This novella is a prequel to A Flight of Marewings. It can be read as a standalone or an introduction to the Wyld Magic series. Korinna is the daughter of the duke’s mistress. She and her mother were sent to a farming estate in the country to avoid political complications for her father. Her mother hopes that someday, the duke will bring them to the capital and marry her at last, but he keeps putting them off with excuses. But he has his own plans to arrange a marriage for Korinna when she comes of age. When a magical plague threatens the countryside and her mother’s life, Korinna takes up the responsibilities of leading the estate. She begs the duke for help, but none comes, leaving her with difficult choices to save her mother and her people. She must sacrifice many things to the safety of her childhood friend who is now a handsome squire in her guard, her mother’s most cherished possessions, maybe even her own life. Being the duke’s daughter won’t be enough to save her now. Can she find the strength to be something more?

Korinna's life gets turned upside down when the ghost of her father suddenly appears. Her father was duke of Kyratia City and he wanted Korinna to marry his warlord, the foreign mercenary Galenos, and inherit his title—but the city's Council has other plans. When the Council denies Korinna's right to rule, she decides to join Galenos' mercenary company and tame a wild marewing in order to take the city by force. But people whisper that the late duke's untimely death was murder, an induced madness that forced him to dance himself to death—and now that madness is spreading. Can Korinna become a marewing rider and conquer Kyratia in time to save everyone?

Gryphons are deadly in small numbers. When wyld magic calls them to attack in great force, they could be strong enough to level a nation. And now they’re coming for Kyratia. Korinna saved her city from a dangerous cult and became the new duchess of Kyratia. But ruling brings a whole new set of challenges and this time, she won’t be able to fight her way through. Monsters are attacking Kyratia again, but her husband Galenos warns that the law forces all rulers to retire from fighting so they can’t join the battle. Korinna is frustrated by the slowness of politics, but riding her marewing could threaten her new pregnancy. A sinister power lurks behind the monster attacks, calling gryphons to swarm the countryside in greater numbers than there have ever been. Korinna will have to find a power of her own to confront them, or everything she’s won so far could be destroyed.

Chimaera, harpies, mermaids, pirates, and mercenaries who ride the mysterious marewings—the world of Wyld Magic is filled with monsters and other dangers. Five young men and women fight for their lives in these five flash stories of only 500 words each: In “Black Flag”, Mkumba fights magic-wielding pirates on the high seas. In “Fishing Net”, Orivan catches a mermaid during a fishing trip. In “The Knife”, Herokha’s skills as a spy are tested by a mercenary warlord. In “Shield”, Itychia and her marewing face off against an acid-spitting harpy. In “The Last Coin”, Korinna’s farm is attacked by a chimaera. Fans of A Flight of Marewings will get a glimpse into the past of these characters from the novel, and new readers will learn about Wyld Magic in this short introduction to the series.