Ashes Beneath the Wings

In the frozen northern village of Bracken Hollow, dragons are not symbols of wonder. They are omens of fire, grief, and war. The villagers whisper stories of burning skies and riders who descend like gods only to leave ruin behind them.

Four-year-old Elira Vale has been raised on those stories by her father, Kael Vale, a quiet woodsman feared almost as much as the creatures themselves. He teaches her never to trust dragon riders, never to look toward the mountains when shadows pass overhead, and never to ask about the scars that cover his back.

But Kael is hiding the greatest secret in the kingdom.

Long ago, he was known as the Ash Rider, one of the deadliest dragon riders ever to live. His dragon vanished after the war that killed Elira's mother, and Kael fled to the edge of the world to bury the man he used to be.

When whispers spread that dragons have returned to the northern skies, the past Kael escaped begins clawing its way back toward Bracken Hollow. And as Elira grows, strange things begin happening around her whenever dragons are near.

Because legends rarely stay buried.

And children inherit far more than eye color. Humanity keeps learning that one the hard way.