CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Summary

• The main protagonist, Cadet Sorrengail (nicknamed Violet) is on archives duty in the heart of Basgiath, a task she enjoys despite missing outings to the battlefield.
• She meets with Jesinia, a scribe and friend from the past. They discuss their new roles, with Violet now bonding with dragons and learning to ride them. Jesinia is surprised at Violet's calm attitude to the constant danger she faces.
• Violet asks Jesinia if she could find a copy of a book called "The Fables of the Barren" in the archives. The book doesn’t exist in the archives, suggesting it’s either ultra-rare or forbidden.
• While waiting at the archives, Violet encounters her old professor Markham. There is a mutual understanding between them about both the importance of scribes and the risks of riders, who Violet is now a part of.
• Violet continues to feel a connection to the archives and is saddened about the changes, believing the Riders Quadrant to now be her "right home".
• A confrontation occurs between Violet and her best friend Dain at the end of the chapter. Dain is concerned about Violet's safety as she recurrently falls during her dragon flights. Violet rebukes Dain's lack of faith in her and decides to distance herself from him.

• The protagonist is shown having a confrontation with Dain, an apparent counterpart in the story.
• A character, Jeremiah, begins to have a mental breakdown. As he screams for the voices in his head to stop, his latent psychic abilities manifest, revealing that he can hear everyone's thoughts.
• Jeremiah becomes increasingly panicked and pulls out a short sword, his mental distress palpable to others present, including the protagonist.
• She pleas to another character, Xaden, to do something. He advises her to clear her thoughts immediately.
• Jeremiah continues to read thoughts out loud, causing discomfort among those present, and mentions a third character, Garrick.
• A professor arrives at the scene and silence descends as he accesses Jeremiah, eventually determining him to be an "inntinnsic", a mind-reader - this, however, is interpreted as a death sentence.
• The professor breaks Jeremiah's neck, killing him. This act shocks those present but it's accepted as a necessary intervention.
• Xaden and Garrick leave the scene, and the protagonist has a discussion with her remaining peers about the risks of psychic abilities.
• The protagonist recounts a memory of being with her father in the Archives, where he tells her that scribes hold more power than riders, like her mother and brother Brennan.
• She’s suddenly awoken by attackers in her room attempting to kill her. She manages to fend off some, before recognizing one of them, an unbonded woman, as the person who unlocked her door.
• The protagonist is cornered, and Oren, acting against the group attempts to kill her but is stopped in time. It is revealed that the attacks were instigated to win the respect of a character named Tairn and possibly control over the protagonist's dragon, Andarna.
• Just as Oren tries to slit her throat, her dragon Andarna intervenes by stopping time and giving the protagonist a chance to escape.