Arctic


 * "This is a bad idea. The very worst. Neither of our tribes would forgive us. Mother will never allow it. All the more reason. I won't let the queen crush my entire life between her claws. It's my life, my magic, and my heart."
 * —Arctic's thoughts about running away with Foeslayer, Darkstalker

Arctic was an adult male IceWing animus and a banished member of the IceWing royal family. He was partners with Foeslayer, and the father of Darkstalker and Whiteout. Arctic lived in the lost city of night after fleeing the Ice Kingdom, and worked as an advisor in Queen Vigilance's court.

He was the last known IceWing animus. He was killed by Darkstalker's animus magic, which was used to make Arctic disembowel himself in front of the whole NightWing tribe.

Appearance Edit
Arctic had polished white scales as pale as the moons with hints of pale blue in them. He had piercing blue eyes the color of a cloudless sky,the same color as Whiteout's. When attending a party in Darkstalker, he wore chain necklaces of black jet and necklaces of bright green emeralds, as well as glittering matching rings on most of his claws.

Personality Edit
At the beginning of Darkstalker, Arctic was shown to be snobbish, aloof, and resentful. He was annoyed at having all sorts of rules and restrictions forced on him. As a result, he probably became rebellious, as he broke the most important rule of the tribe to enchant an earring for Foeslayer that would keep her warm and safe from any danger. Arctic valued freedom, as he enchanted Foeslayer's earring knowing that he was breaking the most important rule of the tribe, noting, "All the more reason. I won't let the queen crush my entire life between her claws. It's my life, my magic, and my heart."

Arctic was also a kinetic dragon who genuinely cared about those he loved, namely Foeslayer and Whiteout. However, after he unintentionally killed several guards using his animus powers and set Snowflake's wings on fire while eloping with Foeslayer, Arctic became noticeably much more bitter and resentful, and likely haunted by what he'd done, as when Darkstalker read his mind after he was born for the first time, he noted that he could "hardly look at him without seeing a spiral of confusing flashes: pain, fury, screaming dragons, and blood, everywhere, blood."

As a result, Arctic was extremely resentful, noticeably having a shaky relationship with Foeslayer and showing mutual irritation for each other at the time Darkstalker hatched. Arctic also had an irrational contempt for Darkstalker as soon as he was born, noting that there was "no shred of me in him." However, Arctic openly prefers Whiteout over Darkstalker, most likely because her IceWing genetics were more visible, but Darkstalker believes Arctic does not care about her at all. Arctic was also anxious. It is implied that he told Darkstalker about the dangers of using animus magic, as it was mentioned that Arctic also tested Darkstalker and Whiteout both to see if they had animus powers, but when Clearsight tells him a prophecy that is later revealed to predict Arctic's death, Arctic becomes even more troubled and paranoid.

Arctic's resentfulness and paranoia seem to go to the point where he's mentally unbalanced after Arctic and Foeslayer have another fight, where Arctic accuses Foeslayer of only being with him for his powers, angering Foeslayer to which she takes off her earring that protects from any danger, which causes her to be transported to the Ice Kingdom as a result of a spell put in place by Diamond, likely placed not long after they eloped.

When Darkstalker caught Arctic taking Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom, he enchanted him to admit publicly that he was planning to give the IceWings a way to attack all the NightWings in exchange for Foeslayer's life, which implied that he was really doing all this for Foeslayer. When Darkstalker forced him to say that he wished he had been a better father, he said he did wish he was a better father, as he would've strangled Darkstalker if he were, which were his last words before Darkstalker proceeded to force him to disembowel himself and cut out his tongue.

Foeslayer Edit
He is shown to love and care about Foeslayer very much, enough to break every rule that his kingdom had set in place for her sake. They are shown to bicker, tease, and flirt quite frequently, though sometimes it escalates into real arguments as shown in Darkstalker's first memory. After Foeslayer convinces Arctic to live in the Night Kingdom with her instead of running away together, he almost regrets leaving the IceWings for her. However, he still loves her; when Darkstalker hatches he sees that inside Arctic there is a "small, warm ember of love for Mother" hidden under layers of ice. When Arctic discovers Darkstalker is an animus he debates on if he should tell anyone or not, but, in the end, he 'couldn't bear to keep it from Foeslayer' and tells her. In one of Clearsight's visions, he was crying over a painting of Foeslayer by Whiteout. She may have been the only thing that was keeping him grounded and sane.

Darkstalker Edit
His exact relationship with his son is unknown, though it definitely was not a positive one. He was disappointed upon Darkstalker's hatching that the dragonet did not resemble him, and thought his name was creepy. Upon hatching, Darkstalker wanted to turn his father into a fireball and blow his ashes away. It is revealed that Arctic unintentionally trained his son to control his mind-reading powers because his thoughts were always so bitter. While Darkstalker was growing up, Arctic constantly warned him and Whiteout about the dangers of animus magic. When Arctic found out that Darkstalker was an animus, he seemed to dislike him more, as if he felt threatened by Darkstalker. After Foeslayer is captured and Arctic tried to bring Whiteout to the Ice Kingdom against her will, it was enough to convince Darkstalker that he was evil, leading to him enchanting Arctic to obey his every command. He then made Arctic disembowel himself on a stage in front of the tribe.

Whiteout Edit
Whiteout was Arctic's daughter, and, according to Darkstalker, he often acted as though she was his only dragonet. He openly preferred her over Darkstalker, most likely because her IceWing genetics were more visible. Although Arctic seems to spend time with Whiteout by taking her on outings and buying her special fish, Darkstalker thinks that Arctic doesn't really care about her feelings and treats her "like she was a necklace he could hang in the corner until he needed her again." It is unknown if Arctic actually disregards her feelings or if his IceWing upbringing caused him to be more distant and aloof as a parent. Later in the book, Arctic is shown disapproving of her feelings for Thoughtful, most likely because he was a NightWing. Arctic also shows little consideration for who his daughter actually is as a dragon, using animus magic to alter Whiteout's personality, making her hate her brother, want to marry an IceWing, and live in the Ice Kingdom despite the fact that she would be miserable there. He also used his magic to change the way Whiteout spoke so she would sound "normal," revealing a desire for his daughter to be exactly how he wants her to be, a "perfect" dragonet in contrast to Darkstalker.

Diamond Edit
Arctic clearly had quite a bit of resentment against his mother, having pictured making an enchantment to freeze her mouth shut forever. She is shown controlling basically every aspect of his life to keep him in line and do the best for their Kingdom. The strain on their relationship escalated after Arctic ran off with Foeslayer without her knowing. When Darkstalker was young, Queen Diamond sent Arctic a secret message instructing him to kill his dragonets in exchange for coming back to the Ice Kingdom. In the message she degrades him, saying that she was right all along about Foeslayer tricking him and that she loves him despite his 'poor choices and terrible mistakes.' Arctic ignores her message because not only does he hate the way she calls him foolish, but he also doesn't want to leave Foeslayer and Whiteout.

Snowflake Edit
Arctic is shown to find Snowflake quite boring and is very unenthusiastic about marrying her. Upon meeting in the prologue, he completely forgets her name and ditched her at the first opportunity. She is about as uninterested in him as he is in her.

Clearsight Edit
Although Arctic didn't interact with Clearsight much, he seemed to be genuinely concerned when she had visions in his house in front of him and was worried when she told him a prophecy about his death.

Animus Enchanted Items Edit
Foeslayer's Protection Earring- A diamond earring of his own that he enchanted to keep Foeslayer warm, safe from harm, and immune to animus spells.

Freezing Dagger - A dagger he enchanted so that whenever he would point it in the direction of a dragon, it would freeze them whenever the user says "freeze." To unfreeze them, the user must say "unfreeze."

Invisibility Armband - An armband that Arctic enchanted to allow the user to walk through walls and turn invisible when turned clockwise, and then turn the user visible once more when it is turned counterclockwise. If another dragon is touched while the armband is making the user invisible, the dragon being touched will also become invisible.

Several Spears - Arctic, during his and Foeslayer's escape from the Ice Kingdom, enchanted several spears to stop the guards from catching them. However, he did not specify how the spears would stop the guards, and the guards were unfortunately and accidentally killed.

Shielding Earring - An earring enchanted to keep animus spells from affecting him.

Whiteout's Necklace - a necklace enchanted to make Whiteout speak "normally" and want to follow him to the Ice Kingdom.

Fireball - When Foeslayer and Arctic were escaping and Snowflake and Princess Snowfox were trying to pursue them, Foeslayer breathed a fireball at them to slow them down, but Arctic enchanted it to directly attack Snowflake, scarring her wing and possibly preventing her from flying for life.

Quotes Edit

 * "Imagine disobeying an order - any order. Where would I even start?"
 * ― to himself, when Foeslayer mentions not following orders (Darkstalker, prologue)


 * "I was taking my daughter to Queen Diamond. I was going to offer her talons in marriage to whomever Diamond chose, so she could hatch some heirs for the throne who might have animus blood. I was going to live in an ice palace again, sleeping at night like a normal dragon. I was going to find out if Foeslayer is still alive. I was going to offer the IceWings a detailed map of the Night Kingdom and a way to get inside to destroy you all, in exchange for her life."
 * ― when Darkstalker forcefully made him say what he was planning. (Darkstalker, page 331)


 * "Sounds more like he creeps through the dark. Like a stalker."
 * ― about Foeslayer naming Darkstalker (Darkstalker, page 15)


 * "This is a bad idea. The very worst. Neither of our tribes would forgive us. Mother will never allow it. All the more reason. I won't let the queen crush my entire life between her claws. It's my life, my magic, and my heart."
 * ― to himself, while in the Ice Kingdom with Foeslayer (Darkstalker, prologue)


 * "I do wish I'd been a better father. If I were, I would have strangled you the moment you hatched."
 * ― his final words when Darkstalker made him say he wished he'd been a better father (Darkstalker, page 333)

Trivia Edit

 * All animus NightWings were descended from him and Foeslayer, as he brought animus magic into the tribe.
 * Because of this, Sunny and Stonemover are both distantly related to him.
 * Even though Prince Arctic had no NightWing powers, he unintentionally taught Darkstalker to use his. It is implied that instead of instructing him in how to do so, Darkstalker was so disturbed by his father's bitter thoughts that he taught himself to shut them out.

Gallery Edit
Reference by Platypus the SeaWing Add a photo to this gallery

References Edit

 * 1) ↑ 1.0 1.1 Darkstalker, page 147
 * 2) ↑ Darkstalker, page 14
 * 3) ↑ Darkstalker, page 48
 * 4) ↑ Darkstalker, page 175
 * 5) ↑ Darkstalker, page 174