Once, they hunted the drakkons to near extinction. Now their survival might well depend on them… Princess Bryn Silva, the sole child of Esan’s king, is not only soldier-trained but also a Strega witch, gifted with the ability to raise fire and mind speak to animals. After years of tracking the movements of the drakkons, she has formed a tenuous relationship with the biggest of them all—a queen in the prime of her life. On the eve of Bryn’s unwanted wedding to Damon Valez, heir to the throne of Zephrine and a powerful blood witch, she ventures out to see the drakkons one last time, only to discover the utter destruction of a remote fishing village on the very edges of East Arleeon, with no evidence left behind on who attacked it or why. Then, on her sea journey home, she senses the mind of an animal unlike any she has ever felt before. It attacks—and sinks—their boat, using weapons made of golden metal feathers that pierce wood and flesh as easily as any sword. When that same enemy attacks Kaia—the queen she has been following—and her drakklings, a desperate alliance based on the need for survival and revenge is formed. But can a Strega witch, who relies on the strength of her flesh to control and destroy with flame, and a drakkon, whose only weapons are tooth and claws, defeat an enemy that is mounted on armored birds and who possess weapons capable of eating through stone and skin with equal ease? Will the husband she hadn’t wanted help defend the city, or will the secrets he keeps only add to the danger they face? Can Esan, the mighty fortress that has protected the Eastern regions of Arleeon for eons, survive, or will it finally fall…. and take the drakkons with them?

The drakkons have joined the battle, but do they have the power to help win the war? Princess Bryn Silva is a Strega witch, gifted with the ability to raise fire and mind speak to animals. It is a gift that helped her win the trust of Kaia—a drakkon queen in the prime of her life. But the drakkons’ only weapons are tooth and claws, and they are useless against an enemy mounted on armored birds, and who possess weapons capable of eating through scale and stone with equal ease. After an aerie is attacked, the drakkons agree to a desperate alliance and the drakkon kin—a force of Strega witches mounted on drakkon back—is formed. Despite initial success, Bryn quickly realizes that a handful of kin will never defeat the sheer number of gilded riders amassing off Arleeon’s shores. The drakkons needed a weapon. They needed fire… But the gilded riders were not the only danger closing in on Esan, the fortress protecting the eastern gateway into Arleeon. The Mareritt, a warrior race and an ancient enemy, also move on them, armed with weapons eerily similar to those the gilded riders use. Weapons capable of destroying Esan’s mighty walls. But the biggest threat of all could be the dangerous secrets being held by Bryn’s husband, Damon Velez, heir to the throne of Zephrine and a man she hadn’t wanted to marry but might well be falling in love with. A man whose magic could give the drakkons fire, or utterly destroy them all.

Can an improbable alliance between human and drakkon save their world from utter destruction? Princess Bryn Silva never wanted the crown this way. With her parents dead and Esan’s military devastated, she’s thrust onto a throne she once wanted, but is utterly unprepared to fill. Worse still, her husband, Damon—heir to the throne of Zephrine—has vanished, leaving her to face the storm alone. As the gilded riders, hungry to claim Arleeon’s fertile lands as their own, rain death and destruction from their armored birds, the greatest threat to both Bryn and Esan might come from the one man who should be their staunchest ally. Because Aric Velez—Damon’s father—has returned, and plans to use her inexperience to claim the throne and become the ultimate ruler over all Arleeon. And he doesn’t care what he has to do to see his ambitions realized. As the losses mount, the race to find a means of defeating their foes becomes ever more desperate. But can the drakkon kin ever hope to win a war when they are so outnumbered? Or will Bryn be forced to face an impossible choice: sacrifice everything she loves, or watch her kingdom burn.