Onyx Storm: Chapter 62-63
Jun. 22nd, 2025 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaBack to Violet's POV.
She manages to get out of Theophanie's hold. Theophanie is pissed that Violet refuses to dark wield, and Violet is acutely aware that if Theophanie starts channeling Violet will just die. But her plan, I guess, is just to hold on and distract Theophanie for as long as possible while the others fight the venin and hold the pass, and hopefully Violet can kill her as well.
I mean, sure. That's a plan. It's not a very good plan and it definitely doesn't warrant all the secrecy the book has given it, so I hope there's a twist.
Theophanie starts draining the earth to force Violet to dark wield, and Violet has to dagger-climb the nearest wyvern corpse to get away from her. Nice callback to the first book there.
Well, at least it's a different person rescuing Violet than usual.
Theophanie is a genuinely threatening villain, so naturally Violet only has to deal with her for a chapter before reinforcements arrive. And of course she's not tempted to wield at all. Yay. Sgaeyl tosses Violet into the air for Tairn to catch, and flies off to rejoin Xaden. Tairn lets her know that Mira and Mira's dragon are both fine.
Tairn does a thing where he lets Violet look through his eyes to see Theophanie, who is riding at the head of a bunch of wyverns to attack the city. So now Violet can join the battle with her friends and still technically be following orders. As if following orders has ever actually mattered to Violet, unless the order is to not fuck a professor.
Is she asking why riders can develop farsight as a signet? Aren't the signets, you know, determined by the rider's personality? YARROS????
Violet and Tairn start raining lightning down on the wyvern.
A running theme in the past few chapters is that Violet only has one dagger left and so can't throw it. Which begs the question, why the fuck do they make throwing daggers out of this rare Talladium stuff that they need to kill the wyvern? Why can't Violet have a weapon that is meant to be kept in her hands permanently? Why don't all of them have swords? It's not like throwing daggers are more effective against the venin than other kinds of weapons.
Aaric arrives with reinforcements from Zehyllna, the island that agreed to help them, as Violet and Tairn try to stop Theophanie from destroying the city with a tornado. They decide, again, to go after Theophanie and let their friends keep fighting, as the chapter ends.
I don't even understand why Violet focusing on one task is some kind of huge revelation. Trying to save everyone has not been one of Violet's fatal flaws, because she rarely faces actual consequences for her actions. It's actually been kind of successful for her so far. Like most of the character development in this book, it's completely divorced from what's actually happening--it's just exposition to give us the illusion that Violet is changing.
Okay, this next chapter is now Imogen's POV.
Imogen's POV does feel different from Violet's, which I like. The battle is ongoing, and she's focused largely on Bodhi and on protecting Tyrrendor's hard-won independence.
Oh, and her dragon has a different personality than Tairn. Incredible. Honestly, this is kind of good.
The battle is going badly, and Imogen is resigned to her death even as she continues fighting. She sees the venin heading for the tower where Quinn is doing...something, so she dismounts and goes to intercept. She fights alongside Dain, revealing her secret second signet which all the rebels have, I guess.
That really feels like the Navarre military are the dumbest motherfuckers on earth for letting that happen.
Imogen finds Quinn fighting with the venin and engages. They win, but...
Is this touching? Sure. Would it be more touching if I had any idea who Quinn and Jax were beyond being riders on Violet's side? Yeah. I guess it's nice to have any entire chapter where the focus is completely off Violet and Xaden. I'll give it that.
Imogen is destroyed by this, and we get some nice exposition about their friendship. Garrick, her love interest, comes to save her, because the venin are draining the life from the city walls and they have to get out while they can.
Garrick uses his distance power to take Imogen to an armory where other riders are trying to make more weapons and runes to support the ongoing battle. Outside the building it's chaos, the wyvern overrunning the city as the civilians flee and the riders try to defend them.
Imogen and Garrick return to battle as the chapter ends.
Honestly, I enjoyed this chapter. It felt much more visceral and real than any of the previous ones, and I kind of wish the whole book was more like it. Garrick and Imogen appear to have some kind of romance brewing, but the story doesn't stop to explore that beyond acknowledging those feelings exist, and Imogen's platonic friendship with Quinn is the most important thing, prioritized over the romance. And all of that comes second to the actual battle happening in a natural way, without the author stopping to remind us how noble the characters are for doing it.
She manages to get out of Theophanie's hold. Theophanie is pissed that Violet refuses to dark wield, and Violet is acutely aware that if Theophanie starts channeling Violet will just die. But her plan, I guess, is just to hold on and distract Theophanie for as long as possible while the others fight the venin and hold the pass, and hopefully Violet can kill her as well.
I mean, sure. That's a plan. It's not a very good plan and it definitely doesn't warrant all the secrecy the book has given it, so I hope there's a twist.
Theophanie starts draining the earth to force Violet to dark wield, and Violet has to dagger-climb the nearest wyvern corpse to get away from her. Nice callback to the first book there.
The curve of talons appears in the corner of my eye, and I throw out my arms. A claw closes around me, then jerks my body into the sky. “Tairn.”
“Not quite.”
Rain bombards navy-blue scales. “Sgaeyl?”
“You are an inconvenience for which there is no adequate measurement,” she snarls, flying west as the clouds churn above us, darkening with an abysmal quickness. “But you have done an excellent job keeping the Maven occupied.”
Well, at least it's a different person rescuing Violet than usual.
Theophanie is a genuinely threatening villain, so naturally Violet only has to deal with her for a chapter before reinforcements arrive. And of course she's not tempted to wield at all. Yay. Sgaeyl tosses Violet into the air for Tairn to catch, and flies off to rejoin Xaden. Tairn lets her know that Mira and Mira's dragon are both fine.
Tairn does a thing where he lets Violet look through his eyes to see Theophanie, who is riding at the head of a bunch of wyverns to attack the city. So now Violet can join the battle with her friends and still technically be following orders. As if following orders has ever actually mattered to Violet, unless the order is to not fuck a professor.
“Why would riders develop farsight if you can see that clearly, anyway?” I ask.
“The privilege of our sight is afforded to few,” he comments.
Is she asking why riders can develop farsight as a signet? Aren't the signets, you know, determined by the rider's personality? YARROS????
Violet and Tairn start raining lightning down on the wyvern.
A running theme in the past few chapters is that Violet only has one dagger left and so can't throw it. Which begs the question, why the fuck do they make throwing daggers out of this rare Talladium stuff that they need to kill the wyvern? Why can't Violet have a weapon that is meant to be kept in her hands permanently? Why don't all of them have swords? It's not like throwing daggers are more effective against the venin than other kinds of weapons.
Aaric arrives with reinforcements from Zehyllna, the island that agreed to help them, as Violet and Tairn try to stop Theophanie from destroying the city with a tornado. They decide, again, to go after Theophanie and let their friends keep fighting, as the chapter ends.
I don't even understand why Violet focusing on one task is some kind of huge revelation. Trying to save everyone has not been one of Violet's fatal flaws, because she rarely faces actual consequences for her actions. It's actually been kind of successful for her so far. Like most of the character development in this book, it's completely divorced from what's actually happening--it's just exposition to give us the illusion that Violet is changing.
Okay, this next chapter is now Imogen's POV.
Imogen's POV does feel different from Violet's, which I like. The battle is ongoing, and she's focused largely on Bodhi and on protecting Tyrrendor's hard-won independence.
“Seventeen,” she counts.
“Pretty sure it was sixteen.” I pull myself upward, using her scales like a ladder until my ass hits the seat, and I drag my arm across my goggles to clear the rain. There has to be a rune somewhere that will keep the fucking lenses clear.
“The first one counted!” she argues as we surge toward Cuir and the remaining wyvern.
“Cath took that first one.”
“Only after I wounded it!” Glane snaps.
Oh, and her dragon has a different personality than Tairn. Incredible. Honestly, this is kind of good.
The battle is going badly, and Imogen is resigned to her death even as she continues fighting. She sees the venin heading for the tower where Quinn is doing...something, so she dismounts and goes to intercept. She fights alongside Dain, revealing her secret second signet which all the rebels have, I guess.
That really feels like the Navarre military are the dumbest motherfuckers on earth for letting that happen.
Aetos jumps behind me as power rushes into my fingers so quickly I clench my teeth to keep from screaming. Heat surrounds us and the leather hardens in my grip as the shield turns to stone. Fire roars, blazes, flows around us. We are the rock in the river, demanding the water part.
Imogen finds Quinn fighting with the venin and engages. They win, but...
“There are no menders here, and no runes for this,” she says with that damned reassuring smile of hers. “This is one thing you can’t fix, Gen.” Her face contorts with pain and I swear I feel it in my own chest, rending muscle and stripping my veins before it passes and her breaths grow shallow. “I need you to tell Jax that I love her.”
“No.” I wipe away the tear that slides from my eye before it can reach her hair. “You tell her. You’re going to graduate in a couple of months, and then you’ll marry her in that pretty black dress you picked out, and you’re going to be happy.”
Is this touching? Sure. Would it be more touching if I had any idea who Quinn and Jax were beyond being riders on Violet's side? Yeah. I guess it's nice to have any entire chapter where the focus is completely off Violet and Xaden. I'll give it that.
Imogen is destroyed by this, and we get some nice exposition about their friendship. Garrick, her love interest, comes to save her, because the venin are draining the life from the city walls and they have to get out while they can.
Garrick uses his distance power to take Imogen to an armory where other riders are trying to make more weapons and runes to support the ongoing battle. Outside the building it's chaos, the wyvern overrunning the city as the civilians flee and the riders try to defend them.
Imogen and Garrick return to battle as the chapter ends.
Honestly, I enjoyed this chapter. It felt much more visceral and real than any of the previous ones, and I kind of wish the whole book was more like it. Garrick and Imogen appear to have some kind of romance brewing, but the story doesn't stop to explore that beyond acknowledging those feelings exist, and Imogen's platonic friendship with Quinn is the most important thing, prioritized over the romance. And all of that comes second to the actual battle happening in a natural way, without the author stopping to remind us how noble the characters are for doing it.
