Chapter Text
I will not die today.
- Violet Sorrengail's Personal Addendum to The Book of Brennan
I wake to sound before sight.
Low voices. Tight ones. The kind people use when they’re trying very hard not to panic and failing anyway.
“…she dropped out of the sky.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s accurate.”
“Accurate would be saying she plummeted.”
“If she wakes up and hears you—”
“I am stress-joking. This is my process.”
The world slides into place slowly, like it’s reluctant to settle. Pale stone arches overhead, their edges softened by the glow of ward-light rather than torch flame. The air smells clean but sharp, antiseptic layered over old smoke and magic, the unmistakable scent of the infirmary after a battle that went on far too long.
My throat burns.
“Tairn,” I whisper.
“I am here, Silver One.
The bond settles around me immediately, heavy and solid despite the exhaustion threading through it. Relief loosens something tight in my chest.
Andarna?
"I’m here", she says. Simple. Soft. “You feel weird.”
“So do you,” I murmur.
I barely have time to ponder about what Andarna had said before a cup presses against my lips. Cool water spills in and I drink greedily, coughing when I pull back too fast.
“Easy,” Brennan says, close enough that I can feel his hand steady my shoulder. “You’re awake, not invincible.”
“Debatable,” Mira mutters. “She did just weaponize the entire atmosphere.”
My head turns slightly.
The room is fuller than it should be. No one stands neatly in place. They hover. Linger too close, like they’re afraid distance might undo me. I do a quick scan of the room. Rhi’s fingers are already wrapped tightly around mine, her knuckles white. Sawyer shifts his weight carefully, but I can tell he's more relieved by my presence then he lets on. I look over at Garrick stands tense near the foot of the bed with Bodhi right beside him, solid and unmovable. Imogen’s arms are crossed tight, jaw set and Sloane watches from the side, eyes sharp with fear she hasn’t let herself feel yet. Dain also lingers, standing near the doorway, just...watching.
“You scared the shit out of us,” Rhi says quietly.
I swallow. “How long have I been out?”
“Three hours,” Brennan answers.
Three hours.
So I didn’t die.
Relief hits first. Then dread follows close behind.
“What happened,” I ask.
No one answers immediately.
"What happened", I speak firmly.
"Geez Tairn, your behavior is rubbing off on her", Andara says with a laugh.
"Good", Tairn says before cutting of the bond.
Sawyer exhales slowly. “You built a huge lightning ball. Like, the size of a tower and then just… let it loose.”
Ridoc nods. “Except instead of exploding like a normal, reasonable act of chaos, it spread. You know, kind of like when Imogen loses her shit and goes craaaazyyy.”
Imogen jabs Ridoc in a stomach.
"OUCHHHH" Ridoc whines.
A soft chuckles vibrates through the room.
“Anyways, what you did, that wasn’t normal lightning,” Garrick adds, voice tight. “It had...hands?.”
Dain steps forward a fraction. “Nahhh it was like, one massive core of power, and then threads coming from the sides.”
“Like Tairn's morningstar tail,” Bodhi says quietly.
Brennan nods. “Every venin. Every wyvern. The lightning connected to all of them at once. It didn’t burn them though.”
“It didn't destroy them either,” Brennan corrects. “It returned the energy they had stolen from the ground. One of the threads that connected the ball of lightening to the ground was really thick. My guess is that it was dragging the energy pulsing through the venin to the ball of lightening and then pushing it back into the ground ”
My heart starts racing. “Wait, so...are they actually cured? No side effects? No memory loss? No fractures? Nothing wrong with them?”
Imogen’s eyes narrow. “You’re asking like you already knew this could happen.”
The room tightens.
I take a breath. “I found a journal.”
Silence.
“A what,” Ridoc says.
“A journal,” I repeat. “From the first lightning wielder. The one who fought alongside the first shadow wielder. They drafted the theory before they died to the venin. They believed venin corruption wasn’t permanent. They thought it could be ripped out. ”
“And yet,” Imogen says flatly, “you said its a theory, meaning that nobody had tried it out.”
“Yup,” I say. “They died. Both of them. That’s why the venin retreated for a while. Not permanently. Just long enough for people to believe the threat was gone.”
Dain’s jaw tightens. “You didn’t tell us.”
“I couldn’t,” I say. “It was unfinished. Untested. And it was our best shot at stopping this madness. I wasn't about to let you guys stop me, even if that meant trading my life for the future of our continent”
“A theory,” Imogen repeats flatly. “You bet your life on a theory. One that explicitly said if performed, would mean your life is just...gone.”
“Yes.”
Imogen lunges.
Garrick catches her instantly, arms locking around her waist as she thrashes. “Let me go. I’m going to kill her.”
Bodhi plants himself behind Garrick like backup. “You’ll have to get through me, and I’m emotionally unavailable for murder right now.”
“You are lucky lightning didn’t kill you,” Imogen snaps, still struggling. “Because now it’s my turn.”
I let out a quiet laugh that turns into a joking half-scream. “I am sensing concern. Shocking.”
For just a second, the way Garrick holds her back, steady and protective, triggers a memory of the shadows and hands that used to protect me, of Xaden restraining me with that same quiet control.
My chest tightens.
“Xaden,” I whisper. “I saw him, at the battle. What about him. What happened? Is he okay?”
The room stills again.
“He’s alive,” Dain says carefully. “Human. No corruption. No longer venin.”
Relief hits so hard I have to close my eyes.
Tairn’s presence presses closer in my mind.
You did not trust us.
“I couldn’t,” I reply through the bond. “If you’d known, you would’ve stopped me.”
There’s a long pause.
“And you would've been right about that. But you shouldn't have cut us off,” he says.
Hurt and betrayal run down the bond from both Andarna and Tairn before the connection is severed
That hurt more than anything else.
Brennan clears his throat. “There’s more.”
Every head turns.
“The lightning didn’t just cure the living,” he says.
The room stills.
“It reversed the corruption entirely,” Brennan continues. “Including its aftermath.”
I stare at him. “What does that mean.”
Mira’s jaw tightens.
“It means,” Brennan says slowly, “that anyone impacted by venin corruption after the first shadow and lightening wielder traded their lives to put them to rest came back.”
The words don’t land all at once.
“Alive,” Garrick says quietly.
My breath shakes. “Wait, so Liam is alive? is Naolin alive too?"
Tairn answers immediately.
“Alive and well. He was never killed by venin. He died saving Brennan. But, since Brennan was directly bound to venin corruption through combat and proximity that surge of power brought him back.” Tairn continues,“He is no longer my rider and though I am beyond angry, I am still yours.”
Relief floods me.
“Liam's alive," Brennan says, "So is Naolin, but judging by the way your eyes just got cloudy, I'm guess Tairn already told you that."
I nod as a tear slips down my face.
Rhi leans in, forehead pressed to mine as I begin to wail softly.
“They’ve been moved,” Dain says quietly. “All of the venin and those from the aftermath. To a secured city within Tyrrendor.”
“Calderis,” Mira adds. “It's being guarded. Isolated from the rest of the citizens of Tyrrendor.”
“Enough about all of this,” Sawyer says. “Violet should get some sleep.”
“I agree,” Bodhi says. “Medically and emotionally your body needs rest, especially after this burnout.”
“And strategically,” Garrick adds.
I inhale slowly. “No.”
They argue.
“You almost died.”
“You can barely stand.”
“This can wait.”
“I can’t,” I say firmly.
Eventually, reluctantly, they agree to my pleas, following me out the door as we ride towards the survivors.
As we finally make it to the doors of Calderis in what feels like a century, I turn from Tairn's back towards the shining sun to face the squad.
“Let’s go talk to them then.”