Webcomic / Dark Wings

Dark Wings: Eryl is a fantasy webcomic produced by Flowerlark Studios.

The great dragon Strake was Falias's last hope against the Veslian empire. Ever since he was killed in a mysterious disaster, Falias has been losing ground almost continuously. Now however, there are hints that Strake's son has survived. The noblewoman Andrea must find out if these rumors are true, because if they are it could mean Falias's salvation...but first she must escort the young dragon home, straight through enemy territory.

The comic can be found here. It updates on Tuesdays.

Tropes found in Dark Wings:

• Action Girl: Andrea, much to her father's dismay.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Averted, while wyverns are loyal to family and comrades they're cruel and vicious to any outsiders including other wyverns.
• Avenging the Villain: Felde swears to get revenge on Raven for killing his partner Syd.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Falians enlisted Strake more as a morale-boosting figurehead than for his actual damage output.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Wyverns have spines on their tails containing venom capable of quickly killing humans.
• Chekhov's Gun: The ominous narration at the beginning is sure to be one.
  We do not age, and so we do not change. We cannot die, thus we cannot live. Though we may exist forever, eternal life is beyond our reach.
• Cheerful Child: Sleet.
• Covered in Scars: Ka's hide is coated with gnarly burns and old ragged wounds when we see him again, presumably this is from the Cool Gate exploding.
• Combat Pragmatist: Raven, so very much. Also Felde.
  Felde: Unlike my brother, I am not fresh out of the academy. I know what it takes to win a real fight.
• Cool Gate: The portal to Eryl that Ka found in Strake's basement. It isn't there anymore, though.

• Determinator: When Strake's son was kidnapped, he was crashing through walls in order to reach the kidnappers. His own walls no less.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Some might call the Eryl portal's defensive spell a little excessive.
• The Door Slams You: Happens to Andrea when she eavesdrops on Lords Cian and Mathias.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Ka, almost literally since he's a wyvern. His single goal is to get into Eryl, and he'll sign up with anyone who happens to bring him closer to finding it.
• Egg Macguffin: A Hatchling Macguffin. Arra, whom a team of wyverns tries to kidnap in order to lure his father Strake to where they could kill him. And whom the Falians now hope to recruit to fill his dad's metaphorical shoes.
• The Empire: the Veslians.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: The Veslian armies will hire anyone or anything that can kill Veslin's enemies.
• Evil Overlord: Veslin, the mysterious leader of The Empire. Believed to be an evil dragon, but she might be anything, even a whole group of people. All we really know is that there's something powerful and intelligent driving the Veslians.
• Eyes Always Shut: Sleet, except when he's giving a Death Glare.
• Five-Finger Discount: One of Raven's two jobs, the other being pirate captain.
• Giant Flyer: Averted, full-grown Great Dragons are too heavy to fly, and even young ones can't do it easily.
• Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: Strake is so immense that the wyverns are like rodents to him, Arra on the other hand wasn't much bigger than the newborn Sleet, this is actually remarked upon by the wyvern team sent to kidnap him.
• A Handful for an Eye: Felde does it to Raven with flash-powder.
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Sarah of Terival does this with the dragon and wyvern babies that Lis was carrying, against the wishes of the other villagers who though they should be left to die. She's vindicated, in spades.

• It's Personal: Felde's oath of vengeance on Raven for killing Syd. Since they were ordered to capture him alive, this marks the first time in Felde's career that he's disobeyed an employer.
• Last of His Kind: Arra the Great Dragon, and his father Strake before him.
• Macguffin Location: The fabled lost city of Eryl, home of scholars/demons/angels/mages/insert-exalted-group-here, where they had everything and knew everything and yada yada yada.
• Mark of the Beast: All Veslian warriors have Veslin's mark tattooed somewhere on their person.
• The Mole: Cian and Mathias's group have one.
• Morton's Fork: Raven gets a summons about a prospective job with a meeting at 10:00...with the summons deliberately arriving at 9:30. He has to either ignore it, thereby insulting the powerful nobles who sent it, or else be put at an instant disadvantage by the near-certainty of being late. Of course, he was wise to that trick and it just made him angry... but they were counting on him getting mad and storming out...
• Motor Mouth: If there's one thing Sleet can't stand, it's a lull in conversation.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Strake, while breathing fire at the wyverns who kidnapped your son is acceptable, letting that fire splash onto a Cool Gate and set off its defensive spell, which then reduces you, the wyverns, and the entire mountain you live on to a smoldering crater, is not.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Kira was sent to kill Arra to prevent him from joining the Falians but unbeknownst to him he had already declined, after trying (and failing) to kill Arra and kidnapping Sleet (who only experienced some pain from the same attack but nothing else, which apparently is special), this is enough to get Arra to join the fight. He also ends up having to abandon Sleet in the hands of a flock of rogue wyverns led by former soldier Ka.
• The Order: The mysterious "group" that Cian, Mathias and Ariht the elf belong to.
• Our Dragons Are Different: We have the gargantuan Great Dragons, the never-seen-on-panel common dragons, and the small but crafty wyverns. All have approximately human intelligence.
  • Unlike nearly every other media depiction wyverns (and presumably other dragon species) give live birth instead of laying eggs.
• Our Gryphons Are Different:
  • Andrea meets a gryphon named Stormdancer who acts like an oversized grouchy cat.
  • There is also an animal called a T'akirou that resembles a wingless horned gryphon. One is Kira's mount.
• Our Wyverns Are Different: Wyverns are sapient, bipedal dragon relatives the size of horses with dexterous claws on their wings and venomous barbs on their tails. Most of them are either in hidden colonies or joined with The Empire.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Raven's crew, probably. Of course, with Veslin taking over the seas, they really don't do anything anymore, to the point that Raven's thievery is pretty much their only source of income/
• Pregnant Reptile: The Wyverns are shown to give live birth - in fact Sleet was cut out from his dead mother's body, even though most other dragons typically lay eggs in other media.
• Proud Warrior Race: The Falians are becoming one, but, given Veslin's military power, it might be too little too late.
• Raised by Humans: Sleet the albino wyvern and Arra the Great Dragon. They fight monsters.
• Red Baron: Kira the Butcher Bird.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Sleet and Arra respectively.
• Savage Wolves: The unnamed Terival village is menaced by these. Fortunately for the villagers, a wyvern and a dragonet are much more badass.
• The Stoic: Arra.
  Brian: Frugal-worded fellow, eh? I don't think I've ever heard him speak.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Lis decides to abandon the mission and fly Arra to safety due to losing her own children to the war.
• Wretched Hive: Port Harten at night.