# CHAPTER 13: The Hunt in the Valley
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review CHAPTER 13 of "Fourth Wing" — and oh, what a breathtaking, heart-thumping chapter this is. This is the day Violet Sorrengail has to find her dragon, dodge assassins wearing cadet uniforms, and discover exactly what she is made of when every instinct screams at her to save herself. Find a comfortable seat, because the leaves are about to fly and the danger is closing in.
The morning began with Professor Kaori’s voice echoing across the valley, laying down the law for every first-year cadet about to venture into the wilderness. "If you go in groups, you're more likely to be incinerated than bonded," he warned, his thick mustache turning downward with stern certainty. "The scribes have run the statistics. You're better off on your own." A cadet with a short beard asked what would happen if they weren't chosen by dinner. Kaori answered firmly: if no dragon chose them by nightfall, there was a problem — and professors and senior riders would come to collect them. "Don't give up and think we've forgotten about you."
Violet, standing among the scattered cadets, could barely hear the rest. The words echoed in her skull: *It's time.* She had come too far to let fear swallow her, but the weight of the moment pressed against her ribs like a cage.
Rhiannon asked her if she felt connected to any of the dragons that had swept through the valley earlier. Violet shook her head. "No. I just don't feel connected to any of them." Then she added quietly, "Dain tried talking me into a brown." Rhiannon countered with a knowing smile, "Dain lost his vote when he tried talking you into leaving." There was truth in that. He had tried to convince Violet to run — and she was done running.
Rhiannon glanced toward one of the green dragons resting nearby. "I'm thinking about that green. The one closest to me when they got all up close and personal with you." Violet managed a weak smile. "Well, it didn't eat you, so that's a promising start." They linked arms, two friends at the edge of chaos, and Violet forced herself to focus once more on Kaori.
But the danger was already circling her like vultures. Jack Barlowe, flanked by Oren and Tynan, gave her a slow, throat-slitting gesture from across the valley. So much for squad loyalty. Today, everyone was for themselves.
Rhiannon pulled Violet into a hug, her braids swinging over her shoulder. "Be careful." Ridoc wrapped her in another embrace and ordered, "Don't die." Those were the only parting words. Then the group separated like pieces of a shattered wheel, each cadet heading in a different direction, leaving Violet alone in the forest.
Hours slipped by like sand through weak fingers. Violet came across two greens, a brown, four oranges, and then — a red dragon stepped into her path, its head just under the canopy of enormous trees. Her heart stumbled. She knew, with bone-deep certainty, that this was not her dragon. She bowed her head, held her breath, and waited. The red dragon huffed, continued its path, and its clubtail sent a huge branch crashing to the forest floor. Only when the footsteps receded did Violet dare raise her head.
She had now seen every color of dragon, and not one had spoken to her. No pull. No connection. The fear crept in like cold water: *What if I'm one of the cadets destined to never become a rider? What if this has all been for nothing?* The thought was too heavy to carry.
So she climbed. Higher into the trees, ignoring the pain radiating through her hands, pausing only when the bark caught the wraps still covering her palms. Near the top of a tall tree, she surveyed the valley. A few greens stood out against the fall foliage. There were more dragons to the south, but no pulling, no aching need to go toward them. Discordantly, a wave of relief washed over her when she counted at least half a dozen first-years wandering aimlessly. At least she wasn't alone in this quiet desperation.
Then a flash caught her eye — a flash like a mirror catching the sun. Like a golden dragon. Across the meadow. The little feathertail, still out here, appealing to its own curiosity. Violet climbed down carefully, her feet nearly soundless as they touched the earth. That was when she heard voices — and they were far too familiar.
"I'm telling you, I think I saw it headed this way," Tynan said.
"If we just hiked all the way the fuck over here just to find nothing, I'm going to run you through." That voice made her stomach twist. Jack.
"You sure we shouldn't be spending our time looking for our own dragons instead of hunting the freak down?" Oren, uncertain but following.
Violet pressed herself against a tree trunk as the trio passed, all armed with deadly swords. Her nine hidden daggers felt small and far away. She couldn't wield a sword — they were too heavy. But she had other weapons.
Wait — hunting? They were hunting *the golden dragon*.
Jack's voice dropped into a deadly calm. "It's not like our dragons are going to bond other riders. They'll wait for us. This has to be done. That scrawny one is going to get someone killed. We have to take it out."
Oren muttered, "If we get caught, we're fucked."
"Then you'd better shut your mouth so no one hears us," Tynan countered.
"It's for the best," Jack argued. "It's unrideable, a certified freak. And you know feathertails are useless in combat. They refuse to fight."
Their voices faded as they marched north — straight toward the clearing.
Violet's heart pounded. She had no way to contact Professor Kaori. No senior riders in sight. The golden dragon might not even be able to breathe fire. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She had to get there first and warn it.
Silent as a ghost, Violet raced through the forest at an angle, thanking every childhood game of hide-and-seek she had played with Dain. Her feet flew over the leaf-covered path. She could see their lumbering shapes through the trees, but she was faster. She was going to make it.
Then — *pop.*
The ground fell away from beneath her, and she slammed into the forest floor. Pain exploded through her ankle. Violet bit her lower lip to keep from screaming. She dragged herself to her knees, forced herself up, and put all her weight on her good left ankle. She ignored the agony as best she could, gritting her teeth, counting each limping step toward the clearing.
She arrived first. The meadow was huge — big enough for ten dragons — but the golden one stood alone in the center, basking in the sunlight like it was trying to get a tan. Beautiful. Vulnerable.
"You have to get out of here!" Violet hissed from the cover of the trees. "They're going to kill you if you don't leave!"
The dragon turned its head, golden eyes blinking at her. It tilted its head at an angle that hurt to watch.
"Yes! You! Goldie!" she whisper-shouted.
The dragon swished its tail, utterly unimpressed.
*You have to be fucking kidding me.*
"Go! Run! Fly!" She shooed with her hands, then remembered she was shouting at a dragon who could shred her with its claws, and dropped them. This was not going well.
The trees rustled from the south. Jack stepped into the clearing, sword swaying in his right hand. A step later, Oren and Tynan flanked him, weapons drawn.
"Shit." Violet's chest tightened.
The golden dragon growled low in its chest. But it was outnumbered. Outmatched. And somehow, Violet knew in the marrow of her bones — it *couldn't* breathe fire. It was defenseless against three trained warriors. It was going to die because it was smaller, weaker than the other dragons. Just like Violet.
Stomach pitching, she felt that old Parapet feeling: whatever she did next could end her life. But she was still going to do it, because this was *wrong*.
"You can't do this!" Violet stepped into the waist-high grass, and Jack's attention swung toward her. Her ankle screamed with its own heartbeat. She forced her weight onto her ruined joint, refusing to limp, refusing to show weakness. If they knew she was hurt, they'd strike faster.
"Oh, look!" Jack grinned, pointing his sword at her. "We can take out both the weakest links at the same time!" He laughed, and his companions paused.
Violet forced each agonizing step until she stood in the center of the clearing, placing herself between the hunters and the golden dragon. "Been waiting a long time for this, Sorrengail."
"If you can fly, now would be a good time," she shouted over her shoulder at the small dragon, drawing two daggers from the sheaths at her ribs.
The dragon chuffed, unhelpful as ever.
"You can't kill a dragon," Violet tried, shaking her head, ignoring the fear threading through her veins.
"Sure we can." Jack shrugged. But Oren looked uncertain. Violet locked her eyes on him as they spread out, forming a perfect semicircle about a dozen feet away.
"You can't," she said directly to Oren. "It goes against everything we believe in!"
Oren flinched. Jack didn't.
"Letting something so weak, so incapable of fighting, live is against our beliefs!" Jack shouted. He wasn't just talking about the dragon anymore.
"Then you're going to have to get through me." Violet raised her daggers, flipping one to pinch the tip, ready to throw, measuring the twenty feet between them.
"I don't really consider that a problem," Jack snarled.
They lifted their swords. Violet drew a deep breath. There was no mat. No instructors. No yielding. Just her, three swords, and a dragon behind her that wouldn't leave.
Then a voice — *his* voice — cut across the clearing like a blade through silk.
"I would strongly recommend you rethink your actions."
Every head turned. Xaden Riorson leaned against a tree, arms folded across his chest, completely relaxed. And behind him, watching with narrowed golden eyes and exposed fangs, stood Sgaeyl — his terrifying navy-blue daggertail.
For the first time, the sight of Xaden Riorson filled Violet's chest with hope. He *could* stop this. He was a wingleader. He couldn't just let them murder a dragon in front of him.
But then she remembered the rules. She knew them better than almost anyone. Unyielding as iron, the Codex said it: riders could observe, but they could not interfere. Xaden's only job was to watch.
Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs — on the probabilities. The words he had once spoken to her came back with terrible clarity. Violet wrenched her gaze away from him and forced herself to concentrate on the three *probabilities* in front of her.
"And if we don't want to rethink our actions?" Jack shouted, undeterred.
Xaden looked at Violet, and even from this distance, she could have sworn she saw his jaw clench.
"There's nothing you can do, right? *Wingleader?*" Jack bellowed, every word dripping with mockery.
The clearing went silent. Violet's daggers shook in her hands. The golden dragon growled low behind her. And Xaden Riorson, powerful and forbidden, stood motionless at the edge of the trees, watching them all.
## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
Whew. This chapter was absolutely relentless. Every time I thought Violet could catch her breath, the story yanked the ground out from under her — literally! I loved seeing her loyalty and courage shine through: alone, injured, outnumbered, and still she placed herself between killers and a creature she barely knew. That moment of "hope is a fickle, dangerous thing" gave me chills, especially when Xaden showed up only to be powerless. This chapter blends action, emotion, and tension beautifully, and I couldn't put the book down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5 Stars
## Next Chapter Prediction
What happens when Jack and his cronies realize Xaden truly won't interfere? I predict Violet will be forced to defend the golden dragon in desperate combat before Sgaeyl — or the little dragon itself — does something unforeseen that changes the game. Perhaps this fight will awaken a hidden bond, or the feathertail will reveal it is far more than it appears. Either way, I expect a dramatic rescue, a shocking turn, and maybe even the very first hint that Violet and Xaden's fates are more intertwined than either of them could ever imagine.
To listen free the next reviews chatpers, please access website novelsaudio.com and search keyword: Fourth Wing or click the link in the description of this video or if you want to listen or read full the Fourth Wing please access website novelsaudio.com