Eric cleans stalls at the Magic Academy and is known for exactly one thing: having no fire seed, the trait that marks someone as worthless in a world where power is everything. Then a single drop of his blood wakes an ancient scepter and bonds him to Rift-Dawn, the axe no one has been able to claim in five hundred years. During the trial that follows, he blazes nine sacred halos where others manage one or two.
The revelation of what he actually is—the stolen heir of a noble bloodline, carrying the blood of the True Dragon—creates enemies in proportion to his power. The Grand Commander who has held authority for decades starts sending assassins. The Archduchess of the Northern Marches arrives with a betrothal pact. Eric has to survive long enough to find his father, dismantle the man who's been hunting him, and figure out what to do with a destiny that was kept from him for twenty-two years.
