Welcome to a world that depends on magic - but where each person's magic fades away before they reach adulthood. The pressure is on for Sparrow Xia to develop her pitifully limited fire mage abilities at Zenith Academy. It doesn't help that expectations are extra high for her because her older brother Ainsley's magic is exceptionally powerful - the burn scar on Sparrow's cheek is proof of that. Sparrow can only hope that her studies will help her discover her fire and finally make her family proud; after all, the academy is famed for turning out young mages gifted enough to work for the elite guilds, which make the most of the few years teens can power the world before they lose their magic as adults. At Zenith, Sparrow does indeed gain magical strength - and new friends - but her life at school raises more questions than answers. Should she risk her own future in order to help others? And is Sparrow's magic the most important thing about her? Then a mysterious illness breaks out at school, draining students of their powers. Sparrow and her friends are drawn into the search for the cause, but they need to be careful: in a world where magic means everything, some people will go to terrible lengths to try to keep it.