Veronyka Ashfire/Biography

**Spoilers Abound!**  This page contains SPOILERS! Have you finished all that's been released? If not, DON'T READ THIS, PLEASE.

## Early Life

Veronyka was born during the end of the Last Battle, the end of the Blood War. Her mother, Pheronia Ashfire gave birth to her as she was fatally wounded by Avalkyra Ashfire's arrow. After Veronyka was born and the Blood War ended, Veronyka is taken by Ilithya Shadowheart to somewhere away from the Empire, along with Val. Together, Ilithya raise her and Val together, and tells them that she is their maiora, and would take care of them because their parents died during the Blood War.

They continue to stay in hiding, and Ilithya teaches Veronyka how to read, write, and about the history of the world. We were shown that Veronyka didn't have that much freedom during her childhood, as she wasn't allowed to go outside and make any friends. They would only go out for holidays. During this time, she learns that she is an animage, when animals started following her, and later on a shadowmage, as she was able to read thoughts. When Veronyka is ten years old, the village that they lived in is attacked by soldiers, and Ilithya asks for her and Val to flee. Val takes her, but it was a struggle as Veronyka didn't want to leave her.

With that, she believes that Ilithya is dead, so Val became her guardian. Together, they make their way into Pyra, because Pyreans didn't actively persecute animages. It takes a long time, because they didn't have any sort of identification, so they sneak their way in. Eventually, they move into a cabin that they found in the middle of the woods. It's old and rundown, but it was a home. Val starts to look for phoenix eggs, while Veronyka would tend to the house, and do the cooking. She was the one that would scavenge for food, though Val would often to go the villages and use her shadow magic to get them free supplies. Finally, Val finds two phoenix eggs for the both of them.

## *Crown of Feathers*

Crown Of Feathers starts with Veronyka and Val attempting to hatch the phoenix eggs. One egg hatches, and instead of choosing Val—like they both expected, the baby phoenix chooses Veronyka as her bondmate. Veronyka names the phoenix Xephyra. Unfortunately, the other egg doesn't hatch, because there weren't enough bones in the pyre, so the first phoenix drew life from the second. This angers Val, and makes her distant. One day, while Val was out and Veronyka was scavenging, she stumbles upon soldiers raiding their cabin. One soldier tells her to hide, but Xephyra is threatened, and only calms down when a bondservant tells them to hide. She later figures out that their names are Sev and Kade, and that they're both animages. Once the raiders leave, Val finds Sev and threatens to kill him, but doesn't because Veronyka insists that he did nothing wrong. After that, Val asks for Veronyka to get Xephyra to behave, and when she doesn't make the command, Val poisons Xephyra. After a failed resurrection attempt, Veronyka realizes that this happened out of jealousy, and that Val wasn't as good as she thought she was. Then, she leaves the cabin, so she could get a phoenix egg of her own, join the Phoenix Riders, and continue what Avalkyra Ashfire couldn't.

Veronyka, overwhelmed with grief has to block out the memory of Xephyra in order to concentrate, and decides to hide the memories away in her safe house, so she wouldn't remember them. She starts to make her way to Vayle, as that was where Val had revealed an egg might be. But when she doesn't find one, she breaks down from exhaustion. When she wakes up, she meets Sparrow, a young animage girl who happens to be blind. Two people arrive (Beryk and Elliot), and Veronyka notes that they spoke ancient Pyrean, a language that hadn't been officially spoken in a long time. She hears the words 'phoenix riders' and 'underwing', both meaning that those two people served for phoenix riders. They both decideto eavesdrop to make sure, and Veronyka later on confronts Beryk. He tries to deny it, but then tells her that she wouldn't be accepted either way, because they only recruited boys. Sparrow suggests that she becomes a boy, which Veronyka found to be a good idea. She cuts her hair short, removes her braids, binds her breasts, and then she becomes Nyk.

Veronyka originally tries to intercept Beryk's path again, but underestimates just how far she had to walk. She ends up being discovered by Tristan, who believes that she is a threat, and calls the other Riders. Beryk and Elliot recognize her, but she uses the excuse that they met her sister, and that she came because they would only accept boys. She offers to pay for her training by selling a knife made of Ferronese steel that Val had stole from Sev. Because she saw the phoenixes, the Riders know that they couldn't let her go, so they take her with them, potentially as a prisoner. A cook named Morraquestions her with shadowmagic, but she deceives her using her own magic. Tristan is humiliated by the fact that she is harmless, and that he wasted the other Riders' time. Veronyka is assigned to work at the stables, unless she can get a sponsor. After Tristan fails an exercise, Veronyka instinctively helps him, which only makes him even more annoyed at her. Commander Cassian then orders for him to be 'humbled' by her.

Their first evening together goes badly, and they argue about the best way to maintain a connection with an animal. A conversation with Morra forces her to rethink what she knew about Avalkyra Ashfire. The next evening, Tristan apologizes, and their friendship begins. Veronyka decides to honour Xephyra's memory by allowing herself to let go. Training gets better and her and Tristan bond over the flaws of the current system, and even says that girls should be able to join. Eventually, Tristan reveals his fear of fire, and Veronyka offers him a temporary solution, and teaches him her mental safe house trick. He offers to train and sponsor her, which she gladly agrees to. Her training starts, not unnoticed by the other Riders. It's revealed that there haven't been any eggs in a while, and she is hurt by his lie. He apologizes for misleading her, but promises that they'll find an egg for her. Commander Cassian catches them hidden away, when Tristan was meant to be training. He decides to have his inspection a week earlier, that same day.

Veronyka knows that the commander was going to be extra hard on him, so with Tristan's permission, she unleashes some extra animals for him to guide through the course. Though it was difficult, he manages to pull it off. Cassian reluctantly agrees to let him become a patrol leader, but they couldn't until there were more eggs. She learns that the female phoenixes were kept in cages for breeding. The next day is Azurec's Day, also known as the summer solstice. Visitors from the villages would arrive, and one of these visitors is Val. She rushes to speak to her in private, and questions her. Val wants her to go with her, but Veronyka refuses. They argue until Tristan finds them. Veronyka quickly dismisses him, and they continue arguing. Eventually, Veronyka attempts to leave, but then stumbles on Xephyra. Xephyra starts panicking, and the Riders try to capture her. During the attempt, Veronyka accidentally uses shadowmagic for the first time to command others, which makes her feel worse. Xephyra is eventually captured, and Tristan and her are tasked with getting the females to breed. Veronyka dislikes this, knowing that phoenixes aren't meant to be trapped away, so she considers sneaking away. She meets Ersken, who would tend to the female phoenixes. She then meets the other two, Xolanthe (also known as Xoe), and Xatara. She learns that it's easy to release the phoenixes.

When Tristan is called to have Rex start mating with Xephyra, she is relieved to see him refuse the order. But then Cassian orders to have Elliot's bondmate do it instead. This makes Tristan worried, and she accidentally connects to him with shadowmagic. Without having any knowledge on what was happening, Veronyka ventures too far into his mind before collapsing. A village gets raided, panicking everyone, and it gets worse when there's a second, both of them nearby. Cassian leaves to defend them, and Tristan is appointed as the temporary leader. Then, a raider approaches the Eyrie, but they learn that his name is Sev, and that the raiders were actually soldiers from the Empire, who plan on an attack. They all learn many things, such as Elliot's betrayal, the amount of soldiers coming, and the mention of her maiora, Ilithya. She's unsure if it's the same Ilithya, as she never knew her last name. They make preparations to defend, and Tristan lights the beacon to signal for help. Veronyka prepares too, but Tristan tells her she's not allowed to fight, which makes her feel useless. Val makes it worse, and Veronyka asks about Ilithya, and it's confirmed that they are the same. Val attempts to convince her to leave again, but Tristan interrupts them. He confides that he doesn't want to lose her, and also that he made a promise. Veronyka figures out that Val was meddling with his mind, and was manipulating her. Veronyka expresses her hatred for Val, but Val refuses to listen, until she gets slapped. Then Val reveals that Veronyka is actually a girl to Tristan.

He is stunned, but immediately leaves the room. Val takes one last chance, but Veronyka says no. Finally, Val leaves. Tristan returns, but says they'll discuss it later, and gives her a shirt and bow, so she could fight. The battle is difficult, as the soldiers managed to split up the Riders. But Veronyka stays level-headed, and adapts quickly. When hooks are thrown to climb up, she quickly starts chopping them. When things get worse, she tells Tristan to get the phoenixes. She even convinces him to release the female ones, and takes responsibility should something happen to them. Veronyka continues sawing at ropes, while the phoenixes fought. Unfortunately, Xolanthe dies, and Xatara leaves. Hope starts to dwindle, but she suggests that all the other animals come to fight too. It works for a while, but the animals start to die too. The village is nearly overrun, so Tristan and Veronyka fly there on Xephyra. Veronyka's connection with Tristan opens again, and they work together smoothly. The other Riders arrive, and the battle is eventually won, but there were a lot of casualties.

Veronyka, despite everything that happened, makes contact with Val again, and finds her. Val reveals where she plans to go, and Veronyka gets her to reveal more. Val shows her a memory, and she figures out that Val is Avalkyra Ashfire. Morra explains how resurrections work, which gives an explanation as to how Avalkyra lived. She surveys the destruction some more, and then asks Sev about Ilithya. Later, Tristan asks her why she lied to him, and after her explanation, he tells her that he still supports her, no matter what gender she is. Then Commander Cassian congratulates her on the ideas for defending the Eyrie. She decides to tell him the truth, and he says that she could stay as long as she keeps up the lie for a while more. But fed up with it, she disagrees, telling him that she would stay as herself, or not stay at all. Tristan supports her, along with Ersken, Morra, and Jana. With so many people, he agrees. The funeral for everyone happens, and Veronyka takes the moment to mourn everything that had happened. Then they celebrate their victory, and it ends with Veronyka going to fly on Xephyra.

## *Heart of Flames*

Heart of Flames starts with Veronyka trying to get better at hand-to-hand combat. However, it's difficult, as she's inexperienced, and she's also trying to fight off the magical bond between her and Tristan. She ends up losing, like the previous times. She also spends a lot of time wondering who she actually is, as Val is Avalkyra. When she isn't practicing her skills, she's busy studying. She then asks Morra about shadowmagic, so she could learn to control it. When Morra informs her that knowing about it will make the connection stronger, and that it takes years to master, Veronyka decides to give up shadowmagic. She temporarily joins Tristan's patrol to help Vayle's recovery from the attack. The rebuilding process goes well, and Veronyka decides to go see her cabin, since it's close by. Tristan comes with her. When they hear voices, Tristan goes to investigate. Veronyka finds an old box that was her maiora's, then Val makes an entrance. When Veronyka realizes that the box might help reveal who she is, her and Val fight for it. The box slips out her hand, and lands next to Tristan, who had just returned. Val then leaves the cabin.

They go back to the Eyrie when they learn that soldiers have been placed at the border. Cassian seems to already know that, and Tristan and him have an argument as they decide what to do next. Tristan volunteers for his patrol to be stationed at Prosperity, but as they're a rider short, Veronyka auditions to become the sixth rider. The audition isn't until later, so Veronyka ends up opening the lock box that she'd found earlier. She discovers a list of Riders that may be alive, and learns that she's Veronyka Ashfire, daughter of Pheronia Ashfire. Heavily distraught, she ends up seeking Val, despite deciding to let her go. Val confirms the truth. The audition then happens the next day, starting off well, but when Tristan and Veronyka brush fingers, Val uses her shadowmage abilities to render him unconscious. He falls off of Rex, and she leaps after him. It's only due to a combined effort of both Xephyra and Rex that saves them both. Unfortunately, it still counts as a failure for the audition. Veronyka stays with Tristan as he recovers, and tells him about her shadowmagic. When he doesn't react positively, she gets frustrated and ends up revealing her heritage, before leaving him. He quickly finds her and apologizes, and even assures her that he trusts her. Together, they agree to do whatever it takes to lessen the effect of the bond between them.

Tristan's patrol flies back to Vayle, and Veronyka joins them, despite not officially being part of it. Along with aiding with the rebuilding process, the duo decide to look for one of the old Riders who happened to live nearby, Alexiya. Alexiya shoots an arrow near them, but otherwise doesn't react too violently. They discuss some of what was going on, before they sense a fire nearby. Tristan and Veronyka go to check it out, while Alexiya stays behind. They attempt to lead the villagers back to Alexiya, where the trees are more sturdy and there's high ground, but there's too many soldiers. Then Alexiya arrives, and they fend off the soldiers, lead the villagers to a bunker, and smother the flames. When they get back to Vayle, they receive a letter that Phoenix Riders attacked the Iron Road. Due to to all the soldiers around, Cassian's patrol would come to Vayle, while they would go to Rushlea, though Veronyka was ordered to go back to the Eyrie. However, Tristan tells her to stay with them, and they continue their assignment. When Tristan gets back, they start looking for Doriyan. They aren't able to find him though.

The anniversary of the Blood War arrives, and Tristan celebrates her birthday with her. They discuss their feelings toward each other, and when he gives her a gift, they kiss. They separate to join in the celebrations, until she sees an unfamiliar man who had distinct boots, and she suspects it's Doriyan. Her and Tristan follow him into a cave, and they find themselves in an important room. Then she's working through one of Val's memories. She starts wondering if Val could be redeemed, but then she snaps back to reality, and she sees that Tristan has been captured by the man and Val. Val wants her to come with her, and reveals that she knows about the animage captives. Veronyka knows that Commander Cassian wouldn't sacrifice all of the Phoenix Riders to save them, so she asks about what would happen to them if she joined her. Val says that the animages would be saved, and gives her until midnight to make a decision. Tristan attempts to get her to stay, but they're interrupted by Anders as the villagers have cornered the phoenixes. The situation escalates, until Cassian comes and causes everyone to leave. Latham reveals that he called for the commander, because he thought that Tristan was behaving too recklessly, mostly due to Veronyka. After mulling it all over, she decides to go with Val, and Tristan makes one last attempt to stop her, though it doesn't work.

Her, Val and Sidra decide to ambush some soldiers so they could free some of the animage captives. It feels awful at first to have to kill, but it becomes easier for her. They keep on attacking, and she finds Sev, who nearly gets attacked by Xephyra. They fight off the rest of the soldiers, and then her and Val have a conversation. They admit what they truly want, and when Val hears it, she orders Sidra to lock Xephyra away. She wakes up in a new room, and Val explains to her a part of what her plan is. Veronyka learns that she's supposed to marry Lord Rolan, and that she can't do anything about it unless she wants Xephyra dead. They end up fighting, and Veronyka realizes that she was too reckless, and vows to not let Val have her way. Xephyra suggests using shadowmagic to communicate with Tristan, but unfortunately, due to the fact that she kept suppressing the bond, it doesn't quite work. While it is revealed that Rex managed to get the message, she doesn't know. While waiting, she discovers a new type of bonds within Sidra's mind. She experiments with it, and notices that Sidra didn't react to Val's order. She asks Val about it, and she explains everything, and even unintentionally gives her advice.

Then she's dressed up to see Lord Rolan. Her and Val argue some more, and she learns more about Val and her past. Val even burns all the important documents that were in the box, but Veronyka manages to keep the Avalkyra's ring as evidence. When she sees Lord Rolan, she notices that Sev is there too, and she asks him to help. She sends him a picture of Xephyra, and asks him to save her, but to watch out for Sidra. So she stalls, by making as many interruptions as possible. Then someone announces that phoenix riders have been spotted nearby. When Xephyra is freed, she reveals that Val is Avalkyra, making sure that Val couldn't easily escape. Then the riders arrive, and Cassian politely asks for Veronyka to be given to them, and says that if Rolan kills him and his riders, his plans to take over the throne won't work. Val then reveals herself to Cassian, and Val gets trapped by soldiers, Veronyka at her side. Veronyka is used as a shield so they could get out. She then attempts to break Val's bind on the phoenix, but the flight gets difficult, and Val lets her fall. Xephyra takes the fall and saves her.

Val's phoenix attempts to ignite, so Veronyka tries to undo the bind. Val is angry, and launches a full-scale invasion in her mind, but Veronyka stands her ground, and fights back. (It is possible Val was trying to put a bind on her, as she was trying to 'gain purchase' in forgotten corners and recesses in her mind) Val turns back on the phoenix, and it starts to ignite, but Xephyra takes most of the blow. Veronyka watches as Val gets burned, and nearly dies. Despite everything that she's done, Veronyka still loves her. Before she could talk to Val, Sidra takes her and flies away. Then, she watches as Tristan gets captured, and taken into a wagon with Lord Rolan. Cassian attempts to negotiate, and they reach an agreement. Veronyka's angry at the offer, but she's told to 'live today to fight tomorrow'. Then they fly away, but not before she notices Sev with Tristan. When Tristan's patrol notices that he's missing, Latham speaks up about why they would sacrifice him for her, and she reveals her lineage. They discuss plans, and Alexiya reveals that her brother, Theryn is her father. Then she goes to Val's phoenix, and recognizes her as Xatara, but Sparrow reveals that the phoenix is Ignix. The bind comes off, and Ignix tells her that Val is alive and has gone crazy.

## *Wings of Shadow*

Veronyka is passed apex powers by Ignix. She uses a Queenstrike and fights. Her patrol incinerates many strixes before remembering Ignix's description of heartfire. She hits many in their hearts, remaking them. Ignix issues another warning, but Veronyka aknowledges it and decides to continue. She ultimately gives Val all she has to remake her. It works. Sidra gets jealous of Val giving her so much attention and tries to murder her. Val takes it instead. She dies to much grief. Ignix tells her that there isn't much time. Ignix conjures a trial by fire to regive Veronyka her magic back. This would kill Ignix. She tells Tristan, Alexiya, Theryn, and Xephyra she loves them. Ignix burns hotter and hotter. Val turns to ash. She goes to Ignix. Everything turns to flame. It hurts at first, not physically but mentally. Her will holds her together, and darkness lowers so she sees the stars. She senses Pheronia, Ilythia, and Val are with her. A cyclone of flame forms. Nothing burns on her.

She is confirmed as apex. Cassian is un-exiled. She is given the option to sit in a throne. She doesn't take it and instead gives a speech.

In the following weeks she's confirmed as heir. She changes the Council, frees the bondaged from it, and becomes queen the next year.