The Fall Before Flight

Rhu Farrier is determined to save her best friend and end the war between the Risen Union and the Kedrel Empire. She isn't about to let losing a leg stop her.

Two thousand years after a powerful mage Lessened dragons from enormous beasts to scaled humanoids, war ravages the land of Obsthea once again. Rhu's mission is kill the Kedrelli emperor, no matter the cost. But when Rhu loses her leg in battle, her best friend Loren is sent to complete the mission in her stead. Rhu and Loren both know he won't make it to the Kedrel capital alive. He's not an assassin. He's a simple soldier—honest and forthright and a terrible liar. Despite her new disability, Rhu journeys to Kedrel to help Loren complete the assassination that should have been hers to carry out.

Daxian Cloud is a loyal dragon. Not like the Oathbreakers—rebels who have forsaken the Oath of Servitude all dragons took during the Lessening. A dragon without the Oath is a dragon without honor. So, when Oathbreakers strike his mistress's estate, Daxian doesn't question the order to execute them. Until the hood falls from an Oathbreaker's face. Until his beloved little sister is revealed to be one of them.

Everest Naught is a frail, asthmatic orphan—a little "nothing" in the world. When he meets a blacksmith's apprentice, his lonely life changes. Everest longs to be powerful, to be more than nothing. But when the time comes to make sacrifices, is Everest prepared for them now that he has something to lose?

The lives of millions depend upon the decisions of these three disparate people. But are the oaths they made to the world ones they can keep?