- "And that's Osprey. He argues for the defense. Not very well, or he'd lose his head. He's really old and almost blind. He's nice to me, though, because I'll listen to his stories of the old days. He told me he used to have tons of treasure, but a scavenger came to steal it and managed to paralyze his tail before Osprey ate him. So now he can't fly, and he gave all his treasure to Her Majesty so she'd let him live here."
- — Peril to Clay about Osprey
Template:Charbox Osprey was an elderly, crippled, male SkyWing with poor vision and a tail which was paralyzed when a scavenger tried to steal his treasure and impaled it with a weapon, most likely a sword or dagger. This disability made it impossible for him to fly, because having a fully functioning tail is necessary for balance during flight. He seemed to have befriended Peril, being one of her only friends. He acted as the defendant for Queen Scarlet's trials before he was killed by Queen Scarlet for revealing too much information about the Champion's Shield to Peril.
Appearance
Osprey had washed-out red scales[1] and a paralyzed tail.
Biography
Pre-Series
In his youth, Osprey guarded countless tons of treasure. One day, a scavenger came to steal the treasure and managed to paralyze his tail before Osprey ate it. He lost the ability to fly because he needed his tail for balance in flight. He gave all of his treasure to Queen Scarlet in exchange for residence in the SkyWing Palace. Osprey served as the defense on SkyWing trials, but usually made very poor arguments to avoid being killed by the queen. He was also one of Queen Scarlet's guards when they went after Peril's mother, Kestrel, for he says, "You told your guards-- I know, for I was one of them--"
He later became a friend and mentor to Peril, teaching her how to read and write, after Kestrel was forced to abandon her. Osprey told her many stories of his youth. He was assumed to be the one to have told Peril about the Champion's Shield since Peril said it wasn't his fault that she knew.
The Dragonet Prophecy
Osprey served for the defense during Kestrel's trial. He explained the circumstances of how Queen Scarlet ordered Kestrel to kill one of her twin dragonets before changing her mind, forcing Kestrel to leave her surviving child behind. Scarlet decided to kill Osprey along with Kestrel, but Peril intervened and called upon the tradition of the Champion's Shield for her mother. After Scarlet discovered that Osprey told her about the SkyWing traditions, she grabbed him in her talons and dropped him out of the sky from high above the arena, breaking many of his bones. Because of his paralyzed tail, he was completely unable to fly and his tail just weighed him down even more. He soon died of his wounds.
Trivia
- He is suspected to be "kidney-breath", a character shown in the Escaping Peril prologue who always told Ruby that the secret to a long life was eating a goat kidney every day, and commenting on her long neck.
- Osprey always serves for defense for any trial, but is rarely successful, as stated in The Dragonet Prophecy.
- He is the only known dragon in the series to become paralyzed unnaturally.
- Osprey is apparently the only dragon who willingly talked to Peril, as she explains in Escaping Peril. He taught her how to read and write despite the fact that her firescales get in the way of doing so, and he also taught her traditional SkyWing customs.
- An osprey is a diurnal, fish-eating bird that dwells near the ocean.
Gallery
References
- ↑ The Dragonet Prophecy, page 176