Hero: A Wings of Fire Story

by Tui T. Sutherland

Wings of Fire returns with this brand new short story featuring a fan favorite character, plus a sneak-peek at Wings of Fire #16: The Hybrid Prince!Travel back to the Sky Kindgom and follow the tale of young Prince Cliff in this brand new Wings of Fire short story!

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Fiction, Audiobook

60 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 3, 2026

About the author

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Tui? What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?

Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!

I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)

I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).

Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.

My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.

My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.

And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awww short and sweet! There’s like three segments to this one: Jasper, Ruby, and Cliff. All three of them have their strengths. To start, I think Jasper’s was new and fresh. As far as I’m aware, we didn’t know much (if anything) about him before this. However, I was quickly endeared to him and rooting for him. Also, him wanting to be a dad so bad was adorable and, are you KIDDING ME, he KNEW that Ruby was Tourmaline? This book really sold me on this family. As for Ruby, I think hers was the least interesting. Still, I GOTTA admire Ruby because she is just an AMAZING mom. She will do whatever for Cliff and her willing to sacrifice herself without even meeting him is really a testament to her character. Lastly, Cliff… I love Cliff, don’t get me wrong, but the writing could be a bit much. I didn’t love the style. That being said, it was really funny at points and Cliff is so sweet (hope he makes some part in Hybrid Prince!). All in all, this book was good. Nothing EXTRAORDINARY, but sweet and it made me laugh.

(Side note, bringing up Carnelian was a PUNCH TO THE GUT. Too soon…)

[Moon Shulman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than I was expecting! I had no real expectations but still this was a fun read. I thought it all flowed quite nicely together. Also, the moment where That is very much what it is like with my roommates who are a couple. I am lil baby Cliff in this instance and forever.

[Tahina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing winglet probably one of the best definitely wont forget how cute Cliff was here hes SO ADORABLE "MOMMMY MOM MOMMY" -Cliff

[Analyse White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd punctuation

The short story was cute, but the teaser for the new book at the end was full off oddly placed punctuation ( like ?---? And ?.?.?.? ) that really interrupted the flow of the story hope those are fixed before the final book gets released this March

[chris pratt's mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new winglet??? In this economy???

This was pretty cute, I was sceptical of if Cliff needed his own story but I really ended up liking it. I'm still not a fan of Cliff's disjointed grammar style, but it wasn't unbearable. Jasper was so sweet, I loved his dynamic with Tourmaline/Ruby. You best believe I almost threw my phone in glee at the Dragonslayer callback (yes I'm way too old for this series, no I'll never stop loving it)

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon McManus does the cutest voices for baby dragons. This was a fun, short listen while I knocked out some chores. I'm psyched for the Hybrid Prince!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun way to dive back into this dragon universe right before the next full series book comes out! Prince Cliff was always a standout character, and giving him his own short story was a PERFECT choice, though I still have my fingers crossed for that Kinkajou winglet someday… 🤞🏻

[Zoe Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

EEEEEEE it’s been TEN YEARS since we’ve gotten a Winglets!!! I’m so hyped!

And… I loved it. CUTEST. BABY. DRAGON. Cliff is my absolute favorite little SkyWing.

[sᴀᴅɪᴇ || ᴍɪᴍɪ's ᴡɪꜰᴇ || ᴘᴏssɪʙʟᴇ sᴋᴢ ᴛᴏᴜʀ? · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good, but im just used to longer books and i wanted to hear more from cliff's perspective. Glad she continued the winglets series though!

[NJB sandwich ౨ৎ (Taylor’s Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy 5 stars! Cliff’s hilarious and we got a big old question answered! 👍

Rtc!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this is certainly a story told by a very young dragonet lol. Cliff is amusing, but I liked the parts from Jasper and Ruby's POVs best. It was fun to see various familiar events from a different angle, though. And I really liked seeing a little more of SkyWing culture!
Looking forward to The Hybrid Prince. 😌

[Rosemarie Grainer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet little story

Cute little story about Princess Ruby and her dragonet Cliff. It tells how Cliff came to be as well as how Ruby became queen. It is very short and told from Cliff's point of view. Can't wait to read the next Wings of Fire book!

[Martha Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super funny

Awesome and funny. Cliff is so adorable and cute in this book! I love how it is first person perspective.

[Rachel Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was short and sweet! I loved the softer, almost domestic scenes, and the three of them at the end were pretty cute together. I also enjoyed seeing the events from other books play out from SkyWings' perspectives, as that wasn't touched upon in Book 1 or Dragonslayer. Furthermore, though Hero was short, it provided insight into how SkyWings lived under Scarlet's constant surveillance, which I feel really developed them as a unique tribe (since before, they were sort of generic red fire-breathing dragons).
I liked the style---Jasper and Ruby's sections read like they were adults capable of complex thought and handling real-world problems, while Cliff was clearly a child in the usual WoF manner (all-caps shouting, being silly, etc).

[Hollowisthechild · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m fairly sure I’m just too old to enjoy this series anymore, but I found this okay. I definitely wouldn’t read it again, it was dull and the story was boring and Cliff as a narrator was quite annoying, but it wasn’t awful. I just didn’t like the way the book was written, and it felt pointless. Everything just moved so fast, like Jasper met Ruby again for the first time in years, and is immediately talking about how much he loves her and resting his head in her talons and all that. I didn’t particularly like it, but it’s not a bad book.

[Arden :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was so cute
I love Cliff so much and he’s such a cute character (I even have a painting of him!!!)
I adore the family dynamic and it was such a good winglet
Please write more winglets Tui I beg 💔💔💔

[Minggang Si · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it but a little weird

Overall great but there was weird letters and punctuation in some of the sentences like ?—? And ?.?.?.?.?.? I hope this won’t be in the actual book, but I think you should still read it. :) I love this series.

[Fati · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute. At first I was skeptical when I found out this was basically about a dragon toddler, but it was actually really entertaining and we got a deeper glimpse into Ruby’s life and story, which made me have more sympathy towards her. I hope we have more winglets coming our way.

[Liz Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute and fun

Just a short story that’s cute and adds richness to the Wings of Fire world. It’s written in a fun way for a child narrator and enjoyable for what it is. My only quibble is that I remember when Winglets were free.

[-,’- Eclipse -,’- (totally not a nightwing)]

i haven’t read the book. but i AM going to SERIOUSLY MURDER SOMEONE because i’ve had it on hold on Libby FOREVER and EVERY TIME IT’S READY it gets SUSPENDED AGAIN if i don’t borrow it within TEN FREAKING MINUTES!! LIBBY! ARGH AT YOU!!

[Kathleen Mckenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of Queen Ruby's little hero's beginnings was adorable. It was a very quick short story, but nicely explained how Cliff helped his mother and discovered who his dad is. It's kind of amazing how this friendly, kind little dragonette ever came from the same line as his awful grandmother.

[!Leon 🦈 · Rating 5 out of 5]

mega przeslodkie to bylo!!! chyba moje ulubione z tych pieciu czesci

[Stephen Paul Chase, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading and listening.

[water4life · Rating 4 out of 5]

why was it so short 😭😭 omg was it really that hard to skip ahead to bit after escaping peril

[Camden Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did Cliff got a POV before Kinkajou did…

[Nicole Miskel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant little snapshot.

[vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet nostalgic read.

[Jeff Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh.

I'm not the target audience, I think.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special. I didn't enjoy the childish style of storytelling (as if Cliff were the author), but I'm not the target audience (I read this for the sake of my kids).

[✨Storyhopper✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww this was a fun short story about Cliff the Skywing and his parents. It has a cool connection to a Legends book, Dragonslayer, and I love things like that.
Four out of five stars ✨