To Uncover A Carapace

I'm a mutt pretending to matter.

At least, that's what I've always told myself.

Knowing all eight languages is impressive until you're surrounded by students who can summon fire, split stone, and bend the world to their will. While my guildmates manifest powerful magical currents, I spend my days buried in archives, translating dead languages for a kingdom that barely notices I exist-or getting my ass handed to me on a sparring mat.

Which would be fine...

Except the borders of the Ancient Kingdom suddenly close.

People begin acting strangely. My Union, a dragon named Dymea, won't tell me what's going on-if he himself even knows. And the deeper I dig, the more convinced I become that someone is hiding a truth capable of unraveling everything we've been taught.

Now my guild is caught in the middle of a conspiracy stretching far beyond the academy walls, and every answer seems to lead toward something older, darker, and far more dangerous than anyone realizes.

I came to the academy to serve the Crown.

I didn't expect to become part of the story.

And I definitely didn't expect the story to start looking back.