Iron Flame Chapters 62–66 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 62–66

Chapter 62

Rhiannon fights the venin but loses her footing and nearly falls, losing her dagger in the process. Violet saves Rhiannon by catching her and hands her a new dagger, then uses the crossbow to kill the venin. Rhiannon jumps back onto her own dragon. As the battle continues, Violet realizes that Sawyer and his dragon are about to be killed by a wyvern. She jumps onto the back of Ridoc’s dragon and together they are able to save Sawyer, but unfortunately not before the wyvern bites off Sawyer’s leg at the knee. While flying Sawyer to safety, Tairn tells Violet that Brennan mended the wardstone… but does not know if they can reignite it. Violet is about to leave when a venin begins making its way toward her. Cat rushes to defend her and manipulates the venin’s emotions. The venin cries that she will kill Cat, but that they are under strict orders from their Sage to take Violet alive. A second venin joins, knocks Cat to the ground, and destroys Violet’s conduit. The venin chokes Violet in midair until Andarna emerges from the shadows and attacks.

Chapter 63

Andarna, showcasing her newly acquired ability to breathe fire, kills the venin by setting it on fire and ripping its head off. Tairn tells Violet they are being summoned by Melgren to the Vale. Xaden was summoned as well. When they arrive, Jesinia hurries over and explains that Lyra’s journal calls for seven dragon dens, not six: “The breath of life of the seven combined and set the stone ablaze in an iron flame.” Violet states this is impossible because there are only six types of dragons: black, blue, green, orange, red, and brown. She then has an epiphany and realizes she can fix the wardstone and get the wards up. Violet joins the leadership meeting and tells her mother they need to get to it immediately, and General Sorrengail finally agrees. Xaden says he will buy her as much time as he can—the venin horde, the final wave, has not attacked yet because they are waiting for him.

Chapter 64

Violet asks Xaden why the venin are waiting for him and he avoids answering, telling her the Sage is only here now because he thought that they would be at Samara. Before Violet leaves to activate the wards, she asks Xaden if he will be okay if she can only activate a ward once; she does not want to take away Xaden’s choice to ward Aretia instead. When Xaden tells her to go ahead and fix Basgiath’s wards, Violet protests, saying that Aretia is his home. Xaden, however, insists that Violet is his home, and activating the wards right now could save her life. Violet approaches Codagh, Melgren’s black dragon, and risks her life by directly addressing him to tell him she figured it all out and that she needs his help to fix the wardstone, to which he agrees.

Violet reaches Brennan and the wardstone and attempts to imbue her power into it, but is worried that there are no other riders to help. Brennan says he will put the word out to the others. Meanwhile, Violet confronts Andarna—she knows her scales are not really black. Andarna explains that she waited 650 years to hatch until she heard about General Sorrengail’s weak youngest child who was training to be a scribe. Andarna knew, then, that it was time to hatch; she wanted Violet because she would have the mind of a scribe and the heart of a rider. Violet follows Andarna’s admission by guessing, correctly, that she is not a black dragon and is, instead, a secret seventh breed. With Andarna’s confirmation, Violet knows that she can activate the wardstone. Violet resumes her effort to imbue the wardstone and is willing to experience burnout and die if it means that everyone else will be safe. However, her mom arrives and kicks her away just in time. She instead orders Sloane to siphon all of her powers into the stone, and tells Violet to ignite the wardstone as soon as she is spent. Her children desperately try to convince her not to, but she is adamant. She dies after Sloane successfully drains her, after which Andarna lights the stone and the wards are healed.

Chapter 65

Wyvern bodies begin to fall to the ground now that the wards are activated, and Violet pushes her way through the battlefield until she finds Xaden. She reaches for him but he pulls away; he says he’s glad the wards are up, because Violet will be safe. When Violet asks what she could possibly be scared of now, after fighting such a battle and losing her mom in the process, Xaden responds that she should be afraid of him. When he finally looks at Violet, she is shocked to see that there is a small ring of red around his eyes.

Chapter 66

This final chapter, told from Xaden’s point of view, recounts his experience on the battlefield after he and Violet parted ways. Bound by the Sage’s magic, Xaden is approaching burnout. He, too, has been having nightmares, but he knows what’s happening now is indeed all too real. The Sage tells Xaden that he must join them, that he told him once he would “turn for love.” If he doesn’t, the Sage will kill Violet. He adds that he isn’t a sage, but a general. In a fit of rage, Xaden holds the Sage/General in the air via magic and feels power burning in the ground beneath him. Sgaeyl orders Xaden to stop, claiming that she chose him for a reason, but Xaden replies that Violet chose him too.

Xaden wakes up in bed next to Violet and gazes at her sleeping form for a moment before slipping out of the room and heading to Jack’s cell. Xaden asks Jack for the antidote, and Jack claims that there is no cure for their power. He welcomes Xaden and refers to him as his brother which confirms Xaden’s fear: he is venin.

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