Violet fills with dread as Xaden, one of the most ferocious fighters of the academy, approaches. Dain tries to intervene, but Xaden uses his rank to remind Dain of his social standing. Violet and Xaden spar; he gradually disarms her and repeatedly offers her insights into how best to use her small stature as an advantage. That night, Dain smuggles her into his room and gives her a massage, and they also discuss how dragons can read the minds of their riders. Dain confesses that he reported Xaden, Jack, and another cadet to Colonel Markham, a lead scribe, for harassing Violet and wanting to kill her. When Dain again asks Violet to join the scribes, however, she lashes out. He describes the horrors of Threshing, when Violet might be killed by dragons or her peers, and he will have to watch it happen.

The cadets survey the Gauntlet, a vertical obstacle course that they must ascend. The exercise weeds out the weaker candidates and determines the order in which the squads will be presented to the dragons for initial impressions. As the cadets study the course, one of their squad members mocks Violet, but Ridoc, the class clown, defends her.