At twenty years old, Violet Sorrengail expected to join the Scribe Quadrant, spending her life immersed in books and history. Instead, her iron-willed mother, the commanding general, has ordered her into the Riders Quadrant—a brutal training ground for Navarre’s most elite: dragon riders.

For Violet, survival is a daunting challenge. Smaller and more fragile than her peers, she faces a world where dragons bond only to the strong—and incinerate the weak. With more cadets than dragons willing to bond, her classmates see her as an obstacle to eliminate. Others, like the ruthless and powerful wingleader Xaden Riorson, would rather see her dead simply because of her mother’s legacy.

Violet’s sharp mind and quick wit are her only weapons against a constant onslaught of danger, betrayal, and violence. But the stakes extend far beyond her survival. As the war beyond Basgiath’s walls intensifies, the kingdom’s protective wards are crumbling, and Violet begins to uncover dark secrets that could shatter everything she’s been taught to believe.

In a school where alliances are fleeting and agendas abound, Violet must decide who to trust and who to outwit—because at Basgiath War College, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.