Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

by Rebecca Yarros

In this, the 628th year of our Unification, it is hereby recorded that Aretia has been burned by dragon in accordance with the Treaty ending the separatist movement. Those who fled, survived, and those who did not remain entombed in her ruins. —Public Notice 628.85 transcribed by Cerella Neilwart

It is the valley above Riorson House, heated by natural thermal energy, that is its greatest asset. For there lie the original hatching grounds of the Dubhmadinn Line, from which two of the greatest dragons of our time—Codagh and Tairn—descend. —Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind

There is no moment as rewarding, as stirring, as…anticlimactic as a Riders Quadrant Graduation. It’s the only time I’ve ever envied the Infantry Quadrant. Now those cadets know how to hold a ceremony. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

As dragons ferociously guard both their young and any information regarding their development, only four facts are known about the Dreamless Sleep. First, it is a critical time of rapid growth and development. Second, the duration varies from breed to breed. Third, as the name suggests, it is dreamless, and fourth, they wake up hungry. —Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind

After three consecutive deaths of prisoners during his interrogations, it is this command’s opinion that Major Burton Varrish should be reassigned from an active wing until further notice. —Missive from Lieutenant Colonel Degrensi, Samara Outpost, to General Melgren

What no one openly says is that while all four quadrants obey the Code of Conduct, a rider’s first responsibility is to the Codex, which often overrules the regulations other quadrants live by. By definition: the riders make their own rules. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

All tome requests at the Archives of Basgiath must be recorded and filed. Any cadet who fails to do so will be reported for dereliction of duty, as well as punished for the loss of any text they failed to accurately track. —Colonel Daxton’s Guide to Excelling in the Scribe Quadrant

It is one thing to cross the parapet your first year. But watching countless candidates lose their life to it feels a little like dying, too. Don’t watch if you can help it. —Page Eighty-Four, the Book of Brennan

And in the mountains of the Steelridge range, the green dragons of the Uaineloidsig line, known for their keen intellect and rational countenance, offered their ancestral hatching grounds for the good of dragonkind, and the wards of Navarre were woven by the First Six at what is now Basgiath War College. —United Navarre, a Study in Survival by Grato Burnell, Curator of the Scribe Quadrant

“And like it or not, you’re one of us now. Well, as close as you can get without one of these.”

She should ask Tairn to give her a tiny relic. Somewhere easy to hide....

She can’t know. She just can’t. I barely survived losing Liam… I can’t fathom anything happening to her.

She's doing to Rhi what Xaden did to her.

It is not unheard of that a candidate enters the Riders Quadrant having been paid to assassinate a cadet. I’m sorry Mira was targeted but proud to say she dispatched the threat quickly. You have enemies, General. —Official Notice from Commandant Panchek to General Sorrengail

Garrick has always been my best friend. His father was my father’s aide, which in a way makes him my Dain, except trustworthy. After Liam, Bodhi was and still is the closest thing I have to a brother, perpetually tagging along a step behind. —Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson to Cadet Violet Sorrengail

Though the chain of command may be consulted, the final say in any academic punishment or repercussion lies with the commandant’s office. —Article Five, Section Seven The Dragon Rider’s Codex

There is a natural distrust that must be overcome between infantry cadets and riders. This exists mainly because riders will never trust that infantry has the courage to hold the line when dragons arrive, and infantry will never trust that the dragons won’t eat them. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

There’s a course second year that I can’t tell you about, other than to say that it’s hell. My only advice? Don’t piss off anyone else’s dragon. —Page ninety-six, the Book of Brennan

My dad hoped I’d go into the infantry like he did. He thought riders were pompous pricks, and in his defense…we really are. —Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson to Cadet Violet Sorrengail

Many historians choose to ignore the sacrifices made by both humans and dragonkind to establish Navarre under the first wards in favor of praising the spirit of unification, but I would be remiss not to mention the losses suffered, both in terms of the ancestral hatching grounds of each dragon breed and the civilians who did not survive the continent-wide migration that resulted from the opening of Navarre’s borders…or those lost when we closed them. —The Sacrifice of Dragonkind by Major Deandra Naveen

It was only when we pushed the wards to their true limits, extending them far past what we first thought possible and to what I now question as sustainable, that we defined the borders of Navarre, regretfully knowing not every citizen would benefit from their protection. —The Journey of the First Six, a Secondhand Account by Sagar Olsen, First Curator of the Scribe Quadrant, Basgiath War College —Translated into the common language by Captain Madilyn Calros, Twelfth Curator of the Scribe Quadrant, Basgiath War College —Translated and Redacted for Academic Consumption by Colonel Phineas Cartland, Twenty-seventh Curator of the Scribe Quadrant, Basgiath War College

Dragons do not answer to the whims of men. —Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind

In the years after my father died, I forgot what it felt like to be loved. Then I entered the quadrant and became the monster everyone needed me to be, and I never regretted it. But then you gave those words to me, and I remembered…and nearly lost you, too. I’m striving to be better for you just like I promised, but I need you to know that monster is still there, screaming to use every ruthless part of me to get your words back. —Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson to Cadet Violet Sorrengail

The Migration of The First Year is one of the crowning achievements of Navarre’s unification. What a celebration of the human spirit, to leave a life of war and enter one of peace, blending people, languages, and culture from every region of the continent and forming a cohesive, united society, whose only goal is mutual security. —Navarre, an Unedited History by Colonel Lewis Markham

At some point, probably during your second year, you’ll realize the trust you feel for your friends and family has nothing on the loyalty you develop for your squad. —Page Ninety-one, the Book of Brennan

The things that happen behind closed doors in the Riders Quadrant in order to turn young cadets into full-fledged riders are enough to turn even the staunchest of stomachs. Those prone to queasiness should not pry. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

Sawyer parcels out the food onto the four plates we’ve been given.

Nope... Dont eat it

Every few years, a squad comes along that defies all expectations. They rise through the ranks, secure every patch, win every challenge. And then…they inexplicably falter, then fall. They call it the burnout effect: they flare too fast, too bright to sustain the pace. Sad, really, but mildly entertaining to watch them turn on one another. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

If we ever choose to invade enemy territory—which we don’t—I would choose Zolya as my first target. Take out Cliffsbane Academy and you take out years of gryphon riders in one strike. —Tactics, a Personal Memoir by Lieutenant Lyron Panchek

Menders are not healers. Healers are bound to the Code of Chricton, sworn to aide all in time of need and never to harm a beating heart. Menders are riders. They’re only sworn to the Codex. They can as easily bring harm as heal. —Major Frederick’s Modern Guide for Healers

By their third year, a rider must attain full and complete control over their shields. Otherwise, in moments of extreme stress, they are susceptible to being not only influenced by their dragon’s emotions but controlled by them. —Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind

Though gryphon riders are not capable of producing signets, they are not powerless. In fact, some would argue that they’ve honed lesser magic, especially mindwork, into the deadliest weapon of all. Underestimating them is an error. —Gryphons of Poromiel, a Study in Combat by Major Garion Savoy

Cadets who are found absent without leave will be subject to court-martial by their chain of command, if they are not executed on sight. —Article Four, Section One The Basgiath War College Code of Conduct

The first time you are caught in the Archives after the door seals for the evening will be the last. The complex magics put in place to preserve our texts are not compatible with life. —Colonel Daxton’s Guide to Excelling in the Scribe Quadrant

My last words with my father before the Battle of Aretia were spoken in anger, because he was sending me away for my own safety. I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself for that, but I like to think he forgives me. —Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson to Cadet Violet Sorrengail

The only signet more terrifying than an inntinnsic is a truth-sayer. And yet we let them live. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

The only crime worse than murdering a cadet is the unfathomable act of attacking leadership. —Major Afendra’s Guide to the Riders Quadrant (Unauthorized Edition)

Half palace, half barracks, but entirely a fortress, Riorson House has never been breached by army. It survived countless sieges and three full-out assaults before falling under the flame of the very dragons it existed to serve. —On Tyrrish History, a Complete Accounting, third edition by Captain Fitzgibbons

With all we’ve sacrificed for this kingdom, we’d better be able to defend it. —The Journal of Warrick of Luceras —Translated by Cadet Violet Sorrengail

The blood of life of the six and the one combined and set the stone ablaze in an iron rain. —The Journal of Warrick of Luceras —Translated by Cadet Violet Sorrengail

His first true action of rebellion was to seek allies, the first of which was Viscount Tecarus of the Poromish province of Krovla. —The Tyrrish Rebellion, a Forbidden History by Colonel Felix Gerault

Having refused every proposal from the isle kingdoms, Queen Maraya has named her distant cousin, Viscount Tecarus of Cordyn, as her heir. As the viscount is living in his fifth decade and has no direct heirs of his own, the decision has not been a popular one. —On the Aristocracy of Poromiel by Pearson Kito

Though her extraordinary signet allows her to extend the wards around herself and her dragon, Cadet Sorrengail lacks the consistent ability to produce her own wards without extreme emotional distress. I’m sorry to report I doubt this ability will develop in time. I had such hopes for her. —Memorandum from Professor Carr to General Sorrengail

“I will kick you in the face if you try to catch me!”

I will not fucking die today.

When a gryphon bonds, it does so for life. Guard your life as you would your gryphon’s, for they are forever intertwined. —Chapter One, The Canon of the Flier

It was only in the last fifty years that we realized they were no longer solely coming from the Barrens. They’d begun to take recruits, teaching those who never bonded a gryphon to channel what was not theirs to take, to upset the balance of magic by stealing it from the very source. The problem with mankind is we too often find our souls to be a fair price for power. —Captain Lera Dorrell’s Guide to Vanquishing the Venin Property of Cliffsbane Academy

“Civil is overrated,” Andarna notes, flexing her claws in the grass. “I’ve never tasted gryphon—” “We do not eat our allies,” Tairn lectures. “Find another snack.”

“Advice?” I ask Tairn and Andarna. “Don’t blow anything up.” Tairn shifts his weight behind me. “At least blowing something up would be interesting,” Andarna notes, eliciting a growl from Tairn.

It is somewhat fitting that the only weapon capable of killing a dark wielder is the same thing that drove them to soullessness…power. —Captain Lera Dorrell’s Guide to Vanquishing the Venin Property of Cliffsbane Academy

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. —Venin, A Compendium by Captain Drake Cordella, the Nightwing Drift

As a result of the Treaty of Aretia, the power to represent the province of Tyrrendor in the King’s Senarium has hereby been transferred from the House of Riorson to the House of Lewellen. —Public Notice 628.86, transcribed by Cerella Neilwart