The dragons were never meant to choose her. Dragons belong to the Crown, the riders, the powerful -- not girls from starving villages.

Nerys Mercer has spent her entire life surviving. All she’s ever been good at is a bow and arrow, and all she’s ever known is survival. She’s lived by hunting in frozen forests and stealing scraps to feed her siblings, keeping her family alive while the kingdom looks the other way.

But when Nerys discovers a dying dragon guarding a single black hatchling deep within the mountains, everything changes.

Because the hatchling chooses her.

Now hunted by the kingdom and dragged into the brutal world of dragon riders, Nerys is forced into the Crown’s deadly trials...where survival means bloodshed, betrayal, and learning who to trust among enemies dressed as allies. Especially Commander Kyros Crowe, the cold and dangerous rider tasked with watching her every move.

He should have turned her in.
She should hate him.
Instead, the bond between them becomes far more dangerous than the dragons themselves.