The Empyrean 2
Rebecca Yarros
PART ONE
1. In Aretia, Violet is face to face with her brother, Brennan, after thinking he has been dead the last six years. Xaden’s cousin Bohdi brings him a missive and says the rider from Basgiath War College would be there until nightfall for a reply. When Brennan leaves the room, Violet follows him. She comes to a room where Xaden, Brennan, and a few others are discussing what is to be done about the student riders they have now seen their operation. They especially worry about Violet’s loyalty considering her mother is General Sorrengail, but Brennan points out that is his mother as well. Violet busts into the room and says they can talk to her about it rather than about her. Imogen points out that Xaden took responsibility for Violet. Bohdi reminds them she fought with them at Ressen. Xaden says she has two dragons that have already vouched for her. Xaden says he will talk it over with their group and decide what to do. He promises to work with Violet on her shielding to keep her mind and their secrets safe. They all agree to let the riders decide their own fates. Xaden tells Violet to spend some time with her brother before they leave.
2. Violet is still in awe of her brother being alive. She is upset and lets him know. He tries to explain that he couldn’t go back to fighting for the wrong side after he learned the truth. She tells him that Mira passed down the book he made for her and that it was helpful. Brennan tells her they knew about the venin, but just learned about the wyverns recently. They want to find out where they are being hatched, but Violet reminding the myths say they are created rather than hatched. Looking at the map, Brennan thinks the venin will attack Navaar within six months. They are keeping their rebellion secret because they still need Basgiath’s forge to make the weapons that will actually work in the venin. He tells her the city has a ward stone, but they can’t power it without something to power it (Navaar has the Vale where the dragons live/breed/keep their young). They plan to find whatever secret weapon killed the venin 600 years ago. She is taken to her dragons and is surprised when she sees Andarna. She is twice her previous size and black in color. Using her magic in Ressen forced her to mature faster and she has entered her moody teenager stage. They need to get her back to Vale so she go under the deep Dreamless Sleep she needs. While Violet is surprised, and questions if Andarna is his offspring, Tairn tells her color is not determined by genetics. Andarna’s tail is still feathered. Tairn explains she will decide what kind of tail she will get. Violet insists they have to go back to Basgiath. Lilith already knows Violet is kissing, but wasn’t around when orders where handed out for war games. All the Cadets agree so they don’t kill all of the others that have the rebellion relic. Andarna wakes up, but she has trouble adjusting to her body changes. She is temperamental. They make preparations to adjust Andarna’s harness so they can get back before graduation.
3. When they arrive at the flight field in the dark, Tairn tells Violet that Dragons have keep a balance to protect their young in the Vale. He admits that the relationship between humands and dragons exists only because the humans were the less threatening of their enemies. Each species tends to only think of how it can use the other. He lands only long enough for Violet to dismount before taking off again. She tells Caden she has been thinking of something since they left Aretia and he is upset she didn’t use their link to tell him. She asks if his movement has any scribes among them, but they don’t. They walk through the school and go to Liam’s room. Violet retrieved a stack of letters from under his bed and they go to leave, but run into Rhiannon and Ridoc leaving another room. Violet gives Rhiannon the letter and tells her not to let anyone burn them. Rhiannon understands and takes them. As they make their way to formation, Violet tells Xaden he is going to have to teach her how to lie to her friends. She gets angry when she realizes he isn’t going to tell her everything when she learns how to shield. He tells her it is to protect everyone, but she is still furious and says she will not accept anything but full disclosure if they are going to be together. When in formation, Xaden’s name is called out on the death roll and he calls out that the situation is awkward.
4. Xaden explains to Lilith how Aetos had sent them beyond the wards to an emptied outpost and they were attacked. Violet is surprised at how easily he lies and says it was the gryphon riders that attacked them. He explains how they lost two people and how a Violet almost died as well from being stabbed by a poisonous dagger and they had to find a healer. He tells them exactly where they burned bodies as proof. Violet gives her side of the story leaving out the venin and wyverns. Lilith is furious with Aetos and demands him in his office after graduation. They go to join formation. Dain approaches her and she yells at him to never touch her again. Xaden makes a show about how Violet chose him and not Dain. They continue the death roll and then give the graduating third years their orders. Violet is officially a second year.
5. The riders are all equal that night since no leader titles have been announced yet. Violet celebrates with some alcoholic lemonade with the rest of her squad. They talk about what they will enjoy about being second year: no chores, weekends, and able to write letters. Nadeen asks what their actual battle was like. Imogen tells them it was awful and they only survived because of Xaden and Violet. Violet notices. Xaden is in the room in flight leathers and signals for her to come talk to him. He tells her he is leaving because they like the wing leaders to empty their rooms so their replacements can move in right away. He is still hopeful she will forgive him, but isn’t pushing anything. He tells her he is allowed to have boundaries and telling her everything isn’t safe for anyone. She looks over at the hopefuls staring at the board waiting for the orders to be posted. Colonel Aetos comes up to them to give them orders. Xaden is being sent to the front lines. They will each be given leave every 14 days to see each other. Any other absences will be disciplined. Violet worries about Sgayeal and Tairn being kept apart for seven days at a time. In her head, Tairn is clearly not happy about it either. Xaden points out that dragons make their own rules before the Colonel makes a comment about lil by people to keep secrets.
6. Colonel Aetos threatens both Mira and Violet’s life before he walks off to face his own new assignment not with General Sorrengail. Xaden gets Violet outside to the courtyard before she lets off a bolt of lightning. It hits some rocks and Xaden uses his shadows to keep them from hitting a few other cadets. He pulls her close and warns her that she can only trust the people that were in Ressen with them. There are others that have the relic that might try to kill her. Varrish will be gunning for her. He warns her that any communication they sent will be read before they receive it. She tells him she has the right to sleep with whoever she wants while he is gone. He says she does but won’t because he knows she still loves him. He points out how tightly she holds him and she lets go. He leaves saying he will see her in a week. Rhiannon rushes out to tell Violet that Dain is their new Wing Leader and she is their new Squad leader.
7. The second years have a new class called CRS (combat … survival). They will learn how to survive if they are separated from their dragons across enemy lines. They will be tested in a few weeks and around midyear that will include an interrogation. Violet goes to the archives. Jesinia is there alone and Violet signs with her. She gives her condolences on the loss of Liam. Violet wishes she could trust her because she knows the secret to helping A… use their ward stone. She lies and says she plans to make an argument for a class on why they built Basgiath where they did. Jesinia gives her two books they are over a hundred years old
8. Violet and Rhiannon take roll for the people that are going to attempt to make it across the parapet. Dain has tried to approach her once, but she told him off so he hasn’t tried since. When the king’s third son gives a fake name, Aaric Greycastle, Dain tries to talk him out of it. Violet tells them their squad so he can be assigned with them. Rhiannon is confused and as he makes his way across the parapet, Violet fills her in. It isn’t long before Liam’s sister, Sloane, arrives. Violet sees her hair blowing in her face. Violet immediately jumps up and gives her a hair tie telling her to braid it. Dain tries to stop her and she tells him to back off. She gives her all the advice Mira gave her. Sloane knows who she is and holds her responsible for her brother’s death. Violet doesn’t deny it. She watches Sloane make it across the parapet and is relieved. On the other side, the squads are forming. Dain has Sloane moved over to Rhiannon’s squad as an attempt at a peace offering. Sloane is furious and tries to refuse to be in the same squad as Violet, but Rhiannon puts her in her place. When the dragons come, Varrish’s one eyed Orange Daggertail, Solas, is among them. Tairn tells her not to take her eyes off him. When a first year tries to run, Solas doesn’t fire immediately and takes out most of Fourth wing’s third squad is taken out as well. Violet jumps on top of Sloane to save her and her back is badly burnt in the process. When another starts to run, Tairn lands on top of the turret and threatens Solas, who then flies away.
9. Violet wakes up early to go run and Imogen joins her. As they are warming up, Rhiannon finds them and is surprised to see it. When she starts to question their motives, Bodhi comes by to tell her to leave it alone. Imogen asks why she has decided to start running and Violet tells her what she saw the venin drain the life from anything touching the earth. She needs to be faster so she can outrun it with Tairn if anything happens. They go to their Battle Brief class with Professor Devera and Colonel Markham (scribe). She knows Markham knows what is actually going on as he stands up in front of the class and lies about what is happening in the attacks. Violet tries to keep it together during class, but she has trouble. After class, she tells Bodhi she wants to help. He tells her she doesn’t know enough and isn’t shielded without the relic. She cannot help them yet. Rhiannon asks if Violet is avoiding her. Violet tries to reassure her friend they are okay without giving anything away. Rhiannon says she thinks something odd is going on in the healer quadrant. She saw Nolan when trying to take a first year there and he looked awful. When it ice time for the first years to be tested on the mat, Violet tries not to remember the first years’ names to prevent getting attached. Sloane is paired with Aaric, but tries to challenge Violet. Someone asks for Sorrengail and when Nadeen says she is Violet, the man snaps her neck.
10. Nadeen is dead and the first year that killed her is shocked to learn he didn’t kill the real Violet Sorrengail. Violet challenges him right there and yells for no one else to touch him. He is able to get on top of her and strangle her, but she ends up stabbing him and he dies. Violet insists on staying to watch the rest of the matchups. Sloane is not trained like Liam was and does not do well in her match against Aaric. Xaden is there and tells her about his post Samara. He explains how the wards on her room work. He and she can enter anytime, but anyone else, Violet has to be touching to bring them in. She tells him about her week before he tells her to sleep and heal while he has to take care of a few things. He tells her where his room is in Samara and says the wards will only let him and her in. He leaves her with a letter he wrote to her.
11. After their morning run, Jesinia comes to see Violet. Imogen doesn’t trust her and signs as much. Violet and Jesinia are both surprised to see she knows how to sign. Jesinia gives Violet the oldest book she could find on the first six riders. She also has a bit of text she is trying to translate and she knows Violet knows the language. Violet reads the paragraph about an ancient king from a thousand years before Navarre existed. They are working on translating anything in the archives that is in a dead language. She says she would make an exception for Violet to see their progress and tells Violet the Archives are all but empty on Sundays. A rider from another wing is pulled from the building and dragged to the main part of campus. Jesinia tells Violet she thinks she got the rider in trouble because she wrote down the name of the book he asked for, which is part of her job. Violet asks which book, but Jesinia says she has to go and takes off. Violet gets a letter from Mira, but it is censored. She tells Rhiannon about her and Xaden braking up, but says she isn’t ready for anyone else yet. They get to the filed and Varrish demands that Violet bring Andarna to the next maneuvers practice, but Violet points out dragons don’t take orders from humans. He thinks it is suspicious her father was writing a book about feather tails and she happened to bond one. Tairn says she doesn’t know anything about her father’s research. Dain shows them how to dismount a dragon while still in motion. Bohdi comes to see Violet off for her leave to Samara. Before she leaves, Varrish comes out with two other riders. EH has the other riders search Violet’s bag and warns her she will be punished for Andarna not showing up for Flight class when she returns. When they leave, Violet scolds Bodhi for not letting her know what was going to happen. As they take off, Tairn says it is a good think they didn’t search him.
12. Tairn flies quickly and they arrive at Samara early. Tairn refuses to leave until she is within the walls of the fort and then takes off to be with Sgayeal. She finds Xaden’s room, but he isn’t there. Violet finds him sparring in a pit with a man named Jarrett. She meets a girl named Cornelia that fills her in the bases’ rules. If someone wants something, they have to fight for it. Xaden is fighting for the weekend pass to give Sygael as much time with Tairn as possible. He ends up winning and tells the commanding officer he only needs 24 hours and Jarrett can have the other day allotted him. When everyone clears out except Violet and Xaden, they end up making out. She decides it won’t hurt anything if they have sex, but Xaden turns her down saying he doesn’t want to win her back that way. He wants her to be sure about them before they are physical again. He helps her practice her shielding.
13. When Violet and Tairn arrive back from Samara, Professor Carr and Varrish are waiting for them. To punish her for Andarna not being at flight practice that week, Violet is made to strike lightning until she starts to burn out. Tairn has to take her and get her to the river to cool down. Bodhi and Imogen meet them at the river and help get Violet inside. Rhiannon tries to coach Sloane on sparring like she did for Violet. She made sure to reserve extra time for the first years to get extra practice. Violet and Imogen watch and discuss the recent events. When Ridoc comes up behind Violet, she attacks him until she realizes who it is. He, Rhiannon, Sawyer, and Violet start to head to Physics class, but are attacked from behind with bags over their heads that make them pass out.
14. Violet wakes up in the woods with Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Sawyer. Professor Grady is there as well as some people from another squad from Second Wing, some scribes, some healers, and some infantry people. They are told to drink some water and it takes away their ability to communicate with their dragons. They are given maps and told they need to navigate the forest to find and secure the location on the map. There is another team whose dragons will be hunting them and vice versa. They spend two hours walking and arguing amongst themself in where they are. When they realize they have two different maps, they run into Jack Barlowe’s dragon, Baide. The riders push everyone else behind them. When the dragon sniffs Violet, she is terrified. One of the infantry cadets starts ti run. The other squad leader, Tomas, runs after her and throws her out of the way. Tomas is burnt to ashes and Baide takes off.
15. Their group ends up having to stay the night in the woods with very little supplies. Professor Grady arrives to give them the drink that will allow them to communicate with their dragons again. He is very disappointed in their failure. Violet makes a comment about them not knowing what is beyond the walls. Rhiannon see through it and asks her what is going on, but tells her she understands if she isn’t ready to talk about it. They agree that it seems like the teachers are trying to weaken the riders for a purpose, but they can’t understand why. Tairn and the other dragons arrive. Some of their other group members are a bit shaken, but Rodic points out they’ll need to get used to being that close to dragons because they will be wherever they are stationed. Tairn tells Violet the communication cut off is new this year and he doesn’t like it. He had a chance to spend some to with Sugene, but she and Xaden have already left.
16. Violet finds Jesinia in the Archives. When they are alone, Violet tells her about the rider she reported getting killed. Jesinia is shocked and explains she was trying to help him because he was looking for records on a battle where he had family die, but according the archive records, it never happened. They admit they both believe there is information that is missing on purpose. Jesinia asks Violet what she is actually looking for. Violet reluctantly tells her she needs the oldest book they have on the forming of the wards to see if there is a way to strengthen them. Jesinia agrees to sneak her one book at a time and she can exchange them in the quiet time on Saturdays. Watching the sparring challenges, Violet tells her squad that Sloane is going to win. She goes up to the mat acting like she is coaching Sloane and blows a powder in. Her opponent’s face that activates what Violet put in her pastry that morning. Imogen realizes how Violet won her weekly challenges the previous year. Sloane says she won on her own, but Violet tells her the truth. Sloane is pissed about her involvement of Liam’s death, but someone else points out that Violet saved Liam’s life in War games when he fell off his dragon. Violet tells Sloane she has a stack of letters Liam wrote to her and she will give her one a week if she attends private training sessions with Imogen. Violet walks away and Imogen catches up with her to tell her Sloane agrees to the deal. Jesinia gives Violet a 300 year old classified book in exchange for her book of fables. She changes it out for another book the next Saturday. Varnish comes to escort Violet to the field for her trip. Varrish warns her to have Andarna at the next flight practice. Tairn says she still has a few weeks before she wakes up. They take off.
17. While walking with Violet, Imogen tells her she knew Xaden came with secrets when she chose him. She is lying to herself about needing complete honesty because everyone has secrets. She also tells her everyone fails land navigation the first time; it is meant to take them down a peg. She points out that she needs to stop cutting out her friends because they need her as much as she needs them. They are about to go into Battle Breief when Rhiannon shows them a missive her parents sent warning about letting strangers in. Marchand uses the paper to tell the class it could be a new tactic for the emeny to get to them. Violet is furious and wonders if any of the professors are trustworthy. After class, Violet rushes outside to let off the lightning that has been building up with her anger. She starts running and without really meaning to, she ends up in the archives. A room full of scribes looks up at her and Jesinia tells them it will be less disruptive for her to help the arrogant, impatient rider. Violet explains that she needs to read faster or people will die. Jesinia agrees to give her more, but suggests she give her friends the choice of putting their lives in danger or not.
18. Xaden arrives early and sees Violet sprawled out with all her books. When he realizes they aren’t all her books, he asks what she is researching. She admits she is trying to find some record on how the wards were made. He realizes Brennan told her there is a ward stone in Aretia. He is furious she is trusting a scribe to help her research. She points out that Jesinia could have turned her in the previous year for Violet asking about the book of myths, but she didn’t. She gets her two books together to return to Jesinia and Xaden insists on going with her to the Archives. He believes he will be able to tell if Jesinia is trustworthy by meeting her. There is a knock on the door and when Xaden answers it, Violet’s friends are there to ask if they want to go to the city with them. She says she cannot, but will in a few weeks. Violet and Xaden make their way to the archives arguing in their heads the whole way. He is mad that she is putting herself in danger for him. She is mad that he thinks he is allowed to have secrets, but she isn’t. When they get to the Archive, Jesinia is a bit worried about Xaden being there. She exchanges Violet’s books and returns her copy of The Fables of the Barren. She tells them it is old, but still used a press. Neither are sure why it wouldn’t be included in their records. Xaden thanks Jesinia for helping them. When they leave, Xaden is furious that Violet handed over a book that could have gotten her reported and killed. She tells him honesty works both ways like how she and Jesinia are trusting each other. Xaden storms off saying he needs space so he doesn’t say something he’ll regret.
19. When she arrives at flight practice, Varrish notices Andarna still isn’t showing up. He tries to dismiss her straight to her punishment with Carr, but Tairn steps in. He speaks into the head of everyone there and tells him not even the highest human can give orders to the smallest dragon. When Solas comes to defend Carrish, Tairn easily takes him to the ground and lets him limp away with a bloody neck. He tells Varrish there will be no punishment and makes him get on his knees to apologize to Violet. Rhiannon goes with Violet to the flight field while she is preparing to leave for Samara. Rhiannon makes a comment about the Guantlet being unnecessarily cruel, but Violet says that is what prepares them. Violet explodes and tells her about holding Liam in her arms as he died and how she relives that night every time she sleeps. She is about to tell Rhiannon what is really going on, but Varrish shows up to have her bag inspected. After dumping the contents on the ground, he leaves Violet and Rhiannon to pick it up. Rhiannon asks if it is always like that and Violet confirms.
20. Violet arrives at Samara and Xaden tells her to kiss him for show or else they won’t have time to talk. She does and they both get into it for a minute. Mira then greets them. Xaden takes Violet’s bags up to his room and leaves her with her sister while he has to go back to his duties. Mira takes Violet to practice throwing daggers. They start talking and Violet asks about the wards. Mira’s signet has to do with wards, so she thinks she might be able to tell her more about them. Mira explains her power only draws the wards towards her, she can’t expand them or create new ones. Violet wants to tell her about they wyvern. She mentions them, but Mira thinks she has been reading too many myths. Violet lets her blame it on her lack of sleep. Xaden wakes Violet from fitful sleep when he crawls into bed with her. They start talking and answering each others questions. She admits she hinted to Mira what was going on. He asks about the knot weaving book he left her and says he knows all of them. He tells her they are going to have to deal with how difficult their relationship is so that it will be strong. She asks what the alloys they use to extend them are made of and she is shocked to learn dragon egg shells are included. They go to sleep with him reminding himself that she loves him.
21. Violet and Tairn have been working on rolling dismounts as it is a requirement for graduation. Their History class teacher is absent, so Professor Devera from Battle Brief takes over. She announces that Masen (at Ressen) recently died in a battle. They talk about how the unification and isolation of Navarre and how entire cultures have been wiped out and histories lost. Someone doesn’t think it is a big deal because everything is available in the Archives, but Violet points out that the Archives aren’t available to everyone and every book is in at least its seventh or eighth edition. Devera asks if the sacrifices are worth the cost to keep their citizens safe. The class doesn’t seem so sure. During sparing challenges, Dian tries to talk to Violet, but she puts Ridoc between them and tells him no. He challenges her and she has to face him on the mat. Her entire squad objects due to her injured shoulder, but she takes the challenge. She tells Dain if he touches her face, she will kill him. As they spar, she tells him she can never forgive him for stealing her memory and reporting it. She accuses him of know what was going to happen in Ressen, but he denies it. He tells her it was her mother that gave Xaden the scars on his back before he taps out and gives her the win. When Violet leaves the room, Rhiannon comes after her. She is dangerously close to figuring everything out, but Aaric comes over and says he needs to go the healers. She asks Rhiannon not to make her lie to her. Aaric already knows about the wyvern. His guards would carry around the daggers with the charged disks in them like Xaden showed her. He is hoping the guards he escaped from won’t tell his father where he is until after Threshing.
22. Violet has another nightmare about Ressen. Xaden is taking her down to the forge to show her how the daggers are made. On the way, she tells him what she has learned about the ward stones. She knows she needs a first-hand account of carving the ward stones and how to activate them, but she doesn’t know where to find it. Varrish finds them on the stairs and claims it is time for another field test. The rest of her squad is already tied up. Xaden tries to argue with him, but Violet agrees to go. Using there link, she tells him there is a book that needs to go back to Jesinia and the next one she wants is referenced on a certain page. They say a quick goodbye before Violet is hauled off and he reminds her she is unbreakable.
23. They are taken to a room and given food and water before they plan for the interrogation to begin. Grady tells them they each need to have a secret that no one outside of the room would know. Rhiannon tells them about her and Violet sneaking off to visit her family. Ridoc says he is afraid of snakes. Sawyer didn’t tell his parents that he had to repeat first year. Violet tells them she learned at Samara that they are killing Poromish citizen at the border. Violet warns them not to drink the water because it will cut off communication with their dragons again. When the door opens, Rhiannon curses them for tricking them again. Two riders enter that are interrogators, but Violet doesn’t recognize either of them. They question them and beat each of them before leaving them alone for hours. Violet asks Xaden what time it is and he says it is only midnight. When Varrish opens the door again, Dain is with him.
24. Dain states that cadets are supposed to be healthy before interrogation. Varrish tries to convince him it is part of his training and he could see what drove him and Violet apart. Dain refuses and walks out. Varrish is furious and punches Violet in her arm and she blacks out. When Violet wakes up, Nolon has healed her. He leaves the room telling them to lock the door, but. He doesn’t lock the window. The rest of her squad wants to know what she knows that Varrish is treating her like that. She tells them their lives would be in danger if they knew. They all want the opportunity to make the decision for themselves, but they decide escaping is more important. Sawyer is able to melt the hinges on the first door, but their is a ward on the second. Violet feels a tug from the dagger at her side and uses it. The door opens.
25. They make it out of the cave and Grady is waiting for them and Rhiannon demands their patch. They find out another group lost a rider in interrogation. Another group comes up to them and asks how they escaped and got the patch. They refuse to answer. When they get to battle brief, there is a flyer on everyone’s desk. There was an attack on the Promise and 10k people died from an attack of blue fire dragons. Markham tries to discredit the paper saying Nararre has never sent out an army of only blue dragons. He then tries to shame them for not being able to recognize a simple example of propaganda. Lastly, he deflects to a success experiment where Nolan was able to heal Jack Harlowe. He enters the class and Violet sees it really is him. They hope he has learned his lesson, but are pretty sure he’s going to try to continue killing her.
26. Jack gives Violet a look that doesn’t seem to contain loathing before he sits down. She says she isn’t to worried about him at that moment considering he has been in the infirmary and she has only gotten stronger. But her entire squad thinks it would be best to kill him again. Devera announces an attack and that a rider was severely injured, but all survived. Violet is shocked and the worry from Tairn flows through her. She races out of the classroom and stops only long enough for Bodhi to give her his jacket for the flight. She reaches Tairn quickly and they take off not caring what consequence she will face when she returns.
27. Violet races in the door before it is even fully opened. Mira finds her first and tells her Xaden is on the sparringats. She rushes to the sparring room and finds him fighting Garrick. He rushes to her and she tells him she cannot block of Tairn or his worry. He gets her to the shower and has the cold water pour over them. she tells him she needs him and they have sex. He offers to take her with him to drop off the daggers and she jumps at the chance.
28. When they arrive at the drop point, Xaden tells Violet to stay on Tairn. Seven flyers approach, but only three get off of their gryphons to make the exchange. One of them is a flyer Violet met at Ressen: Syrena. He warns them to stop attacking them. If it comes down to them or him protecting his people, he will chose his own. She tells him she can’t control every drift and he responds that he will not hesitate to kill next time. If he starts hearing of flyers stealing daggers from outposts that power their wards, he will stop the deliveries. Violet points out if their wards go down, they Navarre won’t be much help to them in a fight. A girl named Cat is there and seems jealous of Violet. She is upset that he won’t do what it takes to make their own forge because of Violet. She doesn’t understand what is meant by it and says they will talk about it later. He tells them he has 23 daggers for them this drop and Garrick will bring more in the next rendezvous. When Syrena says Catriona’s full name, she realizes she is Xaden’s ex.
29. On their way back to the outpost, Violet is feeling insecure and jealous. When they land, Violet decides it is more important to ask Xaden about Tecarus. Xaden explains he is a collector that offered to let them borrow his luminary if he got to see Violet’s power. When Tecarus sees something he wants, he is not above keeping it against its will. Xaden doesn’t want that to happen to Violet and refused his request. Brennan is working on a different arrangement. Violet fills him in on what has happened at Basgiath since his last visit. Back at Basgiath, Violet watches first years going through the Gauntlet. Professor Emetterio warns her to work on her shields so it doesn’t happen again before walking away. She tries to give Sloane advice and tells her to survive. Varrish comes to question her and checks her bag. Rhiannon comes to her own door and Violet gives her a look telling her not to interfere. Rhiannon sneaks into her own room. Just as Varrish is about to check her clothes, Kaori comes along and stops him from striping Violet down and says he will stay to witness. When Varrish doesn’t find anything in Xaden’s jacket, he returns it. He wants to punish her for leaving without permission, but Kaori says he already cleared her with Pancheck. They can’t expect a second year to be able to shield from such a powerful dragon when they as officers sometimes have trouble. When Varrish starts to object, Kaori reminds him of what his own dragon did after parapet. When Varrish storms off, Kaori warns her about creating an enemy. Violet goes into Rhiannon’s room with Sawyer and Ridoc. Rhiannon shows her she was able to get the dagger out of Caden’s coat pocket and through the wall using her signet. They celebrate for a moment before Rhiannon demands to know what it is. Violet tells them it is for killing venin.
30. Violet tells her friends almost everything leaving out anything about Ateria and Brennan. They want to help and decide they will help Violet research the wards. She says they need first hand accounts of what happened when the first six formed Basgiath. Ridoc says two of them kept journals and are rumored to be kept in the lower vault of the archives. Violet doesn’t remember there being a lower vault, but decides it is worth telling Jesinia about it so she can look. In the meantime, they continue looking through other books. Varrish does everything he can to make Violet miserable. She has to skip a trip to Samara for a training game in the woods against Third Wing. Violet watches the Threshing and asks Tairn about Andarna. She has been sleeping longer than expected. They watch as Aaric bonds a Blue Clubtail and Sloane a Red Daggertail (like her brother). Violet goes to watch while Ridoc agrees to get the new book from Jesinia. When Violet gets to the tower, she is happy to see a rider named Eya she hasn’t seen much since Ressen. They are suddenly joined by four infantry men dressed in blue with swords. Violet immoderately uses two daggers to kill one and keeps fighting the others. Eya ends up dead with a sword in her chest. There is only one left and h ends up being able to get Violet to fall from the tower. She tries to hold on but he starts climbing down to come after her. Someone’s dagger pokes through to the front of his throat.
31. Jack Barlow helps Violet back over the ledge. She is very confused and he tells her dying gave him a new perspective on life. He heard the screams and says riders should not be killed by infantry. He says they are even and takes off. Ridoc finds Violet and stays with her while she puts herself back together. She tells him about Jack saving her. He tells her Jesinia found the vault but it can only be opened by someone with royal blood. Violet thinks Aaric will help them.
32. Violet tells Xaden her plan to get the journals. He isn’t sure about it, but if she is sure they need the journals, he is not going to argue with her about books. She kisses him letting him know them having sex in Samara wasn’t an exception. When Violet gets Aaric in the room to discuss the plan, he is upset that Xaden is there. Xaden isn’t sorry for killing his brother. Aaric agree to the plan knowing he will be stealing from his father. When they get down to the Archives, Jesinia tells them she can only take four. Xaden decides Rhiannon and Sawyer will stay behind. Imogen can wipe recent memories, Xaden has his shadows, Aaric is the key, and Violet to read the book. Jesinia takes them as far as she can. On their way down, a first year sees them and comments not knowing there was going to be so many scribes there. He takes off when he realizes he forgot his notes and Jesinia scolds him. They continue on. She tells them the normal precautions for the Archives do not apply to the vault, so if they are down there more than an hour, they will be safer down there than trying to come back up. She goes back to her duties so no one will notice she is missing.
33. Xaden knocks out the two guards and they can feel the wards. When they get to a library, Aaric grabs Violet and pulls her through with him. He isn’t sure what they are looking for and needs her help. They start searching drawers, but violet remembers that the oldest books have to be kept out of light to preserve the ink and leather. She pulls a velvet tablecloth off of one of the tables and sees two small journals kept under a ward. Aaric reaches in and pulls them out but the ward covers his hand in blisters. They run back up to the entrance. Xaden leads the way remembering every turn Jesinia made. They run as fast as they can and Sawyer and Rhiannon are waiting for them as the doors start to close. Xaden gets Imogen and Violet through, but she isn’t sure Aaric and Xaden are going to make it.
34. Xaden gets them through just in time. Jesinia takes the scribe robes they were wearing. Ridoc takes Aaric to his room. Violet sends Rhiannon to get Dyer, the healer Violet saved during land navigation. Quinn made a few rounds around the cafeteria as Violet and Rhiannon. Violet scans the books quickly and gives one to Xaden to take to Brennan. He leaves immediately to avoid being searched. Nolan finds Violet and gives her a mug to drink from. Jack told her where to find her. He mentions her on the healer list, but she says her shoulder has already healed. She feels the effects of the mug and Nolan tells her she has risked everyone’s safety in the kingdom. She sees Varrish before she passes out.
35. Violet wakes up in the infinity jail tied to a chain. Nolan tells her the alarms went off alerting them someone had been in the king’s library. They want to know how they did it, with who, and why. They start questioning and she asks how they know it isn’t a fake journal. When they ask her if it is a fake, she says she doesn’t know because she hasn’t had a chance to examine it. She demands the trial by Wing Leaders as defined in the Codex. Varrish hits her and sends Nolan away. He starts torturing her. She hallucinates Liam from pain and dehydration. She has already missed a day of class and her teachers are starting to ask. He asks her where she is trying to make a ward. She tells him she knows Tairn is hunting Solas and will kill him soon. He tells her signet is to see weaknesses. He couldn’t see hers when he looked because she is very good and shielding. He can easily see that her weakness is for the people she loves and he plans to torture Xaden in front of her until she answers him. Violet is positive Xaden will stay loyal to the revolution. Nolan comes to heal her a few times and the torture continues. Varrish brings in Dain and tells him Violet stole classified documents that would allow her to take down the wards. General Sorrengail calls for all leadership due to an issue at the border. Liam tells her to decide what to show him. When she feels him at her mind she shows him the battle at Ressen and Liam’s death. She shows him the venin and wyvern. She shows him the torture she has been going through. She asks if he got what he wanted. He says she is smuggling weapons to other kingdoms. He attacks Varrish before cutting Violet’s bindings and freeing her. He pulls his sword to defend them and tells Nora (can tell lies) to let them go if she wants to live. Xaden appears behind Nora and slits her throat.
36. Xaden rushes into the room and Violet steps in front of Dain. She goes to Xaden and tells him Dain saved her life. Xaden and Violet profess their love for each other. Garrick comes to tell them they have more problems on their way and Lilith comes down with her own sword. She asks to speak to Violet alone. Xaden reluctantly gives her three minutes. Lilith tells her they don’t have much time because dead wyvern bodies have been dropped at most of the outposts and leadership is trying to deal with it. Xaden goes to the top of the stairs with the others telling Dain to make his choice right then. Dain follows him. Lilith tells Violet that Markham wanted her to be the one to carry on with altering the history. She made Violet join the riders quadrant to keep her alive. When Xaden bargained for his people, he agreed to the conscription and a favor to be named in the future. When Violet made it across the parapet, the agreement was for him to keep her alive. She asks if she gave him the scars on his back. She starts to tell her it is a Tyrrish custom, but Violet doesn’t want to hear it. They reach the top of the stairs and she gives Violet over to Xaden telling him to get her out of there while Markham is away visiting the king in Caldier. She gives Violet the antidote to stop blocking her bond with Tairn. Violet says the truth will be out soon and they need to give people a choice on what they want to do. Dain calls formation and tells people what is really going on. The cadets break out into arguments among them. Tairn has been hunting Solas. The elders are worried that Andarna hasn’t woken up yet. Xaden gets up to speak to them. He warns them about the war that is really going on around them. He can’t guarantee they will live if they come with him, but if they stay, they will die fighting for the wrong side. Carr is furious. Devera has been waiting for this moment to go with them; she is the one that left the fliers in Battle Brief. In an hour, they are in the air and leaving Basgiath. They get to Aretha and Brennan rushes out to meet them. He is furious with Xaden for bringing her to him damaged again. He hears the dragons above and asks what they did. She reminds him he said he needed riders.
PART TWO
37. Violet dreams about the venin sage again. When she wakes up in the morning, she is relieved to find herself in Xaden’s bed. They have sex before going to find out what is going on. When they join the council, Xaden says he takes responsibility for Violet and has the mark to prove it. He tells them how she and Jesinia were able to get the journal from the king’s library in the Archive. They are intrigued by this. Xaden says he has it, but couldn’t get it to them before because he got sidetracked delivering wyvern bodies to outposts. They try to tell him they don’t have the resources to protect the cadets they have brought with them. He warns them that he will alway them all to stay at his house. Violet realizes the empty seat at the table is actually his. He points out they have not only brought cadets, but four teachers as well. He points out Navarre was counting on having those riders in the upcoming years and now they won’t. If they want the cadets to be useful, they should be getting back to classes. Andarna finally wakes up.
38. When Violet finally gets up to where her dragons are waiting for her, Andarna has fallen asleep again. Hen she wakes up, Tairn sends her with Sygael to eat sheep. He has Violet block Andarna out. He and the elder dragons have concluded that Andarna’s wing didn’t develop the extra muscles she needs for her wing to work properly. They think she will be able to build up the muscle enough to fly, but she probably won’t ever be able to have a rider. Tairn thinks it is because she was forced to grow so quickly and woken up to travel shortly after. Violet goes to battle brief and on the map are locations of venin attacks. She tells her friends she thinks she is close to figuring out what the journals are saying. She thinks they used some sort of blood magic, it none of them have heard of any magic that uses blood before. Devera and Brennan lead the Battle Brief class. Tairn gives Violet a heads up that riders are approaching and Tiene is in the lead. Violet rushes out to stop Mira from attacking while the teachers are trying to get everyone into the great hall. Violet runs through the hall and no one is able to keep up. Mira dismounts quickly and Tairn puts her dragon’s neck in his mouth. Violet tells him to back off as Mira explains they are there as friends. She says Lilith came to their outpost and told them what was going on. She gave them all an hour to decide if they wanted to stay or go. Xaden has been collecting the ones that left. When Brennan steps outside to greet Mira, she punches him in the face.
39. Violet tries to help Brennan with his bloody broken nose while Mira yells at him for abandoning them. When Xaden makes a comment about not having siblings, Violet goes to him and they start kissing. When her siblings start to comment, she tells Brennan she needs the six strongest riders. They make their way to the ward stone and Violet compares the marking with the ones from the journal. She has them each cut their hands and place them on the stone, but nothing happens. They give up and start to leave. Violet is furious that she failed. She demands to be taken to Tecarus to get the luminary they need for weapons. Brennan catches up to her knowing she is determined to do something. Tairn is wiling to consider it. She tells Mira she needs her help.
40. Felix has painted targets onto three boulders and has Violet try to hit them. She explains Carr has had her training on how many strikes she could do in an hour. Felix points out that she has no control over her strikes. He says she knows she can, because she was able to aim in Ressen. He tells her that her power doesn’t come from the sky, it comes from her and she can generate it. It manifests as lightning because that is what she is comfortable with. He gives her a disc that he has carved Tyrrish ruins into. He shows her how she can channel her power into it rather than expelling it dangerously like she has been. He tells her to let him know when she fils it up and she asks what happens if she can’t. He tells her he doesn’t have time to teach people that aren’t willing to learn. She commits to it. Violet, Mira, and Brennan sneak off while Xaden is gone to try to make a deal with Tecarus. When they arrive, Xaden is already there.
41. Cat shows up and Tecarus introduces her as his niece. She takes them to properly dress for dinner. After Mira and Violet get dressed, Cat starts to lead them to the dinning hall. Violet can’t understand whey she is so jealous of Cat. Before they enter the hall, Xaden goes straight to Violet and kisses her. He tells her Cat’s ability to amplify emotions has clearly been messing with their head. After dinner, they are taken out to an arena where Tecarus explains he wants Violet to use her lightning on a box Xaden’s father gave him. He tells her he wants to make a show of destroying it. Violet realizes the box was for an alliance and involved Xaden and Cat. Violet heads out to the field and Mira goes with her. She warns Mira she isn’t accurate yet. Before she even gets a chance to try, the trunk opens a venin appears.
42. Mira throws a knife at the venin, but Violet tells her not to do it because they have to use special weapons to kill them. The rains becomes a downpour. Xaden gets them two more daggers by throwing them to the ground behind them. Brennan joins them on the field. The venin starts to drain the earth. Mira is just able to get the shield up to protect the three of them. Everything on the field is dead except them. The people on the stones are still alive. She tells her siblings to get to the stones. Violet throws the daggers and uses lightning to shock the soaked ground as Tairn picks her up. The venin is killed. Tairn and the other three dragons make a defensive stance for themselves. Xaden is strangling Tecarus and Violet convinces Xaden to leave him alive. Violet says they made the arena with the stones to contain venin and they have obviously captured them before. When they sit down to discuss negotiations, Tecarus offers Violet a peaceful life with her loved ones after a few years of being his personal guard. She knows she cannot except and run away from the war that would leave everyone else dead. He gives them the book that contains everything they know about venin, but says he only promised to open discussions about the luminary after seeing Violet wield. He says he wants them to take and train their fliers to kill venin. Mira points out they won’t be able to enter Aretia, but Xaden says they can, but not all of them will survive. Violet is against it, but Brennan agrees to it.
43. There is a dragon egg in Aretia. While Violet is excited about the first Aretia born dragon, they don’t have the wards to protect baby dragons. As soon as they get the luminary back to Aretia, Caden takes off on a classified mission. Brennan takes all the cadets, rider and flier, on a 12 hour hike up the narrow mountain trail to promote mutual respect. There are several instances where they have to stop to split up riders and fliers. The gryphons are usually a theme though they barely fit on the path. They learn the fliers have to go to the top of a cliff and jump off. If they can land on a gryphon and keep their seat, they are a flier. If not, they swim to shore and have to pick a different occupation. They think it is crazy how Navarre just tosses away human life in the middle of a war. Violet and Sloane have a minute and she says she doesn’t hate Violet anymore. She has gotten to the October portion of her brother’s letters that start to tell her more about his guard duty Xaden assigned him to. When a boulder starts to fall, Violet tries to use her lesser magic to movie it out of the way before if crushed her and the people around her. Tarn comes in and smashes it to bits with his morningstar tail. They are close to the top when they find Dain is warning people about a gap in the trail and a trap that shoots out arrows. After Ridoc gets across, Violet asks him to get a sword in the rock to help her and a smaller Flier, Luella, across. Violet goes first and makes it. Luella goes after and barely makes it, but the force of her landing sends her and Visia (rider) off the other side. Each of them grab one of Violets hands and Ridoc starts to pulled Violet back up. Luella’s gryphon, Cibbe pulls up Visia first because she is in the way of Luella. Violet tries to hold onto Luella, but sees Ridoc has been shot in the abdomen by two arrows. She shouts for Brennan.
44. Violet can’t hold on, but she tries. Cat accuses Violet of throwing Luella off the cliff. Cibbe slowly starts dying because gryphons die with their riders. Dain puts Violet’s shoulder back in its socket. Brennan gets to Ridoc. A wyvern comes and snaps the dying gryphon off the cliffside. Tairn comes for Violet, and she yells at Dain to get everyone to work on raising the temperature or blowing away the fog. She remembers wyvern are made from power. Violet has an idea and Tairn approves. Violet takes as much power as she can from Tairn and then pushes it down and the sky lights up. Four riderless wyvern lay on the ground. Tairn lands, but she refuses to leave Tairn’s back. She took a chance that her lightning would be attacked their dark magic. They realize venin share a collective conscious with the wyvern they create. Whoever created them knows where they are now and they will come for them.
45. The next day in class, the deaths are read off. A rider takes the death of her brother quietly. A flier cries out at the news of his sibling’s death. The riders are having trouble getting used to the more human reactions of the fliers. Violet scolds them telling them she cried when Liam died. Cathy and her flight except Maren are still blaming Violet for Luella’s death and trying to make her life more difficult. Cat is also not happy that Violet is sharing a room with Xaden. Violet makes an excuse to get away with Rhiannon. Bodhi tells them to be ready to start a new class with Trissa the next day. The next day, Rhiannon arrives just in time for Trissa’s class because her family has just arrived. Sawyer asks Violet to teach him how to sign because he likes Jesinia. When Trissa arrives, she tells them she has chosen the best rider squad as well as the best flier flight as an experiment to teach Tyrrish runes. She explains the alloy holds the power like a bank, but runes hold the power for a specific purpose. She shows them a simple unlock rune and gives them time to make their own. Violet realizes this is why Xaden had her practicing the weaving. Violet reaches for Andarna’s power because it isn’t as intimidating as Tairn’s. She is frustrated when Cat is the first one to complete the unlock rune.
46. When Xaden returns, Violet fills him in on what has been going on. She asks him about the runes on his dagger. He tells her they are a variation of the unlock rune that would only unlock a door if she really needed it to. That was how they got out of the interrogation chamber. He shows her the runes each of the children of the revolution were given for protection. They were meant to counter the signet of the rider of the dragon that killed their parents. When their parents were executed, they felt the burn from where they held the ruins and became the relics. He offers to help with her rune, but she rushes off to class only to find hers is wrong and Cat’s works perfectly. Devera and Emetterio are disappointed the riders and fliers still aren’t getting along. They decide they are going to open challenges. Each person can only issue one challenge and each person can only be challenged once. Violet’s squad isn’t surprised when Cat’s fliers start to challenge them one by one. When Cat’s challenge to Violet is called out, Maren warns her not to. They start their fight and Violet realizes they were both trained by Xaden.
47. Violet uses what she has to fight off Cat. Cat doesn’t care about Xaden and she doesn’t think he is capable of love. Violet tells her it is pathetic for her to fight over a guy that doesn’t love her. Cat was promised a crown and she still expects to get one. She starts to get under Violets skin insinuating that she and Xaden had sex. The moves Rhiannon has taught her end up with her on top of Cat on the mat strangling her. Cat uses her power to amplify Violet’s anger and Xaden tells her in her mind that he doesn’t care if she kills her, but she thinks she would have a hard time with it. Violet is able to pull herself off and goes to Xaden. Cat insists she never tapped out, but Violet says she cheated by using her power to get in her head. Professor Kiandra has Cat’s friends take her away. Xaden carries Violet out over his shoulder.
48. Xaden takes Violet to the hospital on where. The council meets and locks the door behind them. He puts Violet on the throne and goes down on her. He tells her he wants to prove he loves her and she isn’t just sex as Cat suggested. He tells her Cat can only amplify the emotions she already has, she cannot create new ones. He tells her they were betrothed in an attempt at an alliance, but after 3/4 of a year, it was obvious they were incompatible. He never lived her and he can’t see why Violet would have any room to be insecure. He tells her the daggers he gave her have runes to keep Cat out. She has only been able to mess with her head when she takes them off. They have to go their separate ways and he tells her to come to bed early that night.
49. Car’w flight is becoming part of Rhiannon’s squad. As a sign of good faith, the riders give the fliers the iron squad. When Cat refuses to take hers from Violet and questions the purpose, Violet explains their different patches. When Cat says the crown is still hers, Violet tells her there hasn’t been a Tyrrish crown in over 600 years because they were all melted down to make the unification crown. Cat is furious she can’t get into Violet’s head. Violet starts heading to the library and the rest of their squad joins to get away from Cat. She tells them she can’t create new emotions and they all feel somewhat better about her power. When they get to the library, Sawyer goes to say hello to Jesinia, but comes back wuickly after because he doesn’t know enough signs to really talk to her yet. Dain joins them because he is an expert in Krovish. Dain and Violet keep trying to translate a book about the emergence of venin after the Great War. He tries to apologize for trusting his father over her. She tells him she doesn’t think it will ever be alright. She notices the walls and asks if the stones can be imbued with power. Dain shows her they can and does so to one of the stones. They decided they will do this to the stones over the next few weeks to fill them up. He tells her if she loves Xaden, he will trust him completely.
50. Violet practices with Felix on controlling her power. After weeks of imbuing stones with her power, she is able to do the same with the conduit he gave her. He tells her to increase slowly and she does. He says now that they know she is capable of control, she’ll have to work hard to wield it like a dagger rather than a battle axe. He wants her to be able to do the same exercise from a distance the next time they meet. Back at the house, Violet overhears Bodhi and Garrick talking about where the venin have taken over. They are heading their way.
51. Violet takes a plate of chocolate cake up to Xaden on the roof. He knows the venin are coming, but there isn’t anything they can do tos top them. They are about 50 years too late to be able to put up a fight. He tells her that Mira sent him away because she couldn’t risk losing Violet. He finally realizes how all the marked ones treated her when she first bonded Tairn. A week later, Violet and Dain are still studying the journal trying to translate the words. Around midnight, she sends Dain to bed promising she’ll only be a few more minutes. She looks at the text and realize the word they thought was blood is actually breath. She rushes to Rhiannon’s room and tells her she knows how to set up the wards.
52. Second squad meets at Rhiannon’s family’s house with Jesinia and the fliers that have been added. Violet tells them she thinks she knows how to set up the wards. Once they set them up, they fliers won’t be able to use their powers inside the wards. However, the venin are getting closer and can attack anytime. they want to give the option to stay or leave. Violet shows them the conduit arrowheads she has been Ming with power. Violet dreams of the sage again and he asks to see Violet’s signet. This time, the sage touches her. She says she will give in to the venin for love or they will both die. They ask how long they have and Violet says she won’t lie to Xaden when he returns, but she will give them as long as she can to make their decisions. Later, they are getting ready for in flight war games. Andarna is upset about not being allowed to go with them. Xaden returns and Violet tells him she has news when they get a chance to talk. He can tell it is something big and Garrick tells her to ask Xaden about the venin he killed. She tells Xaden she knows how to get the wards up, but it uses dragons. He says he will have them up by the time she is done, but she tells him they are going to need Tairn.
53. Violet’s team, including Cat and her gryphon, walk through the snow with Andarna looking for a cave. When Cat starts to dig into Sloane, Violet tells her to aim her hatred at her instead. She promised to watch out for Sloane. Sloane tells her she thinks it is unfair that Liam asked her to watch out for her considering she already has to keep Xaden safe. They barely make it into the cave, Visia slips and Violet catches her and pulls her into the cave. They need fire and Cat pulls out an unlit torch. Violet takes out a conduit and has Sloane hold it to channel the power the to the torch. They go into the cave further. One of them asks if Violet will get a second signet because she bonded two dragons. Visia tells them the only time people manifest a second signet is when they bond dragons from someone in their direct line. Violet realizes Xaden bonded his father’s dragon. They get the source of power. Andarna smells other dragons. They start making their way out of the tunnel and Visia says she needs to go warn her family on the boarder of Navarre. Suddenly, there is an orange dragon in their way. Violet goes to pull the others back, but only reaches Cat. Solas knocks Visia aside with a claw and she dies. Violet calls out to Tairn.
54. Violet protects Cat knowing if she dies there it will be a political disaster. Andarna protect them all from Solas’ fire. Violet throws two daggers and yells at Cat to get Sloan out. Cat mounts the gryphon and barely make it. Cat fires arrow at him and he roars. She uses the conduit to fire, but is thrown back. Slaone tries to help Violet out as the dragon backs out of the cave. Sloane accidently drains Violet’s power and Violet tells her she is a siphon. Andarna kills Solas. Andarna is in bad shape, but Tairn promises she is alive. Back at the house, a healer tells Violet she has a concussion. He is surprised to see Cat there. Cat says Violet saved her life and it was the least he could do. Xaden is furious that Violet would risk her life for Cat. He has been doing everything he can to keep her safe while giving her the freedom she needs to become a rider. He asks if she is ready to ask him about the deal he made with her mother.
55. Xaden and Violet have their same trust argument. He says she knows he won’t do anything to hurt her, but she is still upset that he won’t give her information. She isn’t sure he will answer her questions truthfully and points out he lied about the marks on his back the previous year. When he challenges her, she asks what his second signet is. There is a pounding on the door and Brennan tells them it is an emergency. The venin are on their way to attack.
56. There isn’t time for Violet to process what is going on. She and Dain had determined the dragons needed for the ward stone need to be political leaders, not the strongest Physically. They go and have the 6 designated dragons breath fire on the stone. It doesn’t look any different, but they can feel the hum of the wards and the taming of their magic. They don’t have time to test them, so they jump on their dragons and take off to the ends of the wards to fight off the incoming wyvern. Tairn and Violet land on a cliff and he tells her to ground herself. She does and Xaden lands by her not long after. Tairn is not happy that Sygael kept the secret from him as well. Xaden asks her not to guess what his signet is because he thinks she won’t love him after she does. She starts going through signets and finds out he is a type of intinsic. He says he can read intensions. That is how he knows who to trust. He thinks she doesn’t love him anymore, but they don’t have time to discuss as the wyvern arrive. Tairn counts 17, but they start to drop dead as they hit the wards. They head back and Mira tells Violet they received a missive from Navarre wanting to meet with them, including Mira and Violet. Cat comes up to Violet to show her she can still wield and something is wrong with their wards.
57. The council, Mira, and Violet arrive at Athebyne and it is not lost on Violet what happened the last time she was there and Navarre betrayed her. Xaden mentions she hadn’t come to bed and she tells him she was up all night in the library with the others trying to figure out what is wrong with the wards. When the Navarrians arrive, they ask for help. Melgren has seen that they venin and wyvern will attack Samara and win. He didn’t see any of them in his vision and thinks their presence will change the outcome. They offer to recognize them as independent if they agree. The counsel explains they don’t feel like they should help a country that has notoriously held back from helping anyone else and ordered the slaughter of other nations civillians that came to them for help. When Lilith tries to convince them it is for the sake of the dragons, Brennan steps forward. He points out the ward’s extensions may fail, but not the wards themselves. The Vale where the dragons live will remain safe. He tells her she should take it as a sign that she is staying on the opposite side of all three of her children. She asks to speak to her daughters and Violet tells the others they will be fine. She gives them the other journal. She says the author of the one they have wanted to keep the wards a secret from everyone. The one she is giving them wanted to share the wards. Violet takes a look at the book and sees it is in the language Jesinia specializes in. She tells them to check the Wyvern they recently killed. Lilith goes to join her side and Violet and Mira go to theirs knowing they may never see their mother again. When flying back, Mira and Violet break off from the others and find a Wyvern within the wards boarders. They slice it open and inside is an onyx stone with runes caved into it. Someone has taught the venin runes. The dead wyvern 20 feet away starts to rise drawn to the power of the stone. Violet kills it again with lightning.
58. Xaden asks Violet to meet him on the sparring mat. He agrees to her full disclosure requirement knowing he will lose her otherwise. Xaden wasn’t able to get the counsel to change their minds about helping Navarre. In Battle Brief, comments are made about them bing just as bad as Navarre by not going to help. Brennan asks Violet a question that makes her come to the realization that Melgren was bluffing. If the venin take down the wards at Samara, they just go back to their original location about a four hour flight from Basgiath. She asks how long the venin have been sitting on the boarder. They have been there for three days. Violet rushes to find Xaden. Samara is just a distraction. Melgren doesn’t know what is going to happen, because the battle is going to take place at Basgiath to take down the wards and there will be too many of them with relics there for him to see. Violet says she wants to fight and Xaden takes it to the assembly.
59. The assembly still refuses to help Navarre. Second Squad is ready to go and leaving beind their fliers and first years. Cat gives Violet an automatic firing weapon and warns her the arrow heads are imbued and explosive. Violet thanks her. Andarna wants to fly by herself, but Violet and Tairn insist she wear her harness in case she starts to fall behind. They tell her to go directly to the Vale and protect the feathertails. Violet tells Xaden and Mira they are welcome to join them, but Violet is staying with her squad. They get to Basgiath and land along the walls. Violet finds her mother and tells her to open the gates. She does and then Violet explains what is happening. She leads them down to where the ward stone is and Violet tries to shut out her PTSD from being tortured in a similarly looking and smelling place. When they get to the stone, they see the two guards have been recently killed. They rush for the stone and Jack is there with Bade. They try to fight her off, but she sets fire to the stone. Jack slits his own dragon’s throat over it and it cracks in two pieces. The wards are down.
60. They figure that Jack will die quickly since his dragon is now dead. Violet points out that he has become venin. She tells them it must have happened before he challenged her because she could feel him draining her. He reveals he has been sneaking venin into the school for months. There are location markers hidden throughout the school to lead the rest directly to them. Dain uses his ability to see where most of them are hidden. Lilith gathers everyone in the battle Brief room to tell them what is going on and prepare them for battle. The scribes and infantry are sent to find the rest of Jack’s runes. When Lilith starts reassigning squads, Mira speaks up and insists Xaden and Violet be kept together on second squad as their signets compliment each other. She also points out they are their best defense and where she should be to protect them. Lilith approves the request. She then tells everyone to get rest in preparation for the battle. Xaden and Violet make the most out of what could be their last night together. As they start up again in the morning, Rhiannon knocks on the door and tells them to come out immediately. Brennan has arrived with the fliers.
61. While going over their plans for the newly arrived backup, Violet asks if Brennan can heal things like the ward stone. He says he can try. Jesinia came with them to try to figure out what they did wrong with their wards and make corrections. The riders try to keep it together as they wait for the invasion. Lilith starts a rain storm so Violet will be able to wield her power a bit easier. The battle starts and Violet is able to take down several wyverns before they even start. As the battle progresses, Violet has trouble keeping herself from wanting to go help her friends, but Tairn reminds her the best things he can do is stick to the plan. When she realizes they aren’t going for the Vale, they have to change up their plans a bit in hopes to keep the venin out. Violet unbuckles to fight a venin and Rhiannon jumps onto Tairn to join her.
62. Rhiannon and Violet work together to take out the venin on Tairn and then jumps back to her own dragon Fierge. Tairn goes to help Ridoc, but Sawyer gets there first and a wyvern takes off his leg. Violet jumps from Tairn to Sawyer’s dragon to help him and get the wyvern off that is locked on. She takes Sawyer and falls off his dragon telling Tairn to catch them. They get him down to the healers. A venin appears and wants to take Violet to the sage. She yells at Cat to run, but she is throwing the venin’s emotions out of control. Andarna has been blending in with the cliff side and makes herself known.
63. Andarna breathes fire at the venin and eats him. Their squad is being called to the Vale because the last wave have not being sent yet. Violet looks around at the wounded. Cat tells Violet to have her mother stop the rain so the gryphons can join the fight in the air. A healer stops Violet to point out Jesinia is trying to get her attention. Xaden takes off to try to continue fighting. She thinks she has found the difference between the two journals. At first she thought it was the runes on the ward stone because Aretia has seven runes while the one there only has six. Violet thinks, but there are only six dens of dragons. She wonders if the seventh is a gryphon. Suddenly, she realizes what is needed. Xaden argues with Lilith and Melgren. Lilith says the Vale is the only thing that matters. The horde of wyvern leaves a hole in their formation waiting for their leader, who arrives shortly after. She tells them she needs to get the wards up if they can hold power. Lilith stops to listen, but Melgren refuses. Xaden tells then half of the army is his and he will leave if they don’t agree to help Violet.
64. Violet turns to Codagh and tells him she needs him to power the stone. He agrees to go and Melgren appears. Xaden tells her he will give her time to due what he can to give her time. She runs to the stone where Brennan used everything he had to mend it. Aaric is there holding him up. She lets Tairn’s power flow through her and into the ward stone. She has Aaric tell everyone that can be spared to help imbue the stone. She tells Andarna to get down there immediately. Violet realizes that her scales aren’t really black. They are actually purple. Only the elders know what she really is. She pretended to be black like Tairn and even he doesn’t know. She waited for Violet before hatching because they would be unique together. Lilith arrives and Violet tells Andarna to ride. She reaches out for Xaden, but his shields are completely up. Tairn shows her his own view of Xaden fighting for his life on the edge of a cliff. Violet is about to burn out and she knows it will kill her to get the stone working. She tells Andarna and Tairn to go on after her. Sloane tackles Violet and drains her power. Brennan heals her. Lilith takes Sloane to the stone and tells her how she killed her mother and made her and Liam watch. Aaric stops Violet from saving her mom. Lilith tells Sloane that everyone is fighting for their lives and she can stop it. Violet drops her shields and feels the Xaden is dying. She yells for everyone to fight. Sloane looks to Violet for what to do while Lilith tells her what she has to do. Lilith says Violet and her siblings are everything they hoped they would be. Lilith dies and Brennan holds her. Mira arrives. Tairn and Sygael wait with Xaden while he dies. The humans leave down the tunnels. Andarna uses her fire on the ward stone.
65. The wyvern bodies start to fall from the sky. Sloane tries to applogize, but Violet knows her mom made her own choice. They emerge to the sound of cheers. The Sorrengail siblings can barely move. Dain and Rhiannon come to meet them. She explains how Lilith gave her power to the stone. She cries on Rhiannon’s shoulder for a while before having to see Xaden and Tairn. She tells Tairn and Andarna they need to catch up. She asks Sygael to let her pass. She sees a gash across Xaden’s back. He killed the sage venin and his body fell into the ravine. He has been watching to see if he pops back up. She tells him her mother is the one that gave the power. She tells him Melgren wants them all to come back. He says they will stay if that is what is going to keep them safe. She asks what has gotten him so shaken and he faces her to show the irises of his eyes are flecked with red. He says she should be scared of him.
66. Xaden fights the sage and knows he is defeated. The sage wore him down for fun and Xaden is close to burnout. He can feel Violet is going to burn herself out to save everyone else. He is too weak to defeat him. He feels power flowing below him and he reaches for it despite Sygael telling him not to. He lays next to Violet while she sleeps. She tells her he loves her. He goes down to the dungeon to talk to Jack Barlowe to ask what the cure is. He tells him there isn’t a cure and he can’t give up what was taken. Xaden refuses to become one of them, but a Jack says he already did.