After playing a forbidden spell-song to save a village from rats, 12-year-old piper Patch Brightwater is thrown in jail.

But there he meets Wren - a noble girl under a rat-shaped curse - and together they befriend Barver, a fearsome dracogriff, and set off on a grand adventure filled with sorcerers, dragons, bandits - and one very deadly enemy.

From the depths of the Tiviscan dungeons to the highest peak of Gemspar Mountain, this stunning book reminds us of the soaring joy of adventure, the captivating danger of magic, and of the delight of finding friends in unexpected places.