Sophie Rend is seventeen. She wants nothing more than to become the first ever female wizard's apprentice, and when a chance encounter with a magical orb gets her sent straight to the wizard's tower, he gives her a dangerous quest that will not only test her abilities, but her loyalty to her friends and family.

Long ago, ancient dragons sealed their powers inside magical artifacts to protect dragonkind from going extinct. Years after this event, the descendants of those dragons claimed their powers and gained the ability to shift into their ancient draconic forms. Three of the four set out to change the world, and the way humankind viewed them. They formed an alliance and a set of rules that all dragons would live by in order to peacefully coexist with humanity. The Queen of Ash, Akiri refused to join this alliance, she had other plans. She wanted to produce a clutch of eggs and protect her Kingdom with a thunder of dragons, but when her lair was destroyed, Queen Akiri had to ask the Dragon Alliance for help, but bad blood between Akiri and the leader of the Alliance, Sophie Rend, could be the downfall of her Kingdom.

Queen Sophie begins to suspect her consort, Bastian, may be keeping a dark secret. She still hasn't met his family, and he is always leaving for days at a time to conduct "business" on the mysterious island of Immernacht-a place rumored to be the magical prison of bloodthirsty monsters. Her suspicion grows when a body washes up on the shore near Blackwater drained of blood and she is forced to tell Bastian that her father, Leon Rend, is preparing the Silver Talons for war with Immernacht. Can Bastian prove his innocence to her, despite his family's secret, or will Sophie join the war against him?