Book I - The Fifth Wing

"Power is easy to earn. Trust is what kills you."

For centuries, the dragons of Elarion have chosen their riders-men and women forged in the crucible of the Aegirion War College, the King's most powerful weapon.
Only those strong enough to survive its trials ever see the sky again.

Seventeen-year-old Will Spencer never dreamed of joining their ranks.
Quiet, analytical, and unbonded, he enters Aegirion as little more than a name on a roster-one cadet among hundreds fighting for the chance to serve the crown.
But the College is not what it seems. Beneath the drills, oaths, and bloodshed, lies a system built on control-and a war far older than the one being fought on the fields below.

When a black dragon older than the College itself chooses Will, the world shifts.
He gains a Signet of Shadow, a forbidden power that could save or destroy him-and the notice of those who would see him broken before he learns the truth.

In a place where loyalty is law and dragons answer to no man, Will must survive brutal training, rivalries that burn like flame, and the growing pull toward Lily Valen, the lightning-wielding prodigy sworn to uphold the King's command.

But trust is a dangerous thing at Aegirion.
Because in the Fifth Wing, the sky isn't just a battlefield-it's a promise, and every promise comes with a price.