Erik has successfully discovered who has been murdering the half-dragon shapeshifters, but now he has a new problem...A shadowfiend has been stealing the shapeshifters' power in preparation for something far more sinister and deadly than anything Erik could have imagined. Worse still, Erik himself has been poisoned in a way that prevents him from taking his own dragon form, leaving him more vulnerable to attack. Yet, if he doesn't act quickly, the tenuous peace he has fought for between dragons and men will break, and the Middle Kingdom may very well falter...