In the dead of night, Quentin, a young acolyte, is unexpectedly summoned when a mortally wounded knight stumbles into the temple of Ariel. Determined to save the realm of the Dragon King, the dying knight makes a desperate plea for someone to continue his quest. Now Quentin must choose—a life of ease or a dangerous, unknown path.

A kingdom hangs in the balance...and a young boy answers the call. Carrying a sealed message from the war-hero Dragon King to the queen, Quentin and his outlaw companion, Theido, plunge headlong into a fantastic odyssey and mystic quest. Danger lurks everywhere in the brutal terrain, and particularly in the threats from merciless creatures, both human and not-so-human. While at the castle, the wicked Prince Jaspin schemes to secure the crown for himself, and an evil sorcerer concocts his own monstrous plan. A plan that Quentin and Theido could never imagine. In the youth's valiant efforts to save the kingdom and fulfill his unique destiny, he will cross strange and wondrous lands; encounter brave knights, beautiful maidens, and a mysterious hermit; and battle a giant, deadly serpent.

In Mensandor's evening sky, the Wolf Star fiercely gleams, a baleful eye beholding the end of the age. Across the southern lands sweep the armies of a grim and terrible Nin the Destroyer, merciless, invincible. Summoned from his studies in the ancient city of Dekra, Quentin sets forth on a perilous journey to open the prophetic path for a coming deliverer—the Priest-King who will wield the blazing sword Zhaligkeer and usher in the heralded age of light.

Quentin reigns at last as Dragon King, but he is faced with the kidnapping of his son, the death of his most trusted counselor, and the return of his arch–enemy Nimrood. Grief–stricken and despairing, Quentin faces his severest test. And more than a kingdom hangs in the balance…