Chapter 2 - Dusk / Chapter 3 - Carnassial

Six months after the events in the previous chapter, we find ourselves following Dusk's day. After his first ever gliding lesson, Dusk had always had the urge to fly like a bird, instead of just gliding, but cannot openly express his desire as he would be made fun of. As a result he climbs to the very top of the tree in which his colony lives in (a giant sequoia tree) regularly to observe the birds and attempt to fly himself. His friends come to greet him unexpectedly, and challenge him to a game of who can catch the most insects. Dusk accepts the challenge, and despite his "disability" (heavier upper body), he wins. His friends, jealous , pick on  him for being different and leave. His sister, Slyph, who was also part of the game, stays behind, and challenges Dusk in a race to their perch. Dusk accepts, despite knowing he will lose. As his sister speeds off, Dusk suddenly gets the idea to ride the thermals coming from the ground in order to get lift, and "fly" to the top. His idea works, to the amazement of others. His sister, jealous, quickly joins him. As they ride to the top, they suddenly see a huge creature fall from the sky. The creature falls towards them, and in its wake, drags them both down. The chapter ends with Dusk near the bottom of the sequoia tree, shaken, but uninjured.

It is clear that even though Dusk is respected throughout his colony because his father is the leader, that doesn't stop others from making fun of him anyways because he is different. It seems that a theme of jealousy and being different is present through the chapter. After reading the chapter, I was even more interested in the book, as there already seems to be a lot of action going on so far.

The next chapter introduces new characters into the story, who are separate from the main characters. We are introduced to Carnassial, who is a different species of animal, and Panthera, who is of the same species as Carnassial. The chapter follows them as they hunt for saurian eggs (saurian most likely referring to dinosaurs). Apparently, saurians  were beginning to go extinct, and as Carnassial devourers an entire saurian egg nest, he thinks to himself that he might have just destroyed the last known saurian.

Carnassial devouring a saurian egg

In this chapter, we are introduced to a new character, with a different storyline that is separate from, but related to the main story. Carnassial is portrayed as a ruthless hunter, and killer. It appears that he will be the antagonist in this story. The fact that he took pride in being the one to kill the last saurian shows this, and hints that we has a lust for power. I wonder how his story will unfold.

Overall these 2 chapters were great chapters to read, and I learned a bit about some of the characters. Reading the book, I feel very familiar with the way the book is unfolding, which is very similar to Kenneth Oppel's other books. Hopefully, like his other books, it will only get better.