Agapoff continues his dragon saga in this second YA fantasy novel in a series.

Fifteen-year-old Dagan is the prince of Authia, but when his father, the king, is betrayed by an ally, the boy is unable to replace him on the throne. Instead, he’s forced to take his grandfather’s sword and flee into the Highlands to avoid being killed by his father’s enemy, Praetor Marius. The young prince is almost eaten by wolves in the Highland pass, but luckily he’s rescued by the 100-year-old dragon Aurifer. Dagan is taken to the dragon’s valley for safekeeping, but there, he’s involved in the accidental injury of Corylus, one of the dragon younglings. Dagan must do everything he can to heal the creature, so he sets out on a quest to the healing spring of Apenninus, at a place that the dragons refer to as “the Golden Land.” His journey to the spring will not be an easy one, however; to reach it, he’ll have to travel through the Twelve Kingdoms ruled by the same Praetor Marius that invaded his homeland. As Dagan and his new dragon friends make their way across the continent, the young prince soon learns that he can’t escape the tide of history. Agapoff’s prose is plainspoken and dramatic in the usual manner of high fantasy: “Aurifer spread out his golden wings and allowed the warm air to push him higher into the sky. The magical ice covering the lake neither melted nor released heat, but over the southern shores, the thawing of the snows created abundant thermals to rest his tired wings.” The author does not delve too deeply into the emotional lives of his characters, which makes it difficult to distinguish between a few of them—particularly as the cast swells with holdovers from the previous book; Dagan, in particular, feels like a bit of a cipher. The novel should satisfy those readers who love all things dragon. However, fans of more intricate fantasy sagas may find this offering to be a bit lightweight.

A serviceable, if simple, high-fantasy tale for teens.