In this soaring adventure for fans of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief and Wings of Fire, a new kind of monster launches an attack on the empire of Prekalt. Who can Kiesandra and her skysteed turn to for help in this life-and-death battle?****Fresh from their victory over the frightening chimerae monsters, Kie and N'Rah are looking forward to a quiet life on her uncle's orchard, far from the turmoil of the capital city. They miss the friends they made there, but as sky couriers, their job keeps them busy.*****Then Kie unexpectedly receives a message from the emperor himself! He has an urgent mission for Kie and N'Rah-they need to find the Sky King, the elusive ruler of the wild skysteeds that soar across the land. After losing so many fighters in the Battle of a Thousand Chimerae, the empire is in desperate need of a hundreds of winged horses for their soldiers to ride. The wild herds are the only source, but bitter betrayals in the past have made the Sky King distrustful of humans.*****Kie's unique gift of communicating with all skysteeds makes her the best person for the job, but it would take a miracle for the Sky King to trust a young girl. Then a new threat emerges in the form of*huge birds of prey called vultiren. With the fearsome creatures heading straight for the wild skysteeds' hidden refuge, Kie must convince the Sky King to ally with her-before their world is destroyed forever.