Sie is rescued from the raging sea by a red dragon of the Valdra Clan. The clan adopt her and she learns the ways of the telepathic beasts. The red dragons long to become part of the Dragon Alliance.
Byron is the human representative for the Dragon Alliance. The four clans have discovered the Valdra are spying on them and they believe the red clan is planning an attack to drive them from their lands.
Byron accompanies the four clans as they approach the Valdra to warn them not to consider such action. Their aggressive stance puts the red dragons on the defensive and the two sides teeter on the edge of war.
Sie and Byron convince the dragons to talk, but will they be able to come to an agreement with such distrust between the two factions? The two humans would like to get to know one another, but this is impossible when they are on opposite sides of the dragon conflict.
In this second book in the Dragon series, Sue Perkins deftly continues the story of the partnership of dragon and human on a colonized world. "Dragon Flame," book 1, tells how the isolated, agrarian humans discover that a race of sentient beings already occupy the planet. It was not a nice meeting.
"Dragon Clans" takes place five years after the dragons and humans have made peace. However, one of the dragon clans, the Valdra, were not included in the treaty.
But they do have human contact via the clan's adoption of a lost girl, Sie. She becomes part of the clan, which is a fortunate circumstance that will eventually have all the dragon clans together again as they were in the ancient days. Byron, just a boy during the initial wars and reconciliation, takes center stage as he teams with Sie to bring understanding and peace to the dragon clans and the humans.
Sue Perkins has created a wonderful world, using the tactic of isolated terran colonists who are pioneers on a rough, new planet. She makes the years passing before the meeting of dragons and humans plausible due to circumstances beyond the control of either group. To say much more would introduce spoilers.
I recommend this well-written and exciting series. If you love dragons as I do, then the two books are must reads. I'm hoping there will be another coming along soon.