Contents
Chapter 8
Overview
Florence hides from school and her bond to Nyxaris until his call draws her to the cliffs. A harsh telepathic confrontation exposes her fear and resentment. Fleeing, she discovers two blightborn students murdered under thrallweave by highbloods. Shaken, Florence hears Nyxaris offer to teach her resistance—if she chooses to rise.
Summary
Florence isolates herself in her mother’s rooms, avoiding classes and the reality of being a newly made rider. She resents the ritual that saved her life without consent and the constant awareness of Nyxaris in her mind. Despite fear, she follows an inexorable pull into the night toward the cliffs.
At the cliff edge, Florence spies Nyxaris and tries to retreat, but the dragon speaks into her mind, calling out her avoidance. Their exchange turns raw: Florence insists she never asked for the bond and claims Medra should be his rider. Nyxaris roars back that neither of them chose this and condemns her cowardice, sending Florence fleeing in tears.
Inside the halls, Florence overhears drunken highblood students—including Quinn Riley and Gretchen—boasting about coercion and disgust for blightborns. After they disperse, Florence finds two blightborn students dead, daggers in hand, their blood used to scrawl the school motto and “Never refuse a highblood.” She checks for pulses, finds none, and escapes in shock.
Back in her mother’s suite, Nyxaris names the method: thrallweave. He condemns highblood cruelty and presses Florence about defending herself. When she admits she cannot, Nyxaris rebukes her self-doubt yet offers to teach her to resist.
The chapter ends with Nyxaris’s ultimatum: Florence can keep hiding in safety, or she can rise to meet what she has become.
Who Appears
- FlorenceBlightborn student newly bonded to Nyxaris; fearful, confronts him, witnesses thrallweave murders, and is challenged to learn resistance.
- NyxarisAncient dragon bonded to Florence; stern and telepathic, condemns her fear and offers to teach her to resist thrallweave.
- NevilleFlorence’s fluffin; comforts her, follows to the cliffs, and visits Nyxaris.
- Florence’s motherSupportive, bookish, and gently worried; gives Florence space, unaware of the night’s events.
- Quinn RileyHighblood student seen with a taunting group; linked to the corridor deaths.
- GretchenHighblood girl with Quinn; part of the mocking, drunken group.
- CadeHighblood referenced as ordering a victim to pick up the knife; implicated in the killings.
- Unnamed blightborn studentsA boy and a girl found dead, forced under thrallweave; victims of highblood cruelty.