CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

After bonding two dragons—the powerful Tairn and the smaller Andarna—Violet survives Threshing with severe injuries while her squad suffers devastating casualties. The dragon leadership convenes to decide whether her unprecedented dual bonding will be allowed, ultimately approving it despite human objection. Violet learns this bonds her to Xaden Riorson through his dragon Sgaeyl's mating pair with Tairn, making her a target for the forty-one unbonded riders seeking to claim a powerful dragon.

Violet receives medical treatment for wounds inflicted by Tynan, who Tairn killed. She learns that of her nine squad members, only four survived: herself, Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Sawyer. Trina was killed when she fell from a dragon, and Tynan died attacking Violet. Jack Barlowe, who bonded an Orange Scorpiontail, confronts Violet but backs down when Professor Kaori reveals Tairn's protective stance. The generals argue heatedly about Violet's dual bonding until the dragons convene a secret meeting of the Empyrean (their leadership), excluding all riders from the discussion. When the leadership dragons return, General Melgren officially announces that both Tairn and Andarna have chosen Violet as their rider, and since no dragon law forbids dual bonding, the choice stands. Dain privately pressures Violet to reject Tairn and choose only Andarna, claiming Tairn's bonding to Sgaeyl (Xaden's dragon) means Violet is now tied to Xaden, making her a target for unbonded riders. Xaden appears and confronts Dain's accusations, revealing that Sgaeyl alerted Tairn to Violet's danger but that Tairn chose Violet independently. Xaden admits that a mated pair bond means Violet's death would endanger his own life, creating an unwanted "us." Violet discovers that as a newly bonded rider, she is now the target of forty-one unbonded cadets seeking to kill her and claim Tairn. The ceremony concludes with dragons breathing fire across the field, magically marking each new rider. Violet sees her mark in Andarna's vision: a black dragon silhouette in flight across her shoulders with a golden dragon in the center. Dain kisses Violet afterward, but she feels no passion despite having long desired it, and experiences unexpected disappointment.