Every resident of the Bright Lands knows: black witches are treacherous, vengeful, and full of long memories. And all of them were burned at the stake. Well, not all of them. In the Dark Lands they remained and feel perfectly at home! But to the empire, protected by the sky gods, the spawn of darkness could never get in. And certainly not into the academy of white magic.
But if in the Dark Lands you’re being hunted and a butcher is breathing down your back, then hiding behind the walls of the Bright Academy isn’t the worst idea. That’s exactly what Vivienne Blackwood thought, and slipped into the magisterium under the guise of a modest, unattractive, and almost talentless adept. And it would have been fine—if only witch character couldn’t be erased with an elixir. And if she stole (well, completely by accident) a small dragon from the most popular senior student—the best battle mage—then revenge should be expected. But the question is: who understands the rules of vendetta better— the dark ones or the bright ones?