Several moons hang low over the islands of Aguaterre within the Great Volcanic Ring, where earthquakes, volcanoes and roiling sea make for a rough existence. But the world is changing, the political landscape is shifting, many dangers approach but people have secret hopes for something better. Garrison, beaten and berated, knows there's more to life than the chores of the farm and forge, and abuse from his blacksmithing father. Ellinvale, trapped in a walled estate within a walled city, chafes at the time-honoured tradition of matchmaking that limits her future as a woman. The Dragon King, protected in his high tower, studies the impassable Churn, a long swath of frothy ocean that likes to smash his ships to pieces against the jagged rocks of the Maw. He needs to send battalions of Amphibians across the Churn if he is to achieve his ambition-to reign over the world. When Garrison sets out alone on a special trip beyond Crossroads to deliver his father's wares, it puts them all on a path of convergence that could change the course of their futures. The Ritual is the first book in the Chronicles of Garrison series. At its core, it's a story of good versus evil, the strength of friendship and the discovery that there is power within.