Into a haunted realm a creature unlike any is born. Orphaned and struggling to survive in an underground refuge, Riony only wants to keep her adopted sister safe. In a land where unicorns have been hunted to extinction and dragons are the exclusive possession of the dragonlords, Riony's life becomes complicated when she finds herself the caretaker of a unique and precious creature: a dragon-unicorn hybrid. But when her sister is kidnapped, Riony sets out on a dangerous journey into the shadowdragon cursed overworld, faced with an impossible challenge. Can she save her sister and also protect the newborn creature? Or will she have to sacrifice one for the other? Fans of Priory of the Orange Tree and The Dragon Prince will love this young adult fantasy set in a realm of heroines, magic, and dragons.

Keeping her friends alive in an undead blighted land is hard enough for Riony. Keeping them safe from Kess' relentless pursuit will break her. Riony and her friends struggle to carve out an existence on the run, but survival alone is a constant battle while enemies remain on their heels. When they try to help others in need it puts a target on their backs. And everyone could be a threat if they knew the truth about the unicorn/dragon hybrid. Kess' obsession with capturing the unidragon becomes all-consuming as memories of her past torment her, driving her to take desperate measures. When a dragonrider joins her quest to capture Dracuni, he becomes a risk to everybody around him. In a chilling contest between hunter and hunted, can Riony and Kess escape their collision course towards mutual destruction?