Chapter Thirty-One

Violet learns that Jack Barlowe is alive, shocking her and her friends, but this revelation is immediately overshadowed when Professor Devera announces that Samara outpost was attacked by three drifts of wyvern. Though the outpost was successfully defended and no riders were killed, one rider was severely wounded—and Devera's gesture toward her neck, where Xaden's relic mark is, suggests it is Xaden. Violet abandons the briefing to rush to him.

During a rider assembly, Jack Barlowe unexpectedly appears, alive despite being presumed dead since Parapet. Tairn reveals that Baide has hidden the truth about Jack's survival. Violet's friends discuss killing him again, but Violet insists they monitor him instead, though she is visibly shaken. Professor Devera then reports an unprecedented attack on Samara outpost by three drifts of wyvern while the riot was on patrol. She emphasizes this is fact, not propaganda, and notes the attack occurred with unprecedented proximity to other recent outposts. When Devera reveals that one rider was severely wounded, she scratches the left side of her neck—the location of Xaden's relic—while looking directly at Violet. Violet immediately understands the implication and abandons the briefing despite Markham's protests. As she rushes through the halls, Bodhi catches up with her and gives her a flight jacket so she won't freeze. Tairn calls for her to reach the courtyard, and she departs without explanation.