Iron Flame
(Review, Book Summary & Spoilers)

Part I

Returning to Basgiath

Violet Sorrengail recuperates at Riorson House, a large stone fortress in the town of Aretia that the revolutionaries are rebuilding secretly. She's just fought in a treacherous battle with venin at Resson near the outpost of Athebyne, which resulted in the deaths of Liam Mairi and Soleil Telery.

She and her brother Brennan, who now goes by the name Colonel Aisereigh, discuss how Violet is better off not knowing the details of the revolutionary plans until she can master her shields, to ensure her mind can't be read by Dain Aetos, which could reveal their secrets.

From her experience at Athebyne, Violet now knows that that Navarrian authorities are hiding the presence of venin - corrupted souls who channel energy by draining the lifeforce around them - from the people. The gryphons from the neighboring kingdom of Poromiel have been attacking Navarre because they need a specific material - an alloy used to power protective wards that is also the only way to kill venin. Xaden and the revolutionaries have been smuggling this material out of Navarre to help Poromiel.

Along with the other cadets, Violet returns to Basgiath, where she is now a second-year. Violet immediately breaks into Liam's room to take a bunch of letters, which would otherwise be burned in accordance to the tradition when someone dies. She asks her friend Rhiannon Matthias to safeguard them.

Then, Xaden immediately publicly confronts Colonel Aetos about the orders they were given. Xaden claims that Aetos sent them into battle with gryphons (instead of revealing the presence of venin) at Athebyne. Aetos is chided by Violet's mother, General Sorrengail, for emptying out a strategically important outpost for a school activity.

Xaden is promoted to Lieutenant, and he's assigned to the outpost of Samara. Xaden and Violet are both given orders that they will each be allowed leave once every two weeks, which means they can only see each other once a week, which will be difficult for their dragons and limit their communication abilities because they'll be too far away from one another. Meanwhile, Rhiannon Matthias is promoted to become the squad leader for Fourth Wing's second squad, and Dain Aetos becomes the Fourth Wing's new wingleader.

Before Xaden leaves, Colonel Aetos reminds both him and Violet that "Secrets die with the people who keep them". And as the year begins Violet and the other cadets who were at the Resson all begin to be subject to a number of assassination attempts.

New Developments at Basgiath

On Conscription Day, Liam's younger sister, Sloane Mairi shows up, though she makes clear to Violet that she hates her and blames Liam's death on her. Violet is determined to help ensure Sloane's survival anyway, in honor of Liam. King Tauri's third son, Cam, also shows up, using the pseudonym of "Aaric Graycastle" to hide his identity. Both Sloane and Cam make it across the parapet alive and are enlisted into Violet's squad. Violet soon realizes that her mission to help Sloane will be complicated by the fact that Sloane is a very poor fighter, unlike her brother.

As the year proceeds, there are a number of strange new developments at Basgiath. They've also introduced a new element to one of their training missions where they give the cadets an elixir to temporarily prevent sever their bond to their dragons and prevent them from using their signet powers.

There also seems to be something going on in the infirmary where one of the room is guarded, and Nolon seems constantly exhausted. Eventually, it's revealed that Jack Barlowe (who Violet dropped a mountain on last year) is the patient that Nolon has been working on, and he's alive still. Oddly, Jack is now nice to everyone and even saves Violet's life.

At Samara, Xaden continues his mission of supplying Poromiel's gryphon fliers with daggers to fight the venin. He is also working on a forge to smelt more daggers. The forge requires a "luminary" to intensify dragonfire so it's hot enough. The alloy needed for the daggers also has to be imbued with power by riders who have the ability to do so and that power can be used up, so the alloy will eventually need to be imbued again and again.

Meanwhile, Violet begins to secretly do research at the Archives on how the founders of Navarre, the First Six, build the wards that protect their kingdom. Aretia has a wardstone but they don't know how to power it up. She struggles with not being able to tell her squadmates -- Rhiannon, Sawyer, Ridoc -- the truth about what's going on.

Violet also confronts Dain about having stolen her memory last year about Athebyne, which resulted in the fight that killed Liam and Soleil. Dain admits to telling his father about it, but denies that he knew what would happen as a result. He tells her he only did it because he was worried about her association with Xaden.

Aaric soon reveals to Violet that he, too, has found out about the presence of the wyverns and attacks by venin. It's the reason why he snuck away from his life as a prince to enlist as a dragon raider.

The Journals

Eventually, Rhiannon helps Violet out when Major Varrish searches Violet and almost discovers an alloy dagger that would've implicated both her Xaden. Violet finally confesses to Rhiannon and her other squad-mates what she's been working on. They agree to help with her research, and Ridoc mentions that he knows two of the First Six kept journals, but they're likely kept in the vault and not the general archives.

They loop in Jesinia, who identifies that they are likely in the royal vault which requires someone in King Tauri's bloodline to access. They then formulate a plan, along with Xaden, to go retrieve the journals with Aaric's (son of King Tauri) help. They manage to get in and steal them, and they contain the information on building the wards.

However, their incursion trips an alarm and Violet soon finds herself being tortured by Major Varrish. Dain is brought in to read her memories. Dain tells Varrish what he knows, but then Dain attacks Varrish to help Violet escape, telling her that she should've trusted him to begin with.

Xaden and Garrick then show up to help them escape. Violet's mother, General Sorrengail, also shows up and offers her the antidote to the elixir she was given and tells her that she was the one who asked Xaden to look out for her last year. Then, Tairn shares the memory of the battle of Resson with all the dragons, to be passed along to their riders, to ask them to join the revolution. Xaden addresses all the riders, asking them to join them. Professor Devera steps up, saying she's been waiting for this moment. They then all flee to Aretia, along with a hoarde of other riders who have joined their cause.

Part II

In Aretia

Violet awakes in Aretia, and Andarna finally awakes from Dreamless Sleep. The council has to quickly organize to absorb the influx of cadets, plus four professors, and continue to train them. Also, because Xaden has dropped wyvern carcasses at various outposts around the border, groups of riders now know the truth and also abandon their posts to go to Aretia.

Violet continues her work translating the journals. She believes that she's figured it out, but her first attempt -- getting the six most powerful riders to drip blood on the wardstone -- doesn't work. Violet also learns that Xaden's dragon previous bond to someone in Xaden's familial line (his grandfather) means Xaden has a secret second signet -- he's able to sense people's intentions.

Violet then becomes determined to help Xaden acquire the luminary from Viscount Tecarus in Poromiel. They go to negotiate but he surprises them with a venin locked in a chest that Violet has to defeat. Still, they manage to return to Aretia with the luminary. The forge is able to be completed, and a group of gryphon riders joins them as well.

Meanwhile, Violet struggles to learn to control and aim her lightning strikes, and she finally has a breakthrough in translating the journals and realizes that the "six" refers to six types of dragons, and not riders. She gets the wards up based on instructions in Warrick's journal just before a major wyvern attack.

The Final Battle

Soon, Melgren requests a private meeting where he asks for help from those in Aretia in an upcoming battle in Samara against the venin, but they decline since Samara is just an outpost. There, Violet's mother, General Sorrengail, reveals that Warrick's instructions are flawed because he only wanted Navarre to have the secret to raising wards. She says that Aretia's wards will eventually fail, and she secretly gives Violet Lyra's journal instead with the real instrutions, saying that above all she wishes for her daughters to live.

Violet figures out that the real battle against the venin is going to be at Basgiath, and many of those from Aretia race there knowing everyone is at risk is Navarre falls, with many others joining soon after. At Basgiath, they go to check the wardstone and find Jack there, who has turned venin. Before they can stop him, he kills his own dragon and breaks the wardstone protecting all of Navarre.

The ensuing battle is brutual, an attack of a thousand wyvern against an unwarded Basgiath with all its forces and the many gryphons rushing to defend it. As they battle, Brennan mends the wardstone. Jesinia determines that it requires seven (not six) types of dragons for the ward, and Violet realizes her dragon Andarna is not a black dragon but a seventh breed of dragon.

Violet quickly tries to imbue the wardstone with power but is about to burn out doing so. Her mother stops her. Instead, General Sorrengail gets Sloane, a siphon, to channel all her power and her dragon's power into it instead, instantly imbuing the wardstone but also killing General Sorrengail in the process. The ward is raised and the wyverns fall.

The book ends with Violet talking to Xaden as she ominously notices a red tinge around Xaden's eyes after the battle, indicative of someone who has turned venin. (It's implied that he had to do it in order to survive the battle.)

For more detail, see the full Chapter-by-Chapter Summary.

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