Amira has a pretty good life on the peaceful island of Penglai. She has amazing powers and abilities. She's friends with the animals and creatures around her. And, of course, she's immortal. But she's also the only person on Penglai, which makes her more than a little lonely.One quiet day, a magical tortoise named M'lan appears and whisks her out to sea. He needs her help to rescue Raiden--a mortal--from angry sea spirits. She's never met a mortal before, and once she sees Raiden, she finds a strange attraction to him. She returns with him to his homeland in Dragon Hollow, where powerful dragons have protected his people for millennia.She quickly discovers that life in the mortal world is very different. Warlords and bandits battle in unending warfare. People get hurt. Some die. And her arrival upsets the balance that's kept Dragon Hollow safe. She struggles to understand and trust others. Do they really care for her or do they just need her help? Why do the dragons hate her? Can she believe and even love Raiden or is he deceiving her? And what about trusted M'lan--is even he turning against her?In the end, she has to decide whether or not to risk her own destruction to save the people of Dragon Hollow. And she discovers hidden powers and passions, long dormant within her.