In this sequel to On Wings of a Dragon, a chill wind is blowing through the skies of the flying ones, and once again the dragon Api'Naga and his companion Kour'el are on a mission: to find the source of the evil that is disturbing their land. Their search will take them back to the island home of Maighdlin - once a simple village girl, now a queen - and to places where they experienced their greatest suffering.

And they are not the only ones with unfinished business. Princess Paloma, one of the dead queen Mariah's banished daughters, has been seen in the Dargon Courtyard, and when Maighdlin and her loyal guardsmen, Brede and Talon, follow her trail, it takes them through the tunnel to the Tower, that brooding edifice that has held so many secret prisoners. There, they are launched into fresh horrors. Queen Mariah - or something like her - has returned; and behind her hovers a force greater and more evil than any of them - dragon or human - has ever seen.