Chapter 77

Xaden awakens from a nightmare of his battle with the Sage general and discovers he has unknowingly drawn power from beneath Basgiath during the fight, crossing a threshold he cannot undo. He visits the imprisoned Jack Barlowe seeking a cure, only to learn there is none—he has become what he despises.

Xaden jolts awake from a vivid nightmare in which he battled a general (not merely a Sage) who held him suspended and threatened Violet's life. In the dream, as Violet prepared to sacrifice herself to raise the wards, Xaden felt an unmistakable surge of power flowing from beneath him and reached for it to stop the general, despite Sgaeyl's warning that he cannot do so. He wakes beside Violet, who sleeps exhausted after losing her mother in battle. Xaden watches her sleep, overwhelmed by love and guilt, then quietly leaves the room and descends through Basgiath's tunnels to a guarded staircase leading to the cells. He slips past a drowsy guard and confronts Jack Barlowe in his cell, demanding to know the cure for the serum that grants power. Jack reveals there is no cure—only control—and taunts that Xaden has already joined their ranks by drawing that forbidden power beneath the college. Jack declares that Xaden, convinced he was the hero, will now become the villain in Violet's story.