Before Basgiath’s gates, Xaden identifies the Sage who escaped Resson and warns the enemy is waiting for him. When Violet forces a choice between warding here or elsewhere, Xaden chooses Basgiath. Violet secures Codagh’s agreement to contribute fire, orders Tairn to stay with Xaden, and sprints for the ward chamber as the battle intensifies.

Violet reaches the mended wardstone, where Brennan confirms it can hold power but requires many riders. Testing it, Violet realizes they lack time. She summons Andarna and learns the dragon is a seventh breed, a color-shifting fire-breather who waited centuries to hatch for Violet. Andarna agrees to help, but Violet keeps her hidden as fighting rages above.

Violet begins imbuing, drawing heavily through Tairn while glimpsing the battlefield through his eyes. She sees Xaden pressed to the ravine’s edge by the Sage and Sgaeyl beset by wyvern. Desperate, Violet pushes past her limits and starts to burn out, determined to finish even at the cost of her life as Tairn and Andarna plead for her to stop.

General Sorrengail intervenes, breaking Violet’s contact and having Brennan mend her. Accepting there isn’t time, she reveals Sloane is a siphon and provokes her into acting, confessing she executed Sloane’s mother and failed Liam. When Violet senses Xaden dying, Sloane yields, and Lilith channels Aimsir’s power through Sloane into the stone, sacrificing herself.

The wardstone hums as power takes. Flames circle the chamber while Andarna shields the group, and a pulse signals the wards rising. Mira arrives to find their mother dead, grief-stricken. Above, dragons contribute fire; below, the iron flame atop the wardstone burns black—what remains of General Sorrengail’s power and life.