Throughout, nobody lets Hayden forget that his father was the Black prism and that the boy may turn out as evil as the man. He becomes friends with roommates Zane Laraby and Conner and with a girl named Tess Bonk the dragon ends up his animal “familiar.” While maintaining their grades, the four students must also perform as a group, using magic to survive simulated emergencies. For his studies, Hayden is outfitted with magical corrective bands-to help balance his immense power-and a headpiece that holds diamonds for him to view light through. And like his father, he possesses an innate talent for manipulating prisms. Despite having never met his father (who tried to conquer the Nine Lands), Hayden impresses Mizzenwald’s staff by surmising from the designs in the pentagonal foyer that there are five major arcana (Elixirs, Wands, Prisms, Conjury, and Powders). Astoundingly, the council decides that he should receive magical training at a school called Mizzenwald-the same school that Aleric Frost, Hayden’s insane, absentee father, once attended.

Now in Kargath, the capital of Junir, 12-year-old Hayden is judged by a Council of Mages. Two years ago, the home of Hayden Frost and his mother suffered a magical explosion. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.The first volume in a YA series follows an orphan who can channel magic through prisms. Surviving his first year of school becomes Hayden’s top priority, but will he have to follow in his father’s footsteps to succeed? Hayden tries to find a place for himself in a world left devastated by the Dark Prism, but with enemies around every corner and a defective dragon for an ally, things aren’t looking good. All he wants to do is live a normal life, but after being sent to Mizzenwald for formal magical training, it’s obvious that that isn’t going to happen.

Now Hayden is being credited with the Dark Prism’s demise, even though he swears he doesn’t remember anything about the explosion that destroyed his home and killed his mother. Hayden spent the first twelve years of his life hearing about the infamous Dark Prism: his corrupted magic, his fractured mind, the towns that were destroyed during his dark experiments, the people he killed.But it wasn’t until Hayden’s childhood home exploded that he learned that the most evil mage in the Nine Lands was actually his father.

Cave of Nightmares by V. St. Clair