Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
Rate it:
Open Preview
Read between November 8 - November 18, 2023
3%
Flag icon
“In a world of dragon riders, gryphon fliers, and dark wielders…” “It’s the scribes who hold all the power.”
4%
Flag icon
“The First Six riders were desperate to save their people when they approached the dens over six hundred years ago. Those dragons formed the first Empyrean and bonded humans only to protect their hatching grounds from venin, who were the bigger threat. We don’t exactly have opposable thumbs for weaving wards or runes. Neither species has ever been entirely truthful, both using the other for their own reasons and nothing more.”
7%
Flag icon
“Touch me and I swear to the gods, I’ll cut your fucking hands off and let the quadrant sort you out in the next round of challenges, Dain Aetos.”
16%
Flag icon
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives,” he says softly, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. “The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity. It’s all part of the process of turning us into effective weapons, and don’t forget for a second that’s the mission here.”
16%
Flag icon
“And we aren’t friends?” I question. “We’re…” Her face scrunches. “Coconspirators with a vested interest in keeping each other alive.” That only makes me smile bigger. “Oh, don’t go getting soft on me now.”
17%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“From what Colonel Aetos told me, your father was writing a book on feathertails—dragons which hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years—and then you ended up bonded to one.”
18%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
the First Six weren’t the first riders—they were simply the first to survive.
19%
Flag icon
Home. Gods, he tastes like home.
20%
Flag icon
He’s gravity, pulling me back to him by the force of his existence.
20%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“When we were at the lake, before Resson, you said the only thing that can kill a venin is what powers the wards.”
27%
Flag icon
“You don’t have to freeze out everyone you can’t be completely honest with just because Riorson thinks that works for him—it doesn’t, hence all of your issues, and it damn well looks like your friend needs you, so go.”
31%
Flag icon
“Tell me to kiss you. Even if it’s just for show.”
33%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
I’m slightly worried I’ll kill Varrish if he pushes you to burnout again.”
33%
Flag icon
“The day you can successfully block me all the way out is the day I’m dead.
33%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Dragon egg shells?” Well that’s…weird. “They’re metal and still carry magic long after the dragons hatch.”
34%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
there are no historical tomes older than four hundred years in our Archives
36%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“I found a text that said the First Six didn’t just establish the wards but personally carved the first wardstone.”
36%
Flag icon
“Violence, remember it’s only the body that’s fragile. You are unbreakable.”
40%
Flag icon
“Who the fuck’s flight jacket are you wearing?” “Really?” I throw my arms out, happily letting the warmth soak into me. “It has third-year rank, Fourth Wing insignia, and a section leader designation. Who the hell’s jacket do you think I’m wearing?”
40%
Flag icon
“I’m not always calm or collected, and I’m never in control when it comes to you.”
40%
Flag icon
“I would have done the same thing you did because I’m just as reckless for you as you are for me.”
43%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“You’re the first lightning wielder in over a century.
45%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Even if it makes me a target to know all of this, you put your own life at risk and shared your boot with me at Parapet when we were complete strangers. How can you think I wouldn’t want to share this risk with you now that you’re my best friend?”
47%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
Xaden’s father started a war that Aaric’s father ended.
50%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Do you know what my signet is, Cadet Sorrengail? Why it is I’m so good in this room? It’s classified, but we’re all friends here, aren’t we?” I stare at him but don’t reply. “I don’t see people.” He tilts his head and studies me. “I see their weaknesses. It’s a great advantage in battle.
Samantha McCarthy
Varrish
52%
Flag icon
“There’s nowhere in existence you could go that I wouldn’t find you, remember?”
53%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
Why did you think I forced you into the Riders Quadrant?” “Because you think less of the scribes,” I answer. “Bullshit. The love of my life was a scribe.”
53%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“I put you into the Riders Quadrant so you’d have a shot at surviving, and then I called in the favor Riorson owed me for putting the marked ones into the quadrant.”
53%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Regret letting me into the quadrant yet?” He keeps his voice deceptively calm, but there are shadows rising along the tunnel walls. “No.” Her gaze drops to me. “Stay alive, or this all will have been for nothing.”
56%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Violet.” Her soft voice rattles me to my very core, and I grasp Xaden’s arm to stay upright. Relief, joy, wonder—it all weakens my knees and stings my eyes. For the first time in months, I feel whole. A smile spreads across my face. “Andarna.”
Samantha McCarthy
She is awake!
60%
Flag icon
“I’m not powerful just because he loves me.”
60%
Flag icon
“No. You’re powerful and he loves you, which is even worse.
60%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Yes. Runes. Wielded power woven for set purposes.”
65%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Do you know why I’m such a successful collector?” the viscount asks, practically vibrating with excitement. “I have a gift for knowing what it is people want, what motivates them to give up their treasures.” Gods, he’s Varrish’s opposite.
71%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
“Runes aren’t just decorative. They’re strands of magic pulled from our power, woven into geometric patterns for specific uses, then placed into an object, either for immediate work or usage at a later date. We call the process ‘tempering.’”
71%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
Unlike alloy, which houses power, runes are tempered with power for specific actions.”
71%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
Until it’s placed, it has no meaning, no purpose, and will fade quickly. It’s tempering the rune that makes it an active magic.”
71%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
You see, riders are naturally more powerful, given the amount of magic we channel and the signets we wield.” Trager rolls his eyes. “But runes are the great equalizer,”
73%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
Defeating a dark wielder begins with knowing where they rank in age and experience. Initiates have reddish rings to their eyes that come and go depending on how often they drain. Asims’ eyes fluctuate in degrees of red, and their veins distend when riled. Sages’—those responsible for initiates—eyes are permanently red, their veins perpetually distended toward their temples, expanding with age. Mavens—their generals—have never been captured for examination.
73%
Flag icon
This note or highlight contains a spoiler
How dare she come after what’s mine. He isn’t a crown. He isn’t a stepping stool for power. He isn’t a tool to elevate her standing. He’s everything.