It goes without saying that THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven’t read this chapter of Onyx Storm, please go read it first.

Captain Lilith Sorrengail sure knows the drill. Sometimes, diplomacy is best served at swordpoint.

The Deverelli have been trading with Tecarus, Navarre, and even Tyrrendor—yet no one told them the truth:

“Do your dragons scream before they die, fire-bringer?” the guard hisses in my ear as she leans over my back. “Does it take them minutes to perish after you do? Or is it instant?”

Dragons do not die with their riders. As Violet pointed out, their ignorance is staggering. They claim to have vast knowledge, to be neutral, free of gods, swayed by no side. And yet, their very understanding is incorrect.

“Stop playing and end this! It’s the only way to kill their mounts!”

Why would they feed the King of Deverelli the wrong information?

Now, back to the epigraph of the previous chapter, which discussed how asims operate. Just 24 hours after they lose access to magic, they appear calm—and then? Stage two begins.

I can’t help but feel like this is exactly what we’re witnessing with Xaden. He appeared calm. But now? Now he’s treading seriously dangerous territory.

“But this… whatever’s swirling in those onyx eyes is a tempest I’ve never beheld. It’s one step past fury, as though Dunne herself has stepped into his eyes and now peers back at me. He’s Xaden, but he’s…not.”

Two things:

1. A tempest I’ve never beheld. The Onyx Storm. HE is the Onyx Storm.
2. As though Dunne herself has stepped into his eyes. This is the second time we’ve seen this analogy. First in Iron Flame:

“I look up into the wrath of Dunne in the form of gold-flecked onyx eyes.”

And now back to Xaden:

“They’re all fucking dead.” His vow lifts the hair at the back of my neck.

But not ours. As readers, we just find Xaden hot. The moment anyone touches Violet, he turns into protective Daddy Xaden™.

“Agony cracks my soul clean open, as if I can give Xaden some of what he’s just lost as I register the alloy’s chill, its complete and total lack of energy before shoving it in my front pocket.”

I still think Violet is the antidote we need. Maybe through love. Maybe through science or herbal remedies. But something tells me that her soul might just replace what he lost.

“We have no magic.” Courtlyn’s eyes widen.

And yet, he constantly seeks magical artifacts. Does he just desperately want magic?

If Rebecca Yarros or her team ever read this, we collectively want to thank her for bringing one of our favorite Iron Flame quotes into this book:

“Now, Andarna doesn’t eat our allies—it’s a whole thing her elders are trying to teach her—but you know how adolescents are.”

And now, a moment of realization— Xaden now possesses both blades. He departs with:

1. The Sword of Tyrrendor
2. The Blade of Aretia

If you don’t know why this is important, go back to our history lesson on Tyrrendor… and also the theory on when we were trying to figure out who Berwyn is.

This feels like an Easter egg.

“The steel lands on the table with a clatter, and I make quick work of sheathing Xaden’s swords at his back and packaging the dagger in his bag with the Sword of Tyrrendor.”

This chapter also shows us Violet in a light we haven’t quite seen before—Self-assured, quick on her feet, a little arrogant.

Dare I say it? Maybe even better than Xaden at being in command. This has to be foreshadowing. I just know it.

Now, let’s talk colors in this series.

I knew they were important, but nothing prepared me for how Andarna’s egg was described:

“I set the base on the table and its pieces inside,” marveling at how the shades of color graduate from the darkest onyx on bottom to the brightest silvers on top.”

A beautiful gradient—from onyx (like Xaden) to the brightest silver (like Violet). The Dark One and The Silver One. Are they Gods?

“A corner of my mouth lifts, and I run my finger along the inner edge, picturing her biding her time for hundreds of years, listening, waiting. A charge of energy runs up my arm, and I lift my brows at the sensation.”

A charge of energy. Was that… magic? We know from Iron Flame that alloy is:

“An amalgamation of Talladium, a few other ores, and dragon eggshells. They’re metal and still carry magic long after the dragons hatch.”

And just before the chapter ends, we find out about the next isle for our adventure: Unnbriel.

Courtlyn asks for another trade to be brokered, leaving us, once again, curious, hungry, and desperate for the next chapters…

Onyx Storm Read Along

• Onyx Storm Read Along: Prologue
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 1
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 2
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 3
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 4
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 5
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 6
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 7
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 8
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 9
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 10
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 11
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 12
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 13
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 14
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 15
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 16
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 17
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 18
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 19
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 20
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 21
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 22
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 23
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 24
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 25
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 26
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 27
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 28
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 29
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 30
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 31
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 32
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 33
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 34
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 35
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 36
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 37
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 38
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 39
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 40
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 41
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 42
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 43
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 44
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 45
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 46
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 47
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 48
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 49
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 50
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 51
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 52
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 53
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 54
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 55
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 56
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 57
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 58