This is book two of the Reaping of Ragond series and sees Kira, her dragon Gilda and her harpy friend Chevalis have been accepted into the new Aurium built academy. The Aurium have come to Ragond claiming they wanted to help with the awful dragon plague that caused the death of Kira’s stepfather, killed Gilda’s mother and nearly killed off all the dragons of Ragond. They have huge advances in technology that they used to build the new school, open to all from Ragond and Mythos, and have promised to share this knowledge with the Ragond Council. Although after seeing how people were affected in a large gathering where Bastian’s name would leave people restarting a conversation as if they had never met you, she had noticed the glazed looks they gave her. She knew the people imprisoned and blamed for the dragon plague were not the ones that unleashed it on the dragons, but she needs to find proof of who actually did. She has her suspicions of the Aurium, led by General Ignatius, and hopes by attending this new academy, she can sneak about and learn anything there is to learn and find about the place and about why the Aurium are really in their realm.
She is thrown somewhat off track when she meets the handsome son of the general, Lysander, who seems nothing like his father. Kira’s mother has insisted that Axel come with them to the school and both he and Gilda are against her friendship with this boy from the start. They remind her of the true reason she is there, but she gets distracted learning about all the Aurium magic and technology and how it all works. The Aurium test each of the students, dragon riders, their dragons and the witches, to see how they use their Ragond and Mythos magic and if they can use it to access items protected by Aurium magic. She even neglects Gilda and the other dragonriders, preferring to spend her time getting to know Lysander and the Aurium tech. She is almost swayed by everything the instructors are saying and is even getting extra mentoring by one of the general’s staff. On researching Aurium history, Kira finds an image in one of the books, before the fall of their realm, which shows someone who could be an important part of her family, long thought lost in a portal accident. But none of the instructors or the general himself say that her identification of that person is real and tell her she must be mistaken. She is sure the image is of the person she thinks it is and sends a copy home to her mother with Axel.
Lysander is a bit of a rule breaker like Kira and loves to spend his time exploring, having been brought up in military barracks after his mother died when he was young. He takes Kira on a few explorations of areas only accessible by Aurium personnel and when she and Chevalis are let into his father’s private tower accommodations that they find a secret passage leading to a war room, which shows the Aurium have a lot of dark secrets they have been keeping from the Council and everybody else. Kira and Chevalis need to get to the Council to show them what they have found, but someone has already managed to deal with the Council in the same way Bastian’s colleagues were before. Nothing they say will persuade anyone of what they discovered and the fate of Ragond and their whole realm with be at risk, if they cannot find a way to fight back against these invaders, now they know exactly what they are here to do! Aurium has a dark past that the general is determined to continue, and his son Lysander will show exactly whose side he is on, as matters come to a head. A death of someone close to Kira will bring pain and torment, but she must become a leader and continue what she set out to do at the start, with no more distractions. If they do nothing and allow the Aurium to continue to convince everyone else that everything is fine, Ragond will be destroyed. A hard and difficult time for Kira, as she regrets not listening to someone, who helped guide her in her life, before it was too late. She has learnt the hard way that trust should not be given lightly and now she and her friends have more to do, if they are to save their realm. A fascinating read, with action, tragedy, and magical development, all whilst trying to fulfil a promise to a young Gilda to find the makers of the dragon plague machines. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see what happens next and how they will all come together to fight against an enemy with far more advanced tech, magic and an army at the ready, who have already hoodwinked all in charge. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.