Danny Firoth returns home from a magical, yet deceitful, summer at the White Rock Academy of Illumination, only to be faced with a new terror, high school. However, the woes of the school's halls are quickly forgotten when Danny is summoned to the high Council of the Elvin Elders in Elsmelda, the capital city of the Elves. Danny learns that being the prophesized savior of the Light, the Mageknight, comes with a fancy new title, and massive new responsibilities. Distraught with trying to meet the requirements of his new station, the loss of his father's Bonded, and the perplexing relationship with his infatuation, Sabrina Drake, Danny is tested even more as a second-year squire. Danny and his friends are placed center stage as they are presented with Bondeds of their own and inducted into an army, competing in mock warfare for the grandest trophy of all, the Chalice of Light. Danny is also confronted with some serious issues, a question of trust among the Order of Light, as well as a need to unravel the deeper mystery of the Mageknight and the foreboding plan of his betrayer, Syndil Sartak Tribolari, in his search for a weapon that could bring about the end of the Light and all living things, The Black Bonded.