penwalla

Let's finish this fucking book.

A gift from one servant of Dunne to another. I must warn you— only those touched by the gods should wield their wrath. I will pray to Her that she need not use it to avoid reacquainting herself with the other who curries her favor.

Her path is still not set. —Recovered Correspondence of High Priestess Deservee to His Royal Highness, Cadet Aaric Graycastle, Prince Camlaen of Navarre

Wait, is Aaric dedicated to Dunne? That's an actual twist if so.

Back to Violet's POV.

She and Tairn are closing in on Theophanie.

She’s a Maven, and I’m a cadet.

She wields storms with expert precision, and I need a conduit for my lightning.

She’s already felled Tairn once before.

The smartest thing I could do is fly for the wards and save us both— all four of us, considering Xaden and Sgaeyl— but I can’t leave those people to die, even if it means we’re desiccated alongside them.

Riders don’t run. We fight.

See, this is what I was complaining about in the last chapter. Violet spends way too much time monologuing about her intentions. And it's boring because 1. we already know all this, it's not new information and 2. it's annoying to having every character in the book sucking Violet's dick about how strong she is but in her own brain she still has to keep doubting.

And also, like, don't remind me that our supposedly all-powerful protag has spent three books learning to aim her powers, that's dumb as hell.

Speaking of aim, Violet tries and fails to hit Theophanie, and in response Theophanie's hailstone shatters Violet's conduit. Which she needs to aim. Because the rider college doesn't teach their riders to AIM.

Without her conduit, Violet has to rely on brute forcing her strikes, and she's not doing well with it.

A roar of unfettered agony fills my head, so loud it vibrates my bones and shrill enough to pop my ears.

“Sgaeyl!” Tairn bellows, his wings losing their rhythm, and my heart skips a series of beats.

Oh Malek, no.

I hurl myself at the bond, but the wall of ice doesn’t just stand firm; it repels me with brute force. Dread nails my stomach to the floor as we lose speed—

I hear the snap a second before the shadow falls over us. No, not a shadow. A massive net with weights the size of desks attached along the edges.

Tairn crashes into the ground as Violet breaks her arm and loses her only remaining dagger. She uses her runes to try to get Tairn out of the net as Theophanie approaches, only to find Aaric's package still in her jacket.

It is, of course, a replacement conduit. A dagger from the prietess of Dunne.

Ugh. I guess it was kind of set up, though why put the message in the package in the opening quote and then repeat it here? Stop spoiling your own book, Yarros! Violet defends Tairn as best she can, but Theophanie is just faster than she is, dodging Violet's strikes as she gets closer and closer to burning out.

Victory. I gather more and more power, spooling it like molten thread. “Do you not yearn for temple?” I use the words the high priestess had on me. Her face twists with an emotion that almost looks like longing, but it’s quickly masked with anger.

“Do you?” she counters. “Or are you immune, having only been touched, but not dedicated?” She charges forward. “Do you know the pain of never being allowed to return, of knowing that it would sever the very thing that’s kept me untouchable all these years?”

As Violet taunts Theophanie, trying to buy herself an opening, Xaden arrives.

Wait. Strike in the darkness. That’s what Aaric’s note said…

Like he knew this would happen.

I gasp as all the pieces click in one overwhelming heartbeat. The reinforcements. Telling me to guard Dunne’s temple. Yanking Lynx out of the way before the doors even opened to the great hall. He knew. He’s been manifesting this entire time.

“He’s a fucking precog,” I whisper in awe. A real one— not like Melgren, who can only foresee battles. If Aaric wields true precognition, he saw this, and he gave me a weapon made of the fractured temple— a temple Theophanie can’t step inside. I don’t believe in oracles, but I do believe in signets.

Huh. Okay, that is actually a reasonably good twist, I will accept it.

However. If Theophanie can't step inside the temple without losing her powers in some way...what does that imply? That Dunne is real and powerful but only inside her temple? Again, how does this world work if the gods are real? And couldn't we have explored some of that instead of doing so many boring ass themed challenges?

And then Andarna appears to rescue Violet.

Violet stabs Theophanie with the dagger, and since it contains a piece of Dunne's ruined temple, Theophanie dies instantly as punishment for betraying her goddess. Okay, so Dunne can punish people, but only from inside her temple. Huh. Not a very impressive goddess of war.

Violet then loses consciousness. Chapter end.

I was so right about the book ending with a bunch of infodumps. But let's keep going.

Okay, Xaden's POV. Xaden is pissed that the venin captured Sgaeyl. Apparently the venin compelled him to leave the city, but he's more pissed they hurt Sgaeyl.

The Sage who turned Xaden, Berwyn, is here. Xaden can't hurt him for venin reasons.

I glance past Berwyn, past Sgaeyl and the venin, to my new brother and the unconscious dragon lying in the valley beyond the canyon, guarded by seven wyvern. How could he do this? Choose this after watching me stumble and fall over the last five months. How could he willingly walk the path I’ve fought like hell to leave? He’s the last person I ever would have expected to turn, and yet here we are.

This book is in first person. Just tell us.

Okay, there is one bit here I like. Xaden is so mad about Sgaeyl getting hurt that he loses control of himself and just gives in to the power. After a whole three books of Xaden forgetting all his other character traits for Violet, after three books of inconsistency about the dragon/human bond, I like that Xaden puts Sgaeyl above all others and actually demonstrates the intensity that the book tells us bonded humans and dragons are supposed to feel.

Xaden instantly kills all the wyvern. But he loses his soul.

Well, mostly. His love for Violet barely hangs in there.

Xaden and Sgaeyl argue in a cryptic way that makes no sense but is there to create drama, and the chapter ends. I think what he wants is for Andarna to break the bond between himself and Sgaeyl.

Okay, final chapter. We did it. And by we, I mostly mean me.

Violet's POV.

Violet wakes up to find Andarna announcing she won't let anyone burn Violet, which is not great. Violet is confused, as she listens to a report being given to Brennan about a bunch of people being murdered and Xaden going rogue.

“Official numbers are four riders, their dragons, and three elders murdered in the valley in what we’re estimating is the last few hours,” Weilsen says. “And we still have five riders missing— four now,” he adds, looking at me. His mouth tenses. “But after that display, we all know Riorson did this. I bet the other three are already dead.”

My stomach lurches, and Imogen tenses so hard she might as well be stone. Wait. Is this a dream? I clench my right fist and prick my palm with my fingernails just enough to feel pain, but I don’t wake. “The wards are holding in Draithus as of the last report, but who knows how many of those desiccations during the battle were actually him,” Weilsen continues. “And so far, the tally is at six missing eggs from the hatching ground, but they’re double-checking.”

Violet has no idea what the fuck happened while she was out. She has a ring on her finger that has a stone from Xaden's sword on it, and a paper in her pocket with the seal of Dunne.

The note is a legally binding record of her marriage to Xaden done by the priestess of Dunne. Violet tries to reach Xaden through her bond with him, but there's nothing there.

I try to fumble my foggy brain through the overwhelming shock, but I can’t think straight. It’s like someone has fucked with my—

No.

My chest draws tight. “How long have I been missing?”

“Twelve hours,” Brennan answers. “What did you do?” My head snaps toward Imogen, and a deep sense of foreboding takes root in my chest.

She slowly lifts her gaze to mine. “What you asked me to.”

And that's it, folks. That's the final sentence of the book.

Final thoughts to come.