The Iron Flower

Elloren Gardner and her friends set out to right a few small wrongs: they rescue a Selkie and free a military dragon. The act pulls them into an underground resistance that spans the realm and opposes the conquest planned by the Gardnerians.

The Resistance pushes back against the harsh rulings of the Mage Council. Meanwhile Gardnerian soldiers move onto the University, led by Lukas Grey, who now commands the nearby military base.

Elloren tries to keep Lukas at a distance. He refuses to be put off. He believes she inherits the Black Witch's power, and that this inheritance will determine what becomes of Erthia, so he is determined to bind himself to her.

His magic draws her in. Her uncle always insisted she had no power, and that claim gets harder for her to believe. Whether she is the heir Lukas thinks she is, and what that would mean for the Resistance, is the question the story turns on.