Aresten is a trainee in battle school, waiting for the day he will be discharged to serve his territory. But after he is thrown from his master"s horse, he discovers a silver egg, and his world is turned upside down. A legendary creature, long believed to be extinct in Diplomata, hatches from the egg. It is a Volu, and Aresten is to be its rider. Soon they find both their lives in peril. People are no longer who they seem. Together, Aresten and Volu must find the strength and courage to survive.