Clay

Clay is an adult male MudWing and the main protagonist of The Dragonet Prophecy. Formerly a dragonet of destiny, he is partially responsible for the end of the War of SandWing Succession and the founding of Jade Mountain Academy.

Appearance
Clay is big and stockly-built with a sloping back, a thick, lengthy neck, and a broad, coffee-toned head, as well as glistening white teeth. He is the largest of the dragonets of destiny and has a rumbly, deep, warm voice. He also has fire-resistant, mud-brown scales. They are warm browns in the shades of rich mahogany and tree bark, along with undertones of glowing amber or terra cotta clay, and creamish gold glinting between and beneath his scales. His scales are identical to the color of Wren's eyes. Clay has enormous feet and thick, brown claws, as well as mud-colored, massive, strong brown wings and warm brown eyes like his mother, Cattail. On his right thigh he has a scar from a dragonbite viper bite. He got bitten in The Brightest Night. He also has a deep bite wound in one of his forelegs from the battle at Jade Mountain.

Personality
Clay is a friendly, strong, empathic, protective, loving, caring, humble, courageous, and an extremely hungry dragon. He is committed to helping his friends and family, protecting them and keeping them safe at all costs. He is seen as a bigwings by most of this friends due to his selflessness, protectiveness, and kindness. He is willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but he will stand up for himself and his loved ones at all costs, even willing to guard them with his own life. He is loyal to fault, displayed when he refused to leave Glory with Kestrel in The Dragonet Prophecy. According to Webs, he would do anything for the other four dragonets of destiny. He is honest, kind, open, and a big daft, and would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings. Clay also loves feasting and food in general (like most of the MudWings, as seen by Ochre), a fact of which Sunny takes full advantage of and regularly teases him about, often calling him "adorable." Clay appears to have a liking for larger, more meaty meals. This is shown many times throughout the first arc; cows are one of his favorite meals, as shown in The Dragonet Prophecy, and in other instances, it's shown that he likes to eat meat more than vegetables or fruits. In The Hidden Kingdom, he's shown to eating a fruit that makes his mouth sticky. Jambu explains that it takes an hour to swallow it and a few days to pick the bits out of his teeth. When Clay caught a hugepig for the dragonets to eat, he later claims that the pig was small. Clay also dreams of eating, and sometimes has nightmares about loosing his friends. Clay is an extremely humble dragon, as shown mutiple times throughout the series. He seems to be skilled in first aid and medical knowledge as shwon in The Lost Heir and Moon Rising, and he also teaches healing at Jade Mountain Academy.

Abilities
Clay, like the other MudWings, can breathe fire (if warm enough), can hold breath for an hour, blend into large mud puddles, and states that he's strong. He's also shown to have fireproof scales.

The Dragonet Prophecy
Clay's egg was sold to the Talons of Peace in exchange for two cows and brought to a hidden cave by his aunt Asha, where he was raised under the Dragonets' guardians. Unfortunately, Asha died shortly after delivering him due to injuries she received from a clash between the forces of Blister and Blaze. Clay was the first dragonet of destiny to hatch on the brightest night and tried to help break the rest of the dragonet's eggs open. It's instinctual for the first of a MudWing clutch to hatch to help the others out of their shells by breaking them, but with Asha being dead and unable to explain this, the rest of the guardians misunderstood this action and thought he was trying to kill them. Therefore, Clay was expelled into the river until the rest of the eggs hatched. Luckily, MudWings can hold their breath for an hour. Clay always felt bad for "attacking" the other dragonets of destiny as eggs and worried about his inner monster that Kestrel, one of The Dragonets' guardians, tried to pry out of him on a daily basis. Tsunami, the SeaWing in the Prophecy, states sarcastically in The Dragonet Prophecy, 'You big dragons are around to tell us about it all the time.' after biting Kestrel to defend Clay when Kestrel is being callous towards him.

Clay grew up with the other dragonets of destiny, Tsunami, Glory, Sunny, and Starflight under a large mountain in the Sky Kingdom. They were raised by Kestrel, Dune, and Webs, members of the Talons of Peace, although they had low opinions of their guardians, calling the first six years of their life an "imprisonment." Clay had trouble in battle training with Kestrel, who periodically attacked him with fire and complained about how he was too gentle, demanding to see more of the "vicious little monster" that she had supposedly seen in him when he hatched, referring to his eggshell-breaking episode. When the dragonets were old enough, they were supposed to leave the cave and fulfill the prophecy. However, they all possessed a desire to escape their confined existence, excluding Sunny. One day, the deliverer of the Dragonet Prophecy, Morrowseer, visited the cave to inspect the dragonets. He decreed that Clay, Tsunami, and Starflight were worthy of staying, showing special favor toward Starflight, that Sunny was a possible candidate, and that Glory was an unworthy substitute for the deceased SkyWing mentioned in the prophecy. Clay eavesdropped on a talk between the guardians and Morrowseer through a river that ran throughout the entire cave and, overheard that they were planning to have Kestrel kill Glory the next night by snapping her neck. Tsunami was chained as part of this plot, as she was the only one who could stop Kestrel from killing Glory. Knowing that time was running out, Clay escaped through the underground river after a brief conversation about the possible consequences of doing so. Glory showed her friends her RainWing camouflage ability for the first time, changing her scales' colors to match the rocks and stalactites in the cave, buying more time. Risking his life, and relying on his ability to hold his breath for an hour, Clay managed to get reasonably far down the river, but he was then covered with a substance that started to dissolve his scales (likely sulfur or sulfuric acid). He was rescued from this unfortunate fate by Tsunami, who finally succeeded in escaping her chains with the aid of Sunny and Starflight's fire. After catching up to Clay, the two swam through the cave filled with glowworms and toxic sticky white substances until they burst outside, emerging from the waterfall that dropped at the cave entrance. This caused the two dragonets to start flying, or trying to fly, in Tsunami's case. After Clay got over the bout of excitement caused by his first flight, he noticed that Tsunami had rapidly fallen. Upon looking closer, Clay guessed one of her wings was dislocated, and this was the reason she was unable to fly properly. He barreled into a dive and sped towards her as fast as he could. He wasn't strong enough to stop her fall, but he was able to slow her down until they crashed into trees and thudded to the grassy ground. Clay was unsurprisingly delighted by the mud that was bordering the banks of the river they had landed beside. After convincing Tsunami he could push the dislocated bone back into its socket, a scavenger, most likely Mushroom, appears in the clearing. It was holding a sword and a burlap sack. Upon further investigation, they found the sack contained a variety of jewels, gold, and jewelry. The duo then encountered Scarlet of the SkyWings, who insisted they would return to her kingdom after she had a conversation with Clay and decided they could be useful. Knowing they had to get back to their friends still trapped in the cave, they had no choice but to injure the regal SkyWing by stabbing the scavenger's sword into the vulnerable spot on her tail. They managed to quickly escape before Scarlet found them and find their cave and were able to free their friends shortly afterward, but were captured by the enraged Queen Scarlet, due to the smoke signal the remaining dragonets had set so that Tsunami and Clay could find the cave and free them. Queen Scarlet challenged different prisoners against each other in gladiatorial style battles in her dreaded arena for her and her subjects' entertainment. If the prisoner won enough battles, she would put them against her champion, Peril. Peril was invulnerable because of a rare birth defect that caused her to be born with too much fire. This meant that Peril would burn anything she touched, so she couldn't read or write and had to be extremely cautious around other dragons. Clay began to befriend Peril, strangely immune to her heat. Clay volunteered to stand in for Starflight after learning he was next to fight in the arena. Queen Scarlet sent Clay to face off Fjord of the IceWings, who managed to pin him down. Fjord was about to strike the killing blow with his deadly frost breath when Glory secretly shot acidic venom that dissolved his face, and Clay was victorious. Later on, he decided to hide Peril during Kestrel's trial in exchange for the knowledge of Sunny's location. After the trial, Peril did not speak with him. That night Queen Scarlet had her ally, Burn over. To get Peril's attention, he used a wire Peril had accidentally burned through earlier, dragging it across his other wires to create a sound. He started playing The Dragonets Are Coming, and soon the other prisoners joined in. Scarlet and Burn noticed the racket and Clay, Starflight, and Tsunami were taken to Peril's room, where Peril helped them escape. With the help of Peril, Clay and his friends tried to escape, only to be betrayed by Peril herself. During this vain escape, he learned that his scales were impervious to fire. The following day was Queen Scarlet's hatching day, so she set up bloody plans for her and Burn's entertainment. The three confused dragonets (Starflight, Tsunami, and Clay) were taken to the balcony of the queens, on which Burn and Scarlet were seated on as well. He watched helplessly as Tsunami was forced to fight a mad SeaWing named Gill, who was later revealed to be her father. After Tsunami killed him, Clay was also forced to watch Starflight and Tsunami fight scavengers and IceWings. After Starflight was rescued by Morrowseer and the other NightWings, Clay was faced against Peril. He surprised her with his ability to fight back, and quickly pinned her, but wouldn't kill her. When Scarlet suggested Clay used what she thought was his venom, Glory shot venom from her front longest fangs at Burn, who shoved Scarlet in the way. The venom hit Scarlet in the side of her face, causing it to melt. They were then able to escape with Peril's help, and succeeded in rescuing Kestrel in the process, the action in which Clay and Sunny were the only supporters. They finally managed to escape, and then they traveled to the Mud Kingdom to find Clay's parents. Clay was disappointed to find that his mother didn't care about him and sold him to the Talons of Peace in exchange for two cows, but he found the group of his brothers and sisters, Reed, Marsh, Sora, Umber, and Pheasant (though one named Crane was killed in a recent battle, later found that it was Icicle who killed her) that he would have belonged with if he not been taken by the Talons of Peace. Finally, at peace with himself, Clay leaves with his friends in the search for Tsunami's parents.

The Lost Heir
For most of The Lost Heir, Clay was imprisoned with his fellow dragonets of destiny; Sunny, Starflight, and Glory by Coral, chained by his ankles to a cave floor. When water levels rose due to a flood, he was willing to keep his friends away from the rising water by letting them sit on his back and stack on top of each other, showing the willingness to sacrifice his life to save them. MudWings can hold their breath for over an hour, however, so that might have come into play during the half-plan they made up. He was soon freed by Tsunami and they together sat in a dry cave and ate food. When Blister arrived, she called him 'the burly one'. Clay wasn't seen later on in the book until Auklet hatched and the dragonets of destiny were imprisoned. When the Summer Palace pavilion attack by the SkyWings occurred, Clay was seen shielding Starflight and Sunny since his scales are immune to fire, surprising many of Burn's soldiers in the process.

The Hidden Kingdom
After the dragonets escaped from the Kingdom of the Sea, they headed to the Rainforest Kingdom, where Clay was knocked out with a sleeping dart to get to the RainWing village. While Glory was being shown around the village by Jambu, Starflight amused himself by messing with Clay in his sleep by rolling a melon in front of his nose and watching for Clay's reaction. Clay reacted by sighing wistfully and his tongue lolled in and out of his mouth, later stating that the food in his dream "smelled like a melon" and that it was kind of weird. Later, when Glory became imprisoned by the NightWings, Clay and Deathbringer came to her rescue, and Clay helped fight off the NightWing guards near the tunnel to the rainforest by throwing red-hot coals at them. He, Glory, and a RainWing dragonet named Kinkajou ended up escaping successfully, while Deathbringer stayed behind with the NightWings. Clay later stood guard by the tunnels to the NightWing island with Starflight. After Glory became queen, he came back from the tunnel to tell her that Starflight was gone and falsely guessed that Starflight went to warn the NightWings.

The Dark Secret
Starflight tried using a dreamvisitor, an animus-touched gem that allowed the user to visit other's dreams, to visit Clay in his dreams, but Clay didn't find Starflight popping into his dreams disturbing or even abnormal. He seemed to think Starlight was a part of the dream. Clay was seen to be eating or "feasting" and was extremely pleased because his siblings were there with him. When Starlight returned to the Rainforest, Clay was the second Dragonet of Destiny to see him and was more than happy to see his best friend/brother back safely. When Starflight was injured by the volcanic explosion's fire, Clay sheltered him with his wings, protecting him and carrying him through the tunnel and out of danger, although the NightWing still lost his sight. The lava still burned Clay, and the fact that he risked all of that pain to save Starflight shows, again, his willingness to endure intense pain or death for his friends.

The Brightest Night
Clay first appeared when he bursts out of the tunnel, shielding Starflight. Sunny mentioned that the dragonets of destiny may have been like the alternate dragonets if not for his kindness and support. He was not mentioned much more until Sunny returns to the Rainforest Kingdom. Clay met Sunny when he came out of the healers' hut and tackled her down, telling her how he knew that she would be alright. When the dragonets were in the stronghold, Burn ripped off the top of the box Blister sent her and pulled out a dragonbite viper. A second one jumps out and bites Burn and kills her, but it's killed by Burn in the process. The second viper headed toward Starflight, Fatespeaker, and Sunny, but Clay knocked them out of the way and got bitten instead. Black veins soon started spreading out all over his right thigh. Peril flew out of nowhere, said that "she would not let Clay die," and burned out the venom by digging her talons on the section of his leg that got bitten, removing and burning out the venom, and Clay survived, though he was left scarred and limping for the rest of his life.

Moon Rising
Clay served as a sort of school monitor for the newly founded Jade Mountain Academy. He was in charge of the Prey Center at the school, which turned out to be much more chaotic than he originally expected. He also appeared to be like a doctor and treated injured dragonets in the infirmary. When the dragonflame cactus exploded in the History Cave, he ran inside to help get anyone out who may have been trapped. He was unharmed due to his fire-resistant scales and managed to retrieve a burned but alive Tamarin. At the assembly later, he spoke, but Moonwatcher wasn't listening to him in her search for the dragon that caused the explosion.

Winter Turning
Clay is at the school when the Jade Winglet is gone.

Escaping Peril
Clay appeared in the first part of the book. He was supposed to retrieve Peril from her cave as soon as Queen Ruby left. Peril followed him as he and the others flew out to face Scarlet. She promised to help Ruby. When Peril asked Clay what he wants her to do, he replies that she should make her own choices. Later in the night, during an argument with Ruby about whether or not they're able to trust Peril, Starflight revealed that Peril is in love with Clay and will likely kill everyone if she found out that his feelings aren't mutual. Clay acted slightly embarrassed and then changes the subject. He was featured in Peril's thoughts frequently throughout the rest of the book.

Talons of Power
Clay came out to the landing area with Sunny to stop Darkstalker, where he asked if the NightWing was a monster and reading everybody's minds was nosy. He looks embarrassed, alarmed and confused at the same time when Darkstalker says his thoughts are very kind about certain dragons. Later, Clay gathered dragons to tell them the story of Ruby's fight with Scarlet. Peril said that she talked to him and he hugged her, pleased with her as a whole. Qibli told Peril that Clay liked her too, but "doesn't know quite what to do about it yet."

Darkness of Dragons
Clay first appeared in the book teaching the Herbs and Healing class, explaining his injury. Then he helped Qibli search for a weapon to break into the Scorpion Den to save one of Clay's students, Ostrich. He was showing the "weapon box" when Qibli complained about the limited selection of weapons, and that he'd be better off cutting his own throat and hanging himself from the alley wall. Clay then asks if Qibli needs to be armed to visit his grandfather, Vulture. Straight after Clay said no to Qibli's question of having any poison, Winter appeared, stating that he will not need any poison because he will be there, accompanying Qibli. After a bit of arguing, Winter spotted a replica of Qibli's earring on Clay's ear. Clay then proceeds to say that they're very fashionable. Qibli attempts to persuade Winter to put one on but fails. Clay was later seen in the book helping to fight off incoming NightWings. As fighting broke off by Jade Mountain, Qibli said he heard a roar of pain that sounded like Clay. Clay was trying to stand after getting a deep fang-bite in one of his forelegs. Peril and Sunny helped Clay stand up and all of them headed into Jade Mountain Academy. In the epilogue, Clay and Peril talked and flew in the rain together.

The Hive Queen
Clay is indirectly mentioned by Tsunami in the prologue, when Tsunami says she and her friends had solved plenty of problems without animus magic.

The Poison Jungle
It is possible that Clay was mentioned by Tsunami when she was dreamvisiting someone who was in Pyrrhia. Tsunami says "tell him hugs to him, too, and no, the cows are not bigger and more delicious over here.

The Dangerous Gift
Snowfall thought how Tsunami's "gang of righteous do-gooders" would have used animus magic to help if it was working. Later, Lynx talked about the War of SandWing Succession and how the dragonets ended it.

Dragonslayer
Clay was one of the five dragonets that Wren and Sky saw together through a hole to a cave system. Wren recognized him due to having seen swamp dragons before.

When Clay made music, Leaf overheard this, not knowing that he was responsible. Leaf noticed how it upsetted the dragons around him.

Clay later assisted Leaf by helping him up a cliff he was trying to climb a tower. Leaf thought of Clay as an example when he thought of dragons with good hearts.

Winglets
Clay was mentioned by Fierceteeth when she said she wanted the dragonets dead but will spare her brother Starflight.

Glory
Glory is one of Clay's closest friends. He describes her as "smart and beautiful," and feels bad about thinking that Glory was asleep when she was displayed as "artwork." It is mentioned that Clay would often give her gifts. When Glory comes into view after Kestrel says she's going to kill her, Clay twines his tail with hers. When Glory goes missing, Clay becomes worried about her and goes with Deathbringer to rescue her from the NightWing island. In Escaping Peril, he was devastated when he believed she'd been killed by Scarlet.

Peril
Clay befriended Peril while trapped in the SkyWing arena by Queen Scarlet. They became friends quickly and Peril developed romantic feelings for him because he was the only dragon that liked her the way she was. After Clay fights Fjord, Peril brings hot mud to treat his scratches and wounds. He soon finds out that Scarlet ordered Peril not to talk to him, but she defies those orders. Peril seemed jealous of Clay's other friends because she wanted Clay to herself; when she helps the dragonets escape and later betrays them, Clay touches her and discovers that he's immune to her firescales. This helps when he fights Peril against his will in the arena, leaving Peril to admit that she wanted to save him after Kestrel and for him to like her more than the other dragonets. Clay says he does not want to hurt her, but Peril says they have to fight.

Their fight ends after Queen Scarlet is sprayed with Glory's venom, and they escape in the ensuing chaos. Glory says Peril might be the missing SkyWing from the prophecy, but that is proved false. Peril chose to stay behind and distract the other SkyWings from the escaping dragonets, where she states that's all she's good for. Clay says that it's not all she's good for, giving her a dragon equivalent of a hug. Peril leaves but sees the dragonets again in The Brightest Night and Moon Rising. Peril saves Clay's life in the fifth book by burning out the dragonbite viper's venom in his thigh. In the sixth book, he invites her to the Jade Mountain Academy. In Talons of Power, Qibli tells Peril that Clay likes her, but just doesn't know what to do about it. In Darkness of Dragons, Peril and Clay go flying together. Clay sees the good in Peril even when she herself does not.

Siblings
Clay has six siblings: Reed, Marsh, Crane, Pheasant, Sora, and Umber. He met them all (except Crane) when Clay and Glory — who was disguised as a MudWing — went to go meet his mother. Crane had died in the sibling's first battle, between Burn's and Blaze's forces, before Clay came back. If his egg was not taken by the Talons of Peace, Clay would have been the troop's bigwings. In Clay's absence, Reed became the bigwings. He asked if Clay wanted to be their bigwings, but Clay turned Reed's offer down, knowing that Reed would do a much better job, having grown up with MudWings and having the complete trust and loyalty of all their siblings. When Starflight used his dreamvisitor, he saw Clay dream about his siblings. Starflight said that Clay's siblings were, "More dragons we have to save in this war." Clay seemed shocked and saddened when Sora set off a dragonflame cactus in the school.

Starflight
As with the other dragonets, Clay considers Starflight a brother. He took the dragonbite viper bite meant for Starflight and shielded him when the volcano of the NightWing Fortress exploded. Although Clay gets bored of Starflight's lectures sometimes, he cares about him a lot, so much that he would risk his life to keep him safe. Starflight sees Clay as his bigwings, as the rest of the dragonets do. All in all, Starflight and Clay have a good relationship.

Students
Clay cares about the students at Jade Mountain Academy and their safety. He is regarded as a hero among them due to his limp caused by his wound from the dragonbite viper. He is good at defusing arguments between students and is shown to take their suggestions, such as when Tamarin and Peregrine suggest herbs and healing class. He has also claimed that he tries to write as little as possible, due to him not being very good at spelling, as he mentioned to Peril in Darkness of Dragons.

Sunny
Sunny is like a little sister to Clay, and he treats her as such. When Clay decided to travel down the river under the mountain, Sunny said, "Don't you dare die!" Clay also wanted to go save Sunny when she was trapped in a cage in the Sky Kingdom as soon as he learned where she was, after badgering Peril for the information. When Sunny wants to explain her idea about the darts in the RainWings' attack, she turns to Clay because she thinks he will listen. He seems to be the dragonet she confides in the most. Clay takes a poisonous viper bite to save Sunny's life and says he would do it over and over again if he could. He is one of the only dragons to take Sunny seriously, as shown when Clay paid attention to a "weird crab" Sunny found in the underground river.

Tsunami
Tsunami is among Clay's closest friends. She found and cured him when Clay was drenched in the white ooze in the underground river and his scales were burning with pain. Also, she stabbed Scarlet's tail with a sword to allow herself and Clay to fly away from the SkyWing queen. Later, she calls Clay a "handsome idiot" and gives him a hint that Peril likes him, but he doesn't understand. Throughout the book, Tsunami often interjects when Clay talks about Glory and Sunny in front of Peril because she appears to understand that Peril gets jealous. After she and Clay escape from under the mountain, Clay notices how beautiful and shiny her scales were in full moonlight (he says that they looked like emeralds). In The Lost Heir, she states she had feelings for Clay and Starflight but had gotten over her crush when she realized Clay thought of her as a sister and that Starflight was "too annoying." She was also the second one to hatch, and the first egg Clay tried to help with hatching.

Quotes

 * "Squeak squeak squeak! […] And other annoying scavenger noises! I'm here to steal treasure away from a magnificent dragon!"
 * ― acting a scavenger (The Dragonet Prophecy, page 14)


 * "Hey, stop. Quit snarling at each other like mini Kestrels. […] Nobody's happy here. Sunny deals with it differently, that's all. But remember what we decided — we five stick together or else everything gets worse, right?"
 * ― to Tsunami and Starflight (The Dragonet Prophecy, page 18)


 * "Wait here. Because I was going where? For a walk?"
 * ― echoing to empty space (The Dragonet Prophecy, page 117)


 * "I'd like to be something more than alive. I'd like to be the kind of dragon she doesn't think I am - the kind they write prophecies about. That dragon would rescue her no matter how awful she is."
 * ― to Peril, about saving Kestrel (The Dragonet Prophecy, page 241)


 * "With a feast! […] There was a feast at the end of the story! When the missing SeaWing princess got home, her parents were so happy they made a feast! I remember the feast. They ate a whole whale. I bet I could eat a whole whale. Do you think we'll get a feast?"
 * ― to the dragonets of destiny about The Missing Princess (The Lost Heir, page 5)


 * "You know what I love? […] Fish. Lots of fish. Big fish I can eat, not these little wriggle-scraps."
 * ― to Tsunami (The Lost Heir, page 2)


 * "I like it, […] Of course, it's much nicer to be this high when your wings are free. But at least the SkyWings gave us a pig sometimes. Do you have pigs? Octopi would be alright if you don't. Or squid. Or manatees. I could go for a manatee right now. Or a whale. I'm not fussy, is what I'm saying. Say, how did you make this big thing? Did it take forever to build?"
 * ― to Riptide, about the SkyWing pillars and Summer Palace (The Lost Heir, page 73)


 * "I'm awake, […] I'm just waiting until Glory and Tsunami stop fighting. I was dreaming about sheep and buffalo and bears. They were all on the table in front of me and I had to decide which to eat first. Oh, and they all smelled like melons. That part was kind of weird."
 * ― to Sunny (The Hidden Kingdom, page 51)


 * "I'd die to save you and Starflight over and over if I had to."
 * ― to Sunny after saving her, Fatespeaker, and Starflight from the dragonbite viper. (The Brightest Night, page 280)


 * "Well, I know what I want my destiny to be. I want it to be sleeping and being friends with you guys forever. Oh wait, also feasting! Lots of feasting."
 * ― to the dragonets of destiny (The Brightest Night, Epilogue, page 308)


 * "CHICKENS, GIVE UP! WE'RE GOING TO EAT YOU! THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! STOP RUNNING AWAY RIGHT NOW!"
 * ― to the chickens in the Prey Center (Moon Rising, page 36)


 * "This is a school, you know. Sunny and I thought perhaps an entire cave full of sharp objects might not be the best idea. We thought, maybe, hey, something that locks instead."
 * ― to Qibli, about Jade Mountain Academy's weapons box (Darkness of Dragons, page 56)

Trivia

 * Clay sometimes dreams about Starflight giving him lectures.
 * As revealed in The Dark Secret when Starflight dream visited him, Clay also dreams about food.
 * He was originally supposed to have a crush on Glory, but Tui decided that it wouldn't work. This is demonstrated in all the comments Clay makes about how 'beautiful' he thinks Glory is.
 * Clay was one of the easiest characters to write just because Tui adores him, and she says "affable/kindhearted/loyal/hungry is exactly my type of hero."
 * In the graphic novel adaptation of The Dragonet Prophecy, his eyes are yellow.
 * Clay was the first Wings of Fire character Tui ever came up with.