui T. Sutherland

What kind of sigh was that? Peril wondered. Was it an "I wish I were alone with Peril" sigh? Or a "worried about my students" sigh? Knowing Clay, it could also be a "we're all out of goats and I really wanted one" sigh. — Tui T. Sutherland

Excellent," said Queen Scarlet, flicking her tongue between her teeth. "A thrilling demonstration. Everything I was hoping for. As you say, Queen Burn, so much for that prophecy now, right? Peril, back to your place." I hope you know how to control your new champion, Mother. Because she's not just a threat to me. The crowd of dragons surged back, struggling to stay out of Peril's path, as the dragonet walked slowly back to the little cage of rocks. This dragon could destroy the entire world. — Tui T. Sutherland

Peril couldn't hold back her curiosity. She swooped closer as the SkyWing looked down at the thing in his talons, then turned, shuddering, to show it to Ruby and the others. Sunny began to scream as though her heart was being ripped out of her chest. Clay reached to catch her before she fell out of the sky. The SkyWing was holding the severed head of Queen Glory of the RainWings. — Tui T. Sutherland

Listen" Darkstalker said, "I could see the future, but not just any future- all the possible futures. Do you understand what that means? I could have guided the tribe along the best path, to safety and glory and power and everything else. At each crossroad, I would have known the right thing to do. I loved my tribe Moonwatcher. i would have been the best ruler they'd ever had. I know it; I saw the futures where I was king, benevolent and beloved, married to Clearsight with six little dragonets of our own. Those were possible. They could have happened, if anyone had faith in me. — Tui T. Sutherland

When the war has lasted twenty years ...
the dragonets will come.
When the land is soaked in blood and tears ...
the dragonets will come.
Find the SeaWing egg of deepest blue.
Wings of night shall come to you.
The largest egg in mountain high
will give to you the wings of sky.
For wings of earth, search through the mud
for an egg the color of dragon blood.
And hidden alone from the rival queens,
the SandWing egg awaits unseen.
Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn,
two shall die and one shall learn
if she bows to a fate that is stronger and higher,
she'll have the power of wings of fire.
Five eggs to hatch on brightest night,
five dragons born to end the fight.
Darkness will rise to bring the light.
The dragonets are coming ... — Tui T. Sutherland

The look on Deathbringer's face was so obvious - so real and sad - that Starflight had the weird experience of being able to see what his own expression must be every time he thought of Sunny. — Tui T. Sutherland

Hey, igloo-face, that's not cool, — Tui T. Sutherland

The Park?" Gus asked skeptically, following him out of Kali's building and across the empty street. "The place with the homicidal poodle pack and creepy hanging goddess? — Tui T. Sutherland

Scarlet's Dancing Monkey of Fiery Doom — Tui T. Sutherland

He felt an almost unbearable longing to press himself against her scales and fall asleep with her star-speckled wings over his. — Tui T. Sutherland

There's a tree," Starflight said, jumping to his feet. "In the forest."
"No way," Glory said. "A tree in the forest? — Tui T. Sutherland

Otherwise he'll always be worrying about what she thinks of him. It's her eyes on him that make him so afraid of his magic. He'd be much happier and less worried without her around. As would I, frankly. I don't particularly like dragons who point sharp things at me. — Tui T. Sutherland

This is ssssssssssssssssssoooooooo interesting, isn't it? — Tui T. Sutherland

As NONE of this is RELEVANT to TODAY'S TOPIC, which is the Scorching. Ahem. — Tui T. Sutherland

Winter glanced over at Cirrus again and found him glaring at Moon and Kinkajou with an expression of searing hatred, so intense that Winter wanted to run across the clearing and fling up his wings to shield Moon from it. — Tui T. Sutherland

Everyone stop moving!" he bellowed. "Especially you, chickens! CHICKENS, GIVE UP! WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! STOP RUNNING AWAY RIGHT NOW! — Tui T. Sutherland

We don't share IceWing secrets with mere RainWings, haughty sniff. — Tui T. Sutherland

Pompous worm-faced snob-head camel turd. — Tui T. Sutherland

WHICH LEFT WAS THAT, USELESS?" Kestrel bellowed in his ear. "Are all MudWings this stupid? OR ARE YOU JUST DEAF?" Well, if you keep that up, I will be soon, Clay thought. — Tui T. Sutherland

She put one talon over Winter's — Tui T. Sutherland

I think they should rename the place Unnecessary Violent Overreaction. In — Tui T. Sutherland

Mommy," Cliff called. "Mommy, I have to tell you something. Mommy! Grandma is kind of mean." "I know, sweetheart, don't worry," Ruby said. — Tui T. Sutherland

I really think I'd be better at, like, advanced napping techniques. — Tui T. Sutherland

two legs, no wings, and holding something pointy over its head. — Tui T. Sutherland

Glory muttered, staring over Winter's shoulder at the corpse. Clouds — Tui T. Sutherland

General, may I take a nap? General, I need a papaya! General, my claws are tired! General, look, a butterfly! SOMEBODY IS GETTING STABBED IN THE FACE IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP. — Tui T. Sutherland

The gibbering mad SandWing a few cages down who never shuts up, all night long? (What is her story? Has she really been here since the rule of Queen Oasis?) Or — Tui T. Sutherland

How did you know they were there?" Glory asked. "Oh wait, I forgot, NightWings are all-knowing, all-seeing and all-brilliant, right?"
"Don't forget al-wonderful and all-brilliant. — Tui T. Sutherland

Sure enough, a few moments later, an enormous blue-green SeaWing emerged from the water, shaking her wings vigorously. She was powerfully built, as big as Morrowseer, with broad shoulders and gleaming teeth and a healing burn scar on her neck, and she had a trident longer than Deathbringer strapped to her back. Holy mother of lava, Deathbringer thought. I'm supposed to kill THAT? Commander Tempest was followed by two more SeaWings: a big green male dragon with dark green eyes and gold bands around his ankles, and a wiry female with small eyes and dark gray-blue scales. Behind them, keeping their scales in the water as they eyed the troops on the beach, were about twenty other SeaWing soldiers. "Blister!" Commander Tempest shouted, stamping one foot in the sand. "We're here! Let's get this over with!" The — Tui T. Sutherland

But - " she said, her voice swallowed by the hot air in the hushed room. "But I burnded it. — Tui T. Sutherland

By the moons, you make me nervously," Riptide said. One — Tui T. Sutherland

Scrolls," Jambu said. "Um. Those are . . . ?" Starflight looked as if someone had just asked him whether breathing was really necessary. — Tui T. Sutherland

I AM THE GOD OF STORMS! I BRING THE THUNDER! I BRING THE LIGHTNING! STOOOP RAINING ON ME! — Tui T. Sutherland

All right, I'll wait another two thousand years to make jokes about my evilness. — Tui T. Sutherland

Fathom curled his claws around the brown sphere and brought his snout close to it, feeling quite silly indeed. — Tui T. Sutherland

You're the one taking all the romance out of this," he said. "It's supposed to go, 'that was so brave, how you stood up for your sister like that!' 'Oh, that, what, no, it's what any dragon would do.' 'No, no - you're special. I can tell.' 'Not as special as you. There's a magic about you I've never found in any other dragon!' 'Why - why do I feel as though I've known you forever?' 'Because you have...and you will.' Fireworks! True love and happiness for the rest of our lives! — Tui T. Sutherland

Sunny, by all the moons, quit feeling sorry for dragons who want to abduct you and sell you off. — Tui T. Sutherland

We'll find the dragon who set that bomb, and then I will tear off his wings and hang him from the eastern peak of Jade Mountain. — Tui T. Sutherland

We'll be like the MudWings," Clay said proudly. "We stick together. No matter what happens. We're a team, and we look after one another. Which means the first thing we have to do is find Starflight. The NightWings can't just take him away. He's one of us, and we'll search the whole world until we find him. It's time for us to get our friend ba - " He stopped as a heavy thump shook the ground and wings flapped to a stop behind him. The others were staring over his shoulder. "That better not be who I think it is," said Clay. "Found him!" Glory said gleefully. Clay turned around. Starflight stood, blinking, in the waving grass just outside the trees. — Tui T. Sutherland

A SLUG IN BED WILL LOSE HIS HEAD! ARISE, PATHETIC ONE! TLALOC HAS RETURNED TO BEAT YOUR POWERS INTO YOU! — Tui T. Sutherland

She started awake from a dream in which their cave had collapsed and was slowly crushing her to death, and discovered that Clay had rolled over on top of her in the middle of the night. — Tui T. Sutherland

I am not in love with a dragon I am sworn to hate. — Tui T. Sutherland

Scavengers who attacked dragons for their treasure, waving sharp little toothpick claw things called swords. — Tui T. Sutherland