Solas ambushes in the cave, hurling Violet, Cat, Sloane, and Kiralair into chaos. At Violet’s shout, Andarna wraps her wings around them, ordering everyone to hold their breath as dragonfire rages. The blast passes; Andarna rushes Solas but is thrown into the wall. Tairn counts down his arrival, but he cannot fit through the small opening.

When Cat cries that her power is being drained, Violet realizes something is wrong with Sloane. Violet creates an opening by striking Solas’s eye with a thrown knife and orders Cat to get Sloane out. Kiralair hoists Sloane while Cat mounts and fires arrows back into Solas’s wounded shoulder from the tunnel mouth. Violet grabs the broken conduit and commits to a risky plan.

Violet jams the jagged conduit into the soft joint of Solas’s shoulder and channels lightning through it while Andarna bites to distract him. Solas’s tail slams Violet, breaking the stream, but Cat keeps shooting into the same wound. Tairn hovers at the entrance, and Violet holds her power tight to avoid hitting Andarna amid the close-quarters chaos.

As the fight ends, Andarna tears free and emerges alive, blood on her muzzle and venom dripping from her tail barb—Solas is dead. Sloane, panicked that she unintentionally drained Cat and Violet, fears she’s turning venin, but Violet and Tairn confirm her signet has manifested as a siphon, like Naolin. Tairn names Andarna “Slayer.”

Back in their quarters, a healer clears Violet despite a head lump and stitched hand. Cat thanks Violet for saving her and leaves. Xaden arrives, furious and terrified, and they argue about Violet risking herself for Cat and about the wards that would strip channeling. Violet admits she acted to protect Xaden from political consequences. Xaden insists he would accept any cost to keep her safe, then pointedly asks if she’s ready to discuss the deal he made with her mother.