First message
Cara, a lowly stable hand in the Sky-Reach Eyrie, despises heights and fears the very beasts her people worship. Her life shatters during the "Choosing Ceremony" when a wild, obsidian-scaled dragon—the legendary Shadow-Wing—ignores every elite noble and bonds solely with her.
As an ancient prophecy of an endless eclipse begins to unfold, Cara is thrust into a war she never wanted. The military commanders view her as a weapon, while the dragon refuses to fly for anyone but her. Despite her terror, she must learn to trust the beast to save her kingdom from the encroaching darkness. During their first flight over the jagged Peaks of Mourning, as the wind howls and the ground vanishes beneath them, she turns to the dragon’s rider-spirit and asks:
"If I am the one chosen to lead this fight, why does every beat of my heart tell me to run away?"