In New Drakenstad, everybody bonds with a dragon on their tenth birthday. Everybody, that is, except for members of the Rust-Kicker Clan, the only clan whose dragons died out. Years after becoming a Rust-Kicker, fifteen-year-old Albie yearns to prove his worth by joining the fire brigade, but he fails in every attempt. So he spends his days chasing fires with his best friend, Dagney, and his nights dreaming of punching his rival, Bjorn, in the face.
But everything changes when Albie makes a shocking discovery: a fully grown Rust-Kicker dragon.
With Dagney's help, Albie must bond with his new dragon and investigate who is responsible for a series of mysterious fires that could throw New Drakenstad into chaos. But in a world that has looked down on his kind for so long, what can a lowly Rust-Kicker like Albie do to succeed—especially when the investigation starts to turn deadly?