"Doesn't she know you can't do real magic alone?" Faylanna Derrion's graduation from the Voleno Academy is marred by her father's demand that she return to the family estate, Iondis. He refuses to accept her decision not to bind herself to another Magicia in an unbreakable partnership, insisting she must do so with his help. No one understands her need to prove she can succeed on her own. Then her mentor and his partner are taken before her eyes by a terrible darkness, forcing her to flee, even as her father's soldiers try to force her to go home. On her journey to find help, she meets Tavis, a farmer in search of his mother, who she can't manage to refuse. The revelation that he's a novice Magicia causes Faylanna to question everything she's believed. At the same time, a dream that's haunted her since childhood begins to change and the unknown man in it calls to her. His words are sweet but she's not quite willing to believe he's anything more than a dream, until she can't deny it. As secrets are revealed and events unfold, will Faylanna hold to her solitary path or will she choose the one that now beckons her with new possibilities? Book 1 of the Mirrors of Bershan trilogy