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.

Chapter 16 reveals the full story behind that initial teaser we got from Rebecca Yarros some months ago. It’s about seeing Xaden and Violet on the sparring mat—only this time, they play with their signets. Shadows and lightning. Dark and light.

I think there are many Easter eggs here, one of them being Xaden telling Violet to learn how to find him, how to discern between the shadows.

“I can wield from anything that casts a shadow, but no one knows the strongest threads are always my own. If you can sort through them, feel their difference, you’ll be able to track where I am in the darkness.[…]You have to learn the difference for both our sakes.” […] “Only you.”

I have a full-on theory about why Xaden wanted to teach Violet this. I wonder if it’s going to come into play in Book 4. Either way, only Violet knows this piece of information about Xaden—or any shadow wielder.

Here’s another interesting piece of information that I feel is crucial: “Light flashes, illuminating the arena as lightning streaks upward, through the barrier of the wards and into the clouds above.”

Through the barrier of the wards. The wards do not seem to keep her signet in check. She’s the only one.

“Why only me?” […] “Because you’re the only one capable of killing me.”

Is it just me, or are we all gearing up for this? Because I definitely think so. Can you see how many small pieces of information lead us to the idea that Violet is meant to kill Xaden?

“Kill everyone in the room without getting up from his seat?” I finish for her, lifting my lavender lemonade to take a sip. And he thinks I need to know how to kill him.

Yeah, Violet. Because he has the sort of power that can end the world. And sometimes, we need to make awful sacrifices, right? To be able to save innocent lives. I do hope this is NOT where this book is going. But Rebecca Yarros has been ruthless.

I like the civility between Cat and Violet, but I have to say, I still don’t like her. More than anything, I just don’t trust Cat. That’s the problem. I do find it intriguing that she finds Riorson scary. CAn she feel something is up? Also, how Violet is so certain that she’s not scared of him but scared for him.

And then the story is propelled forward by dialogue. The first-years are yet to manifest—Lynx and Aaric. Since Garrick is our distance wielder, we know that Aaric won’t have that signet. It begs the question: what strong signet will he have? I keep going back through Fourth Wing and Iron Flame to check which signets that were previously mentioned as impossible or nonexistent might come into play.

We know about precognition (which, according to Jack, is not a thing). We know about resurrection. And we know about a rock/earth wielder. Which one?

We then move on to temple talk. I have to say, this is extremely interesting because I always wondered how god worship works. Maren says, “Our offerings were received.” How? What does this mean? In what way? We know so little of their Gods and how religion on the continent works.

Oh, and check out this interesting Easter egg:

“Your temples to Malek and Dunne are disproportionately large compared to the other gods’ here,” Trager notes, leaning back in his chair. “Except Amari, of course.”

“This close to Basgiath, war and death are on most minds.”

Maybe, but I also think this is a very important piece of information. Dunne and Malek. Hmmm. I’ve been saying for more than a year that Violet has something to do with Malek. I don’t know what, but I know in my heart that there is a connection.

“My mother was never temple-minded, which is odd, considering you’d think she’d favor Dunne. And I preferred to spend what worship time I had in Amari’s temple.”

It begs the question, doesn’t it? Why was Lilith not temple-minded? And it’s intriguing that Violet prayed to Amari, the Goddess of all Gods.

“And then once my father died, I frequented Malek’s, though I probably spent more time yelling at him than praising.”

You see? Connection. There is no way a god like Malek would take kindly to that. Not to mention all the times he didn’t take people from her when she screamed about it. She never asked Malek not to take Liam. But she did for everyone else. Intriguing indeed.

The chapter ends with a conversation between Dain and Violet. Violet needs to let go of every previous instinct to distrust Dain and give him information so he can retrieve her father’s journals. And against all odds, she does. Now, her fate rests in the hands of Dain Aetos.

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
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 59
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 60
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 61
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 62
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 63
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 64
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 65
• Onyx Storm Read Along – Chapter 66