Violet and Athebyne survivors recover in Aretia, where she learns her brother Brennan is alive and leading the rebellion.

Andarna is sent to the Vale for the Dreamless Sleep after her power is depleted during the Athebyne battle.

Colonel Aetos threatens to have Athebyne survivors and their loved ones killed if anyone reveals the truth about venin.

Xaden graduates from Basgiath and is commissioned to the Samara border outpost, leaving Violet to begin her second year.

Major Varrish arrives as vice commandant and immediately begins targeting Violet over Andarna's absence from flight maneuvers.

Prince Cam crosses the Parapet on Conscription Day under the false name Aaric Graycastle to escape his father's notice.

After hearing Xaden has been badly injured at Samara, Violet abandons her post and flies to find him.

Xaden brings Violet to deliver smuggled daggers to gryphon fliers, where she meets Cat, his former girlfriend.

When Varrish arrives to search Violet's belongings and finds the alloy dagger, Rhiannon teleports it to safety with her signet.

Violet finally reveals the full truth about venin and the rebellion to Rhiannon, Sawyer, and Ridoc.

Nolon finds Violet with Lyra's journal, drugs her with signet-blocking elixir, and hands her over to Varrish's interrogation chamber.

Dain reads Violet's memories, discovers the truth, kills Varrish, and helps free her just as Xaden arrives.

Violet convinces Xaden to reveal the truth to all Basgiath students, and over 200 riders and dragons desert to Aretia.

General Sorrengail sacrifices her life to power the wardstone, allowing Violet to reactivate Basgiath's wards and end the battle.

After the battle, Violet finds Xaden and sees his eyes are rimmed in red, revealing he has turned venin.

Iron Flame opens immediately after the venin attack at Athebyne, as Violet recovers in Aretia and discovers her brother Brennan is alive and leading a secret rebellion against Navarre's leadership. Sent back to Basgiath for her second year, Violet endures the cruelty of Vice Commandant Varrish while Xaden smuggles weapons to gryphon fliers outside the kingdom's protective wards. After Varrish captures and tortures Violet for days, Dain chooses loyalty to her over loyalty to Navarre, and she convinces Xaden to expose the truth to all of Basgiath, allowing hundreds of riders to desert to Aretia. Venin forces orchestrate the destruction of Basgiath's wardstone from within, prompting a desperate battle against wyvern hordes with nearly all of Navarre's forces pulled away. General Sorrengail sacrifices her life to power the wardstone in Violet's place, reactivating Navarre's wards and ending the attack. In the devastating aftermath, Violet discovers that Xaden turned venin to kill the enemy Sage and spare her life.

The rebellion's secrets, Violet's survival, and Navarre's final battle.

Brennan explains that Aretia has a dormant wardstone and that a luminary is needed to power forges capable of making alloy weapons.

Violet and Xaden steal the letters Liam wrote to his sister Sloane before Basgiath can burn them with his belongings.

Varrish's dragon Solas breathes fire on Conscription Day, killing several fleeing cadets including Athebyne survivor Ciaran.

Violet and her squad fail the first RSC land navigation challenge after a signet-blocking elixir severs their bonds to their dragons.

Jesinia formalizes a weekly Saturday research arrangement with Violet, secretly choosing not to log Violet's archive requests.

Violet poisons Sloane's sparring opponent so Sloane can win, then bargains to train her in exchange for Liam's weekly letters.

Jack Barlowe returns to Battle Brief class with bloodshot eyes after Nolon spent months secretly healing him.

Andarna wakes from the Dreamless Sleep with a stunted wing, revealed to be incapable of ever carrying a rider.

Mira arrives in Aretia after General Sorrengail reveals the venin truth to soldiers; Mira is stunned to find Brennan alive.

Assembly member Felix trains Violet to channel excess lightning through a Tyrrish rune-etched glass orb to prevent uncontrolled burnout.

Violet kills a venin in Viscount Tecarus's stone arena and earns the luminary needed to power Aretia's alloy forges.

Riders and gryphon fliers are taught to weave Tyrrish runes into objects to store magic for activation at a later time.

A wyvern ambush during the Esben Mountains exercise ends when Andarna kills Varrish's dragon Solas to protect the group.

General Melgren reveals his signet foresees venin overtaking Samara; Brennan refuses to send Aretia's forces to help Navarre.

Brennan reverses his decision and flies to Basgiath with gryphon fliers and willing first-year riders to join the defense.

This pool follows the secondary threads that drive the story forward, from Violet's covert research into the wards to the unlikely alliance forged between dragon riders and gryphon fliers. Violet enlists Jesinia's secret help to uncover the truth about the First Six while navigating Varrish's surveillance and maneuvering to keep Sloane alive. After Andarna wakes from the Dreamless Sleep and Mira arrives in Aretia, the rebellion gains critical momentum and new allies. Violet earns a luminary from Viscount Tecarus in Cordyn to power Aretia's forges, while riders and fliers slowly build trust through grueling joint training exercises that include a wyvern ambush. When General Melgren reveals venin will soon overtake Samara, Brennan initially refuses to help Navarre, but ultimately changes his mind and leads his forces to Basgiath just before the final battle begins.

Supporting plots, fragile alliances, and the war's escalating stakes.

Violet confronts Xaden about withholding the truth and declares she cannot remain in a relationship without full honesty.

Varrish forces Violet to wield lightning strikes repeatedly until she nearly dies from burnout as punishment for Andarna's absence.

Tairn attacks Solas to shield Violet from Varrish's punishment, forcing Varrish to publicly apologize to Violet on his knees.

Violet tells Rhiannon that Athebyne survivors are being systematically assassinated and reveals that Dain's signet can steal memories.

Aaric reveals to Violet that he knows the truth about venin and crossed the Parapet specifically to fight them.

Varrish seizes Violet's squad for an RSC interrogation challenge; Dain refuses to use his signet against Violet when ordered.

Assassins kill Eya and push Violet off the Academic tower; Jack Barlowe hauls her to safety and reveals the vault's royal bloodline requirement.

Disguised as scribes, Violet's group breaks into the Archives sublevel vault and recovers two journals belonging to the First Six.

During days of torture at Varrish's hands, Violet refuses to break, sustained only by recurring visions of the dead Liam.

Cat uses her emotion-heightening signet during a sparring match to nearly drive Violet to kill her out of uncontrolled rage.

Dain corrects Violet's translation errors in Warrick's journal, revealing the ritual phrase is "iron flame," not "iron rain."

Violet confronts Xaden about his second signet and he confirms he is an inntinnsic who can read people's true intentions.

Violet deduces that the venin massing outside Samara is a distraction and that someone inside Basgiath plans to destroy the wardstone.

Jesinia finds Violet on the battlefield to deliver her translation: Lyra's journal records seven dragon dens are needed, not six.

In his own chapter, Xaden recalls choosing to draw power from the earth and turn venin to kill the Sage and save Violet.

This pool tracks the pivotal moments of deception, discovery, and moral reckoning that shape the story's arc from beginning to end. Violet's refusal to accept Xaden's secrecy drives a wedge in their relationship, while Varrish's cruelty and a string of targeted assassinations force her hand at every turn. From the Archives vault break-in to days of brutal torture, Violet's resilience is tested repeatedly, sustained only by her love for those around her. Key translations are corrected, secret signets are exposed, and an unlikely truce between ancient enemies is forged under impossible conditions. As Violet pieces together the true internal threat to Basgiath's wards, she defies the Assembly and flies to defend the kingdom alone. The pool closes with Xaden's private chapter, revealing he chose to become venin rather than allow Violet to die.