All Orna Ironheart wants is to take over her father's forge when he retires, but things aren't so simple for young dwarven women in the town of Stonehaven. Firstly, they can't inherit and own property or businesses, and secondly, Orna's expected to marry a most unsuitable boy - her da's apprentice Immig. Yet when a dragon is sighted, and Orna's da embarks on a foolhardy quest to kill the beast and capture its treasure, Orna just knows this is going to spell disaster. Despite the odds stacked against them, Orna and her friend Dani set out on the menfolks' tracks, and their journey across a perilous marsh, through a gloomy forest, and up a precipitous mountain has them realise that even two dwarven girls might just be their people's only hope when a dragon's fury is unleashed.