Chapter Sixty-One
Contains spoilersOverview
Basgiath braces for a massive assault as Lilith’s rainstorm empowers Violet’s lightning. Squads hold their sectors while gryphons aid on the ground and Brennan works below. After heavy initial losses to Violet’s strikes, the wyvern adapt. A targeted second wave reaches Violet; an asim boards Tairn, and Rhiannon intervenes midair.
Summary
Before sunrise, Violet’s squad forms a defensive line above Basgiath to guard their sector and the hidden ward chamber where Brennan works. First-years are kept below as runners. Andarna refuses to leave, while command arrays riders by sectors and fliers under Bragen. News arrives that Jesinia is in the Archives to compare Warrick’s and Lyra’s journals.
As the vast horde approaches, Lilith arrives on Aimsir and conjures warm rain, empowering Violet’s lightning. Violet and Xaden exchange vows of love, then launch. Violet’s first strike into storm clouds drops numerous wyvern before the enemy adapts, slipping beneath the cover. The battle ignites up and down the mountains as squads engage in their sectors.
Violet uses precise, repeated strikes to kill rider-bearing wyvern while Tairn maneuvers for angles that won’t endanger allies. Xaden and Sgaeyl bind targets with shadows; Ridoc, Sawyer, Quinn, and Imogen coordinate tightly, with Rhiannon distributing spare daggers mid-flight. Gryphons, grounded by the rain, protect courtyards and ferry wounded. Brennan continues below; Marbh stands watch.
Exhaustion and heat build as Violet becomes the storm’s conductor, picking targets across neighboring sectors to keep lines intact. Sawyer is nearly overwhelmed until Xaden diverts a feeding venin to ground, and Violet resumes high-accuracy strikes to stabilize pressure points.
A second, targeted wave streaks for Violet’s squad. In a coordinated exchange, Rhiannon re-arms Ridoc, and Sgaeyl removes one threat, but an asim venin forces a head-on grapple, then boards Tairn. Trapped in her saddle, Violet throws a dagger that the attacker catches. As the venin advances, Rhiannon leaps from Feirge onto Tairn, landing between Violet and the attacker.
Who Appears
- Violet Sorrengail
Stormwielder leading precision lightning strikes; defends her sector; targeted by a venin who boards Tairn.
- Tairn
Black dragon; anchors aerial maneuvers, grapples wyvern, warns Violet, and is boarded by an asim venin.
- Rhiannon
Commands riders; coordinates dagger resupply mid-battle; leaps from Feirge onto Tairn to protect Violet.
- Xaden Riorson
Deploys shadowbinding to disrupt threats; fights alongside Sgaeyl; vows to Violet before battle.
- Sgaeyl
Uses shadows to leash wyvern and removes a threat during the targeted attack on Violet’s squad.
- General Lilith Sorrengail
Arrives on Aimsir; conjures warm rainstorm that amplifies Violet’s lightning; leads the forward defense.
- Andarna
Refuses to leave; hides near the ward chamber to watch over Violet and the battle’s tide.
- Sawyer
Nearly overwhelmed by multiple wyvern until supported; participates in midair dagger relay.
- Ridoc
Engages aggressively; breaks a dagger; rearmed via Rhiannon’s relay; fights in formation.
- Imogen
Holds her sector with Glane; supports flanking interceptions during early waves.
- Quinn
Coordinates with Rhiannon; helps maintain sector integrity during chaotic engagements.
- Brennan Sorrengail
Works below to mend the wardstone; protected by cadets and dragons near the chamber.
- Jesinia
In the Archives, compares Warrick’s and Lyra’s journals to fix ward-raising errors.
- Mira Sorrengail
Flies with Lilith’s squad, engaging the first wave near the front gates.
- Aimsir
Lilith’s storm-wielding dragon; helps deliver the rain that supercharges Violet’s power.
- Feirge
Rhiannon’s dragon; enables dagger relays and the leap onto Tairn during the boarding.
- Slaiseag (Sliseag)
Sawyer’s dragon; outnumbered in a three-on-one until aided by allies.
- Aotrom
Ridoc’s dragon; tears through wyvern and supports Sawyer during a critical moment.
- Glane
Imogen’s dragon; assists sector defense and pursuit of diving wyvern.
- Bragen
Leads the fliers; assigns ground defense and evacuation due to heavy rain.
- Maren
Arrives by gryphon; her people ferry wounded and guard courtyards in the storm.
- Marbh
Stands guard near the ward chamber, watching for threats below Violet’s sector.
- Unknown asim venin
Targets Violet; jumps onto Tairn during a grapple and advances before Rhiannon intercepts.