The Empyrean 1
Rebecca Yarros
1. Violet Sorrengail struggles to carry her rucksack up the stairs to her commander mother’s office. She can hear her sister, Mira, telling their mother that Violet has been training to be a scribe and shouldn’t be put through the rider training program. Her mother, Lilith, curses the sickness that she got when she was pregnant with Violet and stole the color from her. Violet was raised in the library by their scribe father. Lilith insists that Violet be sent to the Riders Quadrant for her conscription and tells her if she goes to the scribes she will put her on the pulpit herself. Mira tells her mother that Violet is fragile and she has dealt her own daughter a death sentence. Their brother, Brennen, died fighting in the rebellion in the south. Mother dismisses Mira and warns Violet that they will be harder on her because she is her daughter. Mira apologizes for saying she is weak and asks if she can hold a sword. Violet says she is pretty good with daggers. Mira takes her sack and starts to unpack it. She throws aside the books and asks if she is willing to die for it. Violet keeps one book that is for killing people. Mira helps her change into clothes that have dragon scales sewn in and will help her survive and then braids her hair into a crown. They hug each other before they walk into the fortress. Mira tells Violet to find Dain Etross to keep her safe and warns her not to sleep with anyone not in her own year. They start the climb to the Citadel of the Rider Quadrant. Violet is still shocked she passed the physical tests to be there. She notices a man a separatist kid with a scar from the rebellion. Most riders have a a mark given by their dragon that gives them power, but these marks are to prevent others from rebellion. Mira tells her to stay away from Xaden Riorson because he will kill her in site. He was the son of the man that started the rebellion. When they reach the table, the scribe sitting at it is shocked to see Violet there and it with the scribes. The Rider there is in awe of Mira being there. Mira tells Violet not to die as she walks away. Violet meets Dylan and Rhiannon. Dylan plans to marry his girlfriend when they graduate and keeps her ring around his neck. Violet sees Rhiannon’s boots won’t be good in the rain and offers to trade one boot until they get across the parapet. They have to walk the slim stone bridge to be able to advance. As they line up and get ready to cross the bridge, Violet is distracted by a beautiful man but soon learns he is Xaden. When he hears her last name, he smears at her. He reminds her that her mother oversaw his father’s execution. She points out his father killed her brother. Xaden is surprised to see she and Rhiannon are friends and have mismatch boots. Dylan falls off the parapet and disappears. She asks if he is going to kill her, but he says the parapet will do it for him.
2. Rhiannon goes first and says she will wait for Violet on the other side. The boy behind Violet says his name is Jack and the Riders around him should remember it because he is going to be a Squadron leader one day. Violet steps out onto the slick parapet and starts making her way across. She starts reciting basic historical facts to keep herself from panicking. She hears Jack behind her and when she turns to look, he has stopped to throw the kid behind him off the parapet. He calls out that she is next. Violet moves as quickly as she can with Jack getting closer by the second. The throws herself into the courtyard and pulls her dragged to point it at him. She has him stopped on the parapet with her dagger at his testicals. She tells him it is unlawful to attack another Rider while in formation. The third year in the courtyard says she is right and if he wants to kill her, it will have to be in the dueling ring. He hasn’t stepped off the parapet yet and therefore, Violet could shove him off or cut off his testicals and it would be within her right. If he chooses to disobey the rules, they will feed him to the dragons. Violet asks if he is going to follow the rules and he says he doesn’t have a choice.
3. Violet finds Rhiannon talking with another girl. Dain finds her and pulls her to the side demanding to know what she is doing there. She explains that her mother forced her to volunteer. He sees that she is hurt and sends Rhiannon to tell on of the other Riders to put them in his squad because she owes him a favor. He then drags Violet up to his room so she has a chance to wrap her knee without anyone else seeing and going after her because she is frail. They flirt back and forth and she notices he seems interested with her dressed in leather. They go back to the courtyard with the others and squadron assignments are called out. Violet is relieved when Jack is called into the Flame section of the First Wing. She and Rhiannon are put into the Second Squad, Flame Section, Second Wing; Dain’s squad (three squads/section, three sections/Wing). Once all the assignments are made, the wing leaders meet and decide Dain’s section will switch with another squad’s in Fourth Wing. Violet realizes she is going to Xaden’s wing. Xaden makes a speech that their squad members are the ones that aren’t going to kill them, but they still might. Dragons approach and sit on the wall. When a boy runs, one of the dragons shoots fire at him and turns him to ash. Two more run and die. Violet thinks the blue dragon is eying her and she tries to be more confident than she feels.
4. The next morning, all of the cadets are brought together and made to listen to another speech about how dangerous it is to try to become a Rider. Afterwards, Dain pulls Violet aside to check on her. She tells him she is doing fine and that he’s not going to be able to watch out for her all the time. She asks what his signet is and he tells her he can see a person’s recent memories when he touches them. It is mostly kept secret, but he thinks he will get to work in intelligence and interrogation. She starts to go to class, but Xaden is watching her. When Dain comes out of the hiding spot to see why she isn’t moving, Xaden calls out that he knew their parents were close, but they should be less obvious about what they are doing. Dain rella her to run to class and she does.
5. Violet does well in History and Battle Brief. The teacher asks about an attack that happened at a station because the wards went down. Violet is able to determine the Riders that helped defend against the attack were already on their way when the attack happened. The enemies use Griffins that can’t generally fly as high as Dragons, so for them to attack a high up place like they did, they must have known the wards would be down. When she goes to sparring, Violet is nervous. She makes a deal with Rhiannon and … to help them in history if they help her with sparring. Jack breaks a boy’s neck and is yelled at, but nothing more is done. When Rhiannon spars, Violet is surprised to see how fast she is. She wins her fight against a first year boy. Violet is paired up against a second year girl that has the rebellion marks on her. Violet is able to dodge her blows pretty well until she starts using her magic. While she gets yelled at for it twice, the fight is allowed to go on. The girl gets Violet down on the mat and breaks her shoulder. Violet refuses to yield on her first day, but the teacher ends the fight.
6. Dain grabs her and rushes her to the healers (physicians). Winifred is used to seeing Violet regularly, but is surprised to see her with the Riders. She calls for her mender (signet is healing) husband, Nolon. Dain begs them not to mend her so he can convince everyone that she needs to be with the scribes instead of the Riders. Violet tells Nolon to heal her only this once. She knows she can’t run to a mender all the time without looking weak. She tells Dain she can’t join the scribes just for her mother to throw her back with the Riders. Nolon sets her arm and everything goes black. When she goes back to the dorm that night, she assures Rhiannon she will be fine. She finds a book and a note from Mira under her pillow. Mira stayed long enough to find out she survived and to bribe someone to leave her their brother’s journal that helped her through her first year. She has added to it and knows it can help her too. When Rhiannon asks what she has, Violet tells her it is her brother’s journal. They are supposed to burn everything that belonged to the dead, but even Rhiannon admits its nice to have a piece of a loved one. Violet reads a bit and Brennan tell her the fights are predetermined to weed out the weakest members of the quadrant. The teachers will make it look random, but plan the pairings well in advance. If watched closely, Violet will be able to tell who she is matched with. Violet realizes this is what she needs to survive.
7. Ten days later, Violet has been collecting supplies to survive. She sneaks out nine nights in a row before running into any issues. While up in a tree gathering berries listed in her book of poisons she insisted stay in her rucksack, Xaden comes under her tree and shortly after joined by Imogen, the girl that wrecked Violet’s shoulder. More rebellion kids join until there is a dozen of them. The rules state only three rebellion kids are allowed to meet at once to prevent them conspiring. They have all been conscripted to the Rider Quadrant as punishment. Xaden has been gathering them for two years to pair them with tutors to help them through. One kid asks about the History lessons and Xaden tells them to just repeat back what they are told indicating they have been taught a different history from the rest of the country. Another kid asks to go home and Xaden tells him he won’t make it with that attitude and he won’t lie to them about how gruesome war is. The last question is about Violet. Xaden says she is his to deal with; punishing the child for the sins of the parent is not their way like the Navarrian, not the Tyrrish. He sends everyone on their way in sets of three. Violet waits a long time before coming out of the tree. Xaden instantly catches her and tells her he is a shadow wielder. He says he might actually have to kill her now and she takes a fighting stance he makes fun of. She throws a dagger at each side of his head and he thinks she misses when her daggers hit the tree behind him. She makes him step back to show him it was planned. She says she isn’t going to tell anyone about their meeting because they aren’t really doing anything wrong, certainly not anything that they should be put to death for. He tells her to get to bed and that he owes her one.
8. A week later, Violet has found her sparing partner and knows what he looks like. She grinds and dries her berries into a powder and sprinkles it over her opponents eggs at breakfast. Later, she sits in a class about dragons where the teacher’s signet is being able to project what he thinks about. He shows them dragons and tells them about the different colors. He warns them all to stay away from Xaden’s blue dragon who was bonded to one of his previous family members (which is generally not allowed). He shows them a very large black morning star tailed dragon and says he has only bonded once and has not come forward as one of the 100 that we interested in bonding this year. The previous bonded rider has the ability to siphon powers and then use or distribute them. The rider died trying to save another rider. Black dragons are the smartest. After class, Violet asks if the rider died trying to save Brennan. He confirms it and tells her things will be different once she graduates and people will try to keep her alive because of her mother. She goes off to sparring and has already prepped her ankles and knees with wraps. She watches Rhiannon win her match and take a dagger from her passed out opponent. Jack says something to Violet and she whips to daggers at him that land dangerously close to his ear and his testicles. Swim scolds her for not listening to his advice about laying low, but she thinks she sees a hint of a smile from Xaden. When it is time for her match, her opponent is a bit green from the powder, but still intends to kill her. She lets him rush past her like a bull and is able to take him down. He throws up and the match is called. She takes one of his daggers. Over the next few weeks, she uses the mushrooms to make a girl hallucinate during their match. She use roots, leaves, bark to give her an advantage on the mat. When she gives one girl something a bit too early, her match is called, but Xaden offers to step in.
9. After handing all of his weapons over to Imogene, Xaden steps onto the mat and tells Violet to join him. The instructor tells everyone to watch as Xaden is one of their best fighters. They fight and he is able to whisper advice to her while they spar. He tells her he is small and big moves expose her to much. He tells her the weak spots in armor that expose killing blows at the ribs, kidneys., and …. He takes her knives one by one to disarm her and she finds herself attacked to him dispite herself. He knows she has been poisoning her opponents, but warns her it won’t help her get any better. Dain calls out quite a few times to try to get Xaden to stop. When the fight is over, he warns that Violet would do better with less protection and more instruction. He takes his weapons back from Imogen and leaves them. Later that night in his room, Dain tries to get Violet to join the scribes. He has talked to … who has sworn to keep the secret for her first year until she is sworn in and there isnmt anything she can do about it. Violet is furious and yells at him for not believing in her, but she agrees to think about it when she leaves his room.
10. Violet and the rest of her squadron lines up to practice the Guantlet (sky high obstacle course). They are the only squad not to have lost anyone since the parapet. One of the kids starts saying that Violet is getting preferential treatment because side she is sleeping with Dain, but Rhiannon sticks up for her and tells him they have been friends since they were kids because his dad is her mom’s assistant. He apologizes to Violet for listening to Jack. Their instructor tells them their sparring is haunted so they can practice the Guantlet. The dragons will watch their final runs. Warren, the kid repeating his first year, tells them the dragons chose for whatever reasons they do, it isn’t necessarily the fastest. He goes through first to show them the course. They follow after in 30 second increments. The girl behind Violet falls. When she gets to the Chimney, she is too short to get across. And has to climb down using a rope. In the final, they either pass or fall, no escape ropes allowed. Violet insists on going to the burn pit alone (despite Dain’s offer to go with her) to throw in the girl’s rucksack because she was the last one to see her and her parents weren’t coming. On her way back to her dorm, she runs into Xaden and it’s a few other people. He dismisses them to talk to her and she asks if he is going to kill her. He says he hasn’t decided and she asks him to make up his mind so she can make her own decision. He knows that Dain has been trying to get her to leave for the Scribes. He tells her to focus on what is in front of her instead of hope and what could be.
11. Dain begs Violet not to do the Gauntlet on Presentation day. She does it. She takes the 30 second penalty and uses the rope to help her climb up the chimney. She uses her knife to help her up the last steep incline. The leader of Third Wing tries to disqualify her, but she points out since she brought the knife over the parapet with her, it is considered to be part of her personal and therefore allowed. Xaden backs her up. She joins the rest of her squad who all made it.
12. The squadrons line up again to walk past the line of 100 dragons that are willing to bond that year. There is a rumor that a feather tail has joined them, but they don’t bond and is probably just curious. Rhiannon is second with Pryor in front of her. Violet is behind her and Ridoc is behind Violet and Luka behind him. They see the smaller golden feather tail and Ridoc and Luka are not impressed and say how they don’t want to bond with it out loud. Pryor is obviously nervous and can’t make a decision about how they should be moving. A red burns him to ashes right in front of Rhiannon. Two greens come up to Violet and start sniffing her. She hopes they understand when she explains her sister had the shed scales from her dragon shrunk down to put under her clothes to protect her. She bows to them and they walk back to the other dragons. Luka keeps complaining about how weak Violet is and another dragon turns her to ash. Rhiannon, Violet, and Ridoc make it out alive.
13. October 1 is Threshing where they approach the dragons they are interested in bonding. If a dragon has already chosen, they will call to them. Violet hasn’t felt a connection with any of them yet. Rhiannon is thinking about one of the greens that approached Violet. Violet, Rhiannon and Ridoc share a hug before they head in and go their separate ways. Violet climbs a tree to get a better look at the dragons. She notices the golden one off in the distance and then Jack, Orin, and her squad mate Tynan are heading for it. She hears their plan to kill it for being weak. She takes a more direct path to the dragon, but twists her ankle on a hidden branch. She keeps going and tries to get the dragon to fly away. The three boys keep approaching and Violet yells at them to think about what they are doing.
14. Xaden appears on his blue dagger tail and tells them to reconsider, through they know he is not allowed to interfere. The boys rush and Violet throws a dagger into Jack’s sword shoulder making him drop his weapon. She pulls Orin’s arm out of the socket and he passes out. Jack goes off running. Tynan stays to fight and she gets him on the side with her dagger. Suddenly, Tynan starts to run. Violet hears a voice telling her to get out of the way. The large black dragon, Tairneanach (Tairn) fires and turns Tynan to ash. He speaks in her head and suggests she kill Orin. She says she can’t kill him while he’s unconscious. He tells her to get on and is annoyed when she delays. She insists she can’t leave the golden one behind and it takes off into the air. Tern repeats that she needs to get on and bows down to make his arm a ramp for her. She sits just in front of his wings and he takes off. When Tairn turns left, Violet falls off.
15. Tairn catches Violet and tells her she is embarrassing them. He gets her back up onto his back and helps hold her one. He tells her they are going to have to show off a bit to the others and goes into a spiral making sure she doesn’t fall off. They then land on the field with the other dragons and line up with the others that are newly bonded. He allows her to use his leg to slide down to the ground and the golden dragon joins them. Violet tells her she is glad she survived, but she should take off next time. She suggests she was saving Violet, who is shocked she is speaking in her head when they aren’t bonded, which is supposed to be against the rules. When Violet goes to have her dragon’s name and bond recorded, the golden dragon, Andarnaurram (Andarna) tells her to put her name down too. When Violet does, everyone around is shocked and chaos starts.
16. While the higher ups are discussing the situation, Violet hears Jack complaining about being told his shoulder will need surgery. The scriber professor, Kaori, is surprised to find out Violet did that to him. Jack is surprised to learn Tairn bonded with her. When Jack storms off to join his dragon, Violet asks if a Rider has ever bonded two dragons before. Professor Kaori confirms this is a first. The humans start to argue over whether or not Violet is allowed to be boned to two different dragons, but ultimately, the decision is not up to them. The dragons all gather for their own meeting of the Empyrean. Humans are blocked out from their bond during this time as they are not allowed to hear what goes on in the dragon meetings. Violet meets up with Rhiannon (bonded to the Green Daggertail, Fierce) and Ridoc (bonded to the Brown Swordtail, Aotrom) and they celebrate together. Sawyer joins them happy to have bonded to a Red Swordtail, Sliseag, in his second go round. The last of their squad, Trina, fell off her Orange Clubtail. Dain joins them and pulls Violet away to try to convince her to choose Andarna instead of Tairn. He tells her Tairn and Xaden’s dragon Sgaeyl are mated. He thinks Xaden arranged it for some future plan. Xaden hears the accusation and is furious. He explains that Sgaeyl is fond of Andarna and so Tairn stepped in, but Tairn chose Violet on his own. Xaden asks if Dain would have done anything to stop the attack on Violet. Violet remembers Xaden’s foot moving to help her before she had everything under control. When Dain admits he wouldn’t have helped her, her feelings for him diminish. Xaden tells Dain to go form his squadron because the dragons are returning. He warns Violet not to trust Dian so much. Their futures are now tied together because their dragons are mates. He warns her that other unbounded cadets will be after her to end the bond while it is still weak in hopes Tairn will bond with them. The head of all riders, General Melgren, announces his dragon, Godagh, has decided both dragons will stay bonded to Violet as there are no rules against it. The newly bonded riders stand in front of their dragons and are branded specifically for their bond. Violet has a large black dragon across her back with a smaller golden one under it. Andarna shows Violet her point of view in her head so she can see it. Dain rushes up to Violet again and kisses her, but she doesn’t feel that way about him anymore.
17. The bonded cadets are given their own rooms and taken off their duties to work on their riding. Most of the newly bonded first years are celebrating by having sex with someone their first night with rooms. When they get to the cafeteria for breakfast, the dynamics have shifted. Oren serves their food and Violet only takes things he couldn’t have tampered with. When they go to sit, a few people leave the table to give them room. Imogen and Quinn (second year) come to sit with them. Imogen gives Violet extra food off her plate and says she will help her strengthen her muscles for riding. Tairn tells her to trust Imogen, so she does. Violet goes to riding class and Tairn uses his own strength to keep her on his back. He agrees to work with her to get her to be able to ride with out his help. She falls off several times and he catches her each time. Later that evening on her way to the sparing mats, Dain comes to tell her they should not be together because he is in her chain of command. He suggests they wait until next year when she could be in a different wing or when they graduate. Imogen arrives and call Violet over to get started. She has her start working on her thigh muscles. Violet asks if she is only helping her because Xaden told her to, but Imogen tell her she is not allowed to talk to her about him.
18. Violet starts her new job in Archives duty and she is comfortable there having been raised as a scribe. She is there with her friend Cadet Pierson who passed the scribe test because she studied with Violet. She gives her the list of books requested by her section and asks the scribe to also check if they have a copy of the book of myths her father gave her. She has to show the scribe the symbols for Waveryn. When the girl comes back, she says there isn’t anything about waveryns in their entire library. Sawyer’s signet power manifests as a metallurgist. He has to be very careful around all metal until he learns how to control it. They talk about how the power will consume a Rider if it doesn’t manifest by around six months. Dain asks to talk to Violet privately. He is furious she didn’t tell him she was still falling off her mount during flying practice. She yells at him and tells him they can’t ever be together because he cares more about the rules than anything else. She storms off to go meet up with her friends, but runs into a bonded cadet, Jeremiah, that just got his signet power: inntinnsic, a death sentance. He points to different people and shouts out their thoughts. Xaden tells Violet to think about her facts to keep the guy from spilling her secrets. He uses a shadow to cover his mouth. The teacher for signet powers, Professor Carr, comes over and snaps his neck. That night, Violet dreams of being in the library with her dad, but Tairn wakes her up. She is able to roll over just as a sword is coming down on her. It hits her back and the dragon scales save her. She has two daggers on her to defend herself, but there are seven of them. One girl takes off. Violet fights a few off, but is about to die when the door flies open and Andarna screams “mine” in her head. Everyone in the room except Violet freezes.
19. Andarna tells Violet to hurry because she cannot hold it long. Violet crosses the room and everyone starts moving again. Caden announces his arrival and the fact that no Rider is to be attacked in their sleep. He kills all the cadets that attacked Violet. His cousin, Garret arrives shortly after and Xaden has him on cleanup duty. He undies Violet’s corset to make sure her ribs aren’t broken and laces it back up after. Tairn tells her to trust him and she tells him Mira made it for her and it has dragon scales in it. It is how she has survived that long as a rider. He takes her to a secret door and through a tunnel to meet with Tairn, Sgaeyel, and Andarna. The Donny know how anyone got into Violet’s room. Xaden is upset he was almost too late to save her. Andarna tells them she is a 2 year old feather tail and won’t be grown for another year. Sgaeyel says her parents were killed before she even hatched. Usually, Feathertails are not to be seen by humans at all. She has the ability to pass her powers onto Violet. If Violet were to use them too much, it would drain Andarna and kill them both. Violet promises her she will never do that and do her best to respect their bond. While Tairn can speak to Xaden because he is bonded to his mate, Violet has to tell him what Andarna says. The dragons take off and Xaden takes Violet back inside. He asks how they got into her room and she tells him there was a bonded rider with them that left after opening the door, but he won’t believe who it was.
20. The next morning, Violet is sitting with her usual group. Caden goes up to Dain and tells him there has been a change made to his squad. Liam will join it and another girl that was added after the Reshing will go where he was. Dain sees the marks on her neck and demands to know what happened and why she didn’t tell him about it. Xaden takes the Dias and accuses Amber of being the one to help the unbonded cadets into Violets room to kill her. The other wing leaders meet to discuss it. Dian doesn’t believe it and demands Violet let him see her recent memories because he doesn’t believe her. She refuses knowing it would also show him how she stopped time. She asks Tairn for help and to project her memory of Amber for him. Generally it is not allowed, but he does it for her. Dain is upset his friend and lover is being accused. Violet tells him that Xaden believed her without any proof. She points out how his negativity and inability to believe her has become too much and she is cutting him out of her life. Amber is brought forward to face Tairn’s wrath. Violet begs for her to be spared, but Tairn points out the last person that tried to kill her and he let live almost succeeded in killing her last night. He roasts Amber to ashes and her dragon mourns.
21. Liam is Tyrrish like Xaden and follows Violet everywhere. She doesnmt like how people treat him disrespectfully for his marks he got for his parents’ involvement in the revolution. Xaden and Liam were raised at the same foster estate. The histories don’t mention that Liam’s father was killed at all let alone on the same day as his mother. He is surprised Violet actually read that much about what happened after the rebellion to notice the discrepancy. The marks they wear were given by a dragon and the youngest to bear it is six and was born with it. Liam’s little sister was sent to a different foster home and will conscripted into the Rider’s Quadrant next year because they don’t have a choice. It is part of the deal that was reached. Liam isn’t sure if they want them to ride in ranks or kill them off. Marcum gives Violet a scroll to pass on are given a scroll saying there was an attack on Summerton and supplies were looted. Violet is overwhelmed by Tairn’s hunger when he wakes up and wonders if she’ll ever be better at handling it. At breakfast, Violet and Liam join their group. As they joke about Violet’s lack of a sex life, Liam mentions that Xaden warded her door so only she can get in. An announcement tells them the winning squad will win a trip to the front lines. They go to battle class and their professor has them studying a battle from 500 years ago instead of analyzing the attack that was mentioned in the scroll Violet and Liam saw that morning.
22. While sparing, Violet has trouble focusing. Tairn’s anger throws her off enough to Rhiannon to hit her. They stop to watch Xaden spar. Caden comes over to ask why she isn’t wearing her corset. She tells him she had to always it. They start arguing. He tells her to stick with her daggers instead of working with a staff. Tairn and Andarna agree she is ready. Later in her room, she feels something and thinks she is channeling her power. When she sees Liam, she realizes it is Tairn’s feeling. She goes outside to cool down in the snow. Xaden is there smoking forbidden chume to help with the feelings. He tells her she needs to learn how to shield against it and offers to help her learn since she hasn’t been allowed in Carr’s class yet. He insists she say please and she does. He tells her to picture herself somewhere that feels like home to ground herself there. She sees the power coming through the door and she just needs to close it. She holds on to him to brace herself while she strains mentally to close the door and lock it. He is surprised she had success so quickly. They are attracted to each other even though they both are blocking out their dragons as much as they can. They make out and start grinding against each other. Xaden stops it and tells her he can’t when the feelings are Tairn’s and not hers. She rushes back inside. She can’t feel Tairn in her head.
23. The next morning, Violet tells Rhiannon what happened between her and Xaden. Rhiannon shows her she is a summoner. They head to class and Liam gives Violet a carving he did of Tairn. Dain pulls Violet aside to talk and he is mad because she didn’t show him what happened with Amber. She is pissed he was going to take her memory instead of asking. She is mad he is trying to be controlling to protect her. He is clearly jealous of Xaden. When Violet goes to class, Carr says she has a lot to live up to with her siblings signets being so great. Rhiannon tells Violet she is the most powerful rider in their generation, not Xaden. She sits in class and works on how to ground herself and shield from both dragons. She sees everyone getting better with their signets while she waits for hers to manifest. She gets matched with Jack for sparing. She tells Liam that Jack is going to challenge her and she doesn’t want Xaden to keep it from happening. The fight is announced and Violet takes the mat. She holds her own for a while. He uses her power against her, but she grabs a vial from her pocket and puts oranges in his mouth. He stops breathing. She wakes up in the medical quadrant and Xaden is there when she wakes up.
24. Xaden is upset she knew who she was going up against and didn’t tell him. She argues that there isn’t anything he could have done that wouldn’t have made her look weak. He decides he is taking over her training. Their first session he has had special blades made to make it easier for her to hold onto. She has ti earn them, so he tells them to take them from him on the mat and she does. She tanks him. He pushes her harder than any other training. Violet still doesn’t have her signet. One kid got a fire power and it burned him up instantly his first flash of power. Xaden pulls Violet out of Carr’s class, but Dain insists she needs to practice. Xaden pulls out a pocket watch for her to lift with her powers and when she does, he says her practice is complete. They start heading to the flight field, it run into Dain’s dad and the Violet’s mom. Lilith is not happy to see her daughter and isn’t impressed with what she has accomplished. She makes a rude comment and Xaden and he answers her back. Violet wonders what she did to him that he diesnmt know about. When the Captain leaves, they go out to find their dragons waiting for them. They each have things they need to work on for them to go into battle together.
25. The … competition starts. Liam wins his sparring match putting them in third place. Their section leaders are missing and they are assigned a project to fund what they need in battle. They are given a deadline and if they win, Ciolet’s team will win the entire competition. Imogen starts leading them and they all agree she is the one to do it. They brainstorm what item they need. Liam suggest information kept in the Archive, but Violet points out it is sealed up tight to prevent fires. Violet gets the idea of breaking into her mother’s office. Quinn astral projects to get the guard to chase her. And Nadeen uses her ability to undo wards to get them in the door. Liam waits outside the door acting as the guard. Violet goes through the missives on her mother’s desk. They take a large map with all the outpost and trade routes for the country. It also shows the most recent attacks, including the previous night. The guard is getting past the door Sawyer twisted into place to give them more time. When he gets through, Emory knocks him out with a gust of wind and they put him in a closet. They return to present their item. Violet explains that they stole the map from Captain Sorendail’s office and the professors go crazy trying to figure out what happened. Caden tops an invisible hat at Violet.
26. Violet’s group wins the trip to visit the fortress. As they are being welcomed, Mira arrives coming in from her shift. She and Violet rush to each other and spends some time catching up. One night, Mira catches Violet and Rhiannon trying to sneak off to their dragons to go visit Rhiannon’s family with is about a five minute flight from the base. They get Mira to agree to go with them instead of turning them in. While there, Violet catches Mira up on everything that has been going on except Andarna’s abilities they can share. Mira remembers the nights they used to spend around the fire with their dad reading to them from the book Violet loves. Mira saved it in case their mother cleared out Violet’s old room. Violet asks if Mira has been stationed with any riders of bonded pairs and how long they can stay separated. Xaden shows up and tells her about three days.
27. Mira is leading a class in combat strategy for Dain, Emory, Quinn, Ridoc, Violet and Xaden are all given dragons. Mira asks who is the highest in command and Dain says their wing leader is there, but makes a point of it being a surprise since he wasn’t supposed to be there. Violet is surprised Xaden is able to speak in her head. She cannot speak back to him yet and Tairn tells her to focus on his path into her head. Mira has Dain go over what he would do and how he would have each member of their group work together to infiltrate an enemy base. Violet points out how Dain is purposely not utilizing Xaden’s shadow wielding power. He doesn’t think Xaden could cover as much area as they need and Xaden gives a demonstration. Mira pulls Xaden, Dain, and Violet out into the hall to yell at them for the obvious love triangle. She tells Dain and Violet to figure out their friendship because the officers have noticed Dain’s behavior and aren’t impressed. She tells Violet that Xaden has vowed to destroy their mother. He can do that by dragging her along with him on his missions next year instead of allowing her the training she needs to become more powerful. Xaden points out how he left his post to join her training. Suddenly, the outpost is in chaos. The wards are down and griffin riders are coming to attack. Violet wants to stay and help, but Mira and Xaden agree they have to get the first years out of there. They go for the turret to get to their dragons. Tairn did all he could to help before coming to get her. Violet struggles wanting to stay and help her sister. Xaden kisses her before throwing her up in the air for Tairn to catch with his claws. He gets her on his back and he refuses to go back like she wants to. Violet watches the fort become engulfed in griffins.
28. The next morning, Violet leaves her room early to go see if there is any news about her sister’s outpost. Xaden is already heading towards her with coffee and they go to Professor Markham’s office together. While they are siting outside the door waiting, Dian joins them. Violet searches inside her head for the door Xaden is using and is able to speak back to him in his head. When the professor arrives, Violet begs to know if her sister is okay. He disapproves, but tells her they didn’t lose any riders in the attack. As they train throughout the rest of the day, Violet asks questions about Xaden. He wants to know why and she points out they barely know each other. He admits he learned everything about her when he first saw her at the parapet. When the war games are about ready to start, Tairn arrives with a saddle on. Violet tries to refuse to use it, but Tairn says she is not like any other rider and she needs to do whatever she can to stay seated. Xaden joins them. He was the one that made the saddle and helped put it on Tairn that morning. The object of the war game is to defend their own flag while simultaneously going after an egg. Jack goes after Liam who falls off his dragon in the scuffle. Violet sends Tairn after him, but has to have Andarna freeze time around them to get to him in time. She goes after Jack and her signet finally manifests. She is a lightning wielder.
29. Violet’s lightning blows up an entire fort and kills Jack. When she lands back on the field, she is overwhelmed with guilt over taking someone’s life. She slide of Tairn and he covers her with his wing so no one can see her retching. When Dain finds her, he tells her she doesn’t ever have to use the power again. Xaden tells him to stop lying to her. He tells her she will have to learn to deal with death and causing it because it is powers like hers that save entire kingdoms. Xaden takes off. Later that night, Violet is throwing daggers at a target on her wall when there is a knock on her door. When she tells the person to enter, Xaden comes in. He tells her the world is better off without Jack and she needs to do whatever she can to feel those feelings and move on so they don’t get her killed on the battle field. She kisses him.
30. The have sex. She sees the scars on his back and he explains there are 107; one for each kid of the rebels. He made a deal to save them all. If any of them go against the deal, Xaden’s life is forfeit. Xaden stays the night and they agree they won’t do anything outside of her room. He warns her not to fall for him. When Violet wakes up, Xaden is gone and Professor Carr knocks on the door. He is taking her for a special lesson on her powers. Tairn already has his saddle in and they fly to a private area. Neither Violet and Tairn trust Carr because he killed Jeremiah. He understands their distrust and tells her how to use her power with her emotion. She reaches out to Xaden and he remembers them having sex and she feels her power. She focuses on the feeling and is able to recreate a bolt. She tries aiming and after five bolts is spent on energy. Carr warns her not to burn herself out.
31. Xaden comes to Violet’s room to help her clean up the mess they made. She tells him they can’t keep having sex because she can’t separate it from her feelings. He agrees it is for the best. He leaves. A month later, Violet has lessons with Carr every morning. Xaden and Violet are trying not to sleep together. Graduation is today’s away. Xaden insists there isn’t anything between them. She and Liam go to the celebration that marks the anniversary of the end of the rebellion. He is the only one that has the relic on his arms and people look down on him. Violet apologizes profusely for Xaden making him attend, but he tells her he is there of his own volition. Lilith is showing their king around, but Violet has lost her stomach for the event. They leave the party and Violet tells Liam to leave her alone to go find Xaden. He reluctantly agrees. She can feel him and heads up the stairs and onto the parapet.
32. When he realizes she is putting herself in danger just to talk to him, he is furious. She says he is in just as much danger as her, but he points out his control of shadows means that he wasn’t in any danger up there. She tells him how she feel and says his actions show he feels the same way. He eventually agrees with her. She takes him to his room so she can take care of him after he’s had such a horrible day. She starts to get him ready for bed, but they end up having sex instead. After a while, Garrek comes to get them because they are under attack.
33. Xaden gives Violet his jacket not knowing how quickly they are going to have to take off. She joins the rest of Second Squad as they wonder what is going on. Xaden soon lets Violet know there isn’t a real attack on the school and it is just the next war game. They are given limited time to get what they need and take off. Violet packs and goes out to the field to find Andarna has been fit with her own leather harness that can be attached to Tairn’s when she gets too tired. She tells her Xaden made it for her. Fourth wing is assigned to a post in the South. Xaden comes over and tells Dain he is taking a few people, Liam, Imogen, and Violet on his team. Dain argues at first, but Xaden points out she has one of the most powerful signets and their dragons are bonded. Dain realizes there is something going on between them and is upset. Violet promises she will be fine and sends him away. Xaden takes off for Sgaeyl while she goes to Tairn and they get ready to take off.
34. They fly for a long time, and Violet is sore by the time they land. Xaden pulls her aside and starts rubbing her legs to help with the soreness. They start flirting and kissing, but are interrupted by griffon riders. One of them, a woman, recognizes Violet. Xaden tells her to trust him and hands her off to Liam. He goes up to the griffon rider and scolds her for being early.
35. Violet looks around and realizes everyone around her has the rebellion relic on them. She is alone. The griffon flyers give Xaden a message that there has been a venin attack and to warn the other riders. Xaden tells them not to give any more details in case they are interrogated. He tells her they have been supplying the griffon riders with supplies to fight of the venin. She tells him they are mythical creates. He tells her to think back at the inconsistencies and gives her one of the daggers they use to fight them. She thinks about the book her father gave her and realizes it wasn’t just rare, it was forbidden. All of the books in the library were 400 years old because that was when the regime decided to change history to benefit their needs. She realizes venin (people who don’t use griffon or dragons to channel magic and instead trade their souls for it) are real and spreading. She believes him, but she can’t trust him. She asks Tairn about it and realizes both he and Andarna knew about it. Tairn feels guilty about lying to her, but tells her his bond with his mate is stronger than his bond with her. They take off to head to their assigned post. When they get to the fort, it is empty. There is a note there from Dain’s father telling them their mission is to survive. Xaden asks if Dain touched her face at all and shows her how he would have done it. She realizes he did and that is how he got her memory of Xaden telling her where he was. She realizes Dain was saying goodbye to her because she was flying off to a death trap.
36. They look down at the village below where the venin (red veins and purple robes) destroy the gate and start into the village. They have to decide whether to help the village or move onto their next location for war games. Seven flyers join them in the fort and a few come to talk to them. Two of the venin were able to destroy a village with no issues and there are four down there. The flyers tell them to run rather than die with them. Xaden decides he will stay and fight, but tells the rest they have a choice. They all agree to fight. They mount their dragons. Violet sees a Wyveryn climbing the nearby mountain and fires blue flame. She warns the others. Xaden tells her their relics keep … from seeing what has happened. He promises to tell her anything she wants to know if they survive. They join the fight. Half of them trying to distract the venin and wavyrn and the others trying to get the villagers out. They lose people as they fight. Violet starts to get more accurate with her lightning. Liam is close by, but gets knocked off his dragon. Tairn catches him and tries to help, but When Liam’s dragon dies, Liam doesn’t last much longer he asks Violet to take care of his sister when she comes to cross the parapet and she agrees. Xaden comes to help him to his dragon. They agree they have to take out the dozens of waveryns circling in the sky. Xaden will give her time and she will shoot them down for as long as she can, but a renin jumps onto Tairns back and starts to attack him.
37. Violet unhooks herself from the saddle and makes her way down Tairns back to where the vein is hanging on. She is able to get close, but the renin stabs her in the side just below her dragon scale corset saying she should let her safe have her. Violet is able to stab her with her a dagger Xaden gave her and she falls from his back dead. Several waveryns fall from the sky. She tells Xaden he had to trust her and draw back the shadows. When he does, Violet and Tairn fly around searching for the head venin. Violet notices a lot of the venin are going to the clocktower, but she isn’t sure why. When she spots one of them that seems more disturbingly venin than the others, they go after him. She pulls as much energy from Tairn as she can and borrows some power from Andarna to get closer. She is able to control the lightning and kill him. Several waveryns fall from the sky. Violet is relieved thinking the others will live now. She blacks out and falls off Tairn’s back. Xaden screams her name.
38. Violet goes in and out of consciousness. She hears people saying that they think she is poisoned because her veins are black. Someone suggests taking her back to Basgilath, but it is a twelve hour flight and they don’t think Violet will last the trip. Xaden makes a decision to take her to a certain man. The others are shocked that he has decided to do it and some think it is a bad idea. Caden does it anyway.
39. Xaden has stayed by Violet’s bedside in his room for three days racked with guilt that he didn’t tell Violet everything sooner. When she wakes up, she looks out the window and is surprised to see they are in a city that was supposedly leveled to ash. She wonders if that was every true and he tells her they have been rebuilding. She kicks him out of his own room so she can get cleaned up. He uses someone else’s room. She tells him she is in for the revolution knowing the government she grew up with is corrupt. However, she tells Xaden she cannot be with someone she doesn’t trust. He vows to earn her trust back and be with her. There is a knock on the door and when it opens, Brennan is there to welcome her to the revolution.
INCONSISTENCIES
FEATHERTAIL
P 144 - 145 cadets talking about the feathertail among the dragons willing to bond
P 158 - “Or like a golden dragon. Guess the little feather tail is still out here appeasing its curiosity”
P 159 “You know feathertails are useless in combat”
P 233 - Wait. What did she say? “You’re still a feathertail?”