Iron Flame

Xaden and Violet discuss her insecurities—primarily her feelings of inferiority—and he assures her. Their discussion prompts Violet to pinpoint and confront the emotions that are causing her to lose control.

Each squad of riders combines with a drift of fliers; Cat’s drift joins Violet’s. Violet and her friends go to the library, where she plans to dig through the books Tecarus loaned her in Cordyn. They are written in Krovlish, so Violet invites Dain to help translate. Dain apologizes sincerely for his actions over the last year, taking full responsibility for his mistakes. The next day, Dain pinpoints an error in Violet’s translation of the warding ritual from Warrick’s journal. Violet enlists his help with the journal and with imbuing the dormant wardstone with power.

Violet spends the next week translating Warrick’s journal with Dain and training with Felix to control her lightning. Xaden returns from the front, bringing news that the venin have overtaken the nearby city of Pavis and are inching their way toward Aretia.

Xaden, Dain, and Violet take turns imbuing the ward stone with power. Meanwhile, Violet and Dain discover a phrase she originally translated from Warrick’s journal as “iron rain” is actually “iron flame.” Alone in the library one evening, Violet also discovers that the symbol they thought was “blood” is actually “breath.” The two changes significantly alter the ritual, but there is a caveat: the wards will only allow for dragon magic. Violet goes to Rhiannon with the realization.

Before notifying leadership or Xaden, Violet delivers the news to her squad: that fliers won’t be able to wield when the Assembly enacts the wards. The prior notice allows the fliers of her squad to decide whether to leave or stay. Violet has another recurring nightmare about the Sage, who tells her she will turn venin “for something much more dangerous [than power], much more volatile” and that she will destroy the wards herself, eventually, for love (490). Violet dismisses the nightmare.

The squads compete against one another to locate 30 hidden runes amongst the western Esben Mountains; the squad to find the most within the hour receives a weekend pass from training and classes to fly wherever. Violet’s squad breaks into groups of four. Cat, Sloane, and Visia join Violet to search a section of caves. Cat asks Violet if she will manifest a second signet because she is bonded to two dragons. Sloane mentions that two signets only occur when “a dragon bonds a rider in the direct familial line as its previous” (501), but it is equally likely to cause madness instead. Just as they acquire a rune, Solas appears and kills Visia.

The caves are too narrow for Tairn to access, leaving Andarna to protect Violet, Sloane, and Cat. Violet blinds Solas’ only remaining eye with a well-placed dagger, distracting him enough for the group to escape, but Cat and Sloane stay behind to help Violet while Andarna kills Solas with her poison-barbed tail. In the attack, Sloane’s signet manifests as the ability to siphon power from others. Xaden finds Violet in the infirmary afterward and is angry with Violet for risking her life for Cat’s, prompting an argument that ends with Violet asking about the deal he made with her mother during her first year.

Xaden admits that the price of the deal he made with General Sorrengail to spare the lives of the rebel children by drafting them to Riders Quadrant was a favor, which was called in last year when General Sorrengail asked him to keep Violet alive. They argue about how Violet still does not trust Xaden. When he challenges her to ask him a question, she asks him about his secret second signet; Visia’s comment in the caves alerted Violet to the fact that since Sgaeyl was bonded to Xaden’s grandfather, he should have one. Xaden does not answer, deepening Violet’s distrust. They are interrupted by Brennan, who claims a horde of wyvern are approaching.

With the new translation of Warrick’s journals, Violet believes that instead of six riders, one representative of each of the six dragon dens is needed to enact the wards. The journal also reveals that once the dragons use their fire on the wardstone, they cannot be used on any other. Violet wonders why a second wardstone was never activated since they have enough dragons in each den to produce fire. The Assembly attempts the ritual again, with dragon fire from six different-colored dragons, and successfully raises wards around Aretia.

Xaden reveals his second signet to Violet. She is horrified to learn that he is an inntinnsic, similar to Dain: Xaden can read people’s intentions before they act. When the wyvern horde arrives at the Cliffs of Dralor, it encompasses hundreds of wyverns and 17 venin, but the wyvern die as they cross the new wards, prompting the venin to abort the attack. Afterward, the Assembly is called to discuss a missive sent from General Melgren asking to meet with Violet, Mira, and the leaders of the rebellion tomorrow at Athebyne. They discover that gryphon fliers can still wield magic, indicating an issue with the wards.

The group from Aretia meets with General Melgren and General Sorrengail; Melgren reveals that his signet ability, which allows him to see the outcomes of things, has shown him the venin overtaking the Samara outpost on the solstice. The news is grave; if any outposts fall, they will no longer extend Basgiath’s wards, which “would rebound to their natural limits, only a few hours’ flight, reaching nowhere near the border” (535). Melgren saw none of the rebel riders at the outpost during the battle, which means they can change its outcome if anyone from Aretia is willing to come fight to defend it. In return, he promises Navarre will not see them as an enemy, but instead recognize their independence.

Brennan shocks General Sorrengail by denying the offer because he is against helping a kingdom that has turned its back on all civilians outside its wards. After the meeting, General Sorrengail claims Warrick “never wanted anyone else to hold the power of the wards” and lied in his journal about the activation process (539). She hands over Lyra’s journal, which she believes holds the truth about how to fix what is wrong with Aretia’s. Lyra’s journal is written in Morainian, a language Violet is not fluent in. Meanwhile, inspecting the wyvern carcasses at Aretia reveals that the venin are using runes to power the creatures.