Duty and curiosity call Miriam and Xander away from their tranquility and into a new storm of troubles. The road they travel is a dusty one as their new adventure leads them to the southern deserts of the dragon world. There they find a world of wind riders, ancient secrets, and feuds as old as the lords of dragons. Among the secrets is a darkness that lurks from the edges of the desert to the far corners of the sand city of Hadia where the Priests of the Portal hold sway. Their arrival triggers a movement of shadows that leaves them at the whim of their foes and leaves Miriam with questions about her origins. She must begin to know herself before she can help her friends, or they will all end up as skeletons in the sand.