The Dragon Temple denies the role of dragonmaster to women, but Zarq is convinced that the doctrine allowing it has been deliberately lost to the obscurity of history. She begins a desperate search through the Temple's archives, while enduring the rigorous athletic training required of her apprenticeship. Her fellow apprentices are fiercely competitive, and her overlord, Waikar Re Kratt, has taken an unnerving interest in her. 
Yet all this pales in comparison to her craving for hallucinogenic dragon venom and her desire to understand the dragons themselves—both of which make her a vessel to receive the ancestral memories of the great beasts. Now, eager for the knowledge only Zarq can uncover, the Temple has her imprisoned and subjected to starvation and torture—all to make her reveal the dragons' deepest secrets....