Oaths of Ruin: Vol I, Blood Moon (Threads of the Fifth Realm #2)
The Story So Far
VEINS OF POWER RECAP
Lyra Bloom once believed the world was simple: the Innerlands are cruel, the Citadel is the enemy, and survival means trusting no one.
But after crossing the border, Lyra is captured and torn away from Ashvale and her childhood friend Bren. Taken to the Citadel, she is offered a choice by High Chancellor Merrin: be Reassigned to fight exiled dragons, or spend one month inside the Citadel in exchange her mother’s journals.
Desperate for answers about the fire that killed her mother, Lyra accepts.
During that month, Lyra finds unexpected allies in Ezzy, Finn and Rowan, encounters a dragon with black eyes, and begins noticing strange signs across the Innerlands.
The greatest danger still seems to be Talen Veirmont, the feared senior officer known as the Nightrose, but his actions never quite match his reputation.
He protects her as often as he threatens her, and even forces her into a fake relationship to keep her from being Reassigned. By the end of the month, Lyra is allowed to return home to Bren—only to find Ashvale burned to the ground.
Grief-stricken and furious, Lyra returns to the Citadel for answers, but the deeper she digs, the more everything begins to unravel.
Tension grows between her and her new friends, Serrane’s sermons become harder to ignore, and his promises of light and transcendence begin drawing in vulnerable cadets—including Finn.
At the same time, Lyra starts dreaming of a dragon with green scales and violet-rimmed eyes. Her mother’s journals reveal that her father was not the drunk who abandoned them, but a kind and loving man who was taken and Reassigned.
And her connection with Talen becomes harder to deny when she discovers they share a Thread Field, allowing her magic and emotions to flow into him during moments of intimacy. Despite the danger, however, Lyra and Talen finally give in to the feelings growing between them.
Then everything shatters during the trials.
Lyra comes face-to-face with more black-eyed people and dragons, and realises they are former cadets and Reassigned citizens.
Rowan is killed before she can save him.
Finn leaves to join Serrane’s Inner Circle.
Ezzy accidentally exposes Lyra and Talen’s fake relationship.
In response Talen stabs and seemingly kills Ezzy.
Sentenced to Reassignment by profession Strannt, Lyra is taken away his son the Weasel—only for the mysterious orange dragon with gold eyes to appear, rescue her and transform before her into Talen Veirmont.
In Talen’s point of view, the truth behind his impossible role is revealed.
He is not simply bonded to a dragon named Calyxar—he is merged with him, able to shift between man and dragon.
Publicly, Talen remains the perfect Citadel officer, close enough to Serrane to be useful and cruel enough to be believed.
Secretly, he works with Merrin to undermine Serrane from within.
The people he “Reassigns” are not sent to die, but are diverted to a hidden camp.
Talen’s feelings for Lyra are real, but so is the danger around her. Merrin believes she is central to something much larger, and Talen is caught between protecting her, deceiving her, and keeping his own secrets buried long enough to save them all.