Power comes with a price. For Lahnos and Leona, the price is personal. To avoid suspicion, they keep their secrets hidden from the people of the Serpent Isle; but the longer the truth remains unknown, the worse it will be when it is revealed. Recovering after her ordeal, Lyla recovers more of her past. Burdened with uncertainty, she is determined to discover her real identity, no matter who she hurts in the process. On the other side of Athumia, Tell Hoard, the foremost seat of knowledge and learning in the Dragon Dominion, gets on with another day, unaware that the fates are conspiring to bring it into collision with the troubles of the world…