When the emperor is felled by an assassin's poison, his only heir, the Child-Princess Savina, quickly discovers that the greatest threat the Empire has ever faced will come from within. The respected Archmage Profion has set in motion his dark plans to turn the Council against her rule. If he succeeds, the Council will order the young empress to surrender her crown and the sceptre, an action she must refuse at all costs. Profion will stop at nothing to secure the sceptre and the power of the Gold Dragons for himself, and his schemes threaten to plunge the nation into civil war!

The Empress sends her most trusted scout, Norda, on a suicide mission to find an ancient artifact, the Rod of Savrille. Its fabled ability to summon and enslave the wills of Red Dragons may tip the balance of power back in their direction and allow her to expose Profion's treasonous plans. Profion, through magical means, discovers her plans to thwart him and a deadly race for the weapon begins.

But destiny, it would seem, selects her own champions... and soon the fate of the entire realm will rest not with Norda or the mages, but in the hands of those the Empire has forsaken…

And time is not on their side...