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"So much in life dependeth upon a good harkening. Remember that, and beware."Ollister B. Pembrick

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Wingfeather Saga!



North! Or Be Eaten is the second book in The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson, published on August 18, 2009 by Rabbit Room Press. It is preceded by On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and succeeded by The Monster in the Hollows. It was later republished in 2020 by WaterBrook & Multnomah, part of Penguin Random House.

It tells of the Wingfeather family in their escape to the Ice Prairies, away from the Fangs of Dang.

Official synopsis[]

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they're really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

In order to survive, the Igibys must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies, where the lizard-like Fangs of Dang cannot follow. First, however, they have to escape the monsters of Glipwood Forest, the thieving Stranders of the East Bend, and the dreaded Fork Factory.

But even more dangerous is the jealousy and bitterness that threaten to tear them apart, and Janner and his siblings must learn the hard way that the love of a family is more important than anything else.

Plot[]

Janner, Tink, Leeli, Nia, Podo, and Artham Wingfeather are staying in Artham's tree house after the events of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. They are in no rush to leave, but they know they cannot stay there indefinitely and are debating what to do next. They decide that the best option is to head to through Glipwood Forest, into Dugtown, over the Stony Mountains, and then into the Ice Prairies north, where the Fangs likely will not follow them, as all Fangs fear the cold, and become dysfunctional in cold weather. They prepare to head north.

After Oskar N. Reteep was stabbed, he was found and taken in by Joe and Addie Shooster, two of the few people left in Glipwood. Although his condition is still critical, he is recovering fairly well in a secret room in the Only Inn. Unfortunately, the Shoosters are arrested by Fangs, leaving no one to care for Oskar. Oskar overhears the Fangs talking, and learns that they know of the Igibys hiding place in the forest and are planning to arrest them soon. Oskar compels himself to take a donkey and ride into the forest to warn the Igibys.

With the Fangs close behind him, Oskar arrives to find the Igibys in the midst of preparing to go, but Oskar's arrival forces them to cut preparations short and flee. Artham is captured by the Fangs during the flight and taken away, and the rest of the party flees to a cliff, sandwiching themselves between Fingap Falls and the pursuing Fangs. Tink notices a very subtle flight of stairs cut into the face of the cliff. The stairs take them across the waterfall, although there is a gap midway that they have to jump. When they reach the safety of land, Leeli's giant dog Nugget sacrifices himself by breaking the bridge so the pursing Fangs and trolls cannot catch them, in the process falling off the bridge to his death.

The party continues northward until they are captured by Stranders, ruthless outlaws who live in this area of the forest. The Strander's leader, Claxton Weaver, intends to kill them, but a combination of Podo's storytelling, Podo and Tink's skill in pickpocketing, and the mercy of the old woman Nurgabog (Claxton's mother who had a crush on Podo in her youth), allows them to live and continue on their journey. Tink even enjoys playing tackleball with Claxton Weaver's daughter Maraly before they go.

Oskar has a friend, Ronchy McHiggins, in the town of Dugtown, who helps them find a guide, Migg Landers, to take them to the Ice Prairies. Migg Landers turns out to be a traitor who betrays them to the Fangs. In the confusion, fighting, and fleeing that follows, Janner and Tink are separated from the rest of the family, and they fall asleep in a quiet corner. When they wake up, they attempt to retrace their steps to find their family in a hiding spot where they were supposed to meet, but on the way there, Tink gets angry with Janner and runs off, telling Janner he wants to be called by his given name Kalmar. Janner accidentally takes a wrong turn and gets captured by a group of ragged men and hags, who give him to the Overseer of a building labelled "Fork! Factory!"

Artham(2)

Artham Wingfeather

The Overseer takes Janner to work at the Fork Factory. He teaches that Janner is a tool, as are the rest of the children in the factory. Janner's new name is now "tool," and he is generally not permitted to speak, only to nod or shake his head in response to questions. Janner receives a bed and decent food, but work hours are long and hard, and Janner has no rest, even when blisters develop on his hands. Janner attempts to escape, but he is quickly caught and finds himself in shut in a coffin for two days and nights as punishment. Janner makes a more careful plan to escape. After stealing fruit and using it to bribe the Overseer's assistant Mobrik, enlisting the aid of a very brave factory girl Sara Cobbler, and another three days and nights in the coffin, Janner manages to make a narrow escape and returns to the hideout, hoping his family is still there. He finds old Nurgabog there. Nurgabog tells him that his family waited for him as long as they dared, but they finally left for the Ice Prairies without him, as they still had Leeli to think of. Nurgabog is also injured from a stab wound in her stomach, coming from her own son Claxton. Nurgabog breaks the news to Janner that Tink, instead of going to the hiding place to find his family, marched right past the hiding place where his family sat waiting for him, without even checking to see if they were there, and went to the Strander camp, demanding to be admitted as a Strander. True to the devious Strander spirit, Claxton locked him up in a cage with other captured children to be delivered to the Fangs. Although Janner had resented Tink for running away, he decides to make rescue trip for Tink.

Janner makes it to the Strander cages by himself, but finds Maraly in one of the cages. Maraly tells him that the Fangs made their rounds a little early this time, and Tink is already gone; Maraly is not in the cage for the Fangs because Claxton is not vile enough to give his own daughter to the Fangs, she is there as punishment because she tried to help Tink escape. Janner frees Maraly from the cage and they head for the Ice Prairies together.

In the bitterly cold mountains, Janner and Maraly meet Gammon Felda, the leader of the resistance in the Ice Prairies. Gammon escorts them to the Ice Prairies, and Janner is reunited with Nia, Podo, Leeli, and Oskar. They deduce that the Fangs took Tink to the Phoob Islands, and decide to rescue him, even though no one has ever been known to escape from the Fangs.

While this is happening, Artham Wingfeather is also at the Phoob Islands. He is locked up in a cage, watching as children are brought in by the Fangs. One by one, the children are taken to a cloaked woman, the Stonekeeper, who takes them into a room on top of a dais. There is a song and a flash of light, and the children come out as wolf-like Grey Fangs. These Grey Fangs are better than the Green Fangs in the rest of the continent of Skree; they are more organized and intelligent, and can withstand the cold. Artham slips in and out of sanity, being reminded of how he was once in a similar position in the depths of Castle Throg. Then, he was supposed to sing the Song of the Ancient Stones that would change him into a hawk, but he sang, changed his mind halfway, and stopped singing, resulting in his current bizarre and wild appearance. The Stonekeeper tells him that if he will now sing the song to make his transformation complete, she will release the children. Artham does not really believe her, but his mental agony over leaving his brother Esben years ago finally overcomes him, and he agrees to sing so that he can become forgetful of his anguish and thus be free. At this time, a new load of children comes in, and Artham recognizes Kalmar (Tink) among the children. When he tries to change his mind, the Stonekeeper takes Kalmar into the room on the dais and the song starts. Artham tries to break his cage, and finally sings the song of transformation. Suddenly, he transforms, and his mind becomes clear, as it has not been for a long time, and he sprouts great hawk wings. He breaks into the room on the dais and takes furry body in the corner that is Kalmar, then rushes through a tunnel into the world outside and flies off as the Stonekeeper vainly orders Fangs to pursue them.

Artham Wingfeather

Artham with wings

Gammon attacks and ties up the Wingfeathers, Oskar, and Maraly to deliver them to the Fangs, saying that he has made a deal with the Fangs to leave Skree if Gammon will give the Fangs the Jewels of Anniera. Gammon regrets the decision, but he values Skree and the Skreean people more than their lives. But when it comes to hand the Wingfeather party over to the Fangs, Gammon and an army of Skreean people lying in wait launch a surprise attack on the Fangs. Gammon directs the Wingfeathers to a secret route where they can escape to a ship, the Enramere, waiting to take them away, providing a guide to help them, but Maraly remains behind, accepting Gammon's offer to her to stay with him. The Wingfeathers and Oskar go down the secret route, but when Podo learns they are going to the sea, the ex-pirate strongly objects. Podo attempts to go back, but the passage is structured in such a way that there is no going back.

The Wingfeathers board the Enramere and set sail, but their going is hampered by the attacking Fangs. As the sailors defeat the Fangs, sea dragons rise out of the water. The dragons are angry with Podo and want to kill him, because Podo hunted young sea dragons during his pirate days. Podo knows their anger as well, hence his aversion to being near the sea. At this time, Artham also arrives with Kalmar in his arms. Artham and Janner are the only ones who can understand the sea dragons' speech, because they are both Throne Wardens of Anniera. Artham pleads with the sea dragons to let Podo pass. The dragons are initially vengeful and unwilling to yield, and Podo, recognizing that he is in the wrong, is willing to allow the dragons to take their vengeance on him, but the others, especially Nia, will not let Podo go. One old sea dragon, Yurgen the dragon king, calls up his daughter, a very beautiful sea dragon named Hulwen who was unsuccessfully attacked by Podo in his pirate days, and has since become a mangled, hideous wreck. She refuses to attack Podo, however, recognizing that his wounds run deeper than hers. The dragons are reminded of their old alliance with the rulers of Anniera, and Leeli plays Yurgen's Tune on her whistleharp, an ancient song that brings comfort to the sea dragons, and they have not heard ot for a long time. The dragons reach a compromise, where they will allow Podo a final passage across the sea.

Kalmar(Fang)

Kalmar as a Grey Fang

Now the Enramere can sail on, but a new problem has arisen. Everyone is together again, but Kalmar is now a Grey Fang with no memory of his family or his name whatsoever. He tries to attack them, and then tries desperately to escape by jumping overboard, but Janner jumps in the water after him, becoming severely injured in the process as Tink's claw's scratch deeply into him. Both are rescued and taken below deck to recover. At night, Janner tells Kalmar stories from his life. Kalmar continues to snarl, snap, and howl at everyone who approaches him, to the point that Artham even stops coming to see Tink. This continues for many days. On one of these days, Janner tells Kalmar of Janner's time in the Fork Factory, and how he tried to rescue him, and his desperation when he found out that he was too late to save him from the Fangs. At this point, Kalmar interrupts Janner, saying that he remembers. Janner does not respond, but he hears Kalmar crying very softly in the dark. The next morning, Nia comes to check on them, and as always, she asks Kalmar what his name is. Previously, Kalmar either answered that he does not know or that he has no name, accompanied by a series of growls. This time, he answers that his name is Kalmar Wingfeather, his father is Esben Wingfeather, and he is the High King of Anneira. He then opens his eyes, and instead of having the wild yellow eyes of a Fang that he previously had, his eyes are now clear and blue.

Chapters[]

  1. The Lone Fendril
  2. Room Eight of The Only Inn (Glipwood's Only Inn)
  3. Two Plans
  4. Appropriate Words from Ubinious the Whooned
  5. A Traitor in the Trees
  6. The Gully Rim
  7. Monsters in the Hollow
  8. A Thorn of Contempt
  9. The Gargan Rockroach
  10. The Mighty River Blapp
  11. The End of the Road
  12. Thunder, Spray, and Stone
  13. Miller's Bridge
  14. The Last Tower
  15. A Song for Nugget the Brave
  16. The Jewels and the Dragons
  17. An Ally in Dugtown
  18. Old Wounds and New Healing
  19. Ouster Will and the First Books
  20. In the Hall of Lamendron
  21. Podo's Nightmare
  22. The Stranders of the East Bend
  23. Growlfist the Strander King
  24. Quick Hands and Quicker Feet
  25. Tackleball in the Fog
  26. Along the River Road
  27. A Bruise on the Back of the Land
  28. O Anyara!
  29. T.H.A.G.S. in the Strander Burrow
  30. Sneem's Last Words
  31. In the Alley of the Roundish Widow
  32. Ronchy McHiggins Makes a Discovery
  33. The Sundering
  34. A Watcher in the Shadows
  35. The Hags and the Ragmen
  36. An Odious Arrangement
  37. Into the Mouth of the Monster
  38. Bright Eyes in a Dark Place
  39. Esben Flavogle, the Factory Tool
  40. The Coffin
  41. Four Apples and a Plan
  42. A Nefarious Bargain
  43. Three Days in Darkness
  44. Mountains and Shackles
  45. The Fate of Sara Cobbler
  46. The Strander Burrow
  47. A Change of Heart
  48. The Cages
  49. The Fortress of the Phoobs
  50. The Witch's Nose
  51. The Song of the Ancient Stones
  52. The Bomnubble and the Lake of Gold
  53. A Grimace of Snickbuzzards
  54. The Ice Prairies
  55. The Surrender of Artham Wingfeather
  56. Two Kinds of Shame
  57. Bumblebees and Old Bones
  58. Gammon's Bargain
  59. The Transformation
  60. Secrets in the Snow
  61. The Battle of Kimera
  62. Ancient Anger
  63. Hulwen's Trophy
  64. And the Sea Turned Red
  65. The Final Voyage of Podo Helmer

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

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