Dalen is an Outsider, having arrived on the Phoenix Isle as a castaway, imprisoned and without any memories of who he is, how he got there, or why. Freed from his initial imprisonment in Taninim, he still hasn’t found his identity in the City of Khol and so determines he must escape the Island. To do this, he must brave the Dragon’s Breath and the rumors of an evil that lurks in his escape route, and do what no one else has ever done before—find a way through without dying or going insane.

Even considering escaping is foolhardy at best, a death wish at worst. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, so Dalen stubbornly goes forth with his plan. But many things have to come together to give him even a chance, and he needs to convince Owen and his friend Kyle to go along with him. To complicate matters, a Taninim princess arrives in Khol with designs of her own.

Ultimately, Dalen’s adventures reveal disturbing truths about himself, about the Dragon, and about the Phoenix. It may be that the only way to escape the Island is to slay the Phoenix.