Holt Cook works the kitchens at the Crag, a dragon hatchery where flawed eggs are destroyed rather than hatched. When the Order marks one egg too damaged to survive, Holt steals it before it can be culled. The dragon that hatches is blind. He names him Ash and vows to keep him alive.
Ash cannot fly without borrowing Holt's sight, so the pair must earn everything other riders were simply given. That effort collides with a wider threat. An undead force called the Scourge is advancing across the continent, killing dragons and riders as it goes. Little patience is spared for a lowborn boy and his damaged dragon.
The book runs a hard magic system built around two processes, Forging and Cleansing, that shape how a dragon's power grows. Holt carries the first half alone before a second viewpoint, the rider Talia, joins him. It reads as fast paced epic fantasy in the dragon rider tradition. The tone leans toward adventure rather than grimdark war story, though the stakes stay real throughout.
Ascendant opens the Songs of Chaos series and won the National Indie Excellence Award for Fantasy in 2021.