Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

The basics

Title: Onyx Storm

Author:

Series: The Empyrean #3

- Fourth Wing (2023)
- Iron Flame (2023)
- Onyx Storm (2025)

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Goodreads Summary:

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in Onyx Storm then you’re in the right place. Rebecca Yarros has said that she’ll be taking a break from writing this series for the time being. A showrunner has been assigned to the Fourth Wing TV show which is being produced by Amazon!

This recap was a joint effort between Amber @ Books of Amber and Judith @ Paper Riot who made her Recaptains comeback because of this book series.

What happened in Onyx Storm?

  • Prologue: Violet follows Xaden through the tunnels as he goes to find Jack Barlowe. Andarna speaks to Violet throughout, offering advice, thoughts, and other random bits of conversation. Andarna recalls that she was able to scorch the venin during the battle in Iron Flame. Andarna says that magic feels different when she changes colour. Violet listens to Xaden talk to Jack about a cure, which Jack insists doesn’t exist. Violet becomes determined to find one.
  • Two weeks later: Violet is flying with Tairn. Tairn keeps calling Xaden The Dark One.
  • Xaden is staying around Basgiath for now because the wards are up, and he can’t be venin-ified inside the wards.
  • Violet and the squad go to see Sawyer, who is in the medical ward as he lost his leg in the battle. He’s upset because he’s unsure about his future now, especially as the leader of the retired riders has visited him recently. While they’re all talking, venin show up at the school.
  • Violet takes out a couple of venin. She realises they’re going after Jack Barlowe. The venin kill the guards who were outside his cell. Violet spots a female venin with a silver braid. The venin disappears after smiling at Violet. Violet is pinned by a male venin but Xaden uses his shadows to save her.
  • The older squad have been taking turns to look out for Xaden (and Xaden around Violet) as they don’t entirely trust his new venin-self. Xaden and Violet are desperate for a moment alone.
  • Xaden reassures Violet that he channeled from Sgaeyl as usual to use his powers, and he didn’t channel from the earth. He was able to sense the venin around though, as venin can sense each other.
  • Violet has a meeting with the Senarium (a council of nobility). They’re putting together a task force to search for the seventh kind of dragon. Violet/Andarna has demands (e.g. that the gryphon riders go with them), the Senarium refuses, Lewellen from Tyrrendor promises to convince them. 
  • When Violet leaves, Lewellen hands her a note saying she has three days to hold up her end of some bargain with Viscount Tecarus.
  • Violet and Xaden have sex, he accidentally channels from the earth in a venin-y way and leaves fingerprint burns on her headboard. Cue Xaden brooding.
  • Afterwards, the entire squad and Violet’s siblings are gathered outside their bedroom, because they don’t do personal space. Mira brings Violet a conduit from Felix so she can wield lightning more specifically. Mira warns Violet that the wards in Aretia will fail in six months. She’s also found a way to change and nullify runes without ruining others.
  • The gryphon fliers are at Basgiath, but they can’t wield magic behind the wards. 
  • The Basgiath students who didn’t join in with the rebellious trip to Aretia last book don’t want to accept the gryphon fliers. Aura Beinhaven (a wingleader) tries to execute one. Before Violet can incinerate her, the professors step in. 
  • The Seranium decides not to accept the fliers into the college, nor into the taskforce, and the squad takes matters into their own hands. They go to the room with the wardstone. Because Mira found out how to change the runes and because Sawyer wields iron, they manage to change the wards so that the gryphon fliers can now also wield magic inside them (btw – this was the bargain Violet had with Tecarus and Queen Maraya of Poromiel). 
  • The morning after, the king signs pardons for every rider who went to Aretia last book and makes Xaden the Duke of Tyrrendor.
  • Dain is reinstated as wingleader of Fourth Wing.
  • Violet is charged with high treason against Navarre for changing the wards (which she planned for by leaving her name tag in the wardstone room). She’s arrested and brought to the Senarium, but because the king pardoned everyone that morning, it has no consequences for her.
  • Queen Maraya shows up. Because Violet helped the fliers, she gives Violet access to her extensive library (she needs this to look for a cure for Xaden). 
  • General Aetos gets pissy because Violet goes against everything he wants, and sends the squad to the Samara outpost as punishment. However, the commander at Samara has no work for them, so they chill there.
  • Violet has a dream where her house is burning and she’s trying to save a family portrait. Cat pulls her out of the fire. Violet wakes up. This is important later on.
  • They overhear news that Maren’s village in Poromiel has been taken by venin. Of course, this calls for a squad rescue mission, but when they get there, the wielder with the silver hair is there and it was clearly a trap. A tornado slams Tairn into a mountain and he’s injured. 
  • Garrick shows up at the battle even though he wasn’t with the squad and even though he should have been eight hours away and not 40 minutes. He says he’s there because Xaden lost it when he realized Violet went beyond the wards. Turns out his second signet is being a walker meaning he can travel miles with a single step.
  • The silver-haired venin shows up wielding lightning. Her name is Theophanie and she lured Violet there by killing Maren’s parents. She wants to know more about Violet and Andarna, who she calls an irid (iridescent dragon and all). Andarna now remembers she’s an irid. Theophanie also wants Violet to become venin with Theophanie as her teacher, but then the squad shows up and she leaves.
  • Maren’s brothers are still alive and they rescue them. Back at Basgiath, General Aetos complains again and says the boys can’t stay there, so Xaden the Duke decides Brennan will take them to Aretia to live with Rhiannon’s family. Aetos is angry and says those who graduated (Xaden and Garrick) can’t just randomly stay at Basgiath without reason anymore. 
  • Xaden sends everyone away and he and Violet kiss, but that’s all they can do because he’s scared of losing control. He then tells Violet the rebel children often have two signets to help with their chance of survival. Violet tells him she thinks the venin have signets too, which they didn’t know before.
  • Classes continue at Basgiath. Xaden sends Violet a letter that there was an attack wherever he is stationed and he slipped (aka venin-ed) and is now hiding to wait for his eyes to turn back to normal. 
  • Violet sneaks into Jack’s cell to talk to him. To convince him, she has a conduit to keep him alive for another week, as well as something to kill him if he wants to end it. He tells her venin can sense each other, especially when they’re new and can’t hide themselves. He also says anyone can turn venin if they have experience with magic. And there’s no cure, because they don’t wish to be cured. 
  • The OG squad visits the Archives. Sawyer reveals Jesinia was kicked out of the adept program because she went to Aretia, but now she can help with venin research. She also says Violet’s dad would have more information on the Southern isles (where Violet and Andarna want to look for her family, even if the Senarium wants to go north). 
  • To get Violet’s dad’s journals, she’ll have to ask Dain to break into his father’s office, since General Aetos is now the Basgiath general and only family can enter his office, but she thinks Dain will say no.
  • Battle Brief shows more venin attacks in Poromiel. The professors want to add more classes to the schedule, one of which will be taught by Xaden. However, the school’s rules say students can’t date professors, so technically, they have to break up. Violet freaks out.
  • Violet goes to speak to Dain about breaking into the general’s office. He says he needs time to think. He leaves Xaden and Violet to talk about their new problematic situation.
  • General Aetos walks in on Violet and Xaden, and seems to be very gleeful about the whole thing. Until Xaden calls him an asshole.
  • The following week, Grady is arguing with a lieutenant about where to search for the dragons. There’s a lot of back and forth. Violet gets frustrated, especially because she wasn’t allowed to choose her own squad and is stuck with randos. Xaden asks why they’ve not chosen people with a better variety of signets. Good question.
  • It’s agreed they should search the north and easy-to-reach places as they only have six months before the wards fail. Violet thinks they should go south to the isles but is overruled.
  • Xaden leads a Signet Sparring class. A metallurgist called Loran gets a bit too big for his boots and tries to fight Xaden. It goes as well as you would expect. One by one, the cadets all fight him. Violet eventually steps up. Xaden fills the mat with shadows so Violet can’t see. He advises her on how to track him through the darkness using the stronger threads of shadow. She strikes with her lightning but he manages to avoid it, and he ends the class.
  • Ridoc tells everyone about this event at the pub the following day, stating that Violet scared the professor off with a lightning strike. The others have realised that Xaden’s powers seem to have grown. Violet says this is normal. 
  • Rhi is worried about Lynx and Aaric, who haven’t manifested their signets yet. If they don’t manifest, they’re likely to explode.
  • Dain agrees to steal from his father’s office.
  • Sloane apologises to Violet for letting Lilith sacrifice herself. 
  • Sloane delivers some tomes from Jesinia, and the journal from Dain is in the bag as well. The journal is locked, and it has six vials ready to destroy the documents if someone enters the wrong code. The clue to the code is “First love is irreplaceable.”
  • The squad discuss possible passwords. They decide “Lilith” is too obvious, and eventually get onto the topic of Violet’s exes. She admits her first love had six letters in their name, and her father didn’t know about her second. This requires more thinking.
  • Garrick joins in with the sparring in class. The squad decide to face him together. Garrick nearly takes off Violet’s head and Xaden tries to intervene. Good stuff. Violet strikes the dagger that’s lying right behind Garrick because obviously she doesn’t want to kill him. 
  • His Royal Highness, Prince Halden arrives and interrupts the class. Violet approaches him and asks why he’s there. Halden tries to flirt and it goes horribly. We learn that Violet and Halden were together, but he cheated on her after Xaden killed his brother and she walked in on the event.
  • Halden hands Violet a letter from Tecarus, who has sent along some library books. Tecarus informs Violet that King Courtlyn of Deverelli has agreed to meet in exchange for the Amelian Citrine, which Queen Maraya has agreed to gift him. It will need to be retrieved from Anca though.
  • The problem is, Anca is in occupied territory. Halden is willing to help out and order Grady to search the south, as long as Violet and the squad get the Amelian Citrine. It’s an amplifier. 
  • Halden tries to apologise a little for the cheating, and while he’s waffling he points out that a rider’s first love is their dragon. Something clicks for Violet. She thinks the password to the journal is the name of her mother’s dragon, Aimsir.
  • Halden tries to get closer to Violet and is sent flying by Xaden.
  • Violet enters the password and is able to get into the journal. One of the documents is A History of the Second Krovlan Uprising, and another is a letter for Violet from her father. He tells her to go on a mission to the islands and seek the weapon there. 
  • Xaden interrupts with a bit of jealousy, asking whether Violet loved Halden. She admits that she did.
  • The quest squad goes to Anca. At least Halden was semi-useful and made sure Mira could come too, but the rest of the squad are untrustworthy. 
  • They find the Citrine in an abandoned house, but Aura Beinhaven freaks out because they’re no longer protected by the wards and she incinerates Grady. The fire spreads because all the houses are wood, and they barely manage to escape. Well, everyone but Aura, who gets ripped apart by a wyvern. 
  • The Citrine apparently came with a letter from Theophanie saying she’s waiting for Violet.
  • Ridoc is the best friend ever and gets angry at Violet for not letting him join her quest squad, because bad things happen when the Iron Squad aren’t together. Violet lets him come. 
  • Violet yells at the Senarium and decides enough is enough, she’s choosing her own squad. It consists of Xaden, Mira, Ridoc, Cat, Cat’s cousin Drake, Dain, and unfortunately Halden and one of his guards because they need a royal (the Southern island Deverelli has a king who only communicates with royals). 
  • The squad flies to Cordyn (Tecarus’s home). Halden and his guard have to fly in baskets because no dragon or gryphon will carry them. At Cordyn, Xaden gets Halden to say he’s there as a Duke and not a professor, so he and Violet get to share a room. 
  • Tecarus says Halden can’t arrive in Deverelli in a basket (idk why not tbh) and takes him on a ship. The rest fly in later. 
  • As soon as they leave the Continent and fly to the Southern isles, magic is cut off. No one can talk to their dragons except Violet. Violet and Xaden also can’t communicate through the bond. 
  • They arrive in Deverelli and stay in Tecarus’ second home. Xaden is very happy because no magic means no venin-ing. 
  • Mira has a side quest of testing to see if runes work in no magic land. She gives Violet one to test. It should protect against the sun but she still burns so it doesn’t work. (No idea if this information will be useful later.) 
  • While Halden has an audience with the king of Deverelli, the rest go into town to find a bookstore because Violet’s dad told her to find a person named Narelle.
  • Narelle turns out to be an old woman who owns the store and who apparently is holding onto entire books that Violet’s dad left for her. 
  • In order to get the books, Violet has to answer some questions to determine if she’s smart enough, because obviously. One of the questions is about why the Krovlan deal with Deverelli fell apart (answer: because Krovla didn’t manage to steal and deliver DRAGONS to Deverelli). Anyway, Violet answers correctly and gets six books and all of them are password-protected.
  • Back at the house, Violet and Xaden have sex and break a table, because the lack of magic means it’s safe. Violet says they should just stay there, but Xaden says the dragons are in pain. 
  • Unfortunately for Violet and Xaden’s night of sex they had planned, the squad is gathered outside their bedroom to tell them that king Courtlyn of Deverelli has decided to keep Halden and Xaden is the only aristocrat among them so the only one who can get him back.
  • At the palace, Xaden introduces Violet as his consort so she can come with him. 
  • The king is in the middle of dinner with his entire court, and Halden is at his table. Violet asks Halden what the hell he did to piss off the king. Halden apparently offered the Blade of Aretia, which was not his to give away, as well as have his guard sneak around the palace to steal back stuff that once upon a time belonged to Navarre.
  • Halden gets stabbed in the hand for being annoying.
  • King Courtlyn has three panthers who show up to dinner at this point, just in time for dessert, which turns out to be Halden’s guard’s decapitated head. Xaden and Violet try to continue making a deal with the king, but Halden throws a tantrum and the king orders to have them all killed. 
  • They fight, someone threatens to hurt Violet and Xaden loses his shit and channels from the earth AGAIN. He kills all the guards in one go, but his eyes are bright red and Violet has to take over and send him away to leave with Sgaeyl and go wait in Aretia until his eyes are back to normal.
  • In a brilliant move, Violet has Andarna hold one of the panthers in her mouth to blackmail the king. She gives him the citrine, but also Andarna’s dragon egg shell which is clearly very rare, in order for them to use Deverelli as a starting point to do their island search. Then Courtlyn wants to make a deal with her as well; he wants Violet and Xaden to work for him in exchange for weaponry.
  • The squad returns to Basgiath. Violet fills in the rest of the squad during Battle Brief. Professor Devera asks Violet to explain why the venin offensive in Vallia is concerning. Violet points out that it’s showing a southward movement, meaning that the venin changed course after the wards were raised in Aretia. Somehow the venin knew these wards were raised, and they expect them to fall. They will be ready when they do. 
  • Professor Carr runs a sparring session. Garrick doesn’t agree with his teaching methods, and lets Carr know this after a second-year gets a bit charred. 
  • The squad continue reading up on venin. Bodhi reads a book about early fables from Braevick. I don’t know if this will be important later.
  • While she’s reading through her dad’s journals, she wonders when he could have possibly visited the isles and learnt all of this information.
  • Violet asks Bodhi what his second signet is. He said he doesn’t have one, just like Xaden. He asks whether he could join the quest squad on their next exhibition if he did somehow have one. 
  • Sloane and the other first years demand to join the quest. Everyone wants in. The older students including Dain agree that first years shouldn’t go, especially as Sloane is refusing to train her signet. Sloane admits to Violet that she doesn’t want to train in order to kill people. Violet gives the first years some reading to do.
  • The squad argue over the best way to search the islands. Violet ultimately decides to break the rules and go in a straight line to each island, instead of heading back to the Continent or Deverelli after each one. Sawyer points out this could lead to a court martial, but it doesn’t seem as though there’s any other choice.
  • Violet notices that the flecks in Xaden’s eyes are now amber since he has been channelling. Bodhi gives Violet some serum and the antidote.
  • A second year channels from the earth in front of the whole class. It’s unclear whether she was always a venin, or tried to turn in front of them. 
  • Mira returns from her leave but dodges the question when Violet asks where she has been.
  • The quest squad get ready to set off. While they’re waiting for Dain, Halden and Xaden argue about Halden’s previous… enterprise in Deverelli. Xaden doesn’t think he can be trusted and should just get in his basket. Thankfully, Aaric (king) steps in and decides he will go with the squad in Halden’s place. Everyone agrees this is for the best. 
  • The quest squad travels through Athebyne and Cordyn, and then past Deverelli and then they’re finally on the first proper leg of their mission. Along the way they plan to test which runes still work outside of the Continent.
  • While they’re flying, Tairn tells Violet the story of his dragon line, stopping suddenly at the Great War. Violet doesn’t think much of it.
  • They land on the rocky beaches of Soneram. They plan to have Aaric meet the queen and then rest before setting off again, as they don’t think Andarna’s kind could be settled on an island without magic.
  • Mira admits she was visiting their grandmother, Niara, while she was on leave. Their parents stopped talking to Niara when Violet was a toddler and grew her hair. Mira encourages Violet to go and speak to Niara herself.
  • The squad are set upon by soldiers while they’re resting. The lead soldier is able to speak the common tongue, so Dain doesn’t need to do any interpreting. It’s for the best. The soldiers agree to take a small group of the squad to meet with the queen.
  • Violet notices that the attendants in the temple all have silver hair.
  • The soldiers start asking about champions and stuff and Dain really tries his best, but eventually his translations become too painful for Aaric to listen to, so Aaric steps in and reveals he is fluent in Unnbrish.
  • Aaric tells them he’ll fight, but Xaden steps in. A priestess agrees that Xaden shouldn’t fight alone. In the end, Dain, Xaden, and Violet step forward as champions. Not gonna lie, I’m feeling this trio. Before Violet steps out, the priestess says it’s good that they didn’t complete Violet’s dedication. 
  • The three of them fight the island’s three champions. Violet gets the woman, Marlis, to yield. At least, we think it’s Violet. Somehow lightning struck during the fight, and Marlis is so scared that she gives up. Dain ends up fine, and Xaden is stabbed in the abdomen but is ultimately ok.
  • Turns out Marlis is the queen. Violet asks about the seventh breed of dragon, which Marlis has never heard of. Violet asks Marlis to fight with them. Marlis asks how Violet wielded magic, but Violet doesn’t believe that she did. Marlis agrees that the squad can shelter on the island but doesn’t agree to join in the fight just yet. To do that, she wants dragons. Marlis says if they bring them twelve dragon eggs, they’ll fight the venin with them.
  • Next, the squad lands on Hedotis. It’s a colourless island, whose people worship wisdom. There’s a mineral on the island called viladrite which turns people’s eyes purple. A guy called Faris comes to greet them. He’s the second of the triumvirate. And then Xaden’s mother shows up.
  • Xaden’s mother is called Talia. She tries to speak to Xaden but Violet doesn’t let her. Talia invites everyone to dinner, and to try to entice Xaden she promises she’ll help them meet the triumvirate. Violet promises she’ll ask Xaden, and in the meantime she delivers the figs that his mother brought to him.
  • Xaden and Violet spot Cat and Trager holding hands. Cute.
  • Xaden finds out he has two younger brothers called Simeon and Gaius. Xaden is understandably upset after his mother left him once her contract was complete, and then she remarried and started a whole new family.
  • Faris sends the kids away for the night while the triumvirate meets the squad for dinner. Violet asks Andarna to follow the boys to where they’re staying.
  • Dinner commences. The triumvirate have some questions about dragons, and specifically ask whether the dragons die when their riders do. Obviously they don’t always, unlike gryphons which bond for life.
  • Talia questions why Xaden isn’t with Cat even though they were betrothed. I agree with Xaden that it’s none of her business. The triumvirate start talking about a contract marriage for Xaden, and he tells them how to spell Violet’s name. This is obviously not what they meant.
  • Xaden argues with his mother for a bit and tells her exactly what he thinks of her and how her decisions affected him.
  • Violet learns that the Continent used to be known as Amaralys. The name was changed after the Great War. Aaric already knew this, of course. He tells the triumvirate they’re stingy and have no army, so are hardly any use. He also tells them that he reports to Violet and Andarna.
  • The cook brings out cake, which used to be Xaden’s favourite (weird, Talia! Weird!), but doesn’t give the triumvirate forks. Violet figures out that the cake is poisoned, but not before Garrick can eat his entire slice.
  • Garrick almost dies, and the triumvirate are about to let it happen, which is a bold move except there are several dragons on the island now and, as Violet points out, one of them is watching Faris’ boys. Violet also poisoned the triumvirate right back.
  • Violet and Ridoc go to find the cook. For a terrifying moment we think Ridoc gets stabbed but it’s all good, the cook just stabbed his jacket. Violet learns what they put in the cake, and that it can be treated with figs.
  • Garrick survives and declares this his least favourite isle. Same.
  • The squad leaves the island after making sure Faris will stick to the terms of the alliance. She gives the triumvirate the antidote before they set off. 
  • Now they’re heading to Zehyllna. As they come up to the coast, they realise the people there are cheering for them. Not what they expected. They realise that this island has magic, which is also not what they expected.
  • Calixta greets them when they land. She’s in charge of the festivities. She starts speaking in Zehylish, which Aaric is also able to speak fluently. (King.)
  • Calixta explains that they need to find out what gifts their god, Zihnal, has chosen for them. If they accept the gifts without complaint, they may speak to the queen. To choose a gift, they’ll need to pick cards.
  • Violet gets dizzy in the middle of all of this. Idk, maybe it’s important.
  • For gifts, Mira gets wine, Maren gets two tunics, Dain gets a slap in the face, Garrick gets a rusted bucket, Aaric gets a mirror, Xaden gets a glass box, Violet gets a compass, Ridoc gets a kiss, Cat gets a necklace, Drake gets a kitten, and Trager gets shot in the chest.
  • Sila, Trager’s gryphon, dies with him.
  • Aaric meets with the queen. She agrees to send troops to the continent. 
  • Violet agrees to hold a funeral for Trager on a different island. They burn him and Sila together. They realise they’re off course though, because they don’t recognise any of these volcanic islands.
  • Drake names his kitten Broccoli. We love Broccoli. 
  • Violet instructs everyone to split up and search the minor islands separately to speed things up. She sends Xaden and Garrick off together and Xaden isn’t happy about it. She said it’s because Tairn and Sgaeyl can communicate over long distances and so it would be advantageous, but I think Violet really wanted to pair up with Ridoc. 
  • Violet and Ridoc stay on the current island while they wait for the pyre to burn out. Aotrom and Ridoc bicker a bit. Then six irids show up.
  • The irids ask Andarna some questions and insult her tail. They still have their feathertails even though they are grown up. They are upset that Andarna now has a scorpiontail. They say she is the criterion. 
  • Andarna tells her story from when she hatched, when she bonded with Violet, all the way up to now.The irids say they don’t bond with humans. Apparently there are hundreds of them around. They notice her wing and grow concerned. They don’t seem to like that Violet took advantage of a juvenile dragon. They say the irids are born for peace. They left her behind to measure the humans’ growth, but the humans are clearly still using magic as weapons so they failed the test.
  • Andarna asks whether the irids are going to return with her to fire the Aretian wardstone. They will not. She asks about the cure for Xaden’s veninism, but they say his soul is dying piece by piece, so there is no cure. They won’t tell her how the dark wielders were defeated in the Great War. 
  • The irids say they cannot accept Andarna. They seem like they’re about to leave. Xaden and Garrick arrive and they get the head splitting treatment which allows the irids to speak to humans. Xaden’s eyes briefly change colour and he gets called an abomination by the irids. Ridoc notices Xaden’s eyes, and Violet has some explaining to do.
  • Two irids stay and ask a couple more questions. Then they depart, and the other humans arrive back from their journey. Obviously they didn’t find anything. Garrick says they could head back northeast and be back at the Cliffs of Dralor but the gryphons and the smaller dragons can’t make it that far.
  • Violet and Ridoc speak in private. He is pissed. Violet explains that Xaden is still an initiate and insists he’s (fairly) safe. They argue and Violet strikes a tree behind Ridoc. She apologises for all of it. Violet admits that if it got to the point where Xaden is going to kill another rider, a civilian, or a dragon, then he will no longer be himself and must be stopped.
  • Ridoc agrees to support Violet as long as she can tell Rhi, Sawyer, and Jesinia. Ridoc points out that the easiest way to kill Xaden, should anyone find out, would be to kill Violet. She hadn’t considered this before.
  • The quest squad heads back via the islands. When they arrive home, Andarna heads straight to the Vale. 
  • Theophanie sends Violet a note, commenting that the squad looked very tired when they flew over Pavis. 
  • Queen Maraya was killed in Suniva while the squad were gone. Tecarus has now taken the throne. The fall of Suniva is discussed in Battle Brief. The venin apparently dropped out of the sky and started a fire, which burnt everyone to death. There were just twelve venin all together. They hit the armory, which had just received a shipment of daggers, first. They knew that the shipment had been delivered. The venin had flown in with a storm.
  • King Tauri is very happy to have Aaric back. He’s still not letting civilians in through the borders though.
  • Violet finally tells the rest of the inner squad about Xaden.
  • Violet has a nightmare about the Sage again. He tells her to stop fighting and submit.
  • Professor Kaori teaches “battle mount”, the trick of running back onto your dragon at speed. Violet and Tairn do their own manoeuvre where he picks her up in his claws, chucks her into the air, and she lands on his back. Unconventional, and slightly scary, but effective.
  • Violet gifts Xaden a cuff mounted with a bit of onyx from Riorson House for his birthday. 
  • News arrives about two wyvern making it an hour past the wards near Aretia. They made it ten minutes further than the week before.
  • While the squad are walking and talking, they hear shouting coming from the great hall. Aaric pulls Lynx away from the doors before the Duke of Calldyr flies through. Lewellen seems mad at him. So does Xaden. Xaden and Lewellen want to let civilians in, but the others don’t agree. Halden forbids it, even. Xaden overrules Halden, and then Halden threatens to bring troops to Tyrrendor. Xaden threatens him. 
  • This was all a bit much for Lynx and he starts manifesting his signet. It’s shadows. Apparently this generation of riders has a new shadow wielder. 
  • Sawyer practices mounting his dragon and asks Violet to help. It doesn’t go great. Andarna offers to boost him with her tail which is lovely of her, but Sawyer declines. After some shouting, finally Sawyer agrees to let Sliseag help him and eventually he gets into his seat. 
  • The squad shows up and congratulates Sawyer. Ridoc goes to hug Imogen but that’s going a bit far and she shoots him down.
  • The squad heads to Aretia. Pancheck and Kaori tag along as well. Brennan finds Violet and tells her he can’t mend Xaden. She didn’t realise he knew. The cadets head off to see Rhi’s family and Maren’s brothers.
  • Violet struggles through rune class. She’s really crap at it.
  • Xaden shows up, having travelled from Lewellen. It has been seventy six days since he channeled. Better than Barlowe. So they get it on. This time he doesn’t leave any scorch marks anywhere.
  • Violet has another bad dream about the Sage. She wakes up and realises that Xaden is also having a nightmare. They finally discuss their dreams and find that they have been having the same ones. Violet has been dream walking; this must be her second signet from Andarna.
  • This is a form of intrinsic, so Violet can’t tell anyone. They talk and Violet realises she was in Maren’s dream before when the house was burning down. She goes to ask Maren about the family portrait, just to confirm. 
  • Aretia is attacked. The dark wielders are about twenty minutes away. Brennan confirms that neither of the two generals in Xaden’s army are present right now. Xaden splits the retired riders into two groups, one to guard the wardstone and one to help the civilians if they need to run into the caves. He tries to get Bodhi to stay with the first years where it’s safe because Bodhi is next in line for the throne.
  • Aaric tells Violet that they have to protect Dunne’s temple to save Tyrrendor. Violet dismisses him. 
  • The riders head off to meet the venin. Andarna is supposed to stay behind to protect the wardstone but Violet doubts she has. Tairn blends in with the night to fly ahead. The riders find their first two wyvern and take them down.
  • Four wyvern start heading towards Andarna, who is standing near a stone structure outside of the walls. One of the wyvern riders has silver hair. Theophanie.
  • Tairn’s leg gets hurt in the fight. A wingspur is stuck in it. Tairn shouts at Andarna, saying her inability to follow orders will kill Violet, and he doesn’t want to lose her like “the one who came before”, aka Naolin.
  • Andarna, it turns out, was the only one who listened to Aaric and protected the temple. We should all listen to Aaric.
  • Rhiannon arrives and gets the wingspur out of Tairn’s leg without touching him. 
  • One of the attendants at the temple asks Violet if she uses lye and flower juice on her hair. Violet tells them her hair just grows half-silver. They sound shocked, and say that Violet must have travelled far to come to their aid. The priestess says that Dunne sent Violet.
  • Theophanie arrives at the temple. She tells Violet to come with her. The priestess calls Theophanie a heretic. Andarna tries to burn Theophanie but she doesn’t die. Theophanie leaves – one of her fellow venin has walking powers like Garrick.
  • The wards go up. Leothan, one of the irids from the island, has arrived and powered it up.
  • Feirge goes to attack Leothan but Andarna stops her. Leothan seems impressed that Andarna protected the temple and the priestesses. Leothan tells Andarna they share a bloodline. He sends everyone but Andarna and Violet away. Tairn goes but he complains a lot. 
  • Leothan asks Andarna to go off with him so he can teach her the ways of the irid. He implies it’ll take a few years. Andarna will need to go alone. Leothan tells her she can control her bond to Violet. He says Andarna is magic. He says only an irid can force a second bond as Andarna did. 
  • Andarna breaks the bond and leaves with Leothan. 
  • Violet is super upset and sleeps for days. Mira shows up and gets into bed with her. Mira asks Violet how she replaced the power she lost but Violet has no idea what she’s talking about. Brennan demands to be let in too. 
  • Mira and Brennan argue over Violet’s current mental state. Violet goes to hide in the bathroom. 
  • Violet thinks she knows why the riders die when the dragons do. It’s not just a deficit of power, they lose their whole sense of self.
  • Xaden gets Violet some clothes after she bathes. He says her siblings are still arguing about Niara, their grandmother. Brennan thinks Niara hated Lilith. Mira points out that there are months missing from Lilith’s journals, from the summer when their parents left Mira and Brennan with Niara. After their parents returned, Niara stopped speaking to them. Brennan argues that this doesn’t mean they took Violet to Dunne’s temple and dedicated her, since that has been illegal for hundreds of years. Mira says it must have happened. The priestess started, and then told Lilith and Asher that they only accept children whose futures are certain, and Violet’s was not. She still had paths to choose from. The priestess said they could still accept her depending on her choices “but she’d turn…” and then Mira spots Violet and stops talking. 
  • Mira meant “turn venin”. Violet tells her siblings that their parents did try to dedicate her, and they went to Unnbriel to do it. Violet realises that her dad took her to the temple to try to “fix” her.
  • Xaden tells Mira he’s a dark wielder. He is the heart beating for Violet, and the one who turned. Mira is furious that no one told her and storms out.
  • Navarre and Tyrrendor are on the brink of war yet again. Rune classes continue in Aretia, and Quinn teaches Violet how to not be shit at them. 
  • Violet does some lightning training with Felix, who lectures her for never staying in position during battles (which, fair). But training helps and she can now split lightning bolts and attack multiple targets at once.
  • Xaden and Bodhi fight because Bodhi wants to drop out of school to fight in the war and Xaden tells him no, also because Bodhi is first in line for Tyrrendor. 
  • Melgren warns Xaden not to fly into battle or they will lose. The High Priestess of Dunne says she owes Violet and Rhiannon for their help. Violet and Xaden have more throne sex.
  • Violet is in Xaden’s dream. They’re on the battlefield in front of Draithus. Violet becomes aware she’s in the dream and manages to snap out and observe. The Sage sees her and calls her a dream-walker. He tells Xaden to bring “her” (Violet?) to him, or “she” dies. Xaden and Violet wake up, and Garrick knocks on their door. He’s carrying one of Teine’s scales, and says that Theophanie has Mira. 
  • At Aretia, they prepare for battle. Violet is told to choose one objective, because wanting to save everyone at the same time will get them all killed. She chooses killing Theophanie. The rest will fight at Draithus or protect the people fleeing to Aretia.
  • Garrick says Theophanie said to bring Violet and “Xaden’s brother”. He thinks this means Bodhi, but Bodhi is his cousin. Xaden thinks she means Jack (since they’re brothers in venin-hood). He sends Garrick to get Jack in time. 
  • Violet, Xaden, Bodhi and Brennan fly to Theophanie, where Mira and her dragon are both captured. Aaric is seen flying away from the battle (and we wonder why).  
  • Theophanie says Berwyn will be disappointed that they didn’t bring the right brother (Xaden has a reaction to the name Berwyn. He’s the Sage who turned both Jack and Xaden.) Just then, Garrick arrives with Jack, but Theophanie is a bitch and kills Mira anyway.
  • Theophanie throws a dagger at Jack and her wyvern picks her up to fly away. Garrick walks Jack away again. 
  • Brennan tries to heal Mira but can’t. Then Sloane and Dain show up, to bring Violet a parcel from Aaric. Brennan uses Sloane as a conduit to take power from Dain to heal Mira, which works! Sloane also says someone like Dain shouldn’t have as much power as he does (foreshadowing?). 
  • Brennan takes Mira to safety. Tairn carries Mira’s dragon Teine because (s)he can’t fly on their own. Xaden leaves to join the battle, which means Violet and Bodhi are alone. 
  • Theophanie shows up again to try and bring Violet to someone who’s waiting for her, but not Berwyn, so we don’t know who. Bodhi tries to counter Theophanie’s moves but fails because he can’t balance the venin’s signets, only the non-venin ones. Violet sends him away, because he’s the heir.
  • Turns out Theophanie is not a lightning wielder. She’s a storm wielder, like Violet’s mother. Theophanie keeps trying to get Violet to become venin.
  • Rhiannon’s POV. Rhiannon, Ridoc, Sawyer, Cat and Maren (and maybe some others from Iron Squad) are protecting the people trying to flee up the mountain to safety. The dragons fight the wyverns while the gryphons are on the mountain safeguarding. 
  • Violet’s POV. Violet is still fighting Theophanie, who is channeling from the earth. She tells Violet that venin don’t feel love, they just act like they do. 
  • Sgaeyl shows up to pick Violet up off the ground and deliver her to Tairn, who’s on his way back. Violet lightning kills a whole bunch of wyvern. Xaden and Sgaeyl seem to have disappeared off the battlefield.
  • They see Aaric return to the battlefield with the soldiers from Zehyllna, who got lost on the way. 
  • Imogen’s POV. She’s in the city trying to find Quinn (her best girlfriend). Dain joins her. The venin sends a wave of fire to them and Imogen magics her shield to stone to protect them both (a second signet?). She reaches Quinn just in time before Quinn dies. Garrick brings Imogen to a safe house before they join the fight again. 
  • Violet’s POV. Theophanie manages to capture both Tairn and Sgaeyl under big-ass nets and they’re stuck somewhere else. Tairn gets stuck in the trees. Violet opens her package from Aaric: it’s a ceremonial dagger from Dunne’s temple (where Theophanie can’t step inside because she’s been banned), with a note from Aaric that says “Strike in the darkness”.
  • Violet distracts Theophanie by telling her she knows that she’s from Unnbriel. Theophanie confirms that Violet has been touched by Dunne, but not dedicated. 
  • Xaden from wherever he is uses his shadows to make everything dark, and Violet realizes that Aaric meant to strike now (in the darkness). His signet is a precog (seeing the future, but not just battles like Melgren but everything). This happened when he told her to go to Dunne’s temple, and when he yanked Lynx out of the way in Basgiath. 
  • Theophanie walks into a wall that turns out to be Andarna who is apparently back. Violet stabs Theophanie, killing her because of her betrayal to Dunne. Then Violet blacks out. 
  • Xaden’s POV. Xaden has been summoned by the Sage to a canyon. Sgaeyl has been snared and is bleeding. Two venin are guarding the mouth of the canyon. The Sage, Berwyn, is alive and walks towards Xaden, and Xaden can’t kill him because Berwyn sired him.
  • Xaden spots his “new brother” and his unconscious dragon lying just outside of the canyon. Xaden is upset because this new brother has been watching him struggle for the last five months.
  • Panchek is a traitor. His own dragon has been netted. He yells at Berwyn, saying this isn’t what they agreed. Panchek thinks Berwyn won’t hurt him because Panchek is the only one who can give him access to his son. Berwyn says he has “another”. Presumably another rat in Basgiath.
  • Berwyn kills Panchek’s dragon with his alloy dagger, which shouldn’t be possible.
  • Xaden channels from the earth to save Sgaeyl – first love is irreplaceable and all that. He uses his shadows to kill the two guards. Shadows drag Berwyn away from Sgaeyl and knocks him and Xaden’s new brother unconscious. Shadows then leave the canyon, head to the city, and kill all the wyvern. He saves Dain and Cath.
  • Xaden comments that he knows of one initiate who also hates their Sage. 
  • Xaden shows Sgaeyl his plan. Sgaeyl is surprised, and questions whether “she” will help. Xaden thinks she will. He tries to reach Violet through the bond but feels that she is unconscious. Xaden asks Sgaeyl to persuade Tairn of the plan. He and Sgaeyl fly off.
  • Violet’s POV. Violet comes to in the courtyard at Riorson House besides Imogen. Brennan is there and asks where Violet has been. She can’t remember. 
  • Weilsen reports to Brennan that four riders and dragons, and three elders were murdered in the valley in the last few hours. Four riders are missing, now that Violet is back.
  • There are six dragon eggs missing from the hatching ground.
  • Tairn is asleep and Andarna says he needs to recover. Violet isn’t sure from what.
  • Brennan asks Violet where Xaden is. She doesn’t know. Imogen says she hasn’t seen Xaden since yesterday. She asks where Garrick is, and he’s one of the missing.
  • Brennan notices a ring on Violet’s finger. It’s gold with a huge emerald from the Blade of Aretia.
  • Brennan finds a letter in Violet’s pocket, which carries the seal of Dunne. He opens it with Violet’s permission. It’s a blessing for Violet’s marriage to Xaden. The head priestess of Dunne’s temple bound it. Violet can’t remember any of this happening. 
  • There’s a note on the outside of the letter, presumably from Xaden. It tells Violet not to look for him and that “it’s” hers now.
  • Brennan says Violet has been missing for twelve hours.
  • Violet asks Imogen what she did. Imogen said she did what Violet asked her to.

That’s what happened in Onyx Storm! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!

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