An orphaned girl and her big dragon have a big problem: Will he ever fly? On the terraformed earth-colony Azureign, ecologically-friendly dragons were genetically engineered to carry riders. Their job is to help settlers deliver urgent items and send messages quickly across great distances. Shala is chosen to ride. Now her future depends on her dragon, Nizael.But Nizael may be too big to fly. Will she be able to coax him into flight before the dragon queens choose their mates and form their packs? Or will Shala and her dragon be loners forever?