Dragon Night

Dragon Night was an event which took place above the Plains of Hira. Fought between the Shadow Lord's Ak-Baba and King Lief with the seven remaining dragons of Deltora. The event saw the Shadow Lord's final plan to destroy Deltora thwarted. The event happened on the last day of the month, during a full moon, and took place exactly two months from the night of the Full Moon Meeting and thte destruction of the crystal by Lief and Doom.

The event would be celebrated with an annual festival throughout Deltora every year on that same night.

History
While preparing for its second invasion of Deltora, the Shadow Lord created four monstrosities known as the Four Sisters as a contingency plan in case the invasion failed. During the reign of King Lucan, it hid the Four Sisters in the four corners of Deltora. Their purpose was to starve the kingdom in case the Shadow Lord failed in its conquest.

The Shadow Lord also had the grey tide placed in the ruins of Hira, whose residents were forced to flee following a rat plague. The grey tide was inspired by the monster in the Tenna Birdsong Tale; The Four Sisters (which also inspired the Shadow Lord's creations of the same name), in which a giant monster was kept asleep by the singing of four sisters, until the Shadow Lord, when it was still human, murdered them, instantly awakening the monster, which destroyed the island in its rage.

Centuries later, King Lief learned of the Four Sisters and travelled around Deltora to destroy them with the help of Deltora's last dragons. It was not until after destroying the Sister of the South however, that Lief realised the Shadow Lord's final plan. Lief's allies; Doom, Gers and Lindal prepared to make for the plains with the help of Steven's caravan. While Lief, Barda and Jasmine rode Fidelis, the last of the Topaz dragons as he was much faster, in order to combat the grey tide.

The First Dragon Night
By the time Lief, Barda, Jasmine, and Fidelis arrived on the Hira Plain, the grey tide had already begun to push aside the ruins of Hira and grow. Due to the great Opal being brought into its territory, Hopian, the last Opal dragon, awoke in a rage and attacked Fidelis, seeing him as an intruder until Lief was able to calm the Opal dragon.

Hopian then turned his anger onto the grey tide, burning a swath across the plains and destroying much of the poisoned land. However, he did little damage before the Shadow Lord was able to use powerful magic to defy the Belt of Deltora and send its seven Ak-Baba to defend the tide. After being chastised by Lief, Barda, and Jasmine, Fidelis joined in battle beside the Opal dragon.

Hoping to even the sides more, Lief touched the great Amethyst and summoned Veritas the Amethyst dragon to help them fight. As he did, he remembered the words from Doran's soul-stone, and realised they were the names of the remaining dragons of Deltora. Touching each gem in turn, Lief summoned them to aid Hopian and Fidelis against the Ak-Baba.

While the Ak-Baba were more than used to fighting with dragons, they rarely fought two at once, and the presence of the humans and the Belt of Deltora on Fidelis kept the Ak-Baba from coming in close. Eventually Hopian was able to tear out the throat of one of the birds, but the remaining six surrounded the dragon and clung to his body. Jasmine ordered Fidelis to fly underneath the Opal dragon, where she struck her dagger into the neck of the Ak-Baba clinging to his neck. It dropped like a stone and allowed Hopian to free himself from the other five.

By this point both dragons were beginning to suffer from their wounds, and defeat seemed certain. However, before the Ak-Baba could finish them off, Fortuna the Lapis Lazuli dragon arrived and scattered the Ak-Baba with her fire. While they were distracted, Joyeu the Ruby dragon snapped the neck of one of them in her jaws, and another was hit by the fire of Honora the Emerald dragon. The three remaining Ak-Baba stared down at the dragons, contemplating their options, but when Veritas and the young Diamond dragon arrived from the west, they fled back to the Shadowlands.

With the Ak-Baba in retreat, the dragons turned their attention back to the grey tide. Working in unison, the dragons flew in a tight ring and burned the infected earth with their fire. By the time Doom and the others arrived, no trace of the grey tide remained.

Once the dragons had landed, Lief apologised to each of them for revealing their true names to one another and gave them his name. Veritas gave the young Diamond dragon the name Forta after her mother, and Fidelis, Joyeu, and Fortuna carried Lief and the others back to Del.

Aftermath
Dragon Night became known throughout Deltora and was celebrated annually every year with extravagant festivals in each town. The battle also saw the Shadow Lord's final plan to weaken Deltora thwarted, and with four of its Ak-Baba dead, its chances of directly assaulting Deltora in the near future were all but gone.

Due to Lief summoning them all at the same time, the dragons learned each other's names, which gives a dragon power over the one who owns that name. However, because all of them knew the other's name, they had equal power and decided to end their old rivalries.

While Deltora was safe for the time being, Dragon Night also sparked the Shadow Lord's renewed interest in its homeland on Dorne. It would send its servants to Dorne to wipe out the Fellan, and spark the events of the Three Doors trilogy.