CHAPTER TEN

Violet survives the parapet and is assigned to Second Squad, Flame Section, Second Wing under Dain Aetos, an old friend who warns her the Riders Quadrant will kill her. However, she is reassigned to Fourth Wing under Xaden Riorson after a heated discussion among the wingleaders. The chapter concludes with the arrival of eight dragons who incinerate cadets who attempt to flee, establishing the lethal reality of the Riders Quadrant.

Immediately after crossing the parapet, Violet encounters Jack Tarros, who threatens her. She struggles with physical shock and pain from her injured knee until Dain Aetos, a second-year rider and old friend, finds her in the crowd. He takes her to his room to wrap her knee, expressing deep concern about her presence in the Riders Quadrant and urging her to escape to the Scribe Quadrant. Violet refuses, revealing that her mother General Sorrengail has threatened to forcibly return her if she leaves. Dain reluctantly accepts this reality. When the cadets assemble in the courtyard for formal assignments, Violet is initially placed in Dain's squad but is then reassigned by the wingleaders—including Xaden Riorson—to Fourth Wing, placing her under Xaden's direct command. The ceremony concludes with eight dragons landing on the outer wall. As cadets panic, the dragons incinerate three fleeing first-years. Xaden addresses the remaining cadets, emphasizing that roughly half will be dead within a year and that they are prey to the dragons, not the elite they believe themselves to be.