After the nuclear fallout, little remains of the previous civilization but small magical artifacts which nobody knows how to use. The post apocalyptic world is left to mere children who have built their new society on blood and steam. As the gears of a revolution turn, one hybrid knows the truth, which can seal the fate of the recovering world. Yet is it right for Carney to keep the truth from the world in order to gain equality for the hybrids, or will one small lie start a new war? The clock is ticking for Carney to decide the fate of the future. But is the fate of the world really hers to decide?

Manx thought she was through with going on quests. And of course the universe has to conspire against her once again. The Dragon Empress has been trapped in the form of a vulnerable human girl and trapped in another world, her memories fading fast. And as fate has it, Manx is chosen to cross between worlds to save The Empress before it is too late. Joined by Vaskin, the boy who wants to win her heart, and Khashmyr, an obnoxious two tailed magical cat, Manx must blend in with this strange world's unusual inhabitants and hide her powers. Back in her world, the others are preparing for a siege on the palace as Lyrica is gathering forces on all sides in hopes to take over while the Empress is out of the way. Will Manx and her friends be able to make it out unscathed?

Jessamine is a runty desert kitsune with seven older brothers and a blacksmith as a father who is determined to sell her away in an arranged marriage because their family is too poor to feed a girl. Her father thinks she is a mindless nothing who spends her days moping about and figures that if he doesn't marry her off soon the vultures will get her. And her father also believes that a girl could never craft a sword worth selling. What he doesn't know is that Jessamine risks her neck every night ring fighting in her brother's place and she learned black smithing in secret and lets her brothers take the credit for her work which is better than that of any man. When a powerful male kitsune comes through her village looking for a sword, she plans a daring escape, disguising herself as a boy and offering to be the newcomer's weapons expert in exchange for him allowing her to accompany him on his quest. But soon she finds she has feelings for the boy she ran away with, and keeping up the charade becomes harder and harder, even though he might abandon her if he learns the truth.

It is said that only the claws or sword of a pure hearted warrior can slay a dracolitch. In the aftermath of the battle with Lyrica, Manx and her friends must pick up the pieces of a broken world. The Empress is finally back in her true form, and there is finally a chance for peace in the Valdt. Yet when the Valdt needs the Dragon Empress the most, she is too focused on getting revenge. Manx and Vaskin are sent on a quest to find Lyrica at all costs and deliver her into the Empress' claws. However, Manx has doubts about her mission. Lyrica let the Empress go in the final moments of the battle when she had every chance to kill her. Can this mean that maybe Lyrica's heart isn't all evil? Manx is torn between her close friends and a former enemy whom she wishes to save, but nobody else shares her opinion. Standing for what she believes is right means betraying the Empress and abandoning her friends. Can she follow through with what she believes is right and redeem the Empress' worst enemy?